Flock CEO calls for ‘compromise’ as surveillance company faces growing backlash
Flock Safety faces a growing public outcry over concerns that its surveillance technology could be misused.
The Download: smarter AI in schools, and a robot “carnival” in Shanghai
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. How to encourage smarter AI use in the classroom Chatbots took schools by surprise. Suddenly, students carried an app in their phones that could magically answer almost any homework question or…
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Is it legal to train AI models on copyrighted books? It’s complicated
Most published authors have, without their knowledge or consent, contributed to the development of the same AI tools that threaten to undermine their livelihoods. That seems illegal, right?
Two years after launch, Walmart’s Flipkart is closing in on India’s quick-commerce leaders
Flipkart’s quick-commerce venture is delivering 1.1 million to 1.2 million orders a day, nearly triple its November volume.
Harvard’s $699 startup bootcamp offers AI avatars of its instructors
In the HBS Foundry program, AI avatars provide feedback during practice pitches and board meetings.
Will the DOJ’s investigation into a16z spook other VCs?
On the latest episode of Equity, we wonder why the DOJ is investigating startup board seats.
Inherent, founded by DeepMind alumni, says its AI ‘teammate’ just outperformed Anthropic and OpenAI at replicating research
Built by DeepMind alumni, British AI lab Inherent released Faraday, an AI agent whose ability to replicate scientific papers could be a stepping stone for innovation.
OpenAI says California should strengthen its AI safety bill
OpenAI is calling for California to strengthen SB 53, an AI safety bill that the company previously opposed.
Frontier AI labs still won’t say how they’d contain a rogue model
A new study finds leading AI labs have few publicly documented plans for containing rogue models, raising questions about preparedness as AI systems increasingly demonstrate unexpected and potentially dangerous behavior.
US battery startups have found a lifeline in defense
U.S. battery startups pulled in $500 million in grants from the Department of Energy, throwing a lifeline to an industry that was on the ropes after EV incentives were slashed.
Pixel 11 Pro XL review: Snappier cameras can’t hide an iterative upgrade
Google’s Pixel 11 Pro XL brings snappier cameras and genuinely useful AI features like Rambler, but its iterative upgrades may not be enough to tempt recent Pixel owners.