You Won’t Believe What Happened at Y Combinator Demo Day! Smart Chastity Cage Hacked – Feds Launch Investigation into Tesla!

Hello lovely people, it’s that time of the week again – Week in Review (WiR) time. For those unfamiliar, WiR is TechCrunch’s regular newsletter that recaps the major tech events of the past few days. If you’ve been too busy to keep up with recent events, don’t panic. WiR is here to bring you up to speed.

In this week’s edition of WiR, we cover a hacking device that can spam nearby iPhones with Bluetooth pop-ups, Y Combinator’s Demo Day favorites (and controversies), Bumble’s policy change to crack down bots, doxing and spam, and the new one from Lenovo. gaming glasses and handheld. We also highlighted the federal investigation into Tesla’s “secret glass” project, Elon Musk’s lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League, and Texas’ efforts to impose identity checks on porn sites and hacked male chastity cages (yes, really ).

There’s a lot to cover, so let’s dive in. But first, if you haven’t already, don’t forget sign up here to receive WiR in your inbox every Saturday.

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Y combinator controversy: Historic venture firm Y Combinator removed an Indian startup from its batch after discovering “irregularities” in the company. Medobed, which promises 10-minute drug delivery, was initially chosen for Y Combinator’s batch S23. But after it was discovered that Medobed’s founder frequently altered his account of his educational history and the company’s growth metrics, Y Combinator cut ties.

YC Demo Day: In lighter YC news, this week was Y Combinator’s Demo Day, a two-day livestream of startups pitching to the venture capital firm’s latest cohort. We have summaries of both days as well as a highlight of the AI Startups that caught our attention due to their technical (or business) novelty.

Cheap iPhone Tricks: Thanks to a popular and relatively inexpensive hacking tool, hackers can spam your iPhone with annoying pop-ups asking you to connect to a nearby Apple device. A security researcher who asked to be referred to only as Anthony demonstrated this attack using a Flipper Zero, a small device that can be programmed to perform wireless attacks on devices within its range.

Hacked Smart Chastity Cage: In other stranger hacking news, the maker of a penis chastity device that can be controlled by a partner over the Internet exposed users’ email addresses, plain text passwords, residential addresses and IP addresses and , in some cases, GPS coordinates due to various failures in their servers, according to a security researcher. Lorenzo has the full story.

Bumble Cracks Down on Spam: Dating app company Bumble has launched updated community guidelines aiming to crack down on bots, spam, ghosting and doxing on both Bumble and Badoo, Bumble’s alternative dating platform. Bumble is revamping its rules to eliminate bots by prohibiting actions like artificially influencing “connections, matches, conversations, or engagement through the use of automation or scripting,” Ivan writes.

Paw Patrol snacks recalled for pornography: UK-based supermarket giant Lidl has recalled Paw Patrol snacks after the website on the products’ packaging began displaying explicit content not suitable for children. The affected products include Paw Patrol Yummy Bakes and Paw Patrol Mini Biscotti, snacks recommended for children two years of age and older.

Texas cannot impose online ID checks: A Texas judge issued a mandate this week to stop the implementation of an online age verification bill. The Free Speech Coalition, along with adult video sites like Pornhub, led the legal challenge against Texas. HB 1181arguing that the bill violates the First Amendment and infringes on rights guaranteed by Section 230.

Lenovo launches glasses and a handheld: At the annual IFA consumer electronics conference in Berlin, Lenovo introduced the Legion glasses, which start at $329 and share certain features with Apple’s. Vision Pro, writes Brian. Along with him, Lenovo presented the $699 Legion Go, his answer to Valve’s. steam coverwhich is not only more powerful than the Steam Deck in terms of processing power, but also features a higher resolution display and higher refresh rate.

Feds investigate 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. Members of Tesla’s board of directors are also reportedly involved in the investigation into possible misuse of company resources in the project, known as “Project 42,” and whether Musk was personally involved.

Musk sues ADL: If a federal investigation into Tesla wasn’t enough, Musk says X, formerly Twitter, will file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League, the nonprofit organization that works to combat anti-Semitism, extremism and bigotry. Musk accused the ADL of falsely accusing him and his company X of being anti-Semitic and also blamed the ADL for X’s declining US advertising revenue.

Audio

Do you need a podcast or two to fill out your playlist? Good news: TechCrunch has a lot to live up to.

The most recent episode of Equity featured Michael Seibel, current YC Partner and CEO of YC Early Stage, who discussed how Y Combinator evolved to meet a changing market, as well as the top trends from last year’s summer batch.

FoundMeanwhile, he focused on Graham Hine, co-founder and CEO of ePlant, a startup that creates sensors to monitor the health of trees. Hine talked about what got him interested in the tree space to begin with and what it was like to transition to being a founder after working for years at a startup founded by his brother.

and more in Chain reaction, Charlie Shrem spoke about 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 operating an unlicensed money transmission business and allegedly attempting to launder more than $1 million through the now-defunct Silk Road dark web marketplace, Shrem is now openly advocating for clearer crypto regulation, investing in crypto startups and even produces movies.

TechnologyCrunch+

Investors do not attend YC Demo Day: Y Combinator has long had a good reputation for picking companies that will become hits for investors. And to get those investments, venture capitalists have been watching the accelerator’s biennial Demo Days to get a glimpse of startups that could become the next Instacart or Airbnb. But anecdotally, some of the tradition surrounding Demo Day (and YC in general) has faded in recent years, Rebecca writes.

Technology companies find their rhythm:Tech companies are learning to make money, or at least they are losing much less than before when money was cheap and “growth” was attractive, Alex writes. He’s seeing this happen across the tech sector: in enterprise software, fintech, and, heck, even in the tech-adjacent direct-to-consumer digital market.

The business 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.