November 8, 2024

The Download: AI vs quantum, and the future of reproductive rights in the US

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. Why AI could eat quantum computing’s lunch Tech companies have been funneling billions of dollars into quantum computers for years. The hope is that they’ll be a game changer for fields as diverse…

Meta pauses plans to train AI using European users’ data, bowing to regulatory pressure

June 14, 2024

Meta has confirmed that it will pause plans to start training its AI systems using data from its users in the European Union (EU) and U.K. The move follows pushback from the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), Meta’s lead regulator in the EU, which is acting on behalf of several data protection authorities (DPAs) across […]

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The Download: milk beyond cows, and geoengineering’s funding boom

June 14, 2024
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. Biotech companies are trying to make milk without cows The outbreak of avian influenza on US dairy farms has started to make milk seem a lot less wholesome. Milk that’s raw, or unpasteurized,…

Brave integrates its own search results with its Leo AI assistant

June 14, 2024

Privacy-focused search engine and web browser company Brave is integrating search results into its Leo chatbot. Search results are based on the Brave Search API and Leo is integrated into the company’s browser. The company said that this integration will help users find more up-to-date information. People can use this integration to fetch information like […]

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Enveda raises $55M to combine ancient remedies with AI for drug discovery

June 14, 2024

For centuries, people chewed willow tree bark to relieve pain, but scientists at chemical firm Bayer didn’t isolate its active ingredient until the 1800s and eventually patented its modified version as Aspirin. Aspirin is just one example of a medicine derived from natural sources. In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that around 40% of […]

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These board games want you to beat climate change

June 14, 2024
It’s game night, and I’m crossing my fingers, hoping for a hurricane.  I roll the die and it clatters across the board, tumbling to a stop to reveal a tiny icon of a tree stump. Bad news: I just triggered deforestation in the Amazon. That seals it. I failed to stop climate change—at least this…

Biotech companies are trying to make milk without cows

June 14, 2024
The outbreak of avian influenza on US dairy farms has started to make milk seem a lot less wholesome. Milk that’s raw, or unpasteurized, can actually infect mice that drink it, and a few dairy workers have already caught the bug.  The FDA says that commercial milk is safe because it is pasteurized, killing the…

Foundations are lining up to fund geoengineering research

June 14, 2024
A London-based nonprofit is poised to become one of the world’s largest financial backers of solar geoengineering research. And it’s just one of a growing number of foundations eager to support scientists exploring whether the world could ease climate change by reflecting away more sunlight. Quadrature Climate Foundation, established in 2019 and funded through the…