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More than two dozen suspected new scam compounds in war-torn Myanmar have been built or expanded significantly in the past six months, according to satellite images and analysis of the area reviewed by WIRED. The apparent growth of the criminal operations indicates how a purported crackdown on the sites last year did little to stop the highly lucrative scamming industry.At least 25 alleged scamming sites have appeared in the Myawaddy region of Myanmar, close to the country’s border with Thailand, since around the start of the year, according to an analysis of satellite images by the International Justice Mission, an…
Dora Palfi comes from a family of teachers. Naturally, then, “it was instilled in me that education is something that can completely alter the trajectory of your life,” she told TechCrunch. In 2018, she and Beatrice Ionascu launched Imagi, a company that helps provide K-12 students and teachers with the tools to teach and build curriculum around coding, basic computer skills, and, as of last year, AI literacy. On Thursday, the company announced a $4.5 million seed round, with investors including Brighteye Ventures, Day One Capital, and artist Will.i.am. Notably, last November, the company announced a partnership with the vibe-coding…
Mike Lindell is a former drug addict turned pillow salesman who has no experience in political office. He has spent the last six years, and millions of dollars, boosting election conspiracy theories, even claiming that the “devil” stole the 2020 election.Lindell is now running for Minnesota governor and already has President Donald Trump’s endorsement.“Mike will be SPECTACULAR!!! He truly loves Minnesota, as do I, and wants to bring it back from oblivion and embarrassment,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Over the weekend, Trump praised Lindell in person at a fundraiser, and boosted Lindell again on Tuesday, writing: “Mike Lindell would…
Google is adding a selfie video option as a new way for users to log in to their accounts, the company announced on Thursday, joining a growing wave of tech companies betting that biometrics and not passwords are the future of identity verification online. The tech giant says selfie videos give users more options to sign in if they’re ever locked out or don’t have access to their usual phone or computer. Users set up a selfie video by looking at their device’s camera and completing a few guided head movements — think turning right or left or nodding —…
Meta’s newest advertisement begins with a black-and-white shot of an eye, showing us what someone sees as they read countless panicked headlines about how AI is going to take our jobs, isolate us, and spark a global crisis. “Some people will have you believe AI is going to make us feel less connected. That it’s going to leave us behind,” a voiceover says. “We couldn’t disagree more.” Suddenly, the video shifts to color, and shows a cycle of different people opening their eyes and smiling. Then, we see a couple dancing on a rooftop, pointing at a rainbow; a group…
Tesla’s budding “Robotaxi” network drove fewer miles for paying customers in the second quarter than it did in the first, according to a chart the company released on Wednesday. The quarter-over-quarter decline runs counter to Tesla’s rhetoric and actions in the past year. Tesla has staked much of its future on the idea of a massive, low-cost, cash-generating Robotaxi fleet — or going “balls to the wall for autonomy,” as CEO Elon Musk framed it in 2024. The quarterly step-down in Robotaxi miles also comes amid weakening profits in Tesla’s core businesses, which underperformed Wall Street’s expectations, according to figures…
Runway no longer wants to be just another AI model company. It wants to become the infrastructure layer for generative media. On Thursday, the startup launched Runway Media Router through Runway Dev, its developer platform, released earlier this month, that provides API access to a growing roster of third-party image, video, and audio models alongside Runway’s own. The Media Router is a tool that automatically selects the best image, video, or audio generation model for a request based on whether a developer prioritizes quality, speed, or cost. While model routers have become increasingly common in the world of large language…
Hackers are increasingly using AI to launch attacks on a massive scale, with email emerging as a primary target. AI can quickly aggregate personal information — such as information about co-workers, active projects, and recent travel itineraries — allowing bad actors to instantly craft convincing messages that look authentic. Last year, former Google security executives Cy Khormaee and Ryan Luo, who previously worked on developing safe browsing technology and reCAPTCHA, teamed up to launch AegisAI, a startup that uses AI agents to stomp out these threats, known as spear phishing. With a decade of experience preventing email hacks, the AegisAI…
