The large language models (LLMs) that power chatbots are increasingly being used in attempts to scam humans – but they are susceptible to being scammed themselves.

Udari Madhushani Sehwag at JP Morgan AI Research and her colleagues peppered three models behind popular chatbots – OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 and GPT-4, as well as Meta’s Llama 2 – with 37 scam scenarios.

The chatbots were told, for instance, that they had received an email recommending investing in a new cryptocurrency, with…

The Roborock Qrevo Curv was one of many new devices shown off during IFA 2024. Offering a shocking amount of suction and an updated vacuuming setup, it’s poised to be one of the best robot vacuums of the year. But how does it stack up with the existing Roborock Qrevo Master? More importantly, should owners of the Qrevo Master make the jump to the Qrevo Curv? Here’s a closer look at both robot vacuums to help you decide.

Pricing and design

The Roborock Qrevo Curv is priced at $1,600, making it one of the most expensive robots on the market. It offers a striking dome-shaped docking station and is a stark departure from the rectangular shapes of the competition. Most shoppers should find it to be a well-designed device.

The Roborock Qrevo Master was originally priced at $1,600, but it seems to have been permanently slashed to $950 following the arrival of the Curv. It boasts a traditional rectangular docking station. It looks great — but after seeing the Curv, it definitely seems a bit dated. Still, at under $1,000, it’s a better choice for frugal shoppers.

Winner: Roborock Qrevo Master

Vacuuming

Churning out 18,500Pa of suction, the Qrevo Curv is remarkably powerful. Combined with its new DuoDivide Brush that’s built to avoid tangles and a redesigned FlexiArm swinging side brush, it cleans thick carpets as well as some cordless vacuums. Its brushes can also lift while mopping to ensure they don’t get wet.

The Qrevo Master can also lift its brushes and uses a FlexiArm swinging side brush, but its bristles don’t use the new design — making it a bit more prone to tangles. The same goes for its older DuoRoller Brush on the bottom. The biggest difference, however, is when it comes to suction levels. The Qrevo Master tops out at 10,000Pa.

Both docking stations can hold up to seven weeks of dust, making them incredibly hands-free when it comes to vacuuming operations.

Advertisement

Winner: Roborock Qrevo Curv

Mopping

Mopping specs are largely the same across both robots. They use dual rotating mopping pads that spin at 200 rpm, offer a variety of different water flow levels, and feature a swinging mop to clean near baseboards. Once a cleaning run is completed, it’ll head back to the dock.

Here, its mops will be rinsed with hot water until no dirt is detected. The docking station will then automatically clean its own washboard to ensure all the debris knocked off the mops is washed away into its dirty water reservoir. Mops will then be dried with warm air to ensure nasty odors don’t develop.

Winner: Tie

Additional features

Both robots are packed with additional features. This includes a built-in voice assistant, a powerful mobile app to customize your settings, premium obstacle detection, and the fun ability to capture snapshots of your pets. The Qrevo Curv also features a liftable chassis to climb over thresholds up to 4cm and the ability to heat its water up to 75 degrees Celsius compared to just 60 degrees Celsius on the Master.

Winner: Roborock Qrevo Curv

Advertisement

Verdict

The ultimate mobile gaming controller is one that you enjoy using the most, and 8BitDo thinks its new controller for mobile games is going to be that controller for you. And, you know what it just might be. It’s called the Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller and based on the features, it’s quite possible that it will live up to that title.

For starters, 8BitDo is coming out of the gate strong with two very sought-after features. Hall Effect sticks and triggers. While it’s nice that triggers are Hall Effect, it’s much more important that the stick use this technology. Hall Effect joysticks mean that the joysticks on this controller are essentially drift-proof. Stick drift has been a big problem for many users across all platforms, but it seems to have been the biggest issue for Nintendo Switch and PS5 owners. Where the sticks on the JoyCon and the DualSense have encountered this problem on a pretty large scale.

8BitDo wants you to avoid running into this problem.

The 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller is $50

The other big thing that 8BitDo has going for it is the controller’s price. It’s only $50. Compare that to the $100 Backbone One which is a favorite of many, and the $78 Razer Kishi V2 Pro and $150 Razer Kishi Ultra, the latter of which has been our favorite. Even with the regular Kishi V2 is still more expensive at $60. And while it’s a fine controller, we have loved ours, 8BitDo’s entry into the market has a considerable advantage in size.

The Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller appears to be a full-size controller and it comes with an enhanced grip. So you should have more for your hands to hold onto. This was one of the main reasons why we love the Kishi Ultra. It’s a full-size mobile controller in this Nintendo Switch-like style where the phone sits in the middle. That being said, it does cost $150. So it’s expensive, and for many, the cost may not be justified.

This is where 8BitDo has a chance to carve out a real piece of the market. It can offer a full-size or nearly full-size mobile controller with loads of features at a reasonably low price. And that will probably be hard to beat.

It’s compatible with nearly every device

8BitDo says the controller is compatible with nearly every phone out there. That’s partially due to the Bluetooth connection, as there’s no direct USB-C connection to plug your phone into. It’s also due to the controller’s extendable body to fit larger devices. There is still a limit of course. The controller will only support phones from 100mm to 170mm in length. If your phone (or tablet perhaps) fits into those measurements then you should be fine.

