Author: TechBrunch
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022. The Wall Street Journal reported that the conversation raised national security concerns among some intelligence officials. At one point, Putin reportedly asked Musk not to launch his satellite-based internet service, Starlink, in Taiwan as a favor to Chinese leader Xi Jinping. As the WSJ points out, Musk's and Russia's interests have increasingly overlapped over the past year. Russia is using Musk's social network X to run a disinformation campaign about vice presidential candidate Tim Walz and the federal government's response to…
Apple released iOS 18.2 to developer beta users earlier this week. This version shipped with a number of AI features, including Gemmoji, Image Playground, and ChatGPT integration, but the company also shipped a new default menu for changing the default apps. You're also not limited to web browsers, as you can change the default app for messages and calls. Previously, the company only allowed changes to the default email and browser apps. These settings were located in the Safari and Mail menus. iOS 18.2 provides a dedicated menu for changing all default apps. The Default Apps menu description says, “Manage…
A new app called Screenable helps parents introduce their kids to technology by turning their iPhone or iPad into a starter phone. This app is designed to grow with your child as it offers different modes for children of different ages. First, the app's “Dumb Phone” mode essentially turns the iPhone into a traditional flip phone, allowing your child to only access phone, FaceTime, and Messages apps. Screenable doesn't allow parents to limit who their kids talk to, but they can use Apple's parental controls to limit interactions to only certain numbers. Dumb Phone settings also allow parents to give…
Google is revamping the Google Calendar web interface to align with Material Design 3 guidelines and adding support for dark mode. The update applies to more “modern and accessible” controls such as buttons, dialogs and sidebars, the company said. Screenshots from the Google Workspace blog show that buttons and dialogs have rounded corners and a revised color scheme. Google has also updated icons and typefaces throughout the Calendar UI to improve readability and clarity. Google Calendar finally supports dark mode Image credit: Google The best part of this update (at least for me) is dark mode support. You can choose…
Google announced Wednesday that it is revamping the Google Calendar web interface in accordance with Material Design 3 guidelines. This update also includes support for dark mode. Updated elements include more “modern and accessible” controls such as buttons, dialogs, and sidebars. According to the company. Screenshots on the Google Workspace blog show that the company is choosing more rounded or pill-shaped icons and dialogs instead of squares or rectangles with edges, and also that they're different from the current interface. Differences in the compared color schemes are suggested. Google is also updating the typeface throughout the Calendar UI to improve…
OpenAI plans to release its next frontier AI model, internally codenamed Orion, by December of this year, The Verge reported on Thursday. Unlike previous releases, the company reportedly plans to gradually release the model to trusted partners before rolling it out broadly through ChatGPT. An OpenAI spokesperson told TechCrunch that the report is not accurate, but would not provide further details. The Verge writes that Microsoft engineers will have access to Orion as early as November, although it's unclear what OpenAI will ultimately call this model. The o1 series of models was codenamed “strawberry” within OpenAI for several months before…
Joby Aviation, an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft startup, has launched a public offering to sell up to $200 million in common stock, according to a regulatory filing. Joby said the proceeds from the procurement, along with existing cash, will be used to support certification and manufacturing efforts, preparation for commercial launch in 2025, and general working capital. The eVTOL company added that it intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase an additional $30 million in common stock. Next year, Joby, along with partners Delta Air Lines and Uber, plans to launch air taxis for urban…
The ransomware attack earlier this year on UnitedHealth's health tech company Change Healthcare is likely the largest data breach of U.S. health and medical data in history. Months after the February data breach, a “significant percentage of people living in the United States” are receiving email notifications that their personal and health information was stolen by cybercriminals during the Change Healthcare cyberattack. . At least 100 million people are currently known to be affected by this breach. Change Healthcare processes billing and insurance for hundreds of thousands of hospitals, pharmacies, and medical practices across the U.S. healthcare industry. As such,…
Lumen Orbit has closed an oversubscribed eight-figure seed round of more than $10 million, sources with knowledge of the details told TechCrunch. If that happens, this would be one of the hottest deals in the latest Y Combinator batch, if not the hottest. The Redmond, Washington-based startup is pursuing the moonshot idea of building a network of data centers in space that can scale to gigawatts of capacity and be used to train large-scale AI models. Lumen Orbit declined to comment. Multiple VCs told TC that the company passed YC's Summer 2024 batch and received significant attention from VCs. This…
In a blog post on Thursday, Perplexity hit back at media companies skeptical of the benefits of AI in response to a lawsuit News Corp filed against the company earlier this week. The complaint alleges that Perplexity engaged in large-scale copyright infringement against Dow Jones and the New York Post. Several other media organizations have made similar accusations against Perplexity, including Forbes, The New York Times, and Wired. “There have been approximately 30 lawsuits against media companies' generative AI tools. A common theme among these complaints is 'I wish this technology didn't exist,'” the Perplexity team said in a blog.…