June 18, 2025

Puzzle Corner

Ready for a fresh set of puzzles? Click here for the September/October 2024 Puzzle Corner, brought to you by guest editor Edward Faulkner ’03.

The Download: brain-computer interfaces, and teaching an AI model to give therapy

April 1, 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. Brain-computer interfaces face a critical test Brain computer interfaces (BCIs) are electrodes put in paralyzed people’s brains so they can use imagined movements to send commands from their neurons through a wire, or…

Brain-computer interfaces face a critical test

April 1, 2025
Tech companies are always trying out new ways for people to interact with computers—consider efforts like Google Glass, the Apple Watch, and Amazon’s Alexa. You’ve probably used at least one. But the most radical option has been tried by fewer than 100 people on Earth—those who have lived for months or years with implanted brain-computer…

How do you teach an AI model to give therapy?

April 1, 2025
On March 27, the results of the first clinical trial for a generative AI therapy bot were published, and they showed that people in the trial who had depression or anxiety or were at risk for eating disorders benefited from chatting with the bot.  I was surprised by those results, which you can read about…

OpenAI’s new image generator is now available to all users

April 1, 2025
OpenAI’s new image generator, powered by its GPT-4o model, is now available to all users, CEO Sam Altman said in a post on X. The feature was until now available only to paying users of ChatGPT. While it is not clear how many images users on the free tier can generate, Altman last week had […]

Construct Capital raises $300M fund for defense and manufacturing tech

April 1, 2025
Construct Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in startups applying technology to sectors like manufacturing, transportation, and defense, has closed its third fund with $300 million in capital commitments. The Washington D.C.-based firm previously raised a $225 million second fund and a $75 million capital pool for later-stage companies in 2022. While many […]

Fashion startup CaaStle appears to be in trouble

March 31, 2025
CaaStle, a startup that launched in 2011 as a plus-sized clothing subscription service and in 2018 became an inventory monetization platform for clothing retailers, is facing financial difficulties, reports Axios. The company is almost out of money, CEO Christine Hunsicker has resigned, and law enforcement is investigating alleged financial misconduct, Axios reported, citing a leaked […]

OpenAI raises $40B at $300B post-money valuation

March 31, 2025
OpenAI on Monday announced that it closed one of the largest private funding rounds in history. According to a blog post on the company’s website, OpenAI raised $40 billion in a tranche that values the company at $300 billion post-money. SoftBank led the round, CNBