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How (and why) federated learning enhances cybersecurity
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Each year, cyberattacks become more frequent and data breaches become more expensive. Whether companies seek to protect their AI system during development or use their algorithm to improve their security posture, they must alleviate cybersecurity risks. Federated learning might be able to do both.
What is federated learning?
Federated learning is an approach to AI development in which multiple parties train a single model separately. Each downloads the current primary algorithm from a central cloud server. They train their configuration independently on local servers, uploading it upon completion. This way, they can share data remotely without exposing raw data or model parameters.
The centralized algorithm weighs the number of samples it receives from each disparately trained configuration, aggregating them to create a single global model. All information remains on each participant’s local servers or devices — the centralized repository weighs the updates instead of processing raw data.
Federated learning’s popularity is rapidly increasing because it addresses common development-related security concerns. It is also highly sought after for its performance advantages. Research shows this technique can improve an image classification model’s accuracy by up to 20% — a substantial increase.
Horizontal federated learning
There are two types of federated learning. The conventional option is horizontal federated learning. In this approach, data is partitioned across various devices. The datasets share feature spaces but have different samples. This enables edge nodes to collaboratively train a machine learning (ML) model without sharing information.
Vertical federated learning
In vertical federated learning, the opposite is true — features differ, but samples are the same. Features are distributed vertically across participants, each possessing different attributes about the same set of entities. Since just one party has access to the complete set of sample labels, this approach preserves privacy.
How federated learning strengthens cybersecurity
Traditional development is prone to security gaps. Although algorithms must have expansive, relevant datasets to maintain accuracy, involving multiple departments or vendors creates openings for threat actors. They can exploit the lack of visibility and broad attack surface to inject bias, conduct prompt engineering or exfiltrate sensitive training data.
When algorithms are deployed in cybersecurity roles, their performance can affect an organization’s security posture. Research shows that model accuracy can suddenly diminish when processing new data. Although AI systems may appear accurate, they may fail when tested elsewhere because they learned to take bogus shortcuts to produce convincing results.
Since AI cannot think critically or genuinely consider context, its accuracy diminishes over time. Even though ML models evolve as they absorb new information, their performance will stagnate if their decision-making skills are based on shortcuts. This is where federated learning comes in.
Other notable benefits of training a centralized model via disparate updates include privacy and security. Since every participant works independently, no one has to share proprietary or sensitive information to progress training. Moreover, the fewer data transfers there are, the lower the risk of a man-in-the-middle attack (MITM).
All updates are encrypted for secure aggregation. Multi-party computation hides them behind various encryption schemes, lowering the chances of a breach or MITM attack. Doing so enhances collaboration while minimizing risk, ultimately improving security posture.
One overlooked advantage of federated learning is speed. It has a much lower latency than its centralized counterpart. Since training happens locally instead of on a central server, the algorithm can detect, classify and respond to threats much faster. Minimal delays and rapid data transmissions enable cybersecurity professionals to handle bad actors with ease.
Considerations for cybersecurity professionals
Before leveraging this training technique, AI engineers and cybersecurity teams should consider several technical, security and operational factors.
Resource usage
AI development is expensive. Teams building their own model should expect to spend anywhere from $5 million to $200 million upfront, and upwards of $5 million annually for upkeep. The financial commitment is significant even with costs spread out among multiple parties. Business leaders should account for cloud and edge computing costs.
Federated learning is also computationally intensive, which may introduce bandwidth, storage space or computing limitations. While the cloud enables on-demand scalability, cybersecurity teams risk vendor lock-in if they are not careful. Strategic hardware and vendor selection is of the utmost importance.
Participant trust
While disparate training is secure, it lacks transparency, making intentional bias and malicious injection a concern. A consensus mechanism is essential for approving model updates before the centralized algorithm aggregates them. This way, they can minimize threat risk without sacrificing confidentiality or exposing sensitive information.
Training data security
While this machine learning training technique can improve a firm’s security posture, there is no such thing as 100% secure. Developing a model in the cloud comes with the risk of insider threats, human error and data loss. Redundancy is key. Teams should create backups to prevent disruption and roll back updates, if necessary.
