Author: TechBrunch

On April 24, US President Joe Biden signed a bill that would ban TikTok if owner ByteDance does not sell the app. The bill requires ByteDance to close the transaction within nine months, with a 90-day extension available to complete the transaction. After this deadline, the US will prohibit app stores from listing the app. TikTok will challenge this decision in court, leading to a lengthy legal battle. However, many countries around the world had already banned the app, and ByteDance had no chance to reinstate it. These moves impacted ByteDance's operations, creators, and startups related to the creator economy…

Ding, ding, ding! Dinner is ready. Fresh out of a cold can. Petlibro, a pet tech startup that designs automatic food and water dispensers for cats, launched its first refrigerated smart feeder on Thursday. The company's new Polar Wet Food Feeder aims to solve a widely known problem among pet owners: how to keep wet food fresh while your cat is away. Although dry cat food can be kept outside for extended periods of time, scientists theorize that cats prefer wet food because it resembles their natural diet. Some pet parents also avoid dry kibble because of its high carbohydrate…

Carv, a data layer platform that enables Web3 gaming, AI companies, and gamers to control and monetize their data, has raised $10 million in a Series A round led by Tribe Capital and IOSG Ventures. Carv's new round comes about five months after it received a strategic investment led by HashKey Capital. The company has not disclosed its valuation or the total amount of funding raised so far. In 2022, Carv was valued at around $40 million when it raised a seed round led by Vertex Ventures, Temasek's VC arm. Carv will initially focus on two key industries: gaming and…

Two veteran security experts are launching a startup aimed at helping other cybersecurity product manufacturers improve their ability to protect Apple devices. Their startup is called DoubleYou, and the name is taken from the initials of co-founder Patrick Wardle, who worked for the National Security Agency from 2006 to 2008. Wardle then worked for years as an offensive security researcher before transitioning to independent research for Apple. Defensive security for macOS. Since 2015, Wardle has been developing free, open-source macOS security tools under the Objective-See Foundation, which also hosts the Apple-focused Objective By The Sea conference. His co-founder is Mikhail…

ICICI Bank, one of India's top private banks, has released sensitive data on thousands of new credit cards to customers who were not the intended recipients. The Mumbai-based bank confirmed to TechCrunch on Thursday that its digital channels had “erroneously mapped” approximately 17,000 credit cards issued over the past few days to the “wrong” users. The issue comes after some customers took to social media to complain about the bank's iMobile Pay app exposing unknown customers' credit card details, including the full number and Card Verification Value (CVV). This came to light after I raised my concerns. “Our customers are…

Generative AI has captured the public's imagination with breakthroughs in creating elaborate, plausible, and authentic text and images from verbal prompts. But the problem, and it's a common one, is that if you look closely, the results are often far from perfect. Whether it's pointing out something wrong with your finger or a tile slipping on the floor, that's what math problems are all about. The problem is that sometimes the numbers don't add up. Synthesia, one of the more ambitious AI startups currently working on videos, specifically custom avatars designed for business users to create promotions, training, and other…

TikTok has suspended its gamification features in the European Union following intervention by the European Union. The announcement garnered little attention when it was made late Wednesday local time, with attention focused on TikTok's mounting legal troubles in the United States. TikTok's move comes as the EU launches an investigation into the so-called “tasks and rewards” mechanism of the TikTok Lite app, citing concerns about addictive design that could pose mental health risks to young people. It took place just two days after. This feature allows users to earn points by watching and liking TikTok videos. TikTok's parent company, ByteDance,…

It remains to be seen whether cloud gaming will be the next big thing. The appeal is obvious. The game you're playing runs in a nearby data center, and the video output is streamed directly to your local device. When you interact with the game, everything is relayed to the data center. When it works, it's a great experience. A flexible and easy way to play games on multiple devices without purchasing new hardware. Therefore, many companies have launched services that allow you to play games remotely. These include Nvidia's GeForce Now service, Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming, Amazon Luna, and…

As the world's population continues to grow, many companies are addressing the need to feed everyone. Paris-based Edonia is one of the startups working on creating protein raw materials using microalgae. Edonia joins companies such as Bevel, AlgaeCore Technologies, Algenuity and NewFish that are tapping into the global commercial algae market expected to be valued at $25.4 billion by 2033. The company is currently funding an initiative with €2 million ($2.1 million) to produce plant-based ingredients from microalgae biomass produced from spirulina and chlorella, which Valentin claims are more nutritious than meat. “We're making progress,” Edonia CEO Hugo Valentin told…

Swiggy plans to raise $1.25 billion in an initial public offering and is seeking shareholder approval, the Indian food delivery and instant commerce startup said in a local regulatory filing. . The Bangalore-headquartered startup, which competes with listed Zomato and StepStone Group-backed unicorn Zepto, has raised $450 million through a new share issue and $800 million from existing backers in its IPO. The company said in a filing that it plans to offer the company's shares. Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The Indian startup ecosystem has been eagerly awaiting Swiggy's public launch scheduled for later this year. Swiggy's backers include Prosus,…