Author: TechBrunch

Bluesky gained 2 million new users last week, but this can only mean that something fishy is going on with X. In fact, X has been banned in Brazil, and the platform stands to lose an estimated 40 million monthly active users. X's battle with the Brazilian government began in April when Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes demanded the removal of seven accounts that had posted false information supporting former President Jair Bolsonaro. Musk, who describes himself as a “free speech absolutist,” has responded to similar requests from the Indian and Turkish governments to take down the accounts,…

For those college students who are happy with dating apps (and there aren't many), Tinder on Wednesday announced a series of updates to Tinder U, an in-app feature aimed at current college students ages 18 to 24. These include new badges that can be added to your profile, such as graduation year, major, clubs and Greek life. Other smaller updates include a more simplified sign-up for students and an exclusive Tinder U app icon for iOS users. Tinder is also offering U.S. students a 50% discount on Tinder's premium subscriptions (Plus, Gold and Platinum) in hopes of attracting more paying…

The European Union's lead privacy watchdog for X (formerly Twitter) has closed legal proceedings against the social media platform for processing user data to train AI models without their consent, after the company announced it had agreed to permanently abide by commitments it made before an Irish High Court judge last month. In early August, X agreed to suspend the processing of European users' data for training AI models after the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) filed a lawsuit against the Elon Musk-owned company for allegedly using personal data without permission to train its AI chatbot, Grok. Meta has faced…

Twitter tried to build a TV app a few years ago, but was met with a lukewarm response and ultimately abandoned the effort. Now, as it looks to revive its advertising business, it's doing so with a new Twitter X. The company announced a new TV app that will be available in “multiple app stores” as part of a broader effort to attract more advertisers, creators and partners around its “video-first platform.” The company added that the video pivot will also include a new video tab on X itself. The tab has not yet launched. The user is The beta…

Navin Chaddha, leader and managing partner of the Mayfield Fund, a 55-year-old venture capital firm, tends to approach venture investing a little differently than other established firms. When Mayfield raised $955 million last year, Chaddha told TechCrunch that the company didn't need billions of dollars because “copying others is a strategy that's asking for disaster, it's a strategy that's asking for failure.” The company is also taking another step that looks unique: Mayfield announced Wednesday that it is launching “AI Garage,” a $100 million initiative aimed at ideation-stage founders interested in building AI teammate companies. AI Garage wants to differentiate…

The deadline to take advantage of student pass discounts for TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 is fast approaching: students and alumni can save up to $200 until September 6th at 11:59pm PST. With classes back in full swing and the job market tougher than ever for recent graduates, we understand how tight money can be. We're offering this discount to help those feeling financial pressure. Network with 10,000 tech, startup, and venture capital leaders and kick-start your career at Disrupt 2024, taking place October 28-30 at Moscone West in San Francisco. It's the perfect way to boost your first job prospects after…

Venture capital firm Slauson & Co. has closed a second fund of $100 million, a big increase from its initial $75 million fund. “We're investing in everyone,” Ajay Lelan, a partner at Slauson & Co., told TechCrunch, adding that the firm wants to include all perspectives in its products and services. The firm's initial portfolio includes e-commerce platform The Folklore Group and food logistics company Prado. “We're investing in a way that is more reflective of the changing demographics of the country.” A lot has changed since Slauson & Company partners Lelan Clements and Austin Clements launched their venture fund…

Anthropic is launching a new subscription plan for its AI chatbot Claude for enterprise customers looking for greater administrative control and enhanced security. Claude Enterprise competes with OpenAI's business-only solution ChatGPT Enterprise, which was released about a year ago. Claude Enterprise allows businesses to upload their own corporate knowledge to Anthropic's AI chatbot, which can then analyze the information and answer questions about it, create graphics and simple web pages, and act as a business-specific AI assistant. Anthropic seems to be trying to catch up with OpenAI and bring Claude to all the places ChatGPT already exists. The startup has…

Safe Superintelligence (SSI), an AI startup co-founded by former OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, has raised over $1B in funding from investors including NFDG (an investment partnership run by Nat Friedman and SSI CEO Daniel Gross), a16z, Sequoia, DST Global and SV Angel. SSI told Reuters it plans to use the funding to acquire computing power and hire researchers and engineers in both Palo Alto and Tel Aviv, though it has not yet said what exactly it will research. Reuters reported, citing sources, that the new funding values ​​SSI at $5 billion. Prior to SSI, Sutskever led OpenAI's now-disbanded Superalignment…

According to the American Gaming Association, the U.S. sports betting market generated $10.9 billion in revenue across casinos, sportsbooks and iGaming in 2023. One of the reasons the industry is so lucrative is because the majority of people who bet on sports lose. DubClub, a three-year-old San Francisco-based startup, is looking to change that. “When it comes to betting on sports, they're at a structural disadvantage against sportsbooks,” DubClub co-founder and CEO Ryan Gartner told TechCrunch. “They have more data than the average person. These companies make money when people lose.” DubClub wants to help amateur bettors win more by…