Over the past year, Meta has funded the construction of at least a dozen natural gas power plants, including one project that alone will burn enough natural gas to generate as much electricity as the entire state of South Dakota uses. Now Meta is no longer part of the RE100, a corporate renewable energy initiative, after a decade of membership, the company confirmed to TechCrunch today. The breakup was mutual, according to a Meta spokesperson. The exit caps months of Meta expanding its bet on fossil fuels to power its AI data centers and begs the obvious question: What does…
U.S. regulators will look into developing new requirements for automakers to ensure drivers and passengers can safely exit their vehicles. The new rule-making process, outlined in a regulatory filing and first reported by Bloomberg, follows a series of incidents, including fatal ones, in which people have become stuck inside cars with flush, electronically operated door handles like those found on Tesla vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) made the announcement in response to a petition that asked the agency to open a safety defect investigation into the emergency mechanical door release design on 2022 Tesla Model 3 vehicles.…
For months, AI giants have devised special vetted programs and strict guardrails to limit the use of their models by malicious hackers. But these limits are now hindering the work of legitimate network defenders, as well as that of offensive cybersecurity researchers. In June, the U.S. government slapped export control restrictions on Anthropic’s much-hyped AI models Mythos and Fable. The move was prompted at least in part by a report that claimed it was possible to bypass the models’ guardrails designed to prevent users from using them to build and execute malicious cyberattacks. Regardless of whether the incident was really…
TechCrunch Startup Battlefield is coming to Australia — and we’re partnering with Stripe to find the country’s most exciting early-stage startups. On August 19, eight Australian startups will take the stage at Stripe Tour Sydney to pitch live in front of investors, press, and the tech community. Three will win prizes. One will earn an automatic ticket to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, taking place in San Francisco from October 13-15. The secret to finding the next breakout founder? The judges. Startup Battlefield has a track record that speaks for itself. The competition has launched over 1,700 companies globally, including Dropbox, Cloudflare,…
Peptides are inching closer to the mainstream.A panel of experts on Thursday narrowly recommended that the Food and Drug Administration reclassify four popular peptides—including one endorsed by podcaster Joe Rogan—to allow certain pharmacies to legally dispense them.In an at-times emotionally charged meeting that lasted more than 11 hours, members of an FDA advisory committee heard data presentations from FDA staff on four unapproved peptides—BPC-157, KPV, TB-500, and MOTs-C—as well as testimony from health care practitioners, patients, pharmacies, and clinics.Members voted eight to six, with one abstention, to add three of the four peptides to the agency’s bulks list, meaning compounding…
Meta has launched its clearest brand statement yet on AI, positioning the tech as a force for human connection rather than isolation.Earlier today, CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a 45-second video titled “The Future Is for Everyone.”The film opens with screenshots of negative AI headlines and B-roll of commuters walking and kids playing. “Some people will have you believe AI will make us less connected,” a narrator says. “That it’s going to leave us behind. We couldn’t disagree more.”It continues: “Call us optimists. Call us dreamers. Just as we’ve always done, we’re betting on people.” The ad then shows how Meta…
Mobileye founder and CEO Amnon Shashua plans to step down from the top leadership post after nearly three decades, just as the company pushes into robotaxis and humanoid robots. Shashua will remain CEO until Mobileye hires a replacement, according to a regulatory filing Thursday. Mobileye got its start making computer vision chips based on Shashua’s academic research at Hebrew University in Israel, and grew into a major supplier of the chips that power automotive safety and driver-assistance features. It had the largest IPO in Israel’s history, was acquired in 2017 by Intel for $15.3 billion, then spun back out as…
A version of this story was originally published in AI, Tech & Money, a free, weekly newsletter packed with news and exclusive analysis on all things tech, platforms, and deals in advertising and media. Sign up for it here.You’re reading AI, Tech & Money.If you, like me, are having a bit of World Cup hangover, you may not be able to relive that glorious Ferran Torres 106th-minute banger of a goal, but we’ve got the second-best thing: a comprehensive ranking of all of the World Cup ads, assessed according to impact by TV measurement firm EDO.