Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we're contemplating why it's possible for anyone determined enough to pinpoint people's locations using dating apps. We also have a good story on BitClout's founder getting slammed with fraud charges, as well as notes on OpenAI's endorsement of AI bills, Meta's AI hallucinating at the worst time, a VC shakeup, a dating app for gamers, and tension at X. Let's dive in! — Rebecca

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg / Getty Images

1. Deleting all dating apps now! A group of researchers said they found vulnerabilities in the design of Bumble, Hinge, Badoo, Grindr, happn and Hily that allowed stalkers to pinpoint the location of their victims down to two meters. It's enough to make you swear off dating apps forever, or at least go try one of those run clubs I keep hearing so much about. Read More

2. SBF, Part 2? The SEC has charged BitClout founder Nader Al-Naji with fraud and unregistered offering of securities, claiming he used a fake identity to avoid regulatory scrutiny while raising over $257 million in cryptocurrency. The SEC also alleges Al-Naji AKA "DiamondHands" spent over $7 million on personal expenses like a Beverly Hills mansion and gifts for his family. It's giving Sam Bankman-Fried vibes. Read More

3. OpenAI wants a seat at the AI regulation table: The ChatGPT maker endorsed three Senate bills this week that could help shape the government's stance on AI. Why? The company probably wants to influence how AI is regulated, and based on Sam Altman's recent op-ed in The Washington Post, wants to steer the conversation towards AI dominance over China rather than AI safety in general. Read More

Morning Must-Reads

Image Credits: MirageC / Getty Images

🛡️ Protecting the weak links: Software supply chains are surprisingly fragile, and attacks that target them can wreak havoc as they can go undetected for a long time. Lineaje wants to help companies avoid that, and it has just raised a $20 million Series A to do that. Read More

🐅 Alex Cook leaves Tiger Global: TechCrunch got the scoop that Alex Cook, who oversaw some of Tiger Global's largest fintech investments and deals in India, is leaving the firm. This is the latest high-profile shift at Tiger after Scott Shleifer left, and has surprised some founders with close ties to Cook. Read More

🧵 Threads gets trendy: Threads is finally making it easier for people to explore trending topics. Users in the U.S. will now see a label that highlights related trending topics above posts, so you can see more posts related to that topic. Read More

🤝 Developers helping developers: Tel Aviv-based Lightrun has launched its first AI-based tool in private beta to help developers fix issues with their production code within minutes instead of hours. The launch of Runtime Autonomous AI Debugger comes as Lightrun also announced an $18 million SAFE round that it raised last year from GTM Capital. Read More

🌱 Turning plant waste into carbon capture: Applied Carbon had an idea: What if it could transform waste biomass into biochar that can store carbon for decades, even centuries? That could lock away up to 2 billion metric tons of carbon from industrial systems every year, while boosting crop yields on farms. The idea works, but now they have to scale it. Read More

Around the Web

😵‍💫 Meta's AI is hallucinating at the worst possible time: The Verge reports that Meta's AI assistant thinks the recent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump didn't happen. Yikes! Meta is blaming hallucinations in AI, which is really not an excuse. If AI companies can't solve hallucinations, their chatbots shouldn't let people ask questions about such sensitive topics. Read More

🚸 Think of the children! The Senate has passed a pair of bills to expand online privacy and safety protections for kids, reports The Washington Post. The bills force digital platforms to take "reasonable" steps to prevent harms to children, such as bullying, drug addiction and sexual exploitation. Now the bills just need to make it past the House. Read More

⚖️ A CEO in name only? Usually, the CEO gets the final say in a company's dealings. Not so at X, where owner Elon Musk has stymied some of CEO Linda Yaccarino's initiatives, like a deal with Visa that would have seen the card issuer commit more advertising dollars while partnering with X to build a payments product, The Wall Street Journal reports. Read More

Before You Go

Image Credits: Cavan Images / Getty Images

🎮 Goblin Mode and chill: Date Like Goblins is a new online dating platform that's geared towards gamers, particularly those who are neurodivergent or introverted. When it launches this fall, it'll let people connect via voice chat while playing video games, giving them the opportunity to meet a potential romantic partner in a comfortable environment — their favorite game! Read More