Technology

We know remarkably little about how AI language models work

September 5, 2023
AI language models are not humans, and yet we evaluate them as if they were, using tests like the bar exam or the United States Medical Licensing Examination. The models tend to do really well in these exams, probably because examples of such exams are abundant in the models’ training data. Yet, as my colleague…

Coming soon: MIT Technology Review’s 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch

September 5, 2023
For decades, MIT Technology Review has published annual lists highlighting the advances redefining what technology can do and the brightest minds pushing their fields forward. This year, we’re launching a new list, recognizing companies making progress on one of society’s most pressing challenges: climate change. MIT Technology Review’s 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch will…

Envisics closes $100M to advance AR heads-up display tech in cars

September 5, 2023
Envisics, a UK-based holographics company building in-car technology that projects navigation, safety alerts and other data onto the inside of a windscreen, has closed a $100 million Series C round. The company announced the round’s first $50 million tranche in March, which brought Envisics up to a $500 million valuation. Envisics didn’t share an updated […]

The Download: how Yale University has prepared for ChatGPT, and schools’ AI reckoning

September 4, 2023
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 one elite university is approaching ChatGPT this school year For many people, the start of September marks the real beginning of the year. Back-to-school season always feels like a reset moment. However,…

How one elite university is approaching ChatGPT this school year

September 4, 2023
This article is from The Technocrat, MIT Technology Review’s weekly tech policy newsletter about power, politics, and Silicon Valley. To receive it in your inbox every Friday, sign up here. For many people, the start of September marks the real beginning of the year. No fireworks, no resolutions, but fresh notebooks, stiff sneakers, and packed…

Kyle Vogt to discuss self-driving cars, AI, investing and more at TC Disrupt 2023

September 1, 2023
Cruise, the self-driving subsidiary of General Motors, has raised over $15 billion, employs more than 3,000 people and expanded its footprint across multiple cities within the U.S. It even has a presence in Dubai. What does it take to build and scale such complex technology? We’re looking forward to discussing that and more with Kyle […]

The Download: stem cell experiments, and coining “embryo tech”

September 1, 2023
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. A biotech company says it put dopamine-making cells into people’s brains The news: In an important test for stem-cell medicine, biotech company BlueRock Therapeutics says implants of lab-made neurons introduced into the brains…

Here’s why I am coining the term “embryo tech”

September 1, 2023
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. This week, I published a story about the results of a study on Parkinson’s disease in which a biotech company transplanted dopamine-making neurons into people’s brains.…

A biotech company says it put dopamine-making cells into people’s brains

August 31, 2023
In an important test for stem-cell medicine, a biotech company says implants of lab-made neurons introduced into the brains of 12 people with Parkinson’s disease appear to be safe and may have reduced symptoms for some of them. The added cells should produce the neurotransmitter dopamine, a shortage of which is what produces the devastating…