Author: TechBrunch

We're halfway through 2024, but this year has already seen some of the largest and most damaging data breaches in recent history. And just when you thought these hacks couldn't get any worse, they do. From untold amounts of personal customer information being scraped, stolen and posted online to the mass theft of medical data for most people in the United States, the worst data breaches to date in 2024 have already seen at least a billion records stolen and counting. These breaches not only impact the individuals whose data has been irretrievably compromised, but they also embolden criminals who…

Andrei Karpathy, a former head of AI at Tesla and a researcher at OpenAI, is launching Eureka Labs, an “AI-native” education platform. In tech terms, that usually means built from the ground up with AI at its core. While Eureka Labs' ambitions for AI are lofty, the company is starting with a more traditional education approach. San Francisco-based Eureka Labs, which Karpathy registered as a limited liability company in Delaware on June 21, aims to leverage recent advances in generative AI to develop AI teaching assistants that can guide students through course material. According to Karpathy, who posted the news…

Apple originally added the new flashlight UI in the third developer beta of iOS 18, but now that iOS 18 is available as a public beta, you can try out one of iPhone's most underrated additions right now. The company has already introduced a new way to control the True Tone flashlight on the iPhone 14 Pro and 15 Pro models. Unlike the previous on/off and four brightness levels, the new controls include a way to adjust brightness and the width of the beam. The first beta controls were just vertical and horizontal lines, which took some time for users…

There are several shady industries for people who want to monitor or spy on their family members, with app makers selling software, also known as stalkerware, to jealous partners that can remotely access the victim's phone. However, despite how sensitive this data is, a growing number of businesses are losing huge amounts of it. Including the latest hack of mSpy, at least 20 stalkerware companies have been hacked or have had their customers or victims' data leaked online since 2017, according to a TechCrunch tally. That's not a typo: 20 stalkerware companies have been hacked or suffered significant data leaks…

Community colleges are not immune to the current challenges facing higher education. Student enrollment is declining, while institutions continue to raise tuition fees, leading to students failing to complete their programs. Clearly, it's time for the industry to try something new. Tade Oyelinde thinks startups can help. Oyelinde is founder and CEO of Campus, a venture-backed, fully accredited online community college. Campus pays its professors higher salaries than other universities, but students pay less for tuition and get laptops and mentoring. Oyelinde said the system allows him to keep costs low for students while attracting top professors, and many students…

Anthropic on Tuesday launched the Claude Android app to bring its AI chatbot to more users, the company's latest effort to convince users to ditch ChatGPT by making Claude available in more places. The Claude Android app works the same as the iOS version released in May and includes free access to Anthropic's best AI model, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, as well as upgrade plans with Anthropic's Pro and Team subscriptions. Users can sync their conversations with Claude across devices and upload photos and files to the app for real-time image analysis. The Claude Android app also includes real-time language translation,…

Trouble is looming for OpenAI, after a group of whistleblowers accused the company of requiring employees to sign illegally restrictive non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). Lawyers representing these whistleblowers sent a letter to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler arguing that OpenAI's contracts with current and former employees may illegally prevent them from reporting adverse conduct to government agencies. The letter states that OpenAI is requiring employees, former employees and investors to seek prior consent before disclosing any information to the federal government, effectively discouraging anyone from speaking up except for a group of anonymous whistleblowers. The allegations are ominous given that several well-known,…

On the first night of the Republican National Convention, venture capitalist David Sachs took the stage to warn Republicans that “the world is on fire.” The Craft Ventures founder focused primarily on foreign policy during his six-minute speech, a topic he often discusses on the All In podcast, which he co-hosts with fellow investors Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis and David Friedberg. And predictably, as is typical at political conventions, his speech was full of hyperbolic rhetoric placing blame on the state of the country and the world, and on the other party and its president, Joe Biden. For example, Sachs…

A new report says Apple's approach to leveraging the third-party developer community's ideas for new iOS and Mac features and apps could come at a significant cost. You can download the iOS 18 public beta now to see Apple's changes firsthand ahead of its fall release. The changes could affect apps that currently bring in an estimated $393 million in revenue and have been downloaded about 58 million times in the past year, according to an analysis by app intelligence firm Appfigures. At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference every June, the iPhone maker previews upcoming releases of its software and operating…

WhatsApp has announced the launch of a filter called “Favourites,” which allows you to quickly find chats with the people or groups that matter most to you and connect with them via call directly from the top of the Calls tab. The 'Favourites' filter will be available starting Tuesday and to all WhatsApp users in the coming weeks, allowing you to keep all your chats with your close friends or family groups in one place for quick access. The instant messaging app has also added a 'Favourites' section in the calls tab, allowing you to quickly dial your favourite contacts…