In addition to the wide range of phone compatibility, the Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller offers a lot more. There are two pro-style back paddles, tactile bumpers and d-pad, a turbo button, a macro button, and the controller works with 8BitDo’s Ultimate software.

You can use this software to remap controls and adjust different settings. This is also where you can set up and customize profiles. Which is useful since the controller has a profile button too. Now since this is powered by Bluetooth it does have a battery. That battery should last up to 15 hours though, and it only takes about 1.5 hours to recharge.

The Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller is available for pre-order today through Amazon. 8BitDo says it begins shipping out on November 29. it comes in black and white.

Buy at Amazon

Heads up if you’ve had a Cash App account over the last six years or so: you may now be able to claim thousands of dollars as a result of a class-action settlement. The company proposed the $15 million settlement earlier this year following two security incidents. If you’re eligible to make a claim, you only have a few weeks to do so.

The first related breach took place in December 2021 when, according to Cash App, a former employee downloaded reports containing information on more than 8 million users. This included their full names, brokerage account numbers and, in some cases, the holdings and value of investment portfolios. Cash App .

The consolidated class-action complaint alleged that Cash App and parent company Block failed to enact sufficient security measures to prevent another data breach. This involved Cash App’s person-to-person payment services. According to the plaintiffs, “an unauthorized user accessed certain Cash App accounts in 2023 using recycled phone numbers.” The complaint contended that Cash App and Block mishandled complaints related to both breaches and fraudulent transactions.

Cash App and Block have denied any wrongdoing, reports. They say the settlement is not an admission of liability.

You may be eligible to make a claim if you had a Cash App account between August 23, 2018 and August 20 of this year. The settlement will cover up to $2,500 of out-of-pocket costs stemming from the breaches, as well as up to three hours worth of lost time at $25 per hour. Those who have sustained a monetary loss and haven’t yet been reimbursed can file a claim for that too.

If you plan to file a claim through the , you’ll need to do so by 2AM ET on November 19. A final court hearing in the case is set for December 16.

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here.

Several startups announced new rounds this week without disclosing their valuation. This doesn’t mean that these were down rounds, but rather it confirms that our collective focus has shifted far away from unicorns: These days, $1 billion can be the ARR (annual recurring revenue) figure a company wants to hit before going public.

Most interesting startup stories from the week

IPOs are making their way back into the conversation, but not everyone is lamenting their absence.

Secondhand: Vinted was valued at €5 billion in a secondary share sale. The Lithuanian secondhand marketplace joins the growing number of European scale-ups that have followed this route to unlock liquidity for their stakeholders in the absence of IPOs on their roadmap.

Bright side: Ro CEO Zachariah Reitano would “never say never” to taking the telehealth company public, but he thinks the benefits of being a private company are growing, he said in a recent interview.

Checking boxes: Checking boxes: Wiz hopes that 2025 will be the year its ARR reaches $1 billion, a number its co-founders see as a prerequisite for the cybersecurity company to go public after it declined to get acquired by Google for $23 billion.

Big moves: Fintech company Groww is one of several Indian startups that are relocating their headquarters to India to better comply with local legislation and potentially go public more easily, TechCrunch’s Manish Singh reported.

Tailwinds: U.S. federal regulators have cleared the way for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to share U.S. airspace with planes and helicopters, a big win for startups in this category.

Most interesting fundraises this week

Just a handful of AI-related funding rounds this week, but AI will be central to some really big ones that may be around the corner.

Counter-Stripe: One year after becoming a payment processor, fintech startup Finix raised a $75 million Series C round of funding that will help it grow in the U.S. and expand into more countries. 

Money circle: Concentric AI recently raised a $45 million Series B round. The San Mateo-based startup operates in the data security posture management space, which had several M&As in recent years.

Open checks: Socket raised $40 million to detect security vulnerabilities in open source code, which software companies are increasingly relying on. 

Augmented: Fixify closed a $25 million Series A round to help IT teams deal with ticket overload thanks to a combination of automation and human analysts.

Rumors: AI search engine Perplexity is reportedly seeking to raise $500 million. Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati is also said to be fundraising for a new AI startup. 

Most interesting VC and fund news this week

Ducks in a row: Privacy-focused company DuckDuckGo will invest into similarly minded early-stage startups and consider acquisitions. Its past investments include AI model training platform EverArt, TechCrunch learned.

Breathing room: Andreessen Horowitz is making a private GPU cluster available to AI startups in its portfolio through a program called Oxygen, the VC firm confirmed this week.

Partners only: Filings revealed that Benchmark is raising $170 million for a new fund. TechCrunch understands this will be a partners-only fund, where most of the funding will come from the firm’s historical and current partners.

Old and new: U.S. VC veteran firm General Catalyst raised $8 billion in fresh funds. As for new VC firm Chemistry, it raised $350 million for its debut fund.

Last but not least

The race for AI foundational models is only beginning, and smaller startups still stand a chance, Accel partner Philippe Botteri told TechCrunch. This includes European ones, despite the fundraising gap with their U.S. peers.