Author: TechBrunch

People in the European Union now have access to alternative app stores thanks to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a new regulation designed to promote competition in the app ecosystem. Like Apple's App Store, alternative app marketplaces offer easy access to the broader world of apps, but instead of apps going through Apple's App Review process, apps on these third-party marketplaces must go through a notarization process to ensure they meet some “fundamental platform integrity criteria,” such as being malware-free. However, each store can review and approve apps according to its own policies. Matters regarding support and refunds are also…

After tech giant Cisco announced plans for its second round of job cuts this year, employees told TechCrunch they won't know if they'll be affected for nearly a month. Reuters reported earlier this month that Cisco was planning its second round of job cuts this year after laying off about 4,000 employees in February. Cisco acknowledged in an SEC filing last week that it was cutting 7% of its workforce. According to multiple Cisco employees, employees have already been notified that the new job cuts are coming, but the company is refusing to notify affected employees until September 16th. Have…

OpenAI has inked a deal with Condé Nast, publisher of well-known magazines such as The New Yorker, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Bon Appétit, and Wired, to surface articles owned by Condé Nast in OpenAI's AI-powered chatbot platform ChatGPT and its search prototype SearchGPT. Specific terms of the partnership were not disclosed, but Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch suggested in a memo to staff that the “multi-year” deal would include some form of payment from OpenAI, and a Condé Nast spokesperson told TechCrunch that OpenAI would have permission to train on Condé Nast content. OpenAI declined to comment. Condé Nast is the…

The release of ChatGPT in November 2022 sparked a new wave of AI companies. It also drew attention to companies that were already building in the space, like Etched. Etched co-founder and CEO Gavin Uberti said in a recent episode of TechCrunch's podcast “Found” that his company is “standing on the shoulders of giants.” The company came up with the idea to develop a chip focused on the Transformer model a few months before the AI ​​boom began in November 2022, but it still played a major role in the company's launch. “When we started, GPT 3 was still a…

Fabric Cryptography, a hardware startup founded by husband-and-wife MIT and Stanford dropouts Michael Gao and Tina Zhu, wants to democratize modern encryption techniques like zero-knowledge proofs (which allow you to prove what you know without revealing exactly what you know) and fully homomorphic encryption (which allows you to manipulate encrypted data without decrypting it). The co-founders argue that their work can ease the fundamental tension between trust and privacy at a time when companies are collecting increasingly more data on consumers but are less able to protect it. To prove this, the team developed a custom RISC-V-based chip optimized to…

Life sciences investment firm BEVC is raising a $25 million fund targeting climate startups, according to an SEC filing. BEVC is a newcomer, having only launched last year in Berkeley, California. All three co-founders have backgrounds in life sciences, as did its first two investments, Radar Therapeutics and Insamo. But the new filing suggests that its first formal fund will be targeted at climate tech startups. This dual focus makes BEVC the latest life sciences investor to broaden its scope beyond human health to include planetary health: Last year, veteran life sciences investor RA Capital hired a planetary health team,…

As TikTok Shops gain popularity, YouTube is expanding its partnership with Shopify to bring even more brands into its YouTube Shopping Affiliates Program, the company announced on Tuesday. The expanded partnership gives creators access to thousands of new brands they can tag in their shopping videos, up from the few hundred they have access to today. As part of the expansion, all eligible Shopify Plus and Advanced merchants in the U.S. can now sign up for the Shopping Affiliate Program. The YouTube Shopping Affiliate Programme gives creators a way to earn money through their videos and help their viewers discover…

Until recently, saving the world wasn't a profitable endeavor. But as the planet warms, a range of startups and investors have emerged that have made a clear business case for reducing humanity's impact on the planet. We are excited to have Rebecca Hu, co-founder and CEO of Glacier, Allison Wolff, co-founder and CEO of Vibrant Planet, and Hyuk-Jeen Suh, co-founder of Venx and general partner at SkyRiver Ventures, join us on the Builders Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, taking place October 28-30 in San Francisco. During a panel titled “How Startups Can Save the World,” the investor and two founders…

The countdown continues! There are only 4 days left to purchase discounted tickets to TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. Don't miss your chance to save up to $600. Offer expires August 23 at 11:59PM PST. Join 10,000+ passionate startup leaders, founders, and investors at Moscone West in San Francisco from October 28-30. Why should you join? Participate in over 300 roundtable and breakout sessions designed to foster interaction and collaboration with other attendees. Learn from industry leaders in the startup and VC world across six dynamic stages covering AI, SaaS, Fintech, startups, venture capital, space and more. Take advantage of a variety…

On Monday, the US government formally accused Iran of hacking Donald Trump's campaign. In a joint statement issued by the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the three agencies said the intelligence community believes the recently disclosed hacks and leaks against the Trump campaign were perpetrated by Iran. ” [Intelligence Community] “We believe Iran is using social engineering and other means to attempt to gain access to individuals with direct access to presidential elections of both parties. These activities, including theft and leaks, are intended to influence the…