WeWork’s going concern warning is a reminder that VC and low-margin business don’t mix
It can be a good idea to raise venture capital to scale a business with highly valuable revenue, provided you can generate operating leverage later.
How Pokémon Go is helping robots deliver pizza on time
Pokémon Go was the world’s first augmented-reality megahit. Released in 2016 by the Google spinout Niantic, the AR twist on the juggernaut Pokémon franchise fast became a global phenomenon. From Chicago to Oslo to Enoshima, players hit the streets in the urgent hope of catching a Jigglypuff or a Squirtle or (with a huge amount…
Technology
Merging physical and digital tools to build resilient supply chains
Organizations are building resilient supply chains with a “phygital” approach, a blend of digital and physical tools. In recent years, the global supply chain has been disrupted due to the covid-19 pandemic, geopolitical volatility, overwhelmed legacy systems, and labor shortages. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), an industrial advocacy group, warns the disruption isn’t over—NAM’s…
Why watermarking AI-generated content won’t guarantee trust online
In late May, the Pentagon appeared to be on fire. A few miles away, White House aides and reporters scrambled to figure out whether a viral online image of the exploding building was in fact real. It wasn’t. It was AI-generated. Yet government officials, journalists, and tech companies were unable to take action before the…
Microsoft partners with Aptos blockchain to marry AI and web3
Microsoft announced that it is partnering with layer-1 blockchain Aptos to expand AI and web3 capabilities and trust.
The Download: the promise of stem cell treatments, and China’s screen time crackdown
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. After 25 years of hype, embryonic stem cells are still waiting for their moment In 1998, researchers isolated powerful stem cells from human embryos. It was a breakthrough for biology, since these cells…
Deepset secures $30M to expand its LLM-focused MLOps offerings
Deepset, a platform for building enterprise apps powered by large language models akin to ChatGPT, today announced that it raised $30 million in a funding round led by Balderton Capital with participation from GV and Harpoon Ventures. The proceeds will be put toward expanding Deepset’s products and services and growing its team from around 50 […]
Atmosfy, an app that helps you discover local businesses through short-from video, raises $12M
Atmosfy, an app that helps you discover restaurants and local businesses through short-form videos, has raised $12 million in seed funding led by Redpoint Ventures. The app lets you explore dining, nightlife, hotels and more by browsing quick videos from locals and visitors. Atmosfy is designed to give users a true sense of the atmosphere […]
After 25 years of hype, embryonic stem cells are still waiting for their moment
Twenty-five years ago, in 1998, researchers in Wisconsin isolated powerful stem cells from human embryos. It was a fundamental breakthrough for biology, since these cells are the starting point for human bodies and have the capacity to turn into any other type of cell—heart cells, neurons, you name it. National Geographic would later summarize the…
China is escalating its war on kids’ screen time
This story first appeared in China Report, MIT Technology Review’s newsletter about technology developments in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. Two years ago, parents around the world likely looked at China with a bit of jealousy: the country had instituted a strict three-hour-per-week limit for children playing video games. In the…
Micromax, smartphone sales stalled, eyes a steer into electric vehicles
Micromax Informatics once had a firm grip on the local mobile phone market in India, for a time passing stalwarts like Samsung, icons like Apple and many more to be the biggest handset maker of them all. But a mix of stronger (and cheaper) competition, coupled with the rapid pace of technology development and the […]