Technology

The Download: combating covid, and the challenges of governing AI

September 8, 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. What to know about this autumn’s covid vaccines Many people have started testing positive for covid recently. Hospitalizations for the disease in the US rose nearly 16% during the third week of August,…

What to know about this autumn’s covid vaccines

September 8, 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. Last week I came down with some kind of bug. So I got to play one of my least favorite games: “Covid or Not Covid?” In my case,…

AI reading coach startup Ello raises $15M to bolster child literacy

September 7, 2023
Ello aims to eradicate childhood illiteracy by leveraging artificial intelligence and child speech recognition technology. The startup announced today that it secured $15 million in Series A financing to help it do so, and the funding will go toward product development and expanding access to consumers. “Ello is one of those great companies,” Coddy Johnson, […]

Pinterest’s new computer vision-powered body type technology to make search more inclusive

September 7, 2023
Pinterest today announced it’s introducing novel computer vision technology that will use shape, size, and form to identify various body types across the over 5 billion images on its platform with the goal of making its search more inclusive. The company says the patent-pending technology will be used to shape its algorithms, allowing Pinterest users […]

The Download: promising new batteries, and how to regulate AI

September 7, 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. Zinc batteries that offer an alternative to lithium just got a big boost The news: One of the leading companies offering alternatives to lithium batteries for the grid has just received a nearly…

How water could make safer batteries

September 7, 2023
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. I’d be willing to bet that you probably haven’t spent much time thinking about the liquid that sloshes around inside batteries.  But this liquid—called the electrolyte—is one of their key ingredients, and…

Chris Lehane of Haun Ventures to dive into firm’s investing strategy and the web3 VC landscape at TechCrunch Disrupt

September 6, 2023
Chris Lehane, chief strategy officer at Haun Ventures, will bring his unique career experience and investing expertise to TechCrunch Disrupt 2023. Prior to joining the firm, Lehane was an executive at Airbnb. He also co-founded a strategic consultancy firm, Fabiani & Lehane, that advised political, corporate, technology, entertainment and professional sports clients. In the 1990s, […]

Zinc batteries that offer an alternative to lithium just got a big boost

September 6, 2023
One of the leading companies offering alternatives to lithium batteries for the grid just got a nearly $400 million loan from the US Department of Energy.   Eos Energy makes zinc-halide batteries, which the firm hopes could one day be used to store renewable energy at a lower cost than is possible with existing lithium-ion batteries.…

The Download: how to talk to kids about AI, and China’s emotional chatbots

September 6, 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. You need to talk to your kid about AI. Here are 6 things you should say. In the past year, kids, teachers, and parents have had a crash course in artificial intelligence, thanks…