Technology
Autonomy’s Mike Lynch was acquitted following a U.S. fraud trial brought by HP
Former Autonomy CEO Dr. Mike Lynch issued a statement Thursday after being acquitted of criminal charges, ending a 13-year legal battle with Hewlett-Packard that became certainly one of Silicon Valley’s biggest fraud cases. He was accused of falsely inflating the British startup’s revenue before its $11 billion sale to HP in 2011.
Commenting on the acquittal, Dr. Lynch (pictured above left as he appeared on the TechCrunch Disrupt conference) said: “I am thrilled with today’s verdict and grateful to the jury for the attention they have paid to the facts over the past ten weeks. My deepest thanks go to my legal team for working tirelessly on my behalf. I can’t wait to return to the UK and get back to what I love most: my family and innovation in my field.”
After a 12-week trial, the entrepreneur was cleared of 15 counts of fraud and conspiracy brought against him in reference to the 2011 takeover.
Lynch’s victory is notable in light of the indisputable fact that within the U.S., only 0.4% of federal criminal cases (in fiscal yr 2022, in line with the Pew Research Center) resulted in trial and acquittal, and only 12% of all Art. the foremost charge of wire fraud ends in acquittal.
Christopher Morvillo and Brian Heberlig, Dr. Lynch’s legal counsel, added in a statement: “We are delighted with the jury’s verdict, which reflects a strong rejection of the government’s deep dive into this case. The evidence presented at trial conclusively established that Mike Lynch was innocent. This verdict closes the book on a relentless 13-year effort to pin HP’s well-documented ineptitude on Dr. Lynch. Fortunately, the truth finally won. We thank Dr. Lynch for his confidence in this ordeal and hope that he will now be able to return home to England to resume his life and continue his innovations.”
Lynch (58) was previously extradited to the United States and placed under house arrest under 24-hour supervision before his trial. He has long maintained that HP scapegoated him, saying it botched its acquisition of Autonomy and later mismanaged the corporate’s software.
Lynch made £500m from selling Autonomy to HP. However, just a yr later, HP reduced the worth of its investment by $8.8 billion and lost $5 billion attributable to the so-called Autonomy’s revenue inflation, he claimed on the time.
Prosecutors accused Lynch and Chamberlain of illegally inflating pre-acquisition revenues and hiding high-margin software revenues in unprofitable hardware sales.
During the trial, Lynch successfully argued that he was not concerned with accounting and contractual matters, as a substitute specializing in technical and marketing matters.
Although an American jury argued unsuccessfully that the case needs to be tried within the UK, resulting in his extradition, it acquitted Lynch of all charges, together with Stephen Chamberlain, Autonomy’s former vice chairman of finance, who was also tried.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco said: “We acknowledge and respect the decision. We would love to thank the jury for paying attention to the evidence presented by the federal government on this case.”
The sale of Autonomy to HP was seen as validation of the booming UK tech scene, and the platform’s ability to mine unstructured databases was then seen as a way for HP to rebuild its shaky hardware business.
Lynch co-founded Autonomy in 1996 from a research group specializing in software called Cambridge Neurodynamics.
Awarded an OBE for services to enterprise in 2006, Lynch became an adviser to the UK government, sat on the boards of the BBC and the British Library, founded Invoke Capital VC and invested within the groundbreaking cybersecurity company Darktrace.
Technology
Amazon confirms employee data theft after hacker reports MOVEit breach
Amazon confirmed that employee data was compromised following a “security event” at a third-party vendor.
In a press release provided to TechCrunch on Monday, Amazon spokesman Adam Montgomery confirmed that employee data had been breached.
“Amazon and AWS systems remain secure and we now have not experienced any security incident. We have been notified of a security incident at certainly one of our property management providers that has impacted several of their clients, including Amazon. The only Amazon information affected was employees’ work contact information, equivalent to work email addresses, landline phone numbers and constructing locations, Montgomery said.
Amazon wouldn’t say what number of employees were affected by the breach. It noted that the anonymous third-party seller doesn’t have access to sensitive data equivalent to Social Security numbers or financial information, and claimed to have fixed the safety flaw accountable for the data breach.
The confirmation comes after the threat actor claimed to have published data stolen from Amazon on the notorious hacking website BreachForums. The individual claims to have over 2.8 million lines of data, which he says was stolen during last yr’s massive MOVEit Transfer mining.
