Connect with us

Published

on

The OnlyFans logo displayed on a laptop.
Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images

OnlyFans is banning the one thing most users go to its site for: pornography.

The U.K.-based content subscription service said Thursday it would no longer allow “sexually explicit” content, starting from Oct. 1. OnlyFans said the decision was taken to comply with requests from its banking and payment providers.

“In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the platform, and to continue to host an inclusive community of creators and fans, we must evolve our content guidelines,” OnlyFans said in a statement.

It comes after payment processors Mastercard and Visa last year cut ties with rival porn site Pornhub after accusations the porn site showed videos containing underage sex, rape and revenge porn. Pornhub denied claims it allows child sexual abuse material, and subsequently tightened its rules to prohibit uploads from unverified users.

OnlyFans said Thursday it would allow certain posts containing nudity, so long as they adhere to its “Acceptable Use Policy.” It’s not clear how that will work in practice. OnlyFans’ terms of service outline a number of things that are prohibited from its platform, including material involving people under the age of 18 and other illegal or harmful content.

“We will be sharing more details in the coming days and we will actively support and guide our creators through this change in content guidelines,” the company said.

Founded by British businessman Tim Stokely in 2016, OnlyFans has risen in popularity in recent years, thanks in large part to its hosting of clips and photos from adult performers. The platform lets sex workers charge their fans a fee to view “not safe for work” material.

OnlyFans boomed during the coronavirus pandemic, as internet users stuck at home searched for entertainment online and people let go from their jobs turned to the platform as an alternative way to make a living.

OnlyFans claims to have over 130 million users and 2 million content creators. The company generated net revenue of $375 million last year, according to an Axios report Thursday which cited an investor deck. OnlyFans expects to hit $1.2 billion in revenues this year, and $2.5 billion by 2022, Axios reported.

More than 300 OnlyFans creators reportedly earn at least $1 million annually, while 16,000 creators make at least $50,000 a year.

With numbers like that, you’d think venture capitalists would be lining up to write a check for OnlyFans. However, according to Axios, many investors are steering clear due to concerns over its adult content. Some venture funds are prohibited from investing in sexual content sites due to agreements with their institutional backers.

OnlyFans was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

The move is likely to anger many OnlyFans content creators, who rely on the service as a key source of income. Many adult entertainers use OnlyFans to complement the work they do for other porn sites. Doing away with the content OnlyFans is best known for could also severely impact its revenues.

However, OnlyFans insists it is more than just a platform for sex workers. Celebrities like Cardi B and Bella Thorne have joined the platform in the past year, for example. It’s also used by chefs, fitness enthusiasts and musicians. But porn is by far the most popular category on the site.

OnlyFans is majority-owned by Leonid Radvinsky, a Ukrainian-American porn entrepreneur. According to a Bloomberg report, the firm is seeking a round of funding that would value it at more than $1 billion.

Continue Reading

Technology

Jeff Bezos sells $737 million worth of Amazon shares

Published

on

By

Jeff Bezos sells 7 million worth of Amazon shares

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos leaves Aman Venice hotel, on the second day of the wedding festivities of Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez, in Venice, Italy, June 27, 2025.

Yara Nardi | Reuters

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos unloaded more than 3.3 million shares of his company in a sale valued at roughly $736.7 million, according to a financial filing on Tuesday.

The stock sale is part of a previously arranged trading plan adopted by Bezos in March. Under that arrangement, Bezos plans to sell up to 25 million shares of Amazon over a period ending May 29, 2026.

Bezos, who stepped down as Amazon’s CEO in 2021 but remains chairman, has been selling stock in the company at a regular clip in recent years, though he’s still the largest individual shareholder. He adopted a similar trading plan in February 2024 to sell up to 50 million shares of Amazon stock through late January of this year.

Bezos previously said he’d sell about $1 billion in Amazon stock each year to fund his space exploration company, Blue Origin. He’s also donated shares to Day 1 Academies, his nonprofit that’s building a chain of Montessori-inspired preschools across several states.

The most recent stock sale comes after Bezos and Lauren Sanchez tied the knot last week in a lavish wedding in Venice. The star-studded celebration, which took place over three days and sparked protests from some local residents, was estimated to cost around $50 million.

Bezos is ranked third in Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index with a net worth of about $240 billion. He’s behind Tesla CEO Elon Musk at $363 billion and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at $260 billion.

