February 22, 2025

US AI Safety Institute could face big cuts

The National Institute of Standards and Technology could fire as many as 500 staffers, according to multiple reports — cuts that further threaten a fledgling AI safety organization. Axios reported this week that the US AI Safety Institute (AISI) and Chips for America, both part of NIST, would be “gutted” by layoffs targeting probationary employees […]

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January 2023

Instagram’s new ‘Quiet Mode’ helps you take a break from the app

January 19, 2023

Instagram announced today it’s expanding its selection of time management tools with the launch of a new feature called “Quiet Mode.” The feature aims to reduce users’ anxiety about taking time off from the app by silencing incoming notifications, auto-replying to DMs, and setting your status to ‘In Quiet Mode’ to inform friends that you’re […]

Instagram’s new ‘Quiet Mode’ helps you take a break from the app by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch

The Download: where gene editing goes next

January 19, 2023
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Gene editing for the masses is coming We know the basics of healthy living by now. A balanced diet, regular exercise, and stress reduction can help us avoid heart disease—the world’s biggest killer.…

Smores is a music discovery app with a TikTok-like feed

January 19, 2023

Music streaming platforms all claim to use both artificial intelligence and manual curation to find new songs from emerging artists. But users often have to listen to many songs just to find some likable tracks — that’s because they don’t have any control over the recommendation algorithm. Romanian developer duo Alex Ruber and Andrei Patru […]

Smores is a music discovery app with a TikTok-like feed by Ivan Mehta originally published on TechCrunch

Amazon ends charity donation program AmazonSmile

January 19, 2023

Just a few days after announcing a significant round of layoffs that will impact 18,000 employees, Amazon is trying to find money wherever it can as the company announced that it would end AmazonSmile. AmazonSmile is a donation program that redirects 0.5% of the cost of all eligible products toward charities. It is a separate […]

Amazon ends charity donation program AmazonSmile by Romain Dillet originally published on TechCrunch

India’s top court rejects Google plea to block Android antitrust ruling

January 19, 2023

Google has been dealt a significant blow in one of its key overseas markets. India’s Supreme Court on Thursday declined to block an antitrust order that requires the Android-maker to make a series of changes that could topple its financial viability. India’s apex court rejected to block the ruling against Google by the nation’s antitrust […]

India’s top court rejects Google plea to block Android antitrust ruling by Manish Singh originally published on TechCrunch

Finding a new life for old batteries

January 19, 2023
When strangers find out that I’m a climate technology reporter, they often have a lot of questions for me, or concerns to share. Some have heard that birds fly into wind turbines. Or that too many charging EVs will cause power outages. Some of these questions are overblown, but sometimes, in one of these questions,…

Outrider raises $73M to brings its autonomous electric yard trucks into the mainstream

January 19, 2023

Autonomous vehicle technology may no longer be the fuel powering the hype machine. But companies applying the technology to agriculture, commercial and logistics applications are still attracting venture capital. Take Outrider, a Golden, Colorado startup developing autonomous electric yard trucks, for example. Distribution yards are the nerve center of the supply chain. Its where all […]

Outrider raises $73M to brings its autonomous electric yard trucks into the mainstream by Kirsten Korosec originally published on TechCrunch

These scientists used CRISPR to put an alligator gene into catfish

January 19, 2023
Millions of fish are farmed in the US every year, but many of them die from infections. In theory, genetically engineering fish with genes that protect them from disease could reduce waste and help limit the environmental impact of fish farming. A team of scientists have attempted to do just that—by inserting an alligator gene…

Next up for CRISPR: Gene editing for the masses?

January 19, 2023
CRISPR for high cholesterol is one of MIT Technology Review’s 10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2023. Explore the rest of the list here. We know the basics of healthy living by now. A balanced diet, regular exercise, and stress reduction can help us avoid heart disease—the world’s biggest killer. But what if you could take a vaccine,…