A threat actor operating under the moniker ‘Nam3L3ss’ claims to have released data allegedly stolen from 25 major organizations, cybersecurity firm Hudson Rock reports.
“What you have seen so far is less than 0.001% of the data I have,” the threat actor claims. “I have 1,000 premieres that I have never seen before.”
TechCrunch has reached out to other organizations named by the threat actor but has not yet received any further responses.
The MOVEit hack, through which attackers exploited a zero-day vulnerability in Progress Software’s file transfer software, was the most important hack of 2023.
These breaches, claimed by the notorious ransomware and extortion gang Clop, affected greater than 1,000 organizations, including the Oregon Department of Transportation (3.5 million records stolen), the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (4 million ) and the US government services contract giant Maximus (11 million).
Technology
Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gadgets for New Homeowners
In August, I did something I never imagined: I purchased a house. After spending most of my adult life in New York, I moved just a few hours north to the Hudson Valley.
This was as major a change as I expected. In addition to the usual surprises for recent homeowners – like a short-tailed shrew doing stuff in my laundry room – the transition from renting to home ownership provided a level of control I’ve never had over my very own space.
For example, I frequently had smart home products rejected for review because I could not install things like a sensible doorbell in a spot I didn’t own. Maybe it is a small thing, but I’ve spent most of the previous few months making up for lost time.
Here’s a present guide for your beloved who recently moved – or for yourself, if that applies to you. Everything described here is something I actually have tested and currently use myself. We hope they’ll make your smart home feel more like a sensible home.
Apple Mac Studio/Mac Mini – $1,999/$599
Currently, the centerpiece of my office is a Mac Studio M2 and a pair of Studio monitors. The Studio is an incredibly powerful machine in a reasonably small package, and the SD card slot on the front is great for all of the photos I want to take for work.
However, if I were asked to choose today, I might select a small Mac Mini to unencumber a variety of space on my desk. The entry price of $599 is definitely attractive as well.
Aviron Interactive Home Rowing Machine – $1,999
Last yr I injured my back. I actually, really screwed it up. Because of this, I had to offer up my morning runs. Cycling is great, but I prefer to do it on an actual bike. Ultimately, I made a decision on rowing, which provides a full-body workout with much less effort than running.
Aviron is not an enormous name within the connected fitness industry, however the startup has produced a fantastic rower with a well-thought-out content library. Instead of simply counting on training videos, the corporate has created a collection of games designed to maintain you engaged during your workout. It’s a fun approach to break a sweat.
Beflo Tenon Smart Adjustable Desk – Starts at $2,399
Desks are essential. Standing can also be essential. Ergo, standing desks are essential. When I moved out of town, I made a decision it was time to eliminate the big, bulky desk I purchased second-hand over a decade ago. I desired to see how the opposite half lives, so I contacted Beflo about its over-the-top approach to the category. It’s just like the Cadillac of standing desks.
Tenon has all of the benefits and the starting price. The desk has a mechanical lifting function that may be controlled via the touch screen or the Beflo application. There are USB ports and even lights. Honestly, this may occasionally be overkill for most individuals, but investing in a desk that ought to last you some time is not a nasty idea
Buddha Bird – $299
I’ve dreamed of getting one because it was announced, but I’ve never had my very own backyard. Bird Buddy was one in every of the primary things I selected for my recent front porch. The concept is kind of easy: it is a bird feeder with a camera. Of course, these sorts of products only work when implemented well, and Bird Buddy brings some clever innovations to the market. Artificial intelligence is used to capture videos and photos at the precise time, and its scope is expanding to incorporate things like bird identification.
I admit that it took a variety of trial and error to implement the system in a way that produced the specified results. Greedy squirrels posed a challenge, although a conical baffle eventually solved the issue. Plus, the key to Bird Buddy, like several other bird feeder, is patience. It can take weeks for birds to seek out a brand new feeder. But once they do, word spreads quickly.
Branch Verve Chair – $509
I actually have beneficial Branch chairs to anyone who asks. The company produces a particularly comfortable office chair that makes long workdays a bit of more bearable. They also look great.
I recently upgraded from the Ergonomic chair to the Verve – and I can fully recommend each. Verve is a little more expensive and nicer. Get a load of this coral color; this can break the monotony of your property office.
