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

SoftBank, NEC, Sony, Toyota + more team up for Rapidus, Japan’s bid for next-gen chip domination

November 11, 2022

As the tech war between the U.S. and China intensifies, Japan has spotted an opening to build a viable alternative for semiconductors — not least so that its own consumer electronics firms do not run out of memory chips. Now, eight major Japanese tech firms and car makers, including Kioxia, NEC, NTT, SoftBank, Sony and […]

SoftBank, NEC, Sony, Toyota + more team up for Rapidus, Japan’s bid for next-gen chip domination by Kate Park originally published on TechCrunch

Big Tech could help Iranian protesters by using an old tool

November 11, 2022
After the Iranian government took extreme measures to limit internet use in response to the pro-democracy protests that have filled Iranian streets since mid-September, Western tech companies scrambled to help restore access to Iranian citizens.  Signal asked its users to help run proxy servers with support from the company. Google offered credits to help Iranians…

This toddler is the first to have been treated for her disease before she was born

November 11, 2022
This article is from The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, sign up here. According to her parents, Ayla Bashir is “a miracle.” The talkative and smiley 15-month-old is also a pioneer—the first person to start receiving medical treatment for her genetic disorder before even being…

Musk flip-flops on Twitter verification — brings back (some) ‘Official’ badges (in some parts of the world)

November 11, 2022

Strap back in for another Musk-Twitter U-turn: After a wave of impersonation chaos that hit a number of high profile brands and celebrities in recent hours, including an account pretending to be pharma giant Eli Lilly tweeting that insulin in “now free” — surely cooling the last embers of any advertiser ardour for the social […]

Musk flip-flops on Twitter verification — brings back (some) ‘Official’ badges (in some parts of the world) by Natasha Lomas originally published on TechCrunch

A wrongfully terminated Chinese-American scientist was just awarded nearly $2 million in damages

November 10, 2022
It’s been almost a decade since the Chinese-American hydrologist Sherry Chen’s life was turned upside down by an unfounded accusation of spying, and this week, she finally received something like justice.  Today, Chen’s lawyers announced that the scientist won a historic $1.8 million settlement from the US Commerce Department for her wrongful prosecution and subsequent…

Pinterest launches its collage-making app Shuffles to the general public

November 10, 2022

Pinterest’s new collage-making app Shuffles is now available to the general public, after entering an invite-only test phase earlier this summer. The app grew in popularity with Gen Z users, who used the creative expression tool to make “aesthetic” collages, sometimes set to music and posted to TikTok, or shared privately with friends or the Shuffles community. […]

Pinterest launches its collage-making app Shuffles to the general public by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch