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Spyware maker Paragon confirms U.S. government is a customer

Security /

Israeli spyware maker Paragon Solutions confirmed to TechCrunch that it sells its products to the U.S. government and other unspecified allied countries. Paragon’s executive chairman John Fleming said in a statement to TechCrunch on Tuesday that, “Paragon licenses its technology to a select group of global democracies — principally, the United States and its allies.” […]

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Meta says it may stop development of AI systems it deems too risky

Government & Policy /

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to make artificial general intelligence (AGI) — which is roughly defined as AI that can accomplish any task a human can — openly available one day. But in a new policy document, Meta suggests that there are certain scenarios in which it may not release a highly capable AI

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Journalist targeted on WhatsApp by Paragon spyware: ‘I feel violated’

Security /

On Friday, at 2:48 p.m., Francesco Cancellato received an ominous notification on his cell phone while he was at home near Milan.   “This is a message from WhatsApp,” read the message in Italian, which was obtained by TechCrunch. “In December, WhatsApp interrupted the activities of a spyware company which we believe attacked your device. Our

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Meta turns to solar — again — in its data center-building boom

Enterprise /

Tech companies may be vocal about their love of advanced nuclear power — the flashy trend that’s been sweeping the energy sector — but they continue to add renewable capacity. Meta recently signed a deal with Spanish renewable developer Zelestra for 595 megawatts of solar power in Texas, just two weeks after signing a separate

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WhatsApp says it disrupted a hacking campaign targeting journalists with Paragon spyware

Security /

WhatsApp said on Friday that it had disrupted a hacking campaign that targeted around 90 users, including journalists and members of civil society.  A WhatsApp spokesperson told TechCrunch that the campaign was linked to Paragon, an Israeli spyware maker that was acquired in December of last year by American private equity giant AE Industrial Partners.

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Threads adds a ‘media’ tab and the ability to tag people in photos

Apps /

Meta’s newer social network Threads announced on Thursday that it’s introducing a dedicated “media” tab for both photos and videos, only days after its rivals, including X (formerly Twitter) and the startup Bluesky, did the same for videos. In addition, Meta will also now allow users to tag people in the photos they share. Instagram

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Meta says end of fact-checking hasn’t impacted ad spend

Social /

Meta says its controversial decision to put an end to its fact-checking program hasn’t impacted advertiser spend. On its Q4 2024 call, Meta CFO Susan Li assured investors that advertiser demand remains strong and the company’s commitment to brand safety remains unchanged, despite the new measures. Meanwhile, CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted that the community notes

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Zuck shrugs off DeepSeek, vows to spend hundreds of billions on AI

AI /

U.S. markets panicked on Monday over speculation that DeepSeek’s AI models would crush demand for GPUs, with Nvidia’s stock dropping almost 20%. But Meta isn’t backing off, with its CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledging that the tech giant would invest “very heavily” in AI – even “hundreds of billions of dollars” – over the long term,

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