Coway Airmega – $230
In some parts of the world, air purifiers are a necessity. As wildfires change into more severe annually, that is becoming increasingly applicable here within the US. I’m also an individual with many allergies and a profusely shedding animal who recently moved to the forest. I am unable to say enough about how much a great purifier helps keep my home breathable.
Coway makes the HEPA purifier able to cleansing as much as 361 square feet in only over 12 minutes. You can even clean as much as 874 square feet in half an hour – which, truthfully, covers most of my house. It also looks great, and with its curved, minimalist design, you will not feel like hiding when someone comes at you.
Dyson Gen5 Detect – $949
My Dyson and I actually have been through lots. The vacuum has hit corners and fallen more times than I care to say, but it surely’s still ticking. The biggest challenge, nonetheless, is the lion-headed rabbit, which loses 5 times its body weight every week. The only thing standing between me and the fur floor is Gen5 Detect.
The floors in my recent apartment are mostly hardwood, and the Dyson does a fantastic job of sucking up particles and even bits of hay scattered across the ground at any time when the rabbit decides it’s mad at me. It works equally well with carpets.
FoodCycler Eco 3 – $500
Throw your food scraps into this $500 countertop device, press start, and in just a few hours, all the pieces from potato peels to lobster shells will likely be ground into fertilizer for your growing army of houseplants. FoodCycler is a win-win solution.
Hisense C2 Ultra Projector – $3,000
Here’s something embarrassing. I tested the Hisense C2 projector just before I had to depart town for every week to go to Disrupt. I felt like I used to be missing this experience. There’s nothing higher than going to the films in a theater, but this high-end 4K laser projector comes close.
The image is sharp and stunning, and the built-in speaker plays loud and clear. The system comes with many popular streaming apps built-in, including Netflix and Disney+. Ultimately, nonetheless, I made a decision to make use of the HDMI port to attach my Apple TV 4K while concurrently sending video to a pair of HomePods. As I write this, I’m really serious about which foreign horror movie I’ll be streaming on the Criterion app tonight.
4th Generation Nest Learning Thermostat – $280
It’s not probably the most exciting product category, but a great thermostat makes an enormous difference, each when it comes to comfort levels and energy bills. The Nest Learning Thermostat was surprisingly easy to put in, sounding like someone with absolutely zero electrical experience.
The recent display looks great and offers a variety of information at a look, but I discovered myself mostly forgetting it existed. That’s a positive result for a thermostat, the variety of product you simply really take into consideration when something has gone flawed.
Overnight stay – $350
This was a incredible housewarming gift from a friend. Built by a small start-up of the identical name, Nightside is a warm and tall night lamp with a particularly clever track. The tabletop lifts and has an adjustable mirror that reflects a beam of sunshine for reading in bed.
It’s a testament to innovation without being high-tech, and it hasn’t left my bed since.
TP-Link RE715X – $99
If you might be a home-owner, you would like a spread extender. My apartment is just over 1,000 square feet, but I’ve found that about half of my rooms haven’t got good Wi-Fi coverage. This small range extender is incredibly easy to establish and plugs directly into the wall.
I opted for the dual-band model and am blissful with the performance, at the same time as my army of smart home products continues to grow.
Technology
X is testing a free version of the Grok AI chatbot
Social network X has thus far limited its AI chatbot Grok (built by Elon Musk’s other company, xAI) to paid premium users. However, the platform is apparently preparing to make the chatbot available to free users.
on the weekend, several app researchers AND users information has been published that a free version of Grok is available to people in certain regions.
TechCrunch was able to verify that X is not less than testing access to Grok for free users in New Zealand.
According to the researcher who goes through Swak on XThere are currently usage limits: 10 queries per two hours for the Grok-2 model, 20 queries per two hours for the Grok-2 mini model, and three image evaluation queries per day.
To use Grok for free, your account ought to be not less than seven days old and have a phone number related to it.
In August, xAI released Grok-2 with image generation capabilities powered by Black Forest Labs’ FLUX.1 model. Late last month, the company enabled the model to know images.
All these features were previously only available to Premium and Premium+ users. By making Grok available to free users, xAI is likely searching for a larger user base and a faster feedback cycle for its products so as to higher compete with other models in the market resembling ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.
Last month Wall Street Journal reported that xAI is in talks to boost several billion dollars at a valuation of $40 billion.
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