Decision-makers should revisit their training datasets’ sources. In ML communities, heavy borrowing of datasets occurs, raising well-founded concerns about model misalignment. On Papers With Code, more than 50% of task communities use borrowed datasets at least 57.8% of the time. Moreover, 50% of the datasets there come from just 12 universities.
Applications of federated learning in cybersecurity
Once the primary algorithm aggregates and weighs participants’ updates, it can be reshared for whatever application it was trained for. Cybersecurity teams can use it for threat detection. The advantage here is twofold — while threat actors are left guessing since they cannot easily exfiltrate data, professionals pool insights for highly accurate output.
Federated learning is ideal for adjacent applications like threat classification or indicator of compromise detection. The AI’s large dataset size and extensive training build its knowledge base, curating expansive expertise. Cybersecurity professionals can use the model as a unified defense mechanism to protect broad attack surfaces.
ML models — especially those that make predictions — are prone to drift over time as concepts evolve or variables become less relevant. With federated learning, teams could periodically update their model with varied features or data samples, resulting in more accurate, timely insights.
Leveraging federated learning for cybersecurity
Whether companies want to secure their training dataset or leverage AI for threat detection, they should consider using federated learning. This technique could improve accuracy and performance and strengthen their security posture as long as they strategically navigate potential insider threats or breach risks.
Zac Amos is the features editor at ReHack.
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The Indian Space Tech startup ecosystem witnessed record funding of $126 million, a 7 per cent increase from the $118 million raised in 2022 and a 235 per cent increase from $37.6 million in 2021. India is home to more than 100 space tech startups, the majority of them being founded in the last past 5 years.
Bengaluru leads the list of top-funded cities in India’s space tech sector, followed by Hyderabad and Chennai. The top investors in this sector are Speciale Invest, Anicut Capital, and GrowX Ventures, highlighted the recent Space Tech Geo Report 2024 by Tracxn (a data intelligence platform for private market research). The report gives an overview of the Space Tech sector in India, focusing on recent trends, funding dynamics, and key developments.
As per the report, Skyroot Aerospace was the highest-funded, with overall funding of $99.8 million, followed by Pixxel at $71.7 million and Agnikul at $61.5 million. The recent Union Budget has allocated Rs 1,000 crore to support space technology startups, aimed at boosting the sector’s development and attracting further investment. This initiative, along with the establishment of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) in 2022, is expected to drive substantial innovation and growth.
The report finds that in 2024, the year-to-date funding stands at $10.8 million. Despite a global slowdown in funding, the Indian space tech sector has been experiencing an upward trend, driven by substantial government support and significant innovations. The report highlights that India has emerged as a formidable player in the global space technology arena. Currently, India boasts 55 active space assets, including communication, meteorological, and earth observation satellites.
Interestingly, the Indian space tech sector’s funding landscape is predominantly driven by early-stage investments. In 2023, early-stage rounds attracted $120 million of the total $126 million raised, reflecting a notable growth from $114 million in 2022, which represents a 5 per cent increase.
In 2024, early-stage funding has reached $8.5 million to date. Seed-stage funding has also seen a significant rise, growing from $4.3 million in 2022 to $5.3 million in 2023, marking a 24 per cent increase. However, despite this growth in early-stage and seed-stage funding, the nascent ecosystem for private sector participation in Indian space tech startups has not yet experienced any late-stage funding.
The top funded business models in this space include Small Satellite Launch Vehicles, Satellite Imaging Services, and Satellite Communication Services. Notably, the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle segment has attracted $168 million to date, with Skyroot raising the highest funding in this category.
Despite the vibrant funding landscape, no acquisitions have been observed in 2024 YTD. The only acquisition to date is the 2022 purchase of Prakshep, a satellite imagery provider for the agricultural industry, by Arya. Additionally, the sector is yet to witness the emergence of unicorns. MTAR and Ananth Technologies are the only public companies in this space.
“India’s space tech sector is growing rapidly, thanks to strong government support and a dynamic startup scene. The significant funding and strategic investments we’re seeing now are setting the stage for India to become a major player in the global space industry,” said Neha Singh, Co-Founder of Tracxn.
“Looking ahead, we expect the sector to attract even more investment, sparking more innovation. The combination of solid early-stage funding and supportive government policies will be key to driving this growth and establishing India as a leading centre for space exploration and technology,” she added.
