February 7, 2025

These documents are influencing the DOGE-sphere’s agenda

Reports from the US Government Accountability Office on improper federal payments in recent years are circulating on X and elsewhere online, and they seem to be a big influence on Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency and its supporters as the group pursues cost-cutting measures across the federal government.  The payment reports have been…

Technology

The art of unearthing history

January 4, 2024
Filmmaker Suneil Sanzgiri, SM ’17, uses diverse media and techniques to delve deeply into his cultural identity, connecting him with the colonial history of his family’s ancestral home: Goa, India. An alumnus of the Art, Culture, and Technology (ACT) program, Sanzgiri uses a unique approach combining such things as analysis of historical texts and 3D…

Can AI provide better customer service?

January 4, 2024
Customer service experiences can really stick with you—a positive interaction can inspire brand loyalty, and a negative one can prompt a complete boycott. But encounters with automated customer interfaces, which often rely on limited phone menus or inept chatbots, rarely generate rave reviews. So Liz Tsai ’11, SM ’13, came up with an alternative. In…

Software supply chain security remains a challenge for most enterprises

January 4, 2024

Log4j, maybe more than any other recent security issue in recent years, thrust software supply chain security into the limelight, with even the White House weighing in. But even though virtually every technology executive is at least aware of the importance of creating a trustworthy and secure software supply chain, most continue to struggle with […]

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The Download: what’s next for AI, and quantum computing challenges

January 4, 2024
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. What’s next for AI in 2024 This time last year our AI writers did something reckless. In an industry where nothing stands still, they had a go at predicting the future. Turns out,…

The hidden climate cost of everything around us

January 4, 2024
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. The world is building and making things as never before, from roads and hospitals to vehicles and furniture. That’s good news for people who benefit from new goods and infrastructure, but it’s…

Quantum computing is taking on its biggest challenge: noise

January 4, 2024
In the past 20 years, hundreds of companies, including giants like Google, Microsoft, and IBM, have staked a claim in the rush to establish quantum computing. Investors have put in well over $5 billion so far. All this effort has just one purpose: creating the world’s next big thing.  Quantum computers use the counterintuitive rules…

The online art catalogue that chronicles a stolen African heritage

January 4, 2024
When British forces raided the African kingdom of Benin in the late 19th century, they took with them thousands of sculptures dating back centuries. Sold to private collectors and museums in the Global North, the artifacts, known as the Benin Bronzes, included ceremonial swords, ritualistic statues, and musical instruments that belonged to the Edo people.…

Autonomous delivery startup Nuro taps simulation company Foretellix to cut R&D costs

January 4, 2024

Autonomous delivery startup Nuro has struck a deal with safety-focused software company Foretellix to help with virtual testing of its automated driving system, in a bid to cut R&D costs while still pushing the technology forward. The partnership, which the companies are set to announce later Thursday, comes in the wake of a tumultuous stretch […]

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What’s next for AI in 2024

January 4, 2024
This time last year we did something reckless. In an industry where nothing stands still, we had a go at predicting the future.  How did we do? Our four big bets for 2023 were that the next big thing in chatbots would be multimodal (check: the most powerful large language models out there, OpenAI’s GPT-4…

Urbanista integrates Powerfoyle tech with solar-powered headphones

January 3, 2024

The subject of solar-powered tech rouses a bit of deserved skepticism among consumers. At the end of the day, I suspect most folks would love more sustainable gadgets they never have to charge, but on the whole, the actual technology rarely — if ever — lives up to expectation. Next week at CES, Exeger is […]

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