June 13, 2025

Powering next-gen services with AI in regulated industries 

Businesses in highly-regulated industries like financial services, insurance, pharmaceuticals, and health care are increasingly turning to AI-powered tools to streamline complex and sensitive tasks. Conversational AI-driven interfaces are helping hospitals to track the location and delivery of a patient’s time-sensitive cancer drugs. Generative AI chatbots are helping insurance customers answer questions and solve problems. And agentic…

The Download: a new form of AI surveillance, and the US and China’s tariff deal

May 12, 2025
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. How a new type of AI is helping police skirt facial recognition bans Police and federal agencies have found a controversial new way to skirt the growing patchwork of laws that curb how…

This American VC is betting on European defense tech; that’s still very unusual

May 12, 2025
VCs are known to move in herds, which is why Eric Slesinger stands out a bit. While most American investors chase AI startups or U.S.-based defense tech startups, the former CIA officer is hunting for defense tech deals in Europe. In fact, Slesinger, founder of 201 Ventures, recently closed a $22 million fund focused on […]

Apple reportedly plans to hike prices of upcoming iPhones

May 12, 2025
Apple is planning to increase the prices of its iPhone lineup set to launch this autumn, though it is trying not to make it seem as if the hikes are connected to the U.S.’ tariffs on imports from China, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing anonymous sources. The company is considering instead linking the price […]

Tech stocks look set to jump as U.S. and China pause reciprocal tariffs

May 12, 2025
U.S. tech stocks, along with the broader stock markets, seemed ready to start the day with a high, as the United States and China on Monday agreed to temporarily cut reciprocal tariffs for 90 days. Per the deal, reached in Geneva, the U.S. would temporarily shelve the 145% reciprocal tariff on goods imported from China, […]

How a new type of AI is helping police skirt facial recognition bans

May 12, 2025
Police and federal agencies have found a controversial new way to skirt the growing patchwork of laws that curb how they use facial recognition: an AI model that can track people using attributes like body size, gender, hair color and style, clothing, and accessories.  The tool, called Track and built by the video analytics company…

Egypt’s Nawy, the largest proptech in Africa, raises $52M to take on MENA

May 12, 2025
For decades, buying property in Egypt meant navigating a fragmented real estate market, relying on personal networks, dealing with commission-driven brokers, and facing developers more focused on selling than serving customer needs. In 2019, Mostafa El Beltagy co-founded Nawy to bring transparency and efficiency to the market. Now positioning itself as Africa’s largest proptech platform, […]

23andMe customers notified of bankruptcy and potential claims —deadline to file is July 14

May 11, 2025
23andMe, the genetic testing giant once valued in the billions, is now navigating Chapter 11 bankruptcy and notifying millions of current and former customers that they may be eligible to file claims as part of the restructuring process. The company and 11 of its subsidiaries, including Lemonaid Health and LPRXOne, filed for bankruptcy protection on […]

Trump fires Copyright Office director after report raises questions about AI training

May 11, 2025
President Donald Trump has fired Shira Perlmutter, who leads the U.S. Copyright Office. The firing was reported by CBS News and Politico, and seemingly confirmed by a statement from Representative Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the Committee for House Administration. “Donald Trump’s termination of Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, is a brazen, unprecedented power […]