Hello dear people, it’s that time of the week again: Week in Review (WiR) time. For those unfamiliar, WiR is TechCrunch’s regular newsletter, recapping the most important technology events of the past few days. If you’ve been too busy to keep up with recent events, don’t panic. WiR is there to keep you informed.
In this week’s edition of WiR, we discuss a hacking device that can spam nearby iPhones with Bluetooth popups, Y Combinator Demo Day favorites (and controversies), Bumble changing its policy to address bots, doxing and spam suits, and Lenovo’s new gaming glasses and PC handheld. We also highlight the federal investigation into Tesla’s “secret glass” project, Elon Musk suing the Anti-Defamation League, Texas’ attempts to enforce identity checks on porn sites, and the hacked male chastity cages (yes, really).
There’s a lot to see, so let’s dive right in. But first, don’t forget to sign up here if you haven’t already, so you receive WiR in your inbox every Saturday.
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Y Combinator controversy: Legendary venture capital firm Y Combinator has removed an Indian startup from its batch after discovering ‘irregularities’ at the company. Medobed, which promises drug delivery within 10 minutes, was initially chosen for Y Combinator’s S23 batch. But after it was discovered that Medobed’s founder regularly changed his account of his educational history and the company’s growth rates, Y Combinator cut ties.
YC Demo Day: In lighter YC news, this week marked Y Combinator’s Demo Day, a two-day livestream of startups presenting in the VC firm’s newest cohort. We’ve got overviews from both days, as well as a highlight of the AI startups that stood out to us for their technical – or business – novelty.
Cheap iPhone Tricks: A popular and relatively cheap hacking tool allows hackers to spam your iPhone with annoying pop-ups asking you to connect to a nearby Apple device. A security researcher who would only name Anthony demonstrated this attack using a Flipper Zero, a small device that can be programmed to launch wireless attacks on devices within its range.
Smart chastity cage hacked: In other, more bizarre hacking news, the manufacturer of a penile chastity device that can be controlled by a partner over the Internet revealed users’ email addresses, plain text passwords, home addresses and IP addresses, and – in some cases – GPS coordinates due to According a security researcher, there are several errors in the servers. Lorenzo has the full story.
Bumble is cracking down on spam: Dating app company Bumble has released updated community guidelines aimed at tackling bots, spam, ghosting and doxing on both Bumble and Badoo, Bumble’s alternative dating platform. Bumble is revamping its rules to root out bots by banning actions such as artificially influencing “connections, matching, conversations, or engagement through the use of automation or scripting,” Ivan writes.
Paw Patrol Treats Recalled Over Porn: British supermarket giant Lidl has launched a recall for Paw Patrol snacks after its website began displaying explicit content unsuitable for children on the products’ packaging. The affected products include Paw Patrol Yummy Bakes and Paw Patrol Mini Biscotti, snacks recommended for children aged two years and over.
Texas Can’t Enforce Online Identity Checks: A Texas judge this week issued an order to delay the implementation of an online age verification bill. The Free Speech Coalition, along with adult video sites like Pornhub, led the legal fight against Texas’ HB 1181, arguing that the bill violates the First Amendment and infringes on the rights guaranteed by Section 230.
Lenovo launches glasses and a handheld: At the annual IFA consumer electronics conference in Berlin, Lenovo unveiled the Legion Glasses, which start at $329 and share some features with Apple’s Vision Pro, Brian writes. Additionally, Lenovo debuted the $699 Legion Go, its answer to Valve’s Steam Deck, which is not only more powerful than the Steam Deck in terms of processing power, but also features a higher resolution screen and a higher refresh rate.
Feds investigating Tesla: Federal prosecutors in Manhattan and the Securities and Exchange Commission are separately investigating the use of Tesla funds to finance a secret project described internally as a glass house in Austin, Texas, for CEO Elon Musk. Tesla board members are also reportedly involved in the investigation into the possible misuse of company resources in the project, known as ‘Project 42’, and whether Musk was personally involved.
Musk sues the ADL: If a federal investigation against Tesla isn’t enough, Musk says X, formerly Twitter, will file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League, the nonprofit organization that fights anti-Semitism, extremism and bigotry. Musk accused the ADL of falsely accusing him and X, his company, of being anti-Semitic, and also blamed the ADL for X’s declining U.S. advertising revenues.
Audio
Need a podcast or two to round out your playlist? Good news: TechCrunch has plenty to go around.
In the latest episode of Equity, Michael Seibel, current YC partner and managing director of YC Early Stage, discussed how Y Combinator evolved to meet a changing market, as well as key trends from last year’s summer series.
Found, meanwhile, centered around Graham Hine, the co-founder and CEO of ePlant, a startup that makes sensors to monitor the health of trees. Hine talked about why he was initially interested in the tree world and what it was like making the transition to founder after years working at a startup founded by his brother.
And at Chain Reaction, Charlie Shrem stopped by to discuss his work at the Bitcoin Foundation, which he founded, as well as his role as general partner at Druid Ventures and host of the Charlie Shrem Show. After being accused of running an unlicensed money transmission business and allegedly attempting to launder more than $1 million through the now-defunct dark web marketplace Silk Road, Shrem is now loudly advocating for clearer crypto regulation, investing in crypto startups and even produces films.
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TC+ subscribers get access to in-depth commentary, analysis, and surveys — all of which you’ll know if you’re already a subscriber. If you’re not, please consider signing up. Here are a few highlights from this week:
Investors sit out of YC Demo Day: Y Combinator has long had a good reputation for picking companies that will go on to become a home for investors. And to secure those investments, venture capital firms have been watching the accelerator’s biennial demo days to get a look at the startups that could become the next Instacart or Airbnb. But anecdotally, some of the knowledge surrounding Demo Day – and YC in general – has faded in recent years, Rebecca writes.
Tech companies are finding their feet:Technology companies are getting the hang of making money – or at least they’re losing far less than they used to, when money was cheap and ‘growth’ was sexy, writes Alex. He sees this happening across the technology sector: in enterprise software, fintech and even in the tech-adjacent digital direct-to-consumer market.
The Case of Paranoia: Platforms like Nextdoor, Citizen and even the Ring doorbell app are the modern neighborhood watch. But unlike the neighborhood watches of yesteryear, the era of “Hello Neighbor!” has evolved into “Why is my neighbor at my door?” Haje writes.