Author: GT

LONDON (AP) — Britain abandoned its demand that Apple provide so-called backdoor access to any encrypted user data stored in the cloud, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Monday. Gabbard indicated London and Washington had resolved their high-stakes dispute over electronic privacy, writing on X that she and President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance spent the “past few months” working with the U.K. government. “As a result, the UK agreed to drop its mandate for Apple to provide a ‘back door’ that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached…

Elon Musk’s X is struggling on Android devices in terms of new installs, even while App Store downloads grow, according to new data from app intelligence provider Appfigures. In July 2025, X downloads on Google Play saw a significant decline, as new installs dropped by 44% year-over-year worldwide, even as iOS downloads grew by 15%. This steep drop in installs is pulling down X’s overall average, leading to a 26% decrease in total mobile downloads year-over-year as of July. That’s still slightly better than the month prior, when total downloads had fallen by 35%, thanks to another sharp drop in…

The July data breach at U.S. insurance giant Allianz Life allowed hackers to steal the personal information of 1.1 million customers, according to data breach notification site Have I Been Pwned. Allianz Life disclosed the data breach in late July, confirming that hackers stole the personal information of the “majority” of its 1.4 million customers and its employees from a cloud-stored customer relationship database. Allianz has so far refused to confirm exactly how many people are affected by the breach. Have I Been Pwned, a data breach notification site that alerts people when their email address has been caught up…

The website for xAI’s Grok chatbot is exposing the system prompts for several of its AI personas, including a “crazy conspiracist” that seems designed to handhold a user into beliefs that “a secret global cabal” controls the world. TechCrunch has confirmed the system prompt exposure, first reported on by 404 Media. They include instructions for a range of AI personas, like Ani, its flagship romantic anime girlfriend who “is secretly a bit of a nerd, despite [her] edgy appearance.”  The exposure comes after a planned partnership between Elon Musk’s xAI and the U.S. government to make Grok available to federal…

BANGKOK (AP) — Japanese technology giant SoftBank Group plans to take a $2 billion stake in computer chip maker Intel as it deepens its involvement in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and other advanced technology in the United States, the companies said Monday. Shares in both companies fell Tuesday after the announcement, which coincided with unconfirmed reports that President Donald Trump is considering having the U.S. government buy a stake in the chip maker. SoftBank invests in an array of companies that it sees as holding long-term potential. It has been stepping up investments in the United States since Trump returned to…

Apple usually announces its new hardware in the fall, and this year is likely no different. The event is reported to be on September 9, and Apple is expected to release its iPhone 17 lineup, along with updates for the Apple Watch and AirPods.  As always, there are many rumors circulating, including bigger screens and improved cameras for the iPhone 17 models and the introduction of an ultra-thin iPhone Air that could replace the Plus model. iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max The iPhone 17 is expected to get a significant makeover to align more closely with the…

Set your alarms. Bookmark this page. Refresh like your future depends on it. After reviewing thousands of groundbreaking applications from around the globe, TechCrunch is just days away from announcing the 2025 Startup Battlefield 200 — our handpicked cohort of the most promising early-stage startups set to take the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 this October 27-29. The 2025 Startup Battlefield 200 list will go live, right here, on Wednesday, August 27, at 9:00 a.m. PT. Whether you applied, referred a standout founder, or just want to see who made the cut, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for.…

As anticipation builds for the Made by Google 2025 event, there’s a buzz around the Pixel 10 series, arriving notably before the iPhone 17. Apple’s hardware event is expected to take place in September.  The tech giant has made its intentions clear to grow the Pixel line, likely incorporating more generative AI capabilities with Gemini. Made by Google starts at 10 a.m. PT on Wednesday. Get ready for a Gemini boost Image Credits:Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket / Getty Images Google already dropped several AI-related updates at its developer conference in May, but the company will likely demonstrate more Gemini features during…

The artificial intelligence boom that Sam Altman helped ignite with ChatGPT in late 2022 is starting to make even him uneasy.Startups with little more than a pitch deck are raising hundreds of millions. Valuations have become “insane.” Capital is chasing a “kernel of truth” with feverish speed.The OpenAI CEO still believes the long-term societal upside of AI will outweigh the froth, and he’s ready to keep spending in pursuit of that goal.”Are we in a phase where investors as a whole are overexcited about AI? My opinion is yes,” he said at a recent dinner with reporters. “Is AI the…

Newsletter subscription platform Substack will begin taking advantage of an option on the U.S. App Store that allows users to make purchases outside of Apple’s in-app purchasing system. This functionality is permitted by a change to the App Store’s rules in May, as a result of Epic Games’ antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant. Since then, a number of top apps have moved to offer in-app purchase links that point to their own websites, including Spotify, Patreon, and the Amazon Kindle app, among others. In Substack’s case, support for external payments will benefit both the company, which no longer has to…