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

China’s XPeng moves closer to launching a robotaxi network

October 25, 2022

Chinese luxury EV startup XPeng is moving forward on its plans to launch a robotaxi business. The company’s latest G9 SUV became China’s first mass-produced commercial vehicle to pass a government-led autonomous driving closed-field test, the company said Monday at its fourth annual 1024 Tech Day. When XPeng unveiled the G9 in September, the company […]

China’s XPeng moves closer to launching a robotaxi network by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch

Apex Space takes on satellite bus ‘bottleneck’ with seed round led by a16z

October 25, 2022

Apex Space, a startup that aims to transform satellite bus manufacturing, emerged from stealth Monday with a $7.5 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz. The Los Angeles-based company has set its sights on the satellite bus — the part of the spacecraft that hosts the payload — which it says is the “new bottleneck” […]

Apex Space takes on satellite bus ‘bottleneck’ with seed round led by a16z by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch

Bumble open sourced its AI that detects unsolicited nudes

October 24, 2022

As part of its larger commitment to combat “cyberflashing,” the dating app Bumble is open sourcing its AI tool that detects unsolicited lewd images. First debuted in 2019, Private Detector (let’s take a moment to let that name sink in) blurs out nudes that are sent through the Bumble app, giving the user on the […]

Bumble open sourced its AI that detects unsolicited nudes by Amanda Silberling originally published on TechCrunch

Microsoft’s Windows Dev Kit 2023 lets developers tap AI processors on laptops

October 24, 2022

At its Build conference in May, Microsoft debuted Project Volterra, a device powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon platform designed to let developers explore “AI scenarios” via Qualcomm’s Neural Processing SDK for Windows toolkit. Today, Volterra — now called Windows Dev Kit 2023 — officially goes on sale, priced at $599 and available from the Microsoft Store […]

Microsoft’s Windows Dev Kit 2023 lets developers tap AI processors on laptops by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

Do AI systems need to come with safety warnings?

October 24, 2022
To receive The Algorithm in your inbox every Monday, sign up here. Welcome to The Algorithm!  Considering how powerful AI systems are, and the roles they increasingly play in helping to make high-stakes decisions about our lives, homes, and societies, they receive surprisingly little formal scrutiny.  That’s starting to change, thanks to the blossoming field of AI audits.…

Docker launches a first preview of its WebAssembly tooling

October 24, 2022

Docker is still around and likely doing better – at last in financial terms — than during its early hype cycle that kicked off the container revolution (only to then be eclipsed by Kubernetes and its ecosystem). Today, the company announced the first technical preview of its WebAssembly (Wasm) support. Browser vendors pioneered Wasm to […]

Docker launches a first preview of its WebAssembly tooling by Frederic Lardinois originally published on TechCrunch

The Download: US Navy drone swarms, and inside animals’ minds

October 24, 2022
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. The US Navy wants swarms of thousands of small drones The US Navy is working on ways to build, deploy, and control thousands of small drones that are able to flock together to…