Techcrunch blog!: Researchers hack Tesla's infotainment system to unlock paid features like FSD and heated seats

Thursday, August 03, 2023

Today's top story is a doozy. A group of researchers have found a way to hack, or what they call "jailbreak," the hardware in a Tesla to get free in-car feature upgrades. Find out how. Speaking of Tesla, the first "range inflation" lawsuit against the electric automaker was filed. Get the scoop.

There was a lot going on in India today. First, the country is restricting imports of laptops, tablets and other personal computers. Then its IT ministry resurrected a data privacy bill following an abrupt pullback last year. And finally, Xiaomi said "bye bye bye" to India's Play Store and removed its Mi Music app. Find out more.

Meanwhile, Lula, which aims to be the "Stripe for insurance," got a little bit of its own operations-related insurance by securing $35.5 million. Read more.

And Warner Bros. Discovery said it lost 1.8 million subscribers amid its Max rebrand. My guess? Those of a certain age preferred the HBO brand. Read on to find out.

Image Credits: veriflow.net under a license. (Image has been modified)

More top reads

Does a future with AI scare you?: That's what Haje Jan Kamps is asking in his newest TechCrunch+ article that shows just how well artificial intelligence is changing video. (TC+)

All the news that's fit to post: The Agence France-Presse news agency sued Elon Musk's X for refusing to enter into news reuse payment talks.

Hacked off: Russia-backed hackers used Microsoft Teams to breach government agencies.

Stepping on the brakes: XPeng's head of autonomous driving quits and is rumored to have joined Nvidia.

Did they call you?: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission means business. The agency fined a robocaller a record $300 million after blocking billions of their scam calls.

No one in the driver's seat: Waymo is bringing its robotaxi service to Austin.

Give me some of that green: Emtech will advance its regtech and CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) stack solutions following a $4 million round led by Matrix Partners India.

Testing the public markets: TikTok competitor Triller files to go public, and the S-1 is quite telling.

Just kidding: Kenya may not ban Worldcoin after all . . . if everyone comes to a mutual agreement.

Back in prehistoric times…: Datasaur lets you build a model automatically from a set of labels.

Here's what’s going on with your favorite social apps: Let's start off with Pinterest, which beat its second-quarter earnings estimate and is celebrating its partnership progress with Amazon. And over on Instagram, a new feature protects users from unwanted images and videos in DMs.

What a tangled web we CoreWeave: Get out the Scrooge McDuck–sized vault. CoreWeave, a company providing cloud infrastructure for AI training, secures a $2.3 billion loan.

Developers still like crypto: Fewer venture capital checks are being written to crypto companies and there's those pesky regulatory issues, but developers haven't written off the space. (TC+)

Much ado about Nothing: Nothing will launch earbuds and a smartwatch under its new budget line, CMF.

IPO will we see one this year?: Yes, it’s just August, but we know how time flies, so now's the time to ponder if we will see any IPOs happening this year. Perhaps Triller? See above. (TC+)

Image Credits: Lightricks

From the "pod" files

In this week’s episode of Chain Reaction, Jacquelyn sits down with Jesse Pollak, lead for Base and head of protocols at Coinbase. Coinbase, which is the second largest crypto exchange by trading volume, launched Base, an Ethereum-focused layer-2 blockchain, in February. The platform was in testnet, which is a test phase of the blockchain network, until mid-July, when it launched its mainnet, the fully live version of a blockchain on the main network (hence the name: mainnet), to developers.

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin

Operational and finance tips for early-stage startups in a tough market

Laying off employees during a downturn will only get a startup so far. Unfortunately, many founders don’t even consider paring back on operational and financial expenses until it’s too late.

When it comes to extending cash on hand, everything from canceling subscriptions to “a hard pivot” must be on the table, says Ben Boissevain, founder of Ascento Capital.

“If a company has a limited runway, pursue multiple corporate finance options simultaneously. Do not pursue the next VC round, run out of money, and then try to pursue M&A,” he says, since “the process requires at least six months.”

TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription.