Young Entrepreneurs Are Building Businesses Around ‘Grandma Hobbies’ and Demand Is Surging
From needlepoint to mahjong, young people are building thriving companies around tactile, offline hobbies that help customers escape technology.
The Download: AstroTurf wars and exponential AI growth
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. Is fake grass a bad idea? The AstroTurf wars are far from over. In 2001, Americans installed just over 7 million square meters of synthetic turf. By 2024, that number was 79 million square meters—enough to carpet all of Manhattan and then some. The…
Technology
Nurturing agentic AI beyond the toddler stage
Parents of young children face a lot of fears about developmental milestones, from infancy through adulthood. The number of months it takes a baby to learn to talk or walk is often used as a benchmark for wellness, or an indicator of additional tests needed to properly diagnose a potential health condition. A parent rejoices…
The Download: glass chips and “AI-free” logos
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. Future AI chips could be built on glass Human-made glass is thousands of years old. But it’s now poised to find its way into the AI chips used in the world’s newest and…
Lawyer behind AI psychosis cases warns of mass casualty risks
AI chatbots have been linked to suicides for years. Now one lawyer says they are showing up in mass casualty cases too, and the technology is moving faster than the safeguards.
Travis Kalanick reportedly starting a new self-driving company backed by Uber
Kalanick reportedly wants to be more aggressive in pursuing the technology than industry-leader Waymo.
Why physical AI is becoming manufacturing’s next advantage
For decades, manufacturers have pursued automation to drive efficiency, reduce costs, and stabilize operations. That approach delivered meaningful gains, but it is no longer enough. Today’s manufacturing leaders face a different challenge: how to grow amid labor constraints, rising complexity, and increasing pressure to innovate faster without sacrificing safety, quality, or trust. The next phase…
The Download: how AI is used for military targeting, and the Pentagon’s war on Claude
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. Defense official reveals how AI chatbots could be used for targeting decisions The US military might use generative AI systems to rank targets and recommend which to strike first, according to a Defense Department…
Future AI chips could be built on glass
Human-made glass is thousands of years old. But it’s now poised to find its way into the AI chips used in the world’s newest and largest data centers. This year, a South Korean company called Absolics is planning to start commercial production of special glass panels designed to make next-generation computing hardware more powerful and…
Defense official reveals how AI chatbots could be used for targeting decisions
The US military might use generative AI systems to rank lists of targets and make recommendations about which to strike first, which would then be vetted by humans, according to a Defense official with knowledge of the matter. The disclosure about how the military may use AI chatbots comes as the Pentagon faces scrutiny over…
The Download: Early adopters cash in on China’s OpenClaw craze, and US batteries slump
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. Hustlers are cashing in on China’s OpenClaw AI craze In January, Beijing-based software engineer Feng Qingyang started tinkering with OpenClaw, a new AI tool that can take over a device and autonomously complete tasks.…