Author: TechBrunch
Online dating can be challenging in itself, but it's especially difficult for gamers, many of whom describe themselves as neurodiverse and introverted. Date Like Goblins is an online dating platform that takes its name from “Goblin Mode,” which means being unashamedly true to yourself, and aims to make dating a more casual and fun way. Set to launch this fall, Date Like Goblins is built for the gaming community, allowing users to connect over voice chat while playing video games. The platform announced a Kickstarter campaign on Wednesday, offering backers the chance to secure early access to the platform and…
Farms generate a lot of data. From machinery to irrigation systems, farms generate a ton of information that's useful to both the farms themselves and the companies that service them. Traditionally, this data has been siloed in different formats, making it difficult to read and organize. Leaf is looking to change that. New York-based Leaf is looking to build a Plaid for farm data, co-founder and CEO Bailey Stockdale told TechCrunch. The company will take unstructured farm data, standardize it and load it into application programming interfaces (APIs). That will allow Leaf's clients, which range from crop insurers to ag…
AI travel agency startup Mindtrip on Tuesday released a feature that lets users save locations and create itineraries from multiple locations across the web. Mindtrip lets you insert links, such as Reddit posts or blogs, and ask your AI assistant to create an itinerary based on the places mentioned. You can also see these places on a map and easily save them to your favorites or travel list. You can also use YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram links to create a list of places mentioned in the video. Currently, the tool only works with TikTok videos with text overlay. For YouTube…
It's not uncommon for developers working at any size company to struggle to keep track of all the software development-related tasks and bugs they need to address. According to a 2024 survey by Dynatrace, 88% of technology leaders say that the complexity of their tech stack has increased in the past year, and that this increased complexity has made it harder to deliver satisfying customer experiences. There are plenty of surveillance vendors offering their own products as a solution, but Hannes Lenke, CEO and co-founder of surveillance and monitoring company Checkly, argues that many are too expensive to use at…
It's incredibly easy to release carbon into the atmosphere and accelerate climate change. But it's much harder to remove it. Startups are experimenting with large-scale industrial systems to remove pollutants from the air, facilities that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build. So some other founders are thinking, why not let plants do the heavy lifting? For Jason Aramburu and Morgan Williams, the answer was clear. But while some founders burn plant waste to fuel power plants and then capture the carbon, Aramburu and Williams turned to the centuries-old method of turning waste biomass into biochar, a charcoal-like…
Threads has made it easy to explore trending topics on the platform. Instagram head Adam Mosseri said Tuesday that U.S. users will now see a label above posts that highlights related trending topics. When they tap on the label, they can see more posts related to that topic, and a new window will appear with “Top” and “Recent” tabs that let them filter posts. “We hope this makes it easier for you to find posts and follow conversations relevant to your interests,” Mosseri said in the thread. Threads began testing Trending Topics in the US in March and made the…
A group of researchers said they found that design vulnerabilities in several dating apps, including the popular Bumble and Hinge, could allow malicious users or stalkers to pinpoint a victim's location to within two metres. In a new academic paper, researchers from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium detailed their analysis of 15 popular dating apps, of which Badoo, Bumble, Grindr, happn, Hinge and Hily all had the same vulnerability that could potentially help malicious users pinpoint other users' near-exact locations, the researchers said. While both apps don't reveal precise location information when displaying the distance between users on…
Alex Cook, a partner at Tiger Global who oversaw some of the firm's largest fintech investments, is leaving the firm after about seven years at the firm, three people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. Cook recently broke the news to several people close to him about his departure but did not explain why he was leaving. The sources asked not to be identified because the conversations are private. A Tiger Global spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His departure joins other notable departures from Tiger Global: Scott Shleifer, who led the firm's private equity business,…
A number of AI bills have been moving through Congress recently, and OpenAI is supporting several of them. OpenAI on Tuesday endorsed three Senate bills that could shape the federal government's stance on artificial intelligence. One of the bills, the Future of AI Innovation Act, would formally authorize the American AI Safety Institute as a federal agency that sets standards and guidelines for AI models. “We have consistently supported the lab's mission to lead the U.S. government's efforts to ensure cutting-edge AI systems are developed and deployed safely,” Anna Makanju, OpenAI's vice president of international affairs, said in a LinkedIn…
Software supply chains face threats from all sides: According to a 2024 report from the Ponemon Institute, more than half of organizations have experienced a software supply chain attack, with 54% experiencing an attack within the past year. Supply chain attacks, which typically target third-party vendor services and open source software that make up a company's technology stack, can cause financial harm to organizations. According to a study by Juniper Research, supply chain cyber attacks could cost the global economy approximately $81 billion in lost revenue and damages by 2026. The White House has signaled its intention to address the…