March 20, 2026

The Download: OpenAI is building a fully automated researcher, and a psychedelic trial blind spot

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. OpenAI is throwing everything into building a fully automated researcher  OpenAI has a new grand challenge: building an AI researcher—a fully automated agent-based system capable of tackling large, complex problems by…

TopTechTrends

Phasio helps local manufacturers manage their customer relationships

October 11, 2023
For small- to medium-sized local manufacturers, cultivating their network of customers is key to scaling up. But maintaining customer relationships means a lot of tasks that quickly snowball: generating quotes, sending screenshots back and forth about design requests, analyzing parts in a CAD platform and using Excel to calculate pricing before putting it in accounting […]

SEC is investigating MOVEit mass-hack, says Progress Software

October 11, 2023
U.S. securities regulators have opened a probe into the MOVEit mass-hack that has exposed the personal data of at least 64 million people, according to the company that made the affected software. In a regulatory filing this week, Progress Software confirmed it had received a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking […]

Fearing AI, fanfiction writers lock their accounts

October 11, 2023
Kinktober. Whumptober. Kisstober. Flufftober. Goretober. October is a bacchanal of fanfiction, from romantic one-shots about unconventional character pairings, to delicious smut that’ll make you reconsider your own sense of morality — all inspired by the month’s countless themed writing challenges. It’s an especially busy time for the fanfiction site Archive of Our Own (AO3).  But […]

WordPress.com blogs can now be followed on Mastodon and other federated platforms

October 11, 2023
Earlier this year, WordPress.com owner Automattic acquired a plugin that allowed WordPress blogs to be followed in the fediverse — the decentralized social networks that include the Twitter rival Mastodon and others. As a result, it launched version 1.0.0 of the plugin, allowing WordPress blogs to be followed on Mastodon and other fediverse apps. At the […]

Sony Ventures earmarks $10M to invest in African entertainment startups

October 11, 2023
Sony Group announced today that it has established Sony Innovation Fund: Africa (SIF: AF), a program that will support the growth of entertainment businesses in Africa. The Tokyo multinational conglomerate has earmarked $10 million for early-stage gaming, music, film and content distribution companies. Sony Ventures Corporation’s (SVC) latest endeavor to support technology businesses across markets […]

Relativity inks Terran R launch deal with Intelsat

October 11, 2023
Relativity Space has signed a launch agreement with Intelsat that would see the telecom giant’s satellites fly on a Terran R rocket as early as 2026. Relativity did not disclose the value of the contract but did say that it brings the total backlog for Terran R to $1.8 billion across nine customers. Terran R […]