Hello. Artificial-intelligence startup 7AI raised $130 million in a Series A funding round, an unusually high amount for early-stage financing as investors bet big on AI in cybersecurity.

7AI, founded last year, builds AI agents to analyze and triage data such as cybersecurity alerts, and in some cases take actions. Read the exclusive story from my colleague James Rundle. 

More news: 

• Breaches at tech providers ripple to banks, credit unions and car dealerships
• India withdraws mobile app mandate
• Apple's former privacy chief discusses regulatory challenges
• Newsletter Extra: CrowdStrike goes all in on AI—boom or bubble

• Among the compromised data: names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, taxpayer identification numbers, financial account information without security or access codes, and dates of birth.

India's telecom ministry withdrew its demand that smartphone makers pre-install a specific cybersecurity app. Privacy advocates raised concerns the Sanchar Saathi app could be used to monitor phone users. (TechCrunch)

Temu sued again: Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is suing Chinese retailer Temu, accusing it of harvesting shopper data, including geolocation information. Arkansas, Kentucky and Nebraska have also sued the company over similar allegations, which Temu has denied. (Associated Press)

The more companies invest in artificial intelligence, the more they need cybersecurity tools to guard against vulnerabilities across their new AI-powered systems, CrowdStrike Chief Executive George Kurtz says.

“Our goal is to map out and bring the industry to level-five autonomy,” Kurtz said about the cybersecurity market, referring to the highest level of vehicle automation in which cars operate without any human intervention.

To get there, he isn’t ruling out another large-scale acquisition in the year ahead, Kurtz said. In September, CrowdStrike bought AI security firm Pangea in a deal valued at roughly $260 million. A month earlier, it acquired Onum, an autonomous tool for spotting malicious activity in data flows, for approximately $290 million. Two years ago, CrowdStrike launched Charlotte AI, a generative AI assistant for cybersecurity teams.

Kurtz’s remarks Wednesday came a day after CrowdStrike reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings. Revenue for the quarter hit $1.23 billion, up 22% from a year ago, with a net loss of $34 million, compared to a loss of $17 million last year after a botched software update disrupted businesses and organizations worldwide.

“We still have to absorb the expenses of the folks we brought over,” Kurtz said, referring to the Pangea and Onum acquisitions. Looking ahead, CrowdStrike lifted both its full-year outlook and fourth-quarter earnings guidance.

—Angus Loten

Secure AI: Cyber officials in the U.S. and six other countries issued joint guidance Wednesday for rolling out AI tools in industrial settings, such as factories and critical infrastructure. 

• One basic recommendation is to consider factors such as security risk, performance, complexity and cost, and whether the organization truly has the capacity to continually assess cyber risks as AI tools evolve. In many industrial sectors, tech tools have historically been set up and left to run for years or even decades without upgrades. 
• The full guide is here.  

Car-buyer data breached: Southfield, Mich.-based 700Credit is notifying car dealers that their customers' personal information was compromised in a hack of its identity- and credit-check application. At least two proposed class-action lawsuits have been filed against 700Credit over the October cyberattack.

• Hackers claiming credit for the breach in a dark web post said they have data about eight million consumers, according to Databreach.io. The company hasn't said how many people were affected.

The WSJ Pro Cybersecurity team is Deputy Bureau Chief Kim S. Nash and reporters Angus Loten and James Rundle. Follow us on X @WSJCyber. Reach the team by replying to any newsletter you receive or by emailing Kim at kim.nash@wsj.com.