Technology

Announcing the Space Stage agenda at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023

August 1, 2023
We’re out-of-this-world excited to announce that we’ve added a dedicated Space Stage to TechCrunch Disrupt 2023. It joins six other brand-new industry-focused stages — all under one big roof. Plus, we’ve joined forces with the Aerospace Corporation to host the Space Domain Awareness Challenge Pitch-off for startups using AI to analyze satellite data streams. Learn […]

Researchers claim US-registered cloud host facilitated state-backed cyberattacks

August 1, 2023
A little-known cloud company provided web hosting and internet services to more than two dozen different state-sponsored hacking groups and commercial spyware operators, according to researchers at cybersecurity company Halcyon. In a report released on Tuesday, Halcyon said it had identified that the U.S.-registered company Cloudzy was “knowingly or unwittingly” acting as a command-and-control provider […]

There’s no reason to panic over WormGPT

August 1, 2023
As tools for building AI systems, particularly large language models  (LLMs), get easier and cheaper, some are using them for unsavory purposes, like generating malicious code or phishing campaigns. But the threat of AI-accelerated hackers isn’t quite as dire as some headlines would suggest. The dark web creators of LLMs like “WormGPT” and “FraudGPT” advertise […]

Nile, which offers enterprise networks as a service, raises $175M

August 1, 2023
If you ask Pankaj Patel, there’s too much complexity in networks today — particularly enterprise networks. Complexity has been engineered into enterprise networks over a period of decades, in fact, he argues, and it’s happened because incumbents kept adding complexity to enable new functionality. “At some point, the incumbents lost sight of where they were […]

The Download: China’s monkeypox crisis, and fighting AI photo manipulation

August 1, 2023
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. China is suddenly dealing with another public health crisis: mpox The Chinese government is battling a new public health concern: mpox. The World Health Organization reports that China is currently experiencing the world’s…

Tradeshift raises $70M, launches financing JV with HSBC focused on B2B trade

August 1, 2023
Global trade has been in a slump, in part due to ongoing economic pressures in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, with some glimmers of recovery on the horizon, a startup that’s built business around tools to enable B2B trading has raised some money and is launching a JV that it hopes will kickstart […]

Socket lands $20M investment to help companies secure open source software

August 1, 2023
Socket, a startup that provides a scanning tool to detect security vulnerabilities in open source code, today announced that it raised $20 million in a Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The tranche had participation from Abstract Ventures, Wndrco, Unusual Ventures and an impressively high-profile list of angel investors, including the co-founders of […]

Generative AI services pulled from Apple App Store in China ahead of new regulations

August 1, 2023
Multiple generative AI apps have been removed from Apple’s China App Store, two weeks ahead of the country’s new generative AI regulations that are set to take effect on August 15. The move came after Chinese developers received notices from Apple informing them of their apps’ removal. In its letter to OpenCat, a native ChatGPT […]

These new tools could help protect our pictures from AI

August 1, 2023
This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. Earlier this year, when I realized how ridiculously easy generative AI has made it to manipulate people’s images, I maxed out the privacy settings on my social media accounts and swapped…