Author: GT

TikTok is preparing an update to its Community Guidelines, which dictate the rules for participating on the social video platform as well as what standards the company uses to determine the videos that make it onto its For You feed. While the update largely rewrites the original text for simplicity’s sake, there are a few items that jump out in the new revision — notably how TikTok prioritizes its marketplace, how deeply it personalizes the experience per user, and a small change to the type of AI-generated content that’s permitted. Today, social media companies have to comply with a range…

Making friends as an adult can be tough, especially after moving to a new city. Luckily, modern technology exists, and more people are turning to apps like Bumble For Friends, Flox, and Timeleft to form new friendships quickly. One app called Les Amis aims to stand out by targeting women, transgender, and LGBTQ+ individuals, primarily in the mid-20s to early 40s age demographic. Les Amis uses AI to pair users with similar interests and encourages them to join local events offered within the app, such as pottery classes, book clubs, wine tastings, and Pilates.  Anna Bilych (ex-PayPal) created the app…

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said he intends to investigate whether Meta’s generative AI products exploit, deceive, or harm children, after leaked internal documents showed the company’s chatbots were allowed to have “romantic” and “sensual” chats with children.  “Is there anything – ANYTHING – Big Tech won’t do for a quick buck?” Hawley wrote in a post on X announcing the investigation. Hawley chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, which he says will commence a probe into whether Meta’s tech harms children, and “whether Meta misled the public or regulators about its safeguards.” Reuters broke the story after…

James Showalter describes a pretty specific if not entirely implausible nightmare scenario. Someone drives up to your house, cracks your Wi-Fi password, and then starts messing with the solar inverter mounted beside your garage — that unassuming gray box that converts the direct current from your rooftop panels into the alternating current that powers your home. “You’ve got to have a solar stalker” for this scenario to play out, says Showalter, describing the kind of person who would need to physically show up in your driveway with both the technical know-how and the motivation to hack your home energy system.…

From Dropbox to Cloudflare, Startup Battlefield alumni have redefined industries. Who will win $100,000 and the spotlight this year?  Startup Battlefield 200 is the crown jewel of TechCrunch Disrupt — and this year’s competition promises to be unforgettable. From thousands of applicants, only the top 20 will take the Stage at Disrupt 2025 (October 27-29, San Francisco) to pitch their vision to panels of top-tier VCs in front of a live audience. Every contender is chasing game-changing impact — and we’re here for the drama, the breakthroughs, and the big reveals. We’re thrilled to announce our first wave of judges…

The attorney general of Louisiana has filed a lawsuit against Roblox, accusing the platform of failing to implement basic safety controls and making the site the “perfect place for pedophiles.” The lawsuit, filed on Thursday by Attorney General Liz Murrill, alleges that Roblox “has and continues to facilitate the distribution of child sexual abuse material and the sexual exploitation of Louisiana’s children.” It also accuses the platform of purposely not rolling out basic safety controls to protect children from predators and failing to notify parents of risks. Roblox, which launched in 2006, has 82 million daily active users. The lawsuit…

Perplexity, the AI search startup that hasn’t even cracked 100 million monthly users, ⁠just made a $34.5 billion cash offer⁠ to buy Chrome from Google. The unsolicited bid comes as the DOJ prepares its remedy decision after ⁠ruling Google illegally maintained a search monopoly⁠. The timing makes sense, but questions remain. Perplexity won’t name its backers for the massive deal, and the offer is worth far more than the company has raised. The move fits Perplexity’s broader push for distribution after earning plenty of buzz in tech circles but struggling with mainstream user adoption. The company has also explored acquiring…

ChatGPT’s mobile app is raking in the revenue. Since launching in May 2023, ChatGPT’s app for iOS and Android devices has reached $2 billion in global consumer spending, according to a new analysis by app intelligence provider Appfigures. That figure is approximately 30x the combined lifetime spending of ChatGPT’s rivals on mobile, including Claude, Copilot, and Grok, the analysis indicates. So far this year, ChatGPT’s mobile app has made $1.35 billion, up 673% year-over-year from the $174 million it made during the same period (January-July) in 2024, per the data. On average, the app is generating close to $193 million…

Smart ring maker Ultrahuman is acquiring women’s health technology company viO HealthTech to launch advanced cycle and ovulation tracking, the company announced on Friday. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Thanks to the acquisition, the company is launching a new plug-in for the Ultrahuman Ring AIR called “Cycle and Ovulation Pro.” The plug-in will allow users to accurately track their cycles, get fertility planning support with ovulation confirmation, and detect patterns like early or late ovulation. The plug-in also allows users to log moods, symptoms, and more to uncover long-term wellness trends. Cycle and Ovulation Pro use…

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., on July 8, 2025. David A. Grogan | CNBCOpenAI is preparing to sell around $6 billion in stock as part of a secondary sale that would value the company at roughly $500 billion, CNBC confirmed Friday.The shares would be sold by current and former employees to investors including SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group and Thrive Capital, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who asked not to be named due to the confidential…