The privatisation of the space sector has catalysed a multi-fold increase in activity. The International Astronautical Federation awarded India the prestigious World Space Award for its successful launch of Chandrayaan 3, which made history in 2023 as the first mission to achieve a soft landing on the moon’s south pole. This landmark achievement has set a global standard for India’s potential and cost-effective engineering in the space tech industry.
An interesting highlight of the report is that space tech startups based in Bengaluru have contributed to more than 55 per cent of the total funding in this space, and it is also the city with the highest number of space tech startups. The evolution of the space industry highlights a global shift from government control to private-sector collaboration.
The report observes that the United States, a pioneer in privatising its space industry with the 1984 Commercial Space Launch Act, has significantly benefited from private company contributions through NASA’s Artemis program. Federal funding for NASA has consistently increased, with $24.8 billion allocated in the 2024 budget.
In terms of geographic funding, the US remains a leader in space tech startup funding, although it has seen a decline from $5.5 billion in 2021 to $660 million in 2024. Europe, on the other hand, has seen increased funding in its space tech sector, with $407 million raised in 2024 to date, following a record $512 million in 2023.
The UK, while experiencing fluctuations in funding, shows signs of recovery with $135 million raised in 2024 to date. Similarly, the UK has invested €50 million in its Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) sector since 2017, employing a hybrid model that leverages private technologies for space missions.
The report further points out that in recent years, the European Space Agency (ESA) has shifted to a competition-based model, inviting more private players to develop and launch space missions. This strategic shift, driven by a series of delays and failures in rocket launches, aims to attract private investment and boost entrepreneurship in the region.
Despite the existence of the ESA, countries like Germany, Italy, and France maintain their space research agencies, working in collaboration with the ESA. The ESA’s budget for 2024 is $8.3 billion, a 10 per cent increase from the previous year, with significant contributions from Germany, France, and Italy. A major portion of this budget is allocated to Earth Observation operations (30 per cent), followed by space transportation and navigation.
India’s space tech sector is also growing rapidly, fueled by government support and a dynamic startup ecosystem. Significant funding and strategic investments are positioning India to become a major player in the global space industry, with expectations of attracting more investment and sparking further innovation.
Lyft has agreed to to tell its drivers how much they can truly earn on the ride-hailing platform — and back it up with evidence — as part of its settlement for a lawsuit filed by the US Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission. The lawsuit accused the company of making “numerous false and misleading claims” in the advertisements it released in 2021 and 2022, when the demand for rides recovered following COVID-19 lockdowns in the previous years. Lyft promised drivers up to $43 an hour in some locations, the FTC said, without revealing that those numbers were based on the earnings of its top drivers.
The rates it published allegedly didn’t represent drivers’ average earnings and inflated actual earnings by up to 30 percent. Further, the FTC said that Lyft “failed to disclose” that information, as well as the fact that the amounts it published included passengers’ tips. The company also promised in its ads that drivers will get paid a set amount if they complete a certain number of rides within a specific timeframe. A driver is supposed to make $975, for instance, if they complete 45 rides over a weekend.
Lyft allegedly didn’t clarify that it will only pay the difference between the what the drivers’ earn and its promised guaranteed earnings. Drivers thought they were getting those guaranteed payments on top of their ride payments as a bonus for completing a specific number of rides. The FTC accused Lyft of continuing to make “deceptive earnings claims” even after it sent the company a notice of its concerns in October 2021, as well.
Earlier this month, the company launched an earnings dashboard that showed the estimated hourly rate for each ride, along with the driver’s daily, weekly and yearly earnings. But under the settlement, Lyft will have to explicitly tell drivers how much their potential take-home pay is based on typical, instead of inflated, earnings. It has to take tips out of the equation, and it has to to clarify that it will only pay the difference between what the drivers get from rides and its guaranteed earnings promise. Finally, it will have to pay a $2.1 million civil penalty.
When it comes to streaming live TV in the U.S., viewers have a number of options to choose from. Sling TV and Fubo are two of them. While they aren’t the most popular options in terms of total number of subscribers, they’re still well worth considering.
