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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Three reasons every founder and VC should be at TechCrunch All Stage 2025

February 21, 2025

From idea to IPO — where are you on your startup journey? If any of that sounds like you — or if you’re in between stages and ready to level up — TechCrunch All Stage 2025 (formerly Early Stage) is the place to be. Join 1,200 founders to exchange ideas and meet the right VC […]

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YouTube reportedly launching new ‘premium lite’ tier soon

February 21, 2025

YouTube is close to announcing a new lower-priced “premium lite” version of its subscription service, Bloomberg reports. The new tier is expected to launch in the United States, Australia, Germany, and Thailand “soon.” The tier will give users access to YouTube’s library of podcasts and how-to clips without ads, Bloomberg notes. Premium lite will be […]

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Elon Musk’s DOGE comes for agency that regulates autonomous vehicles

February 21, 2025

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is firing nearly half of a small government team that regulates autonomous vehicles, the Washington Post reported. The firings are part of a broader 10% reduction at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as a result of firings of probationary workers and buyout offers, the Post reported, citing […]

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The Download: dismantling US science leadership, and reproductive care cuts

February 21, 2025
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. The foundations of America’s prosperity are being dismantled Ever since World War II, the US has been the global leader in science and technology—and benefited immensely from it. Research fuels American innovation and…

Doctors and patients are calling for more telehealth. Where is it?

February 21, 2025
Maggie Barnidge, 18, has been managing cystic fibrosis her whole life. But not long after she moved out of her home state to start college, she came down with pneumonia and went into liver failure. She desperately wanted to get in touch with her doctor back home, whom she’d been seeing since she was diagnosed…

8,000 pregnant women may die in just 90 days because of US aid cuts

February 21, 2025
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. Yesterday marks a month since the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th US president. And what a month it has been. The Trump administration wasted no time…

The foundations of America’s prosperity are being dismantled

February 21, 2025
Ever since World War II, the US has been the global leader in science and technology—and benefited immensely from it. Research fuels American innovation and the economy in turn. Scientists around the world want to study in the US and collaborate with American scientists to produce more of that research. These international collaborations play a…

OpenAI rolls out its AI agent, Operator, in several countries

February 21, 2025

OpenAI said on Friday that it is rolling out Operator, its so-called AI agent that can perform tasks on behalf of users, for ChatGPT Pro subscribers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, the U.K., and more countries. OpenAI said Operator will be available in most places where ChatGPT is available, apart from […]

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Rivian will launch hands-off highway driver assist ‘in a few weeks’

February 20, 2025

Rivian said Thursday it plans to launch a hands-off version of its driver assistance system for highway driving “in a few weeks,” and said an “eyes-off” version in 2026. The hands-off system will let Rivian compete with companies like Ford and General Motors, which have both launched similar systems in the past few years. (Ford […]

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