Last month, a hacker wreaked havoc during an esports tournament of the popular shooter game Apex Legends, hacking two well-known streamers mid-game to make it look like they were using cheats.
“The exploit I’ve used in [Apex Legends Global Series] is fully patched,” the hacker who goes by Destroyer2009 said in an online chat.
Or other video game hacking incidents?
Or other video game hacking incidents?
Destroyer2009’s hacks were high-profile, disruptive, and caused a big stir in the Apex Legends community.
Read MoreHacker Claims Exploit Used on Streamers in Apex Legends Has Been Resolved by Game Developers
Humans have cast metal parts in basically the same way for thousands of years: by pouring molten metal into a mold, often made of compacted sand and clay.
To make those parts, Magnus Metals borrows elements of sand casting and 3D printing to perform what it calls digital casting.
Magnus Metals plans to sell its machines to customers as well as the proprietary ceramic that’s used to produce the bases.
And unlike 3D printing, which usually requires specific feedstocks, Magnus Metals said its system can use customer specified materials.
The method doesn’t require expensive tooling to create the bases, unlike molds for sand casting, according to the Magnus Metals.
Read MoreRevolutionizing Metal Part Production: Magnus Metal’s Plan to Modernize 4,000-Year-Old Methods
Building owners are often in the dark about their carbon pollution.
A new algorithm could shed light on itStarting this year, thousands of buildings in New York City will have to start reducing their carbon emissions.
There are plenty of tools out there that can convert an electric bill into estimated carbon emissions, but many are based on rough estimates.
It’s why Nzero, a carbon-tracking startup, developed a new algorithm, giving building owners reports that estimate carbon pollution down to the hour.
From there, the company’s software helps building owners identify upgrades and retrofits that will reduce emissions while also being the most cost effective.
Read MoreIlluminating the Carbon Footprint of Building Owners: A Revolutionary Algorithm
Clay Canning had an idea while in high school: smartphone screen protectors that featured logos, right on the screen.
“In December 2022, I resigned from my job to pursue building Screen Skinz with Clay full time.”Now, Screen Skinz can officially announce the closing of a $1.5 million seed round led by South Loop Ventures and Abo Ventures.
The company produces custom, patent-pending phone screen protectors that feature personalized logos or slogans that are visible when the phone screen is black and then disappear when the phone is in use.
The latest fundraise allowed Screen Skinz to move manufacturing from Asia to the U.S., allowing it to more easily control its supply chain.
Screen Skinz next has some partnerships lined up and is focused on customer acquisition and deepening licensing relationships.
Read More“Screen Skinz Secures $1.5M in Funding to Revolutionize Custom Screen Protection”
Google has terminated the employment of 28 employees following a prolonged sit-in protest at the company’s Sunnyvale and New York offices.
The protests were in response to Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud computing contract inked by Google and Amazon with the Israeli government and its military three years ago.
So many workers don’t know that Google has this contract with the IOF [Israel Offensive Forces].
Those of us sitting in Thomas Kurian’s office repeatedly requested to speak with the Google Cloud CEO, but our requests were denied.
Hundreds and thousands of Google workers have joined No Tech for Apartheid’s call for the company to Drop Project Nimbus.
Read MoreGoogle Terminates 28 Employees for Participating in Sit-In Against Contract with Israel’s Project Nimbus
The most notable bit of today’s news, however, is probably Nothing’s embrace of ChatGPT this time out.
Think Siri/Google Assistant/Alexa-style access on a pair of earbuds, only this one taps directly into OpenAI’s wildly popular platform.
Nothing says the Ear buds bring improved sound over their predecessors, courtesy of a new driver system.
A “smart” active noise-canceling system adapts accordingly to environmental noise and checks for “leakage” between the buds and the ear canal.
The Ear and Ear (a) are both reasonably priced at $149 and $99, respectively.
Read MoreUpgraded Earbuds Make ChatGPT Easily Accessible with a Simple Squeeze
Some call it the “commercial valley of death,” and it’s the point at which many climate tech startups struggle.
Climate nonprofit Prime Coalition is hoping to bridge the valley with a new program, Trellis Climate.
Trellis Climate follows the latter model with a focus on middle stages, where capital has grown scarce.
“There are more and more philanthropists that are really interested in solving the climate problem,” Lara Pierpoint, director of Trellis Climate, told TechCrunch.
“It is the most flexible and potentially risk-forward set of dollars that are out there.”For founders in climate tech, that sort of funding is likely welcome news.
Read More“Closing the Gap: Trellis Climate’s Mission to Overcome the ‘Commercial Valley of Death’ for Climate Technology”
Founded in 2015, Orbex is one of a handful of firms racing to develop the next generation of European launch vehicles.
The company is developing what’s sometimes called a microlauncher: a two-stage vehicle called Prime that stands just 19 meters tall, designed to carry payloads up to 180 kilograms.
A larger vehicle could eventually be in the plans as well, though Chambers was clear that Prime was the company’s first priority.
The new capital comes after Orbex closed a £40.4 million ($50 million) Series C in October 2022.
While a spokesperson confirmed the new funding will “help Orbex ramp up the development of Prime … to ensure full readiness and scalability for its launch period,” a firm launch window has yet to be announced.
Read MoreOrbex’s Latest Funding Could Propel Prime Microlauncher to Space
VerSe Innovation, the parent firm of Indian news aggregator app Dailyhunt, has acquired the popular digital newsstand firm Magzter, the two said Thursday.
The Bengaluru-headquartered startup has fully acquired Magzter, a New York-headquartered firm that counted Singapore Press Holdings among its backers.
Magzter has amassed over 1 million paying subscribers in India and boasts a global active user base of 87 million, Bedi said.
The firm, which offers an all-you-can-consume model with annual subscription fees ranging from $20 to $30, will find a distribution and technology partner in VerSe Innovation, he added.
The Indian firm plans to launch Dailyhunt Premium this year that will include an ad-free experience as well as Magzter’s catalog.
Read MoreAcquisition Alert: VerSe from India Purchases Magzter, a Competitor to Apple News+
Spend management startup Ramp has raised another $150 million at a post-money valuation of $7.65 billion, the company confirmed to TechCrunch today.
New investor Khosla Ventures and existing backer Founders Fund co-led the raise, which also included participation from new backers Sequoia Capital, Greylock and 8VC.
Other existing investors Thrive Capital, General Catalyst, Sands Capital, D1 Capital, Lux Capital, Iconiq Capital, Definition Capital, Contrary Capital also put money into the latest round.
Apparently, there were no hard feelings on the part of Founders Fund, which still participated in the financing, even without Rabois.
(It’s worth noting that Rabois originally represented Founders Fund and has sat on Ramp’s board since 2019.)
Read MoreKhosla and Founders Fund Co-Lead $150 Million Boost for Ramp, Valuing Company at $7.65B
