Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was released from U.S. custody on Friday after serving out his four-month sentence in a low-security correctional facility. CZ’s sentence was the product of a federal investigation that found Binance had failed to stop widespread criminal activity on the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
CZ pleaded guilty to the DOJ’s charges, paid a $50 million fine, and agreed to never be a Binance executive again. Binance was forced to pay a $4.3 billion settlement to the U.S. government, one of the largest corporate fines in U.S. history. However, CZ still retains an estimated 90% stake in Binance, according to Forbes, making him the 25th richest person in the world with a $61 billion net worth.
Shortly before his sentencing, CZ announced his next project: Giggle Academy, an education platform that claims to bring in no revenue. He’ll be free to spend his days working on that company now, which is actively hiring.
In August, a Russian warlord posted a video on Telegram, showing a pair of Cybertrucks patrolling a road in Chechnya, armed seemingly with heavy machine guns. Leaving aside unanswerable (for…
WordPress.org has lifted its ban on hosting provider WP Engine until October 1, after putting a block on it earlier this week. The block prevented several sites from updating their…
The world of WordPress, one of the most popular technologies for creating and hosting websites, is going through a very heated controversy. The core issue is the fight between WordPress…
ChatGPT could get more expensive to use in coming years. The New York Times, citing internal OpenAI docs, reports that OpenAI is planning to raise the price of individual ChatGPT…
Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was released from U.S. custody on Friday after serving out his four-month sentence in a low-security correctional facility. CZ’s sentence was the product of a…
EV startup Canoo has been hit with two new lawsuits from suppliers linked to the drivetrains that power its electric vehicles, just weeks after the company kicked off a major…
Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week…
Three Iranian hackers working for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted the Trump campaign in an attempted hack-and-leak operation, according to the Department of Justice.
Wordy is a new iOS app that offers a unique way to learning English. The app automatically translates and defines unknown words while you watch your favorite movies or TV…
The WSJ reports that OpenAI’s next funding round, worth around $6.5 billion, could close as soon as the first week in October.
We’re thrilled to welcome Bret Taylor to TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. As the former co-CEO of Salesforce, founder of Quip, former CTO of Facebook, the co-creator of Google Maps, and current…
The U.K.s’ antitrust authority has concluded that Amazon’s partnership and equity investment in AI startup Anthropic can’t be investigated under current merger rules due to the size and scope of…
We’re in the final hours to save up to $600 on TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 tickets! Grab your tickets now and seize this final opportunity for major savings before the countdown…
Reset your clocks: Meta has been hit with yet another privacy penalty in Europe. On Friday, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) announced a reprimand and a €91 million fine —…
The world’s second-largest money transfer provider, which filed a data breach notice with U.K. authorities, serves over 50 million people.
Note-taking apps typically aim to make you more efficient and productive. A lot of those apps concentrate on quickly jotting down your thoughts, organizing them better, or a mix of…
Here are the startups from YC Demo Day 2 that we thought stood out from the flock.
UAE-based Redwood has acquired a majority stake in the game streaming platform Loco as the Indian firm looks to expand focus to international markets, TechCrunch has learned and confirmed. Redwood,…
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet network is expected to hit a new customer milestone this week, company President Gwynne Shotwell told Texas legislators on Tuesday. “This week, by the way, we…
AI video generators need to believe that filmmakers will use their models in the production process. Otherwise why exist? To jump-start the new AI film ecosystem, Runway has set aside…
Departures might be dominating the week’s OpenAI-related headlines. But comments on AI bias from Anna Makanju, the company’s VP of global affairs, also grabbed our attention. Makanju, speaking on a…
Lending startup Figure will be launching an AI tool powered by GPT-4 to help catch errors in lending documents.
Drata, a security compliance automation platform that helps companies adhere to frameworks such as SOC 2 and GDPR, has laid off 9% of its workforce, amounting to 40 people. Founded in 2020, Drata integrates…
As OpenAI boasts about its o1 model’s increased thoughtfulness, small, self-funded startup Nomi AI is building the same kind of technology. Unlike the broad generalist ChatGPT, which slows down to…
The company recently closed a $130 million round, according to an SEC filing, bringing the total to $327 million.
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! I’ve been…
That lack of user interaction — or request for consent — is what confused and concerned some former Kaspersky customers.
Despite hydrogen’s challenges, BMW thinks the only way to actually achieve a shift to zero-emissions transportation is through a mix of BEVs and hydrogen vehicles.
Google’s NotebookLM has been updated with YouTube and audio files as new source types and sharable links for Audio Overviews.
