Author: TechBrunch

On August 9th, those who previously ran the Startup Incubator Y Combinator events and PR are holding a small invitation-only event with former Andreessen Horowitz social media manager. The To Do List Summit concludes with 80 early-stage founders, and teaches them how to work with the media to run their own social media, organizers promise. The event costs $600. YC fired most of those who took the event between the small layoffs of about a year ago and 2023. These layoffs were surprising at the time, as Y Combinator events have always been a major force in making San Francisco…

Open Source X and Thread competitor Mastodon begins experimenting with a new way to raise funds: in-app donations. On Wednesday, the organization announced it would launch a campaign to introduce banners within Android and iOS apps, urging users to make financial contributions. Initially, this feature is only visible on Mastodon.social and mastodon.online on Mastodon servers that the nonprofit itself runs on. These banners are easy to dismiss and are only shown to those who have an account that has been around for at least four weeks, says Mastodon. The organization promises not to continue encouraging users to donate as well.…

YouTube announced on Wednesday that shorts creators will have access to new generation AI features, including inter-image AI tools and new AI effects. Image-to-Video feature allows users to change images from camera roll to 6-second video. Users will see a selection of suggestions related to the uploaded photos. YouTube says that this feature can be used to add movement to landscape photos, animate photos from everyday photos, and realize group photos. In the example specified on YouTube, this feature turns a static image of a pedestrian signal into a short video, then slowly zooms into a dance version of The…

Google Photos get major AI chops. On Wednesday, Google announced a handful of new features that allow users to become more creative with photo memories, including the option to turn photos into videos and the options to change photos into different styles, such as anime, comics, sketches, and 3D animations. The app also centralizes access to creative tools, including both AI-powered and traditional tools, in the new Create tab of the Photos app. The two newly launched features will be housed in this tab alongside other tools that allow you to create collages, highlight videos and create more. Image credit:…

The UK's Competitive Markets Agency (CMA) announced on Wednesday a proposal to give Apple and Google's mobile platforms “strategic market conditions.” This is to allow regulators to create rules that can change how the app store works and change how mobile software works. This move is designed to create a more open and competitive environment for app economy and user choices. However, Apple and Google pushed back the proposal. Apple says the changes will undermine your security and privacy. The final decision on the matter will arrive in October after the two companies present their lawsuits. Once the proposal passes,…

European officials confirmed the arrest of the suspected administrator behind XSS.IS. According to Europol, the administrator's allegedly arrested in Ukraine on Tuesday. Law enforcement notice regarding XSS reads, “This domain has been seized.” According to a statement by Paris prosecutors, French authorities have obtained a court order to carry out surveillance on Jabber servers used by administrators for instant messaging. The intercepted message allowed “to uncover a large number of illegal activities related to cybercrime and ransomware,” allowing investigators to identify at least $7 million in revenue from cybercrime. The Closed Access Forum has over 50,000 registered users and was…

We recently announced the public stage for TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. This is a new destination for founders navigating the complexities of corporate buildings, from early towing to IPOs. Today we look forward to announcing additions to the agenda that brings more insights and firepower to the stage. Participants in the speaker lineup are Eric Yuan, founder and CEO of Zoom Communications Inc., and Santi Subotovsky, general partner of Emergence. These pioneering leaders share the scaling company's honest perspective and pilot open market preparation, pioneering the pivotal transition. Whether you're starting out or mapping long-term strategies, the Public Stage offers lessons,…

Security researchers say hackers have violated at least 400 organizations by leveraging Microsoft SharePoint's zero-day vulnerability, indicating a sharp increase in the number of compromises detected since the bug was discovered last week. Eye Security, the Dutch cybersecurity company, said it had identified hundreds of SharePoint servers affected by scanning the internet, and that it first identified a vulnerability in SharePoint, the popular server software that companies use to store and share internal documents. Earlier this week, the number was rising from dozens of known compromised servers. Bloomberg reports that one of the affected organizations includes the National Nuclear Security…

Proton, a manufacturer of privacy-focused productivity tools, released an AI assistant called Lumo on Wednesday. The company offers chatbots that do not maintain logs of conversations, and have end-to-end encryption to store chats, providing a ghost mode of conversations that disappears as soon as you close the window. Available via web clients and Android and iOS apps, Lumo does not need to have an account to ask questions using the chatbot. Upload the file and answer the questions to the chatbot. If you have a Proton Drive account, you can connect to LUMO and access files stored in the cloud.…

Meta is introducing additional safeguards for adult-run Instagram accounts, which feature mainly children, the company announced Wednesday. These accounts are automatically placed in the app's strictest messaging settings to prevent unnecessary messages, enabling the platform's “hidden words” feature that allows you to filter offensive comments. The company is also rolling out new safety features for teen accounts. Accounts placed in the new, more stringent messaging settings include accounts run by adults who regularly share photos and videos of their children, and accounts run by parents or talent managers who represent their children. “Though these accounts are used in an overwhelmingly…