Technology

Blackbird AI, a startup developing AI-powered software for risk intelligence, today announced that it raised $20 million in a Series B funding round led by Ten Eleven Ventures. Bringing New York-based Blackbird’s total raised to $30 million, the tranche also had contributions from Dorilton Capital, Generation Ventures StartFast Ventures and Trousdale Ventures as well as […]

Blackbird lands $20M investment to expand its risk management tools by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

Amazon and Disney announced Thursday that “Hey Disney!,” the new voice assistant built on Alexa technology, is officially available in the U.S. It’s available for most voice-activated Echo devices. Hey Disney! marks the first time that an Alexa Custom Assistant (ACA) has launched on Echo devices inside customers’ homes. ACA allows companies to customize Alexa’s […]

Amazon’s ‘Hey Disney!’ voice assistant is now available by Lauren Forristal originally published on TechCrunch

While the U.K. and U.S. try to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision over concerns it will kill competition in games distribution,  competition appears to be alive and well in another (smaller) area of gaming: modding and analytics. Wargraphs, a one-man-band startup behind a popular companion app for League of Legends called Porofessor, which helps players […]

Wargraphs, a gaming startup with only one employee and no outside funding, sells for $54M by Ingrid Lunden originally published on TechCrunch

A music publisher’s coalition that includes big names like Universal Music Corp., BMG, Warner Chapell, and Sony Music Publishing is suing Twitter for copyright infringement. The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), representing 17 publishers, listed 1,700 songs for which it sent multiple copyright violation notices to the social network. The lawsuit, filed in Federal District […]

Twitter is facing a $250 million lawsuit filed by major music publishers by Ivan Mehta originally published on TechCrunch

The corporate venture arm of automaker Stellantis has invested about one-third of its 300 million euro ($324M) fund into 10 startups that cover everything from battery technology and holographic augmented reality to sustainable manufacturing and even e-bikes. Stellantis Ventures said Wednesday it also invested in an unnamed venture capital firm’s mobility fund. Stellantis didn’t disclose […]

Stellantis has invested about one-third of its 300M euro fund into 10 startups by Kirsten Korosec originally published on TechCrunch

The UK’s data protection watchdog has fired its most explicit warning shot yet at generative AI developers — saying it expects them to address privacy risks before bringing their products to market. In a blog post trailing remarks the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) exec director of regulatory risk, Stephen Almond, will make at a conference later […]

Don’t rush generative AI apps to market without tackling privacy risks, says UK watchdog by Natasha Lomas originally published on TechCrunch

Clop, the ransomware gang responsible for exploiting a critical security vulnerability in a popular corporate file transfer tool, has begun listing victims of the mass-hacks, including a number of U.S. banks and universities. The Russia-linked ransomware gang has been exploiting the security flaw in MOVEit Transfer, a tool used by corporations and enterprises to share […]

Ransomware gang lists first victims of MOVEit mass-hacks, including US banks and universities by Carly Page originally published on TechCrunch