FBI announces takedown of phishing operation that targeted thousands of victims

FBI announces takedown of phishing operation that targeted thousands of victims

The FBI announced on Monday that it “dismantled” a global phishing operation, which allegedly helped hackers target more than 17,000 victims worldwide. The website of the operation, known as W3LL, displayed a notice saying it has been seized by the FBI. The bureau said it worked with Indonesia’s police in the takedown operation, which resulted…

Stanford report highlights growing disconnect between AI insiders and everyone else

Stanford report highlights growing disconnect between AI insiders and everyone else

AI experts and the public’s opinion on the technology are increasingly diverging, according to Stanford University’s annual report on the AI industry, which was released Monday. In particular, the report noted a growing trend of anxiety around AI and, in the U.S., concerns about how the technology will impact key societal areas, such as jobs,…

OpenAI has bought AI personal finance startup Hiro

OpenAI has bought AI personal finance startup Hiro

OpenAI has acquired personal finance startup Hiro Finance, founder Ethan Bloch announced on Monday and OpenAI confirmed to TechCrunch. The startup was backed by A-list fintech VC firm Ribbit, as well as General Catalyst and Restive. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, nor did Hiro ever disclose how much money it raised. Since Hiro…

An Amazon warehouse worker died on the job at Oregon facility

An Amazon warehouse worker died on the job at Oregon facility

An Amazon employee at the Troutdale, Oregon warehouse passed away at work last week, a company spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch. According to a report from the Western Edge, an independent investigative outlet covering the Pacific Northwest, the worker collapsed on the floor at the PDX9 warehouse and lay dead as employees continued to work around…

Microsoft is working on yet another OpenClaw-like agent

Microsoft is working on yet another OpenClaw-like agent

Microsoft is testing ways to integrate OpenClaw-like features into its existing Microsoft 365 Copilot tool. The new features, which the company confirmed to The Information, would be geared toward enterprise customers, with better security controls than the famously risky open source OpenClaw agent. OpenClaw is a tool that runs locally on a user’s computer and…

Microsoft is officially killing its Outlook Lite app next month

Microsoft is officially killing its Outlook Lite app next month

Microsoft is shutting down Outlook Lite on May 26, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Monday. Launched in 2022, Outlook Lite is a lightweight version of the regular Outlook app, designed for Android phones with limited storage and regions with slower internet connections.  The app had already been scheduled for retirement — Microsoft announced last…

Uber and Nuro begin testing premium robotaxi service in San Francisco

Uber and Nuro begin testing premium robotaxi service in San Francisco

If you spot a Lucid Gravity SUV blinged-out with sensors — and a self-driving system developed by Nuro — driving around San Francisco, chances are that’s an Uber employee taking a ride. Select Uber employees can now request a ride in a Lucid robotaxi through the Uber app, the latest phase of testing ahead of…

Thousands of rare concert recordings are landing on the Internet Archive — listen now

Thousands of rare concert recordings are landing on the Internet Archive — listen now

Chicago-based music superfan Aadam Jacobs has been recording the concerts he attends since the 1980s, amassing an archive of over 10,000 tapes. Now 59, Jacobs knows that these cassettes are going to degrade over time, so he agreed to let volunteers from the Internet Archive, the nonprofit digital library, digitize the tapes. So far, about…

IBM pays $17M fine to end DOJ suit over DEI programs

IBM pays $17M fine to end DOJ suit over DEI programs

IBM entered into a $17 million settlement agreement on Friday with the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations that it engaged in “illegal DEI practices” by taking into account “race, color, national origin, or sex” in its hiring and promotions. The DOJ also alleged that IBM used funds from its government contract for DEI programs and then…

This Linux distro offers an easy DNS switcher – but there’s more to it that I like

This Linux distro offers an easy DNS switcher – but there’s more to it that I like

Jack Wallen and Elyse Betters Picaro/ZDNET ZDNET’s key takeaways iDealOS is an MXLinux-based distribution. You’ll get an easy-to-use DNS switcher and content filtering in Firefox. There’s plenty of preinstalled software, so you can hit the ground running. Blink, and a new Linux distribution will have appeared on the market, which I find to be fantastic….