Author: TechBrunch

Two years after securing $1 billion in commitments from over 20 countries, the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) enters a new chapter marked by the arrival of two new partners and the departure of their penultimate founding team partners. In the context of increasing military spending across NATO members, investment in double-use technologies has skyrocketed since the initiative was first announced in 2021. This vibrant interest should have given the NIF the benefits of a First Me Bar, but the fund was hampered by management challenges and a series of well-known departures. After the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague reaffirmed…

Internet trends are simple. Friends and family look into the camera and tell viewers in a slightly offensive tone that they are about to witness the presentation, and that it's better that they're good. That's what Kendall, the younger sister of Lucious McDaniel IV, did, and after she got aside, her brother pitched his company, Bitesight. You can also bookmark where customers can see what their friends have ordered and try them out. The app plays about how young people are involved in content. McDaniel posted the video and returned to work. Fifteen minutes later, his sister texted him that…

Two years after being a benchmark venture capitalist for a top shelf company, Victor Lazarute left the company to begin his own investment gig, which was announced at X on Thursday. Lazarte has become known for its co-founding technology of Wildlife Studios, the mobile gaming company last valued at an estimated $3 billion in 2020. Wildlife raised funds from numerous VCs, including benchmarks. For two years at the benchmark, Lazarte has invested in recruiting and data labeling for startup Melkor, AI video intelligence platform Heygen, and AI infrastructure companies. Lazarte is off the benchmark to “build new investment practices,” he…

Elon Musk's X begins experimenting with a new way of using community notes, a crowdsourced fact checking system, highlighting appropriate posts from users with different perspectives. On Thursday, the Community Notes X account announced the launch of a pilot test where selected contributors can rate posts by answering questions about whether they like or don't like that particular post. This system is similar to how communities fact-check their own facts. Rather than allowing users to support or downboat posts for accuracy, it's something that can be easily played when like-minded contributors combine to promote their own opinions. Community Notes use…

Apple has released its first public beta version of iOS 26, the new mobile operating system. It features a “Liquid Glass” user interface and improved AI features. This release will allow early adopters to get the latest Apple software before wider public availability later this fall. This update represents the most notable visual transformation since iOS 7. It features a “liquid glass” design that provides a more transparent, glassy feel to user interface elements, such as buttons, screens, in-app navigation and controls. Liquid Glass is integrated throughout iOS 26, including key apps such as phones, cameras, safaris, music, notifications, lock…

Netflix and Spotify have teamed up to launch a golf-inspired game as a way to promote “Happy Gilmore 2,” a sequel to Adam Sandler's 1996 comedy film, which premieres on Netflix on Friday, July 25th. This partnership represents a new venture for Spotify. This is because music platforms have never worked with other companies to create game experiences in-app before. The game is an area that Spotify has largely overlooked. So, even if it's just a promotional campaign that serves as a test to see if consumers resonate with the experience, it's notable that they work with the streaming giant.…

A self-styled “leaks and cracking forum” where users promote and share compromised databases, stolen credentials, and pirated software, leaked the IP address of logged in users to the open web. According to researchers at Upguard, the leak zone left an ElasticSearch database exposed to the internet without a password. In a blog post shared with TechCrunch ahead of the publication, researchers discovered the database on July 18th, and found that the data could be accessed by anyone with a web browser. The exposed database contained over 22 million records that stored the IP address and the exact timestamp of leak…

The so-called AI slops, which refer to low-quality images, videos and text generated by LLM, have taken over the internet in the past few years. The cybersecurity world is also not affected by this issue. Last year, people in the cybersecurity industry expressed concern about the AI Slop Bug Bounty Report. This means reports claiming they have found a vulnerability that does not exist. “People get reports that sound reasonably sound. They look technically correct. And you try to dig into them and understand, “No, where is this vulnerability?” “It turned out to be hallucination all along. The technical details…

Snapchat is launching a new way to let users and families know that they've made their home safe after going out, called “Home Safe,” announced by the social network on Thursday. To use this feature, you will need to tap Bitmoji on the snapmap and then “My House” to set the home location. If you want to notify your friends when you leave and get home, open a conversation, tap the map icon, then tap the Home Safe button. Your friends will receive automatic alerts in your chat conversations when you arrive at home. Snapchat says alerts can only be…

On Thursday, Google announced that it will launch a new AI feature that allows users to virtually try on clothes. Tech Giant will also roll out updated price alerts to tease upcoming features and allow users to explore shopping outfits and room inspiration using Generative Imagery. Two months after Google first began testing, the official launch of the Virtual Tryon feature will be made. This feature works by allowing users to upload photos of themselves and virtually try out the clothing. This feature is launched in the US today, and try out apparel items on Google Shopping Graphs across search,…