WATCH: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ wedding sparks Venice protests

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' Italian wedding sparks protests

Continue Reading

Technology

Google promotes ‘AI Mode’ on home page ‘Doodle’

Published

on

By

Google promotes ‘AI Mode’ on home page 'Doodle'

Google CEO Sundar Pichai addresses the crowd during Google’s annual I/O developers conference in Mountain View, California on May 20, 2025.

Camille Cohen | AFP | Getty Images

The Google Doodle is Alphabet’s most valuable piece of real estate, and on Tuesday, the company used that space to promote “AI Mode,” its latest AI search product.

Google’s Chrome browser landing pages and Google’s home page featured an animated image that, when clicked, leads users to AI Mode, the company’s latest search product. The doodle image also includes a share button.

The promotion of AI Mode on the Google Doodle comes as the tech company makes efforts to expose more users to its latest AI features amid pressure from artificial intelligence startups. That includes OpenAI which makes ChatGPT, Anthropic which makes Claude and Perplexity AI, which bills itself as an “AI-powered answer engine.”

Google’s “Doodle” Tuesday directed users to its search chatbot-like experience “AI Mode”

AI Mode is Google’s chatbot-like experience for complex user questions. The company began displaying AI Mode alongside its search results page in March.

“Search whatever’s on your mind and get AI-powered responses,” the product description reads when clicked from the home page.

AI Mode is powered by Google’s flagship AI model Gemini, and the tool has rolled out to more U.S. users since its launch. Users can ask AI Mode questions using text, voice or images. Google says AI Mode makes it easier to find answers to complex questions that might have previously required multiple searches.

In May, Google tested the AI Mode feature directly beneath the Google search bar, replacing the “I’m Feeling Lucky” widget — a place where Google rarely makes changes.

WATCH: Google buyouts highlight tech’s cost-cutting amid AI CapEx boom

Google buyouts highlight tech's cost-cutting amid AI CapEx boom

Continue Reading

Technology

How a beer-making process is used to make cleaner disposable diapers

Published

on

By

How a beer-making process is used to make cleaner disposable diapers

Clean Start: Startup focuses on making diapers renewable

Disposable diapers are a massive environmental offender. Roughly 300,000 of them are sent to landfills or incinerated every minute, according to the World Economic Forum, and they take hundreds of years to decompose. It’s a $60 billion business.

One alternative approach has been compostable diapers, which can be made out of wood pulp or bamboo. But composting services aren’t universally available and some of the products are less absorbent than normal nappies, critics say.

A growing number of parents are also turning to cloth diapers, but they only make up about 20% of the U.S. market.

ZymoChem is attacking the diaper problem from a different angle. Harshal Chokhawala, CEO of ZymoChem, said that 60% to 80% of a typical diaper consists of fossil-based plastics. And half of that is an ingredient called super absorbent polymer, or SAP.

“What we have created is a low carbon footprint bio-based and biodegradable version of this super absorbent polymer,” Chokhawala said.

ZymoChem, with operations in San Leandro, California, and Burlington, Vermont, invented this new type of absorbent by using a fermentation process to convert a renewable resource — sugar — from corn into biodegradable materials. It’s similar to making beer.

“We’re at a point now where we’re very close to being at cost parity with fossil based manufacturing of super absorbents,” said Chokhawala.

The company’s drop-in absorbents can be added into other diapers, which makes it different from environmentally conscious companies like Charlie Banana, Kudos and Hiro, which sell their own brand of diapers.

ZymoChem doesn’t yet have a diaper product on the market. But Lindy Fishburne, managing partner at Breakout Ventures and an investor in the company, says it’s a scalable model.

“Being able to build and grow with biology allows us to unlock a circular economy and a supply chain that is no longer petro-derived, which opens up the opportunities of where you can manufacture and how you secure supply chains,” Fishburne said.

Other investors include Toyota Ventures, GS Futures, KDT Ventures, Cavallo Ventures and Lululemon.  The company has raised a total of $35 million.

The Lululemon partnership shows that it’s not just about diapers. ZymoChem’s bio-based materials can also be used in other hygiene products and in bio-based nylon. Lululemon recently said it will use it in some of its leggings, which were traditionally made with petroleum.

WATCH: Why President Trump can’t make companies pump more oil

Why Pres. Trump can't make companies pump more oil

Continue Reading

Trending