Fubo delivers a more traditional experience. You pick a plan, pay your fees, and get access to channels ready for your eyes. Although with four tiers of plans, it can be slightly trickier to ensure you’re getting the channels that you really want. Sling TV goes a different route with two different basic plans, plus a variety of add-ons to curate your watching. It starts out as a very affordable option, but it’s also easy to see that monthly bill grow.
Whichever one has your eye, they still work essentially the same way. Pick a service that has the channels you want, at a price you’re willing to pay.
Thankfully, Sling TV and Fubo are available on pretty much any modern connected device. So let’s dive in.
Plans and price
Fubo has a habit of adjusting its plans without telling anyone, so things may have changed, including names and prices, but you’ll get the gist.
Fubo has four different tiers of service. Fubo Pro delivers 196 channels, 1,000 hours of cloud DVR recording, and you can watch on up to 10 devices at once for $80 a month. Fubo Elite with Sports Plus comes with 302 channels, 4K video (wherever available), and SportsPlus with NFL RedZone. It’ll run you $100 per month. Fubo Deluxe is their top tier and has 316 channels, including MGM+ and International Sports Plus, for $110 per month. Fubo Latino delivers 62 channels, unlimited DVR, and lets you watch on two screens for $33 per month. Every tier also comes with an initial discount. Fubo Pro, Fubo Elite, and Fubo Deluxe knock off $20 from your first month of service. Meanwhile, Fubo Latino is only $20 for the first month.
Sling TV does things a little differently. Instead of just one track of channels, it splits them into two. There’s Sling Orange and Sling Blue. They run $40 each or $55 if you want both. But even if you get both, you’ll still have far fewer channels than you will with Fubo. But you’ll also be paying far less.
Sling then bolsters things with optional add-ons it calls “Extras.” It’s not quite the same thing as a la carte TV, in which you only pay for individual channels, but it’s just about as close as you can get.
Channels
On paper, Fubo has more channels than Sling TV. A lot more. But sit down and look at it, and you’ll find that a lot of them are more of the sort that you’d find on a free ad-supported streaming service.
Here’s how things look as of Autumn 2024:
Fubo channels
Again, these channels can change at any time. Currently, Fubo has:
ABC, ABC News Live, ABC Localish, AXS TV Now, ACL Cornhole, Always Funny, Accuweather, Africa News English, ACCN ESPN, Alien Nation, At Home Family Handyman, beIN SPORTS 4, beIN SPORTS 5, beIN SPORTS 6, beIN SPORTS 7, beIN SPORTS 8, beIN SPORTS en Espanol, Bravo, Big Network, Bloomberg television, Bleav Football, Bounce, Boxing TV, Billiard TV, Bare Knuckle Fighting, BET, Big Ten Network, Bloomberg Originals, BET Jams, BET Soul, BET Her, Buzzr, Baywatch, Cheddar News, CNBC World, CL Sports, Court Sports Network, Circle Country, Classic TV, Cheaters, Chess TV, Crime and Punishment, Curiosity Now, CBS Sports Network, 2, CLEO TV, Curiosity, Comedy Dynamics, Court TV, Court TV Legendary Trials, Craftsy TV, CMT, Comedy Central, CBS News 24/7, Comet, CNBC, Charge,
Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Jr, Dabl, Dove Channel, Dark Matter TV, Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, Documentary Plus, Euro News, ESPN U, ESPN News, ESports Television, EarthX TV, E!, ESPN, ESPN 2, Estrella TV, FS1 4k, FS2, Fox News, Freeform, FX, FXX, Fox Business, Fox Weather, Fox LiveNow, Fox Sports, Fox Soul, FailArmy, Free Movies, Family Time, Fubo Radio 1, Fubo Radio 2, Fubo Radio 3, Fubo Radio 4, Fubo Radio 6, Fubo Radio 7, Fubo Radio 8, Fubo Radio 9, Fubo Radio 10, Forensic Files, FloRacing, FeTV, Filmrise Unsolved Mysteries, FMC, Fubo Movies, Fubo Sports, Fubo Sports 2, Fubo Sports 3, Fubo Sports 4, Fubo Sports 5, Fubo Sports 6, Fubo Sports 7, Fubo Sports 9, Fight Network, Fuel TV, FXM, Family Feud, Game Plus Network, Great American Faith & Living, Great American Adventures, Gusto TV, Great American Family, Grit, Glory, Game Show Central, Galavision, Get TV,
