Author: TechBrunch
The internet is full of deepfakes, most of which are nude. According to a report by Home Security Heroes, deepfake porn makes up 98% of all deepfake videos online. Thanks to easy-to-use and freely available generative AI tools, the number of deepfakes online, many of which are non-consensual, has skyrocketed 550% from 2019 to 2023. Laws against non-consensual deepfakes have been slow to emerge, at least in the United States, but a new tool in Google Search is making it a little easier to remove them. Google recently introduced changes to search to combat deepfake pornography, including tweaks to its…
New research has found that malicious hackers could take control of Ecovacs vacuum cleaners and lawnmower robots, using the devices' cameras and microphones to spy on their owners. Security researchers Dennis Giese and Braelyn will be presenting their work on Ecovacs robots in detail at the Defcon hacking conference on Saturday. After analyzing several Ecovacs products, the researchers found several issues that could be exploited to hack the robots via Bluetooth and secretly turn on their microphones and cameras remotely. “Their security was really, really, really, really bad,” Giese told TechCrunch in an interview before the talk. The researchers said…
There's been a lot of talk on Threads about a “mass exodus” from X. Anecdotally, at least, new users and other online friends are flocking from Elon Musk's X to Meta's Threads, some deactivating their X accounts in the process. But while this chatter and various hashtag trends like “Xodus” and “TwitterExodus” have filled users' timelines, revealing a mass migration of users from X to Threads over the past week, app store and website traffic data has yet to reflect any major shifts between the two platforms. Threads, Meta's Twitter-esque, less politically charged version of the social network, has been…
Substack is opening up to more users with its recent announcement that anyone can now publish content on the platform without having to open a publication. With this change, Substack appears to be trying to attract more types of writers and content creators, not just those interested in producing regularly-distributed, long-form writing. Though Substack is primarily known as a newsletter platform, the company has recently taken big steps to make the service more like a social network with the introduction of social features like tweet-like notes and DMs, and this latest change takes that ambition even further as you no…
Earlier this year, an international coalition of law enforcement agencies took control of the dark web site of the notorious ransomware group LockBit, replacing its contents with the now-familiar message from authorities: “This site is now under law enforcement control.” The operation didn't disrupt the group's activities for long, as the group set up a new one soon after it was taken down. But then, on May 6, authorities updated LockBit's old site page, announcing that they would be revealing the identity of LockBit's administrators. A box on the site read, “Who is LockBitSupp?” and also displayed a 24-hour countdown.…
Welcome to Startups Weekly, your weekly dose of the can't miss happenings from the startup world. Want to receive it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week we cover AI founders playing musical chairs, big defense tech investments, and other issues at Techstars. This week's most interesting startup stories Image credit: TechCrunch Founders and senior executives from some of the hottest AI startups are flying around this week. OpenAI personnel changes: John Shulman, one of OpenAI's co-founders, left the company in May to join rival AI startup Anthropic, following former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, who launched…
Lyft is working on a new feature that could help ease the pain of price spikes. Lyft says Price Lock allows users to pay a monthly fee to set a price cap for specific routes at specific times. So while it might be especially convenient for people who rely on Lyft for their daily commute, it's not so convenient for people on their way home from a big concert and wanting to avoid a steep fare trying to hail a ride at the same time as everyone else. Lyft said it's currently testing the feature across the US and won't…
The Startup Battlefield is the centerpiece of Disrupt, and we can't wait to see who will be selected from the thousands of applicants to pitch to a panel of top VCs at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, taking place in San Francisco from October 28-30. The event is always epic, with all applicants hoping to make a major impact on the world. We're excited to announce our first group of investors who will be evaluating startups and holding engaging, revealing Q&As after each presentation. Stay tuned for more names to be announced soon. Judges' feedback provides insight into the criteria they use…
AI was prominent in the news cycle again this week. On this Friday's TechCrunch Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Mary Ann Azevedo, and Becca Szkutak kick off the show by analyzing a proposed bill aimed at regulating AI at the model level. Naturally, some VCs, founders, students, and professors are making a big fuss about this. But you have to ask: is regulation in the name of safety such a bad thing? The short answer is: it depends. The three then talked about the week's deals, including a potential new investment from OpenAI in webcam maker Opal. They also discussed major…
“It's not the heat, it's the humidity,” as a father somewhere said. Your kids might frown, especially if they've ever spent a summer in the desert Southwest, but Dad is at least partly right: High humidity not only makes people less comfortable, it also puts a strain on air conditioners; half of the power used by a typical air conditioner is used to remove moisture from the air. Air conditioning is a major concern for companies like Amazon, Walmart, UPS and FedEx, who operate huge warehouses where temperatures can become uncomfortably, or even dangerously, high. One startup is trying to…