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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September 2023

How inverse vaccines might tackle diseases like multiple sclerosis

September 22, 2023
This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here. I’ve written about vaccines for years, but recently I stumbled across a concept I had never heard of before. Typical vaccines prime the immune system to respond. But…

Threads adds easy profile switching to its mobile apps

September 22, 2023
Meta-owned Twitter rival Threads has finally added a way to switch between multiple accounts without logging out. The social networking app announced Thursday that users can now swap accounts on its mobile apps by long pressing on the profile icon in the bottom right. Users can tap on the “Add profile” option after the long […]

Microsoft-Activision: UK looks poised to clear restructured deal

September 22, 2023
The UK’s competition watchdog has signalled it’s preparing to greenlight a restructured proposal for Microsoft to acquire Activision. In an update on its ongoing assessment today it said the deal “makes important changes that substantially address the concerns it set out in relation to the original transaction earlier this year”. The Competition and Markets Authority […]

X is shutting down its Circle feature in October

September 22, 2023
Elon Musk-owned X, formerly Twitter, is shutting down its Circle feature — bringing an end to its glitchy history — The feature allowed users to share a post only with a set of people. It was the social network’s take on Instagram’s “Close Friends” feature. The company said the feature will go away on October […]

Plantiga Technologies’ AI-powered footwear sensor pod aims to reduce injury risks

September 22, 2023
Plantiga Technologies, a Vancouver-based movement analytics company, wants to help people improve rehabilitation and reduce injury risks through an artificial intelligence-powered monitoring sensor pod that can be embedded into shoes, orthotics or insoles to analyze users’ movement patterns.  Plantiga is participating in Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, and while it’s been around for a […]

HME Square aims to measure glucose painlessly with photoacoustics

September 22, 2023
People with diabetes have to monitor their blood sugar levels regularly by pricking their skin. Many glucose-monitoring device makers worldwide are pursuing needle-free approaches to make this painful process more manageable. Among them is a South Korean company called HME Square, which uses photoacoustics to test glucose levels noninvasively. HME Square was founded in 2020 […]

Microsoft refreshes Surface Laptop Go and Laptop Studio

September 22, 2023
What is a Surface event without a Panos Panay? Microsoft answered the existential question today during a New York City Windows event. The company broke out the big guns in the absence of the longtime division head Panay (whose hasty exit from the company was announced earlier this week), as CEO Satya Nadella took the […]

TikTok may start serving you Google Search results

September 21, 2023
TikTok is testing a new feature that integrates Google Search into its own in-app search results. The test, spotted by app researcher Radu Oncescu, shows a small box midway down TikTok’s search page that invites users to search for the same terms on Google. TechCrunch has reached out to both companies for details on the […]