Some say passkeys are clunky — this startup wants to change that
Hawcx, backed by Engineering Capital, aims to solve passkeys’ adoption challenge with its new tech.
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The Download: Google playing AI search catchup, and forming relationships with chatbots
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. Is Google playing catchup on search with OpenAI? —Mat Honan I’ve been mulling over something that Will Heaven, our senior editor for AI, pointed out not too long ago: all the big players…
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AGI is suddenly a dinner table topic
This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. The concept of artificial general intelligence—an ultra-powerful AI system we don’t have yet—can be thought of as a balloon, repeatedly inflated with hype during peaks of optimism (or fear) about its potential…
These two new AI benchmarks could help make models less biased
A new pair of AI benchmarks could help developers reduce bias in AI models, potentially making them fairer and less likely to cause harm. The research, from a team based at Stanford, was posted to the arXiv preprint server in early February. The researchers were inspired to look into the problem of bias after witnessing…
Equator closes $55M fund to bring more private capital to African climate tech
African VC firm Equator has raised $55M for its first fund, which will back early-stage climate tech startups on the continent.
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Apple’s next major OS updates will bring the biggest design overhaul in years
Apple’s next set of major updates for the iPhone, iPad and Mac operating systems could bring the biggest design changes across the company’s platforms in years, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources. The revamp, set to come in with iOS19, iPadOS 19 and macOS 16, will refresh icons, menus, apps, windows, and system buttons while simplifing […]
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Reshape Energy is using an acquisition playbook to drive energy upgrades for commercial real estate
Reshape Energy is betting on a more integrated approach to accelerate the decarbonization of the built environment. Founded in Munich, Germany back in May 2024, the startup is led by a team with expertise scaling energy businesses, including the German division of Octopus energy and energy price comparison platform Verivox. It’s focusing on selling energy […]
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Meet the new VC firm secretly backed by Volkswagen
A new venture firm called Leitmotif has been on a quiet blitz for the last 16 months, funding around 20 startups broadly focused on decarbonization. Its portfolio includes EV companies, space and battery plays, and four nuclear fusion startups. But the firm has only said its funding is from “European industrial interests.” Now, Leitmotif has […]
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Startup studio Hexa acquires majority stake in Veevart, a vertical SaaS platform for museums
Hexa is trying something new. Instead of fostering startups from the ground up and incubating them for the first year or so, the Paris-based startup studio is acquiring a majority stake in Veevart, a vertical software-as-a-service company for museums that provides solutions for ticketing, fundraising, CRM and collection management. Hexa is a familiar name in […]
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Radiology AI software provider Gleamer expands into MRI with two small acquisitions
Medical imaging is a broad term that encompasses several distinct technologies. After working on AI-powered tools to enhance X-rays and mammographies, French startup Gleamer now aims to tackle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Instead of starting from scratch, Gleamer has acquired two startups that have already been working on AI-powered MRI analysis: Pixyl and Caerus Medical. […]
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These Are the Secrets to Long-Term Franchise Success, According to Top Industry Leaders
Want to build a lasting franchise? Copy these strategies from executives at top brands.