Author: admin

Cybercriminals continue to enhance the capabilities of the botnet known as Vo1d, which has grown significantly over the past half a year.  In September 2024, Russian security firm Doctor Web warned that 1.3 million Android TV boxes around the world had been ensnared in the Vo1d botnet. Chinese security company QiAnXin (QAX) has also monitored the threat and on Thursday reported seeing nearly 90 new samples of the malware. Its researchers have observed activity from roughly 800,000 unique IPs associated with the botnet every day, with a peak at nearly 1.6 million on January 14, 2025.  According to QiAnXin, the…

As part of a lawsuit targeting cybercriminals who abuse AI services, Microsoft has made public the names of four individuals who are allegedly part of a global network tracked as Storm-2139. The lawsuit, filed in December 2024 against what Microsoft described as the ‘Azure Abuse Enterprise’, targets individuals accused of developing and using malicious tools that allow users to bypass the guardrails of gen-AI services and generate deepfakes and other harmful or illegal content.  According to Microsoft, Storm-2139 has targeted services such as its Azure OpenAI Service. The threat actors first obtain exposed credentials found in public sources, which they…

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Students in Bangladesh who led a mass uprising to topple former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last summer are now diving into politics by forming the new National Citizen Party.The aim is to create new political space in a fiercely divisive dynastic political landscape. For decades, the country’s politics have been dominated by two former prime ministers and archrivals — Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia. The announcement came Friday at a rally in front of Parliament in Dhaka, during which political reforms were promised for a country born in 1971 through a bloody war against Pakistan. Thousands…

For two decades, TechCrunch has provided a front row view to the future of technology, shaping conversations that matter and spotlighting the next big things before they break — both on the page and in person at our world-renowned events.  This year, as we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we’re launching our most ambitious events calendar yet for 2025. From intimate roundtables to our flagship Disrupt conference, we’re bringing together the brightest minds in tech, venture capital, and entrepreneurship to continue our legacy of industry-leading gatherings. This milestone year promises unprecedented opportunities for founders, investors, and innovators to connect, share insights,…

AI models are being cranked out at a dizzying pace, by everyone from Big Tech companies like Google to startups like OpenAI and Anthropic. Keeping track of the latest ones can be overwhelming.  Adding to the confusion is that AI models are often promoted based on industry benchmarks. But these technical metrics often reveal little about how real people and companies actually use them.  To cut through the noise, TechCrunch has compiled an overview of the most advanced AI models released since 2024, with details on how to use them and what they’re best for. We’ll keep this list updated…

Snowflake plans to expand its startup accelerator with $200 million in additional commitments, the tech giant that specializes in cloud-based data storage said Thursday. The new injection of capital follows a string of activity by Snowflake over the past several months that illustrates that company’s growth ambitions. The Snowflake Startup Accelerator, formerly known as the Powered by Snowflake Funding Program, invests in a broad range of early-stage startups. Notably, the accelerator invests in startups building AI-based industry-specific products on Snowflake. Startups in the accelerator receive technical support from Snowflake and access to co-marketing opportunities, as well as credits for Amazon’s public…

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that the company was forced to stagger the rollout of its newest model, GPT-4.5, because OpenAI is “out of GPUs.” In a post on X, Altman said that GPT-4.5, which he described as “giant” and “expensive,” will require “tens of thousands” more GPUs before additional ChatGPT users can gain access. GPT-4.5 will come first to subscribers to ChatGPT Pro starting Thursday, followed by ChatGPT Plus customers next week. Perhaps in part due to its enormous size, GPT-4.5 is wildly expensive. OpenAI is charging $75 per million tokens (~750,000 words) fed into the model and $150…

OpenAI’s next major AI model, GPT-4.5, is highly persuasive, according to the results of OpenAI’s internal benchmark evaluations. It’s particularly good at convincing another AI to give it cash. On Thursday, OpenAI published a white paper describing the capabilities of its GPT-4.5 model, code-named Orion, which was released Thursday. According to the paper, OpenAI tested the model on a battery of benchmarks for “persuasion,” which OpenAI defines as “risks related to convincing people to change their beliefs (or act on) both static and interactive model-generated content.” In one test that had GPT-4.5 attempt to manipulate another model — OpenAI’s GPT-4o —…

Updated 2:40 pm PT: Hours after GPT-4.5’s release, OpenAI removed a line from the AI model’s white paper that said “GPT-4.5 is not a frontier AI model.” GPT-4.5’s new white paper does not include that line. You can find a link to the old white paper here. The original article follows. OpenAI announced on Thursday it is launching GPT-4.5, the much-anticipated AI model code-named Orion. GPT-4.5 is OpenAI’s largest model to date, trained using more computing power and data than any of the company’s previous releases. Despite its size, OpenAI notes in a white paper that it does not consider…

Don’t let the world of AI pass you by. You have just four days left to secure your spot at TechCrunch Sessions: AI and get savings of up to $325. But make sure to act fast — this offer ends on March 2 at 11:59 p.m. PT. There’s never been a better time to network with the minds shaping AI’s future. From startup founders to AI investors to aspiring innovators, TC Sessions: AI is where you can explore the industry from every angle. Whether you’re building, funding, or learning, join us for a full day immersed in the latest AI…