The Future of Social Security with AARP Nevada

TechCrunch Tumblr reports ~350% user growth following X's ban in Brazil Bluesky isn't the only social networking service to benefit from X's ban in Brazil, now under legal penalties. According to Tumblr, in the days since the X ban in Brazil, the site saw 222.99% growth in communities and 349.55% growth in users. More specifically, Tumblr's daily active users in Brazil have shot up by 30% from the 110,000 it was seeing, on average, in the days ahead of the ban.

Indian filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma abandons human musicians for AI-generated music Indian filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma is ditching human musicians for artificial intelligence, saying he'll use only AI-generated tunes in future projects, a move that underscores AI's growing reach in creative industries. The filmmaker and screenwriter, known for popular Bollywood movies such as "Company," "Rangeela," "Sarkar," and "Satya," has launched a venture called RGV Den Music, which will only feature music generated from AI apps, including Suno and Udio, he told TechCrunch. In an interview, Varma urged artists to embrace AI rather than resist it.

FTC report on predatory social media data hoarding hints at future regulations A new FTC report on how social media and streaming sites collect and monetize their hoards of user data doesn't really feature a lot of surprises for anyone who's followed the space. The report has its roots way back in late 2020, when the FTC ordered nine of the tech companies with the biggest data collection apparatus to disclose numerous aspects of how their surveillance capitalism business models worked. Echoing the way that firms conceal and hide their collection practices, many of the Companies provided the Commission with limited, incomplete, or unhelpful responses that appeared to have been carefully crafted to be self-serving and avoid revealing key pieces of information.

The iOS 18.1 public beta is here, bringing Apple Intelligence (almost) to the masses Apple Intelligence is now a little more ready for primetime. If you have an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max or iPhone 16, you can install the public beta of iOS 18.1 and check out some of Apple's generative AI tools.

Apple's new macOS Sequoia update is breaking some cybersecurity tools On Monday, Apple released its latest computer operating system update called macOS 15, or Sequoia. At this point, it's unclear exactly what is the issue, but it appears to affect several products made by companies that provide software for macOS users and enterprises, which has caused frustration among people who work on and with macOS-focused security tools. "As a developer of macOS security tools, it's incredibly frustrating to time and time again have to deal with (understandably) upset users (understandably) blaming your tools for breaking their Macs, when in reality it was Apple's fault all along," said Patrick Wardle, the founder of Mac and iOS security startup DoubleYou, and a longtime expert on macOS security.

MAKERS Live Author to Author: Books By and For Leaders Moderated by Daisy Auger-Dominguez In our MAKERS Live, Author to Author: Books By and For Leaders Daisy Auger-Dominguez, a cross-sector global leader, speaker, author, and advisor focused on future-readying the workforce and building high-performing teams without burning out, led us in a riveting conversation based around her book Burnt Out to Lit Up: How to Reignite the Joy of Leading People. Joining Auger-Dominguez in the conversation is Jezz Chung and Raquel Willis.

Announcing our next wave of Startup Battlefield judges at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 Startup Battlefield 200 is a major highlight at every Disrupt, and we're thrilled to find out which of the thousands of startup applicants will get the chance to pitch to top-tier VCs at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. Join us at Moscone West in San Francisco from October 28–30 to witness the epic showdown where every contender is set to make a significant impact. Get an insider's view of what the judges look for in a viable company as they provide detailed feedback on their evaluation criteria.