Governments identify dozens of Android apps bundled with spyware
The advisories say the spyware apps are used to target members of civil society who may oppose China’s state interests.
Puzzle Corner
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A new biosensor can detect bird flu in five minutes
Over the winter, eggs suddenly became all but impossible to buy. As a bird flu outbreak rippled through dairy and poultry farms, grocery stores struggled to keep them on shelves. The shortages and record-high prices in February raised costs dramatically for restaurants and bakeries and led some shoppers to skip the breakfast staple entirely. But…
This Texas chemical plant could get its own nuclear reactors
Nuclear reactors could someday power a chemical plant in Texas, making it the first with such a facility onsite. The factory, which makes plastics and other materials, could become a model for power-hungry data centers and other industrial operations going forward. The plans are the work of Dow Chemical and X-energy, which last week applied…
A 25-year-old police drone founder just raised $75M led by Index
If you ever call 911 from an area that’s hard to get to, you might hear the buzz of a drone well before a police cruiser pulls up. And there’s a good chance that it will be one made by Brinc Drones, a Seattle-based startup founded by 25-year-old Blake Resnick who dropped out of college […]
‘It’s Laughable’: Okta’s CEO Says AI Won’t Replace Software Engineers Despite Other Tech Leaders’ Predictions
Okta CEO Todd McKinnon is confident that there will be more working software engineers working in five years than there are now.
Instagram is beefing up its search to compete with TikTok
Instagram head Adam Mosseri says the company is looking to improve the app’s search functionality, admitting this is an area where Instagram could do more to compete. The remarks, made on a recent episode of the “Build Your Tribe” podcast, come at a time when younger Gen Z users often turn to social apps like […]
Barbara Corcoran Says You Need 2 Types of People to Build a Successful Business: ‘I Use That Formula in Everything I Do’
Corcoran says every business needs an “expander” and a “container” to grow. Here’s why.
Deep Cogito emerges from stealth with hybrid AI ‘reasoning’ models
A new company, Deep Cogito, has emerged from stealth with a family of openly available AI models that can be switched between “reasoning” and non-reasoning modes. Reasoning models like OpenAI’s o1 have shown great promise in domains like math and physics, thanks to their ability to effectively fact-check themselves by working through complex problems step […]
No, Stripe is not becoming a bank
Last week, details emerged about an application that fintech giant Stripe had submitted for a U.S. banking license. There was a lot of chatter on X about whether this meant Stripe – already the largest privately valued fintech in the world – would now be adding bank to the list of descriptions of what it […]
Inside the EV startup secretly backed by Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos is funding a secretive EV startup based in Michigan called Slate Auto that could start production as soon as next year, according to multiple sources and documents that link the billionaire’s family office to the startup. Slate, which took root in another Bezos-connected company called Re:Build Manufacturing, has been operating quietly since its […]