Timef 03/07/2025

Russian propaganda may be influencing certain answers from AI chatbots including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Meta’s Meta AI, according to a new report. NewsGuard, a company that develops rating systems for news and information websites, claims to have found evidence that a Moscow-based network named “Pravda” is publishing false claims to affect the responses of AI […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

CollX, a company offering an online trading card marketplace, has raised $10 million in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Austin-based Brand Foundry Ventures and Philadelphia-based 114 Ventures, both of which were previous investors in the company. Other investors such as Next Coast Ventures, FJ Labs, and Ben Franklin Technology Partners also participated […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

TechCrunch Sessions: AI kicks off on June 5 in Zellerbach Hall at UC Berkeley — and we want AI leaders to take part in industry-changing conversations. Make your mark by leading breakout sessions and discussions with over 1,200 startup founders, VC leaders, and other industry pioneers at TC Sessions: AI. But don’t wait, you have […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Meta’s next major “open” AI model may have a voice focus, per a report in Financial Times. According to the piece, Meta is planning to introduce improved voice features with Llama 4, the next flagship in its Llama model family, which is expected to arrive in “weeks.” Reportedly, Meta has been particularly focused on allowing […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

X is actively working to expand the reach of xAI’s Grok model to more users on the platform. Multiple users noted today that people can now mention Grok in replies and ask a question to get an explanation about a post. Users of the Elon Musk-owned social media platform could already access Grok through a button […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The FBI is warning that scammers are impersonating the BianLian ransomware gang using fake ransom notes sent to U.S. corporate executives. The fake ransom notes, first reported by U.S. cybersecurity company GuidePoint Security, claim that hackers have gained access to an organization’s network to steal sensitive data, and threaten to publish the stolen data unless […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

SpaceX’s Starship spiraled out of control while in space during a test flight on Thursday, marking the second launch in a row that the vehicle has run into a fatal problem on its way to orbit. The company launched Starship using its Super Heavy booster and things looked normal for the first eight minutes of the […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Google co-founder Larry Page is building a new company called Dynatomics that’s focused on applying AI to product manufacturing, according to The Information. Page is reportedly working with a small group of engineers on AI that can create “highly optimized” designs for objects and then have a factory build them, per The Information. Chris Anderson, […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Intuitive Machines has landed a second spacecraft on the moon, just one year after accomplishing the feat for the first time ever. Unfortunately, much like that first attempt, it seems the company’s spacecraft may have tipped on its side. The lunar lander, called Athena, touched down on the moon’s surface at around 12:30 p.m. ET […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The problematic code changed file permissions that broke some systems, users say. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Scale AI is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor for compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

OpenAI’s flagship AI chatbot, ChatGPT, returned to solid growth in the latter half of 2024, according to a new report published on Thursday by VC firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). While it took ChatGPT nine months to grow from 100 million weekly active users in November 2023 to 200 million in August 2024, it’s now taken […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

DataBreaches.net declined to comply, citing a lack of jurisdiction. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

AI company founders have a reputation for making bold claims about the technology’s potential to reshape fields, particularly the sciences. But Thomas Wolf, Hugging Face’s co-founder and chief science officer, has a more measured take. In an essay published to X on Thursday, Wolf said that he feared AI becoming “yes-men on servers” absent a […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Shield AI is now one of the U.S.'s biggest defense tech startups by valuation, raising $240 million at a $5.3 billion valuation in its latest round. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

An international coalition of law enforcement agencies seized the official website of Garantex, which has previously been sanctioned by the U.S. and E.U. governments. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Nearly 6,500 artists demanded in an open letter that fine art auction house Christie’s cancel its first show dedicated solely to works created with AI. Yet, the show, Augmented Intelligence, went on — and reportedly exceeded expectations. According to Christie’s, the show brought in more than $700,000, with many lots reaching beyond their high estimates. […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s AI-powered chatbot platform, can now directly edit code — if you’re on macOS, that is. The newest version of the ChatGPT app for macOS can take action to edit code in supported developer tools, including Xcode, VS Code, and JetBrains. Users can optionally turn on an “auto-apply” mode so ChatGPT can make edits […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Spotify has acknowledged an issue that’s causing some of its paid Premium subscribers to encounter ads when trying to play music. In an X post published on Thursday by Spotify’s customer service account, the company said it’s looking into the problem and linked to its Community website where the issue has been documented by users […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Mistral AI, the French company behind AI assistant Le Chat and several foundational models, is officially regarded as one of France’s most promising tech startups and is arguably the only European company that could compete with OpenAI. But compared to its $6 billion valuation, its global market share is still relatively low.  However, the recent […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! TechCrunch’s transportation team — well at least myself and senior reporter Rebecca Bellan — are hittin’ the road. Destination: SXSW, the annual tech, music, film, and culture […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

ONE also announced the close of a new funding round. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

On June 5, TechCrunch Sessions: AI will kick off — and you can be part of the industry-changing conversations that will be taking place. We have an open invitation for members of the AI community to lead breakout sessions and discussions with over 1,200 startup founders, VC leaders, and AI aficionados attending our newest event, which […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

A high-profile ex-OpenAI policy researcher, Miles Brundage, took to social media on Wednesday to criticize OpenAI for “rewriting the history” of its deployment approach to potentially risky AI systems. Earlier this week, OpenAI published a document outlining its current philosophy on AI safety and alignment, the process of designing AI systems that behave in desirable […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Large language models work particularly well with raw text. Companies that want to create their own AI workflow know that it has become extremely important to store and index data in a clean format so that this data can be reused for AI processing. That’s why Mistral is launching a new API today for developers […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Intangible AI, now backed by $4 million in seed funding, offers an AI-powered creative tool that allows users to create 3D world concepts with text prompts to aid creative professionals across a variety of industries. The company’s mission is to make the creative process accessible to everyone, including professionals such as filmmakers, game designers, event […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Getting ghosted is never fun. Especially if you’re a founder seeking capital from investors. It’s similar to dating. You might be left wondering “Why is this person not getting back to me? Did I do something wrong?” Did the investor hate the product? Did they not care for me personally?” It’s enough to drive anyone […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Private search engine DuckDuckGo is leaning further into the generative AI opportunity. The non-tracking search engine has been dabbling with expanding the role of AI assistance in its product for the past year, including launching a chatbot-style interface last fall — available at Duck.ai. In a blog post Thursday, the company said the service is […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

More consolidation is playing out in the security industry as platform players scoop up technology to give them deeper expertise in growing business areas. Thursday, Armis, a $4.2 billion specialist in cyber exposure management, said it would be acquiring Otorio, a specialist in securing industrial and physical environments.  Terms of the deal are not being […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Uber executive Sachin Kansal has a reputation for dogfooding — the tactic of using one’s own products and services to root out problems and make improvements. As he ascended Uber’s executive ladder over the past eight years, Kansal ratcheted up 700 trips delivering food or people to their destinations. Lengthy reports, often dozens of pages […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Faireez, which aims to bring “5-star hotel-style housekeeping” to multifamily buildings, is emerging from stealth with $7.5 million in seed funding, the startup told TechCrunch exclusively. Founded in 2023, New York-based Faireez’s goal is to make the cleaning services it offers as customized as possible. It offers a subscription model where each building is assigned […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Reddit announced on Thursday it’s introducing a set of new tools to make it easier for users to participate on its platform. The features are designed to help users find communities, ensure their posts don’t break any rules, and understand how to contribute across the social network. Combined, the features are meant to enhance the […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.