Collecting robot training data is dirty, unglamorous work. Some AI labs are already paying XDOF to do it
If physical AI is going to match the accomplishments of LLMs, there’s a data problem that needs to be solved.
The Download: climate tech companies to watch and AI’s discovery problem
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. Coming soon: our 2026 list of Climate Tech Companies to Watch With the planet nearing 1.5 °C of warming, climate policies being unraveled, and Big Tech backpedaling on its climate ambitions,…
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Apple Is Developing AirPods With Cameras — But They Won’t Take a Single Photo
According to Bloomberg, the cameras will act as eyes for Siri, letting the AI assistant understand the world around you.
This Retailer Shut Its Fitting Rooms and Angered Customers. It Might Boost Sales Anyway.
The teen retailer has quietly shut its fitting rooms across its 55-plus US stores. Customers are furious, but sales are up.
Pramaana Labs raises $27M seed round from Khosla Ventures to bring formal verification to AI
Pramaana will focus on highly sensitive verticals like law, drug discovery, and tax preparation — where errors can be costly and reliability is at a premium.
SpaceX’s First Big Move After Its Record IPO: Buying a $60 Billion AI Coding Startup
xAI has struggled to compete with Anthropic and OpenAI on AI coding tools. Cursor is Musk’s answer.
The Old Product Research Playbook Is Broken. Here Are the 5 Shifts Replacing It.
Product research has changed fast. What used to be a phase before launch is now a continuous practice that shapes how products get built.
SpaceX alum nabs $22M to turn rocket engines into geothermal power plants
Critical Energy is turning rocket engines into geothermal power plants, and it wants to build 300 GW per year by 2045.
Canadian pension giant joins race to fund India’s AI-fueled data center boom
The Canadian pension giant will acquire an 8.2% stake in CtrlS, a tech giant that operates more than 15 data centers across India.
The Download: a reality check for geoengineering and the science of interoception
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. Hacking the atmosphere: geoengineering gets a reality check Solar geoengineering, the controversial idea that we could deliberately intervene in the climate system to counteract global warming, is moving beyond computer simulations…
DeepL acquires Mixhalo for live-event audio streaming and translation
With this acquisition, DeepL is opening an office in San Francisco to expand its U.S. business.