Krafton, South Korea’s gaming giant known for titles including PUBG: Battlegrounds and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), has acquired a controlling stake in 12-year-old Indian gaming studio Nautilus Mobile for $14 million in an all-cash deal. On Friday, the South Korean gaming company confirmed to TechCrunch that it has acquired a …
Read More »OpenAI’s viral Studio Ghibli moment highlights AI copyright concerns
It’s only been a day since ChatGPT’s new AI image generator went live, and social media feeds are already flooded with AI-generated memes in the style of Studio Ghibli, the cult-favorite Japanese animation studio behind blockbuster films such as “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Spirited Away.” In the last 24 hours, …
Read More »ChatGPT’s image-generation feature gets an upgrade
During a livestream on Tuesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced the first major upgrade to ChatGPT’s image-generation capabilities in over a year. ChatGPT can now leverage the company’s GPT-4o model to natively create and modify images and photos. GPT-4o has long underpinned the AI-powered chatbot platform, but until now, the …
Read More »We read the email Jack Dorsey sent when he cut 931 of Block’s staff
Fintech Block laid off 931 people Tuesday, according to a leaked message from the company seen by TechCrunch. The news was announced to staff in an email from Block’s co-founder and CEO, Jack Dorsey. Dorsey told staff that on Tuesday, Block will be “making some org changes, including eliminating roles …
Read More »Emergence Capital closes on $1B fund to back B2B companies
Emergence Capital has closed its $1 billion seventh fund, it reported on Tuesday It’s the firm’s first raise in nearly four years. In May 2021, the San Mateo, California-based venture firm rounded up nearly a billion dollars in capital commitments across two funds. At that time, it closed its sixth …
Read More »How to tell if your online accounts have been hacked
More and more hackers are targeting regular people with the goal of breaking into their bank accounts, stealing their crypto, or simply stalking them. These types of attacks are still relatively rare, so there’s no need for alarm. But it’s important to know what you can do to protect yourself …
Read More »Instagram partners with schools to prioritize reports of online bullying and student safety
Instagram on Tuesday announced a new school partnership program aimed at expediting the handling of moderation reports submitted by verified school accounts. The program is currently available to all middle and high schools in the U.S. It allows schools to report posts or student accounts that may violate the app’s …
Read More »Earth AI’s algorithms found critical minerals in places everyone else ignored
Last summer, mining startup KoBold made a splash when it said it had discovered in Zambia one of the world’s largest copper deposits in more than a decade. Now, another startup, Earth AI, exclusively told TechCrunch about its own discovery: promising deposits of critical minerals in parts of Australia that …
Read More »23andMe files for bankruptcy: How to delete your data
DNA testing service 23andMe filed for bankruptcy protection on March 16, sparking concerns about what could happen to the genetic data of the company’s 15 million customers. 23andMe has said that “data privacy will be an important consideration in any potential transaction.” However, security experts and lawmakers have cautioned customers …
Read More »Discord made its streaming overlay a lot more user-friendly
Discord announced on Tuesday that it rebuilt its Overlay feature from the ground up. The new Overlay makes streaming games on Discord more user-friendly on the streamer’s end. In its legacy form, streamers could toggle the Overlay display to use Discord while playing games, but this would bring up the …
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