July 4, 2025

The Download: India’s AI independence, and predicting future epidemics

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. Inside India’s scramble for AI independence Despite its status as a global tech hub, India lags far behind the likes of the US and China when it comes to homegrown AI. That gap…

Technology

Upp wants to add more broccoli to the plant-protein mix using big automation

January 26, 2023

What is automation good for? Harvesting more broccoli than human laborers can, according to Upp, a Shropshire-UK based agTech startup that’s using computer vision AI plus farm-sized proprietary machinery to expand crop yields. Its pitch is not only that its specialist, AI-driven harvester will make it more efficient to pick a familiar crop but also […]

Upp wants to add more broccoli to the plant-protein mix using big automation by Natasha Lomas originally published on TechCrunch

How new technologies could clean up air travel

January 26, 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. As a climate reporter, I sometimes hesitate to admit this, but I feel it’s time that I came clean on something … I love flying. It’s not even just about traveling and seeing…

People are already using ChatGPT to create workout plans

January 26, 2023
When I opened the email telling me I’d been accepted to run the London Marathon, I felt elated. And then terrified. Barely six months on from my last marathon, I knew how dedicated I’d have to be to keep running day after day, week after week, month after month, through rain, cold, tiredness, grumpiness, and…

Hawk AI, an anti-money laundering and fraud prevention platform for banks, raises $17M

January 26, 2023

Hawk AI, a German company developing anti-money laundering (AML) and tangential fraud prevention smarts for financial institutions, has raised $17 million in a Series B round of funding. Prior to now, Hawk AI had raised $10 million, and with a fresh $17 million in the bank, the company said that it plans to bolster its […]

Hawk AI, an anti-money laundering and fraud prevention platform for banks, raises $17M by Paul Sawers originally published on TechCrunch

European smart thermostat startup Tado raises $46.9M after failed SPAC plan

January 26, 2023

Smart home energy startup Tado has raised €43 million ($46.9 million) in a round of funding led by Trill Impact Ventures, as the company pursues plans to become profitable in 2023. The raise comes a year after the German company announced plans to go public (“deSPAC”) via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), plans that […]

European smart thermostat startup Tado raises $46.9M after failed SPAC plan by Paul Sawers originally published on TechCrunch

Danish startup Kanpla wants to help canteens cut food waste

January 26, 2023

As much as 40% of all food produced each year goes nowhere near a human mouth, resulting in economic, environmental, and social costs of an estimated $2.6 trillion. While there are a multitude of social, cultural, and even technological reasons for these staggering statistics, we’ve seen a slew of startups emerge with propositions on how […]

Danish startup Kanpla wants to help canteens cut food waste by Paul Sawers originally published on TechCrunch

Walmart readies another $2.5 billion investment in India’s e-commerce and payments

January 26, 2023

Walmart is preparing to spend over $2.5 billion in India as the retailer doubles down on the opportunities it sees in India’s e-commerce and payments markets even as the firm contends with rising costs amid the market downturns. Walmart spent about $780 million earlier this month to the Indian tax authorities after PhonePe, in which […]

Walmart readies another $2.5 billion investment in India’s e-commerce and payments by Manish Singh originally published on TechCrunch