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…

Egyptian financial services provider MNT-Halan valued at $1B in $400M funding

February 1, 2023

Egyptian fintech and e-commerce ecosystem MNT-Halan has raised up to $400 million in equity and debt financing from local and global investors as it continues to serve underbanked and unbanked customers in the North African country. The round includes $260 million in equity financing and $140 million through two securitized bond issuances secured within the […]

Egyptian financial services provider MNT-Halan valued at $1B in $400M funding by Tage Kene-Okafor originally published on TechCrunch

Superstrata e-bike review: Rebel without a cause

February 1, 2023

Superstrata’s e-bike is a strange specimen — there’s no two ways about it. In some ways that makes sense; the bike’s concept, borne out in seamless 3D-printed carbon fiber, springs from an equally strange premise. We’ll get into that. Talking to Sonny Vu, founder of Superstrata’s parent company Arevo, the bikes were crafted not out […]

Superstrata e-bike review: Rebel without a cause by Taylor Hatmaker originally published on TechCrunch

Energy X secures $20M at $120M valuation to slash building sector emissions

February 1, 2023

Countries worldwide have pledged to reduce their energy usage and reach net-zero energy targets by 2050. To get there, they will need to find clever ways to decarbonize especially dirty businesses, including the buildings sector. The push to clean up the built environment has spawned a lot policy, as well as overlapping acronyms, including net-zero […]

Energy X secures $20M at $120M valuation to slash building sector emissions by Kate Park originally published on TechCrunch

OpenAI releases tool to detect AI-generated text, including from ChatGPT

January 31, 2023

After telegraphing the move in media appearances, OpenAI has launched a tool that attempts to distinguish between human-written and AI-generated text — like the text produced by the company’s own ChatGPT and GPT-3 models. The classifier isn’t particularly accurate — its success rate is around 26%, OpenAI notes — but OpenAI argues that it, when […]

OpenAI releases tool to detect AI-generated text, including from ChatGPT by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

DOJ requests Autopilot, FSD documents from Tesla

January 31, 2023

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked Tesla for documents related to its branded Full Self-Driving and Autopilot advanced driver assistance systems, the automaker disclosed in a securities filing. Tesla said in the filing it “has received requests from the DOJ for documents related to Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD features.” “To our knowledge no government agency […]

DOJ requests Autopilot, FSD documents from Tesla by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch

Peacock kills its free tier option for new customers

January 31, 2023

Peacock is no longer offering its free tier to new customers, a spokesperson for NBCUniversal confirmed to TechCrunch on Tuesday. The company says it’s shifting its focus to its Premium offering, and that doing so will allow the streaming service to remain competitive in the marketplace. The change was first reported by The Streamable. The […]

Peacock kills its free tier option for new customers by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch

Spotify’s test of a Friends tab on mobile hints at expanded social ambitions

January 31, 2023

Spotify’s success with its year-end review known as Wrapped, designed for social sharing, may be pushing the company toward building more social experiences directly into its mobile app. The company for many months has been testing different iterations of a “friends activity” tab on its mobile app, and investors have now taken notice. During the […]

Spotify’s test of a Friends tab on mobile hints at expanded social ambitions by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch