June 19, 2025

It’s pretty easy to get DeepSeek to talk dirty

AI companions like Replika are designed to engage in intimate exchanges, but people use general-purpose chatbots for sex talk too, despite their stricter content moderation policies. Now new research shows that not all chatbots are equally willing to talk dirty: DeepSeek is the easiest to convince. But other AI chatbots can be enticed too, if…

TCL Podcast: Hear how to Cambly found profitability before its Series A

February 6, 2023

Cambly was founded in 2012, and has since raised $80.29m from leading venture capital firms. Success didn’t come overnight. The company had to weather a failed fundraise and countless competitors on its way to becoming a market leader. I had Cambly CEO Sameer Shariff and Benchmark partner Sarah Tavel on TechCrunch Live. It was the […]

TCL Podcast: Hear how to Cambly found profitability before its Series A by Matt Burns originally published on TechCrunch

The Download: trapped by grief algorithms, and image AI privacy issues

February 6, 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. When my dad was sick, I started Googling grief. Then I couldn’t escape it. —Tate Ryan-Mosley, senior tech policy reporter I’ve always been a super-Googler, coping with uncertainty by trying to learn as…

Breef raises $16M to match brands with marketing agencies

February 6, 2023

Breef, a platform that allows brands to manage and service marketing agency projects, today announced that it raised $16 million in a Series A round (an undisclosed portion of which was debt) led by Greycroft with participation from BDMI, UTA.VC, Afterpay’s Touch Ventures and UC Berkeley’s The House Fund. The new capital brings Breef’s total […]

Breef raises $16M to match brands with marketing agencies by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

Meta fails in bid to be removed as a party from an exploitation lawsuit against it and moderation partner Sama in Kenya

February 6, 2023

More drama is afoot for Facebook’s parent company Meta on the African continent. A Kenyan court today rejected Meta’s request to be removed as party in a lawsuit filed last year against it and Sama, its main subcontractor for content moderation in Africa. Together, the two are being accused of exploitation and union busting. Meta […]

Meta fails in bid to be removed as a party from an exploitation lawsuit against it and moderation partner Sama in Kenya by Annie Njanja originally published on TechCrunch

When my dad was sick, I started Googling grief. Then I couldn’t escape it.

February 6, 2023
I’ve always been a super-Googler, coping with uncertainty by trying to learn as much as I can about whatever might be coming. That included my father’s throat cancer. Initially I focused on the purely medical. I endeavored to learn as much as I could about molecular biomarkers, transoral robotic surgeries, and the functional anatomy of…

Post Series-B, anti-fraud platform SEON acquires AML startup Complytron for a rumoured €2.5M

February 6, 2023

Budapest-based SEON, — an anti-fraud platform which looks at a customer’s ‘digital footprint’ to weed out false accounts and thus prevent fraudulent transactions —  has acquired compliance and AML specialist firm,  Complytron, also based out of Budapest. Terms of the deal were not officially released, but Techcrunch sources said the deal was in the region […]

Post Series-B, anti-fraud platform SEON acquires AML startup Complytron for a rumoured €2.5M by Mike Butcher originally published on TechCrunch