Hallmark, Hallmark Mystery, Hallmark Family, Horse & Country, Hello Inspo, i24 News, InWonder, InTravel, InFast, Ion Mystery, Ion, Ion Plus, JTV, Justice Central TV, Judge Nosy, Kitchen Nightmares, LSN, Law & Crime, Locked On Sports Los Angeles, Live Tennis, Locked On Sports Today, LX TV, Local Now, Lego, MLB Network, MLB Strike Zone, MTV2, MTV U, MTV Live, MTV Classic, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Mysteria, Marquee, MASN, MASN, MSNBC, Maximum Effort Channel, Man Cave Movies, MTV, NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBC Sports 4k, NBC Golf, NFL Network, NBC News Now, National Geographic, NitroCircus TV, NewsMax, NewsMax2, News12 New York, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, NBC Universo, News Nation, NFL RedZone, NBA TV, NHL Network, Next Level Sports & Entertainment, NickToons, NickMusic, Nat Geo Wild, Nosey, Non-Stop 90s,
Outside TV, Oxygen True Crime, Origin Sports, Power Sports World, Professional Football League, PBTV, Powder, Paramount, Pop TV, Pickle TV, Poker GO, People are Awesome, QVC, QVC’s Big Dish Channel, OZ TV, RealMadrid TV, Revry News, ROI, Racing America, Revry, Retro Crush, Rig TV, SyFy, Sport Stak, Scripp News, Speed Vision, Start.tv, Swerve Combat, Salem News, Shop LC, Speed Sport, Surfer, Smithsonian Channel, Stadium, SEC ESPN Network, Sports Grid, Strongman Champions League, Sony Movie Channel, Shout TV, Sensical Makers, Supermarket Sweep, Sensical Gaming, Sensical Jr,
TasteMade Food & More, TasteMade Travel, The First, The Pet Collective, The Design Network, The Bob Ross Channel, Tastemade home, Team Liquid, The Boat Show, True Crime, Telemundo, TV Land, The Weather Channel, TBD, The Jami Oliver Channel, The Nest, TUDN, TUDNXtra 1, TUDNXtra 10, TUDNXtra 11, TUDNXtra 2, TUDNXtra 3, TUDNXtra 4, TUDNXtra 5, TUDNXtra 6, TUDNXtra 7, TUDNXtra 8, TUDNXtra 9, The Washington Post Television, TYT, Tennis Channel, TNA Wrestling, Teen Nick, True Crime Now, USA, Univision, Universal Kids, Unimas, Unbeaten, VH1, WSN, Willow, Weather Spy, Whoa That Was Wild, Western, WPT, World’s Wildest Police Videos, XOXO & Zona Futbol.
Sling TV channels
Channels that are exclusive to Sling Orange: Disney Channel, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN4K, FreeForm, and Motor Trend.
Channels that are exclusive to Sling Blue: Bravo, Discovery Channel, E!, FS1, FS1 4K, FX, Fox News, HLN, MSNBC, NFL Network, National Geographic, SYFY, TLC, USA, and TruTV.
The following channels are available on either track: A&E, AMC, AXS TV, BBC America, BET, Bloomberg, Charge!, CNN, Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, Comet, Food Network, Fuse, HGTV, History Channel, IFC, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, Local Now, MGM+ Drive-In, Nick Jr., QVC, Sling Scapes, Sling Scapes 2, TBS, TNT, Travel Channel, and Vice.
Local channels
Both Fubo and Sling TV have local channels. You’ll want to double-check that you actually get them where you live, though. Fubo has all the main ones — ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC. Sling, on the other hand, only has CBS, Fox, and NBC in a limited number of markets. And it doesn’t have CBS at all.
However, Sling TV will push something called AirTV, which is basically a branded over-the-air antenna and tuner. You’ll hook it up and scan for channels, and everything appears in the Sling TV live guide.
Fubo definitely wins here for the sake of simplicity.
Add-ons
Sling TV and Fubo each have a good number of add-ons (not counting the Extras that will bring Sling’s channel listings closer to par). And each has premiums like Showtime, STARZ, and NBA League Pass.
Fubo will also let you buy extra recording storage — $1 a month will get you unlimited DVR storage. Sling TV comes with 50 hours for free. If you need more than that, another $5 a month will get you 200 hours.
Fubo also lets you buy the ability to stream on up to 10 devices at once (and two on the road) for $10 a month. It calls that option “unlimited screens” for some reason. The “Family Share” add-on lets you share your account with up to three people at once, away from your home network, for $6 a month.
Total subscribers
Fubo has never been the biggest streaming service. But unlike Sling TV, it’s actually been growing. Ever so slowly, perhaps, but the trend is up and to the right.
Sling TV at the end of 2023 had some 2.06 million subscribers, continuing its slow decline. (It peaked at 2.68 million in the third quarter of 2019 and hasn’t been that high since.)
Fubo, meanwhile, finished 2023 at 1.6 million subscribers, up from 1.44 million at the end of 2022 and 1.13 million at the end of 2021. That’s not huge growth, but it is growth.
Electronic Arts‘ EA Sports and Adobe have teamed up to transform the Team Builder mode of EA Sports College Football 25.
EA’s new football game has been a hit relaunch for EA after many years of hiatus. Adobe Express, the easy-to-use make-anything app, will be used in the Team Builder mode of EA Sports College Football 25.
The collaboration brings Adobe Express to over one million users in Team Builder and will dynamically elevate the user experience by providing innovative tools for team customization, allowing players to express their creativity in new and exciting ways.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Adobe Express to bring its functionality to Team Builder, empowering our users to showcase their creativity. This integration brings additional customization options and takes the design experience to the next level of innovation. We can’t wait to see how players personalize their teams in exciting new ways,” said Jeff Skelton, head of technology partnerships at EA, in a statement.
Customizing gear for players
Adobe Express brings together the best of Adobe’s industry-leading creative tools, responsible AI and a massive library of professional-grade assets into an app that’s quick and easy for everyone to use.
Today, millions of solopreneurs, small businesses, marketers and business users turn to Adobe Express to promote and grow their ideas, passions and businesses. Adobe Express also brings easy content creation to where millions more people work with integrations into popular productivity platforms like Google Drive, ChatGPT and Slack.
The new partnership between EA Sports and Adobe Express will give College Football 25 players the ability to make their teams stand out on the field and on social media with custom logo, helmet, jersey and home-field designs that reflect their personal style and passions.
With Adobe Express in Team Builder, players can now access pro-grade assets and choose from more than 500,000 royalty-free Adobe Stock photos, 290,000 icons, 44,000 designs, including shapes, illustrations, brushes, textures, frames and more – all for no extra cost.
Players can bring their own photos or images into Adobe Express to create new designs. They can generate designs with responsible AI. Players simply type in what they want to see and Adobe Express instantly generates designs they can choose from. Adobe Express features powered by Firefly – Adobe’s generative AI model – are designed to be commercially safe so players can post their creations online and on social with confidence.
And they can share it on social. With Adobe Express, it’s simple for players to showcase their in-game designs with friends and fans on their favorite social media platforms.
“College Football 25 players bring a passion and pride to their teams and with Adobe Express in EA Sports’ Team Builder mode, it’s now easy for players to translate that passion into a team look and personality that’s uniquely theirs and they can showcase to the world,” said Aubrey Cattell, vice president of Creative Cloud Developer Platform and partner ecosystem at Adobe, in a statement. “We’re thrilled to put Adobe’s world-class creative tools ‘in the game’ for such a highly engaged audience.”
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TCL has confirmed which smartphones will get the Android 15 OS update. After Google, Motorola, and Vivo, TCL has announced the Android 15 roadmap for quite a few of its devices.
Which TCL smartphones will receive the Android 15 OS update?
TCL isn’t a company that is particularly known to offer Android OS updates quickly. The company typically sells mid-range Android smartphones at attractive prices. However, the company does not offer major OS updates as swiftly as other Android smartphone makers.
Google recently rolled out the first stable version of Android 15 to its Pixel smartphones and tablets. Following Google’s footsteps, a few reputed and global smartphone manufacturers too have announced Android 15 OS update for some of their devices.
TCL too reportedly released a list, which includes 10 devices that will get Android 15. It includes TCL 50 5G, TCL 50 NXTPAPER 5G, TCL 50 Pro NXTPAPER 5G, TCL 50 SE, TCL 50 XL 5G, TCL 505, TCL Tab 8 Gen 2 and LTE, TCL Tab 10, NXTPAPER 5G, TCL Tab 11 Gen 2 and LTE, and TCL Tab 11 FE.
It is interesting to note that some of the TCL devices that will get the Android 15 OS update have been released in the last 12 to 14 months. Moreover, TCL hasn’t confirmed any timeline for the rollout.
TCL revising its update policy for smartphones
Traditionally, TCL has preferred to sell new phones with the latest Android OS update pre-installed. Moreover, it usually releases a single major Android OS update to its devices.
TCL’s track record for releasing software releases for its smartphones has been rather poor. The company has noticeably dragged its feet during the Android 13 and Android 14 updates.
TCL seems to be trying to change gears. In other words, TCL is revising its update policy. Some TCL smartphones, especially those belonging to the TCL 50 series, will receive two major OS upgrades.
Simply put, the TCL 50 series smartphones should get Android 16 update. The company has further indicated that these devices will also get five years of security updates.
For years, Finix has been slowly chipping away at Stripe – which handles payments for millions of businesses. But after previously helping companies set up internal payment systems of their own, the startup officially became a payment processor in 2023, just like Stripe. Now Finix is gearing up for its biggest push against the fintech giant yet.
In an interview with TechCrunch, CEO and founder Richie Serna says becoming a payment processor was “hugely transformational” for the business, and a main driver of its $75 million fundraise, which it announced on Thursday.
Serna says Finix has quadrupled its revenue in the last year, though he declined to share its true number of merchants. However, he told TechCrunch in 2022 that Finix was supporting more than 12,000 merchants and says Finix closed more deals in 2024 than in the company’s entire history — so Finix could have more than 24,000 merchants today.
That’s still a long way off from the customer base of Stripe, who Finix directly competes with — at least if you ask Sequoia Capital. The venture firm led Finix’s $35 million Series B round in 2020, only to walk away from the investment weeks later after determining a conflict of interest with Stripe, which it also backed. Finix got to keep the money but lost Sequoia as a backer.
Four years later, Serna says that moment helped put Finix on the map, and hasn’t had a lasting effect on the business. In fact, Serna says fintech companies like Stripe, Finix, and Adyen all have lots of room to grow in the payments space.
“One thing that we kind of try to correct, in terms of the narrative, is this idea that Stripe owns the entire market. We live in Silicon Valley. Everybody sort of believes that,” said Serna. “And so Stripe only actually owns 6% of the US market, and less than 2% worldwide. So payments is still relatively fragmented, and probably about 91% of payments today still goes through systems that were built back in the ’80s and the ’90s,” he noted.
So why would someone choose Finix over Stripe, and how are they different?
When Serna founded Finix, he didn’t see it as a payments business, but instead as a “payments infrastructure” company. Now that’s changing.
In some ways, these companies are more similar today than when Sequoia abandoned its investment in Finix for being too competitive with Stripe. Both process payments for businesses, require little to no coding to get set up, and operate in Canada and the United States.
However, Serna says Finix is specifically building products for businesses with both in-store and online footprints that don’t have the developers to build out those experiences. He says there are tens of millions of these companies in America. To this end, Finix offers more options for physical payments, integrating with several different payment devices.
Serna also says Finix offers more visibility into its pricing. Stripe takes a clean, but obscure, 2.9% cut of every transaction, plus a 30-cent fee. Finix, on the other hand, uses a cost-plus model, breaking down everything it’s charging a customer for and showing their markup.
With the new investment, Finix says it’s focused on growing its team beyond the 130 employees it has today and expanding into more countries around the world. Ideally the startup is hoping to take a bigger bite out of America’s payments system.
The $75 million round was led by Acrew Capital and co-led by Leap Global and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Other investors in the round include Citi Ventures, Tribeca Venture Partners, Homebrew, Insight Partners, Inspired Capital, and Cap Table Coalition. Finix has now raised $208 million in total funding to date with this Series C, which comes more than two years since the startup secured a $30 million tranche. Finix would not disclose its current valuation to TechCrunch but says this was an up round.
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