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As Elon Musk’s ownership of X (formerly Twitter) continues to reshape the social media landscape, many users are turning to platforms like Bluesky for a fresh start. Bluesky, a decentralized social app originally conceived by Jack Dorsey, has seen rapid growth and popularity. Since opening to the public in February 2024, Bluesky’s user base skyrocketed, adding nearly 800,000 users in a day and reaching over 14.5 million users by November 2024. Various policy changes on X, especially adjustments to the block feature and data-sharing practices, have accelerated Bluesky’s appeal. What is Bluesky? Bluesky is a decentralized social network that closely…

The FBI has issued a warning that hackers are exploiting emergency data requests—designed to assist law enforcement in life-or-death situations—to extract private user data, such as emails and phone numbers, from major U.S.-based tech companies. The alert reveals that hackers are infiltrating police and government email accounts to submit these requests fraudulently. In a rare public statement, the FBI acknowledged an increase in fraudulent emergency data requests (EDRs), noting a rise in criminal discussions online about abusing this process. According to the agency, hackers have been increasingly active since August, accessing compromised U.S. and foreign government email accounts to pose…

Yelp, best known for its role in restaurant recommendations, has taken a major step into auto services by acquiring RepairPal, a website specializing in car repair estimates. The deal, announced in Yelp’s latest earnings report, involves an $80 million cash payment and is anticipated to close by year’s end, pending typical regulatory approvals. Yelp CEO and co-founder Jeremy Stoppelman highlighted how this acquisition aligns with Yelp’s broader vision to enhance its services, particularly within the expansive U.S. auto services ad market. “We believe RepairPal will accelerate our efforts by expanding offerings in this multi-billion-dollar sector,” Stoppelman said. While initially, a…

In October, Activision announced it had fixed a flaw in its Ricochet anti-cheat system that caused “a small number” of legitimate Call of Duty players to be mistakenly banned. However, according to the hacker who exploited this bug, the issue was far more extensive. The hacker, known as Vizor, claims to have banned “thousands” of players, framing them as cheaters by manipulating the anti-cheat mechanism. Vizor explained that they had discovered a way to trigger Ricochet’s ban function through a simple in-game private message, or “whisper.” Ricochet’s anti-cheat system relied on certain hardcoded text strings, or “signatures,” to identify cheats.…

OpenAI has officially introduced ChatGPT Search, a new feature designed to provide users with real-time, accurate answers. Launched as an evolution of the previous SearchGPT prototype, ChatGPT Search is integrated directly within OpenAI’s ChatGPT platform and delivers timely responses to user queries by pulling from a variety of online sources. The search tool is powered by a specialized version of OpenAI’s GPT-4 model and is capable of retrieving live data, such as news updates, sports scores, stock market information, and more. ChatGPT Search also includes links to original sources, allowing users to further refine their searches or ask follow-up questions…

WhatsApp has launched a new feature designed to help users better manage their growing list of chats. Announced on Thursday, this update introduces “Custom Lists,” allowing users to categorize conversations with family, friends, colleagues, and more into personalized chat filters. Building on the chat filtering system introduced in April, WhatsApp previously offered three basic filters: “All,” “Unread,” and “Groups.” With the new “Custom Lists,” however, users can create and name their own lists to organize their chats in a way that best suits their needs. This means that instead of scrolling endlessly through your chat history, you can quickly find…

During a recent Reddit AMA, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, shared that limited compute resources are a key reason why the company’s product rollouts are slower than anticipated. In response to a question on the delay of OpenAI’s next-generation AI models, Altman explained that the models’ complexity has increased significantly, and OpenAI faces tough choices about how to allocate its compute resources to various projects. Recent reports point to OpenAI’s struggle with securing enough computational power to support and develop its large-scale models. Reuters, citing insiders, reported that OpenAI has been collaborating with Broadcom on designing a custom AI chip,…

Betaworks, a venture capital firm and accelerator, recently launched its latest Camp program, this time spotlighting startups that are pushing the boundaries of AI with innovative, application-focused solutions. The program, which kicked off in May, was aimed at discovering startups developing AI-native applications that meet genuine user needs, rather than merely adding AI as a peripheral tool. John Borthwick, managing partner at Betaworks, explained that while AI tools such as chatbots and content generators are already common, the current AI landscape still falls short of its full potential. He highlighted that many everyday tasks could be accomplished more efficiently with…

Generative AI company ElevenLabs has acquired the team behind Omnivore, an open-source “read-it-later” app that has gained popularity among avid readers. This move, announced by Omnivore co-founders Jackson Harper and Hongbo Wu in a recent blog post, provides them with “a broader platform to develop engaging experiences for serious readers.” The transition comes with a commitment from ElevenLabs to maintain Omnivore’s open-source codebase, ensuring that developers can continue to access and expand upon the technology. “By keeping Omnivore fully open-source, the development community can further build on and refine its capabilities,” Harper and Wu noted. Existing Omnivore users will have…

Global money transfer company MoneyGram recently appointed Anthony Soohoo as its new CEO, a move announced just weeks after confirming a significant data breach compromising customers’ personal information and transaction details. MoneyGram released a statement on Monday detailing the leadership transition. Soohoo takes over from Alex Holmes, who first joined the company in 2009 and held roles as chief financial officer and chief operating officer before stepping into the CEO and chairman roles in 2016. Holmes will continue to provide advisory support to the board. Sydney Schoolfield, a MoneyGram spokesperson, clarified that the CEO change was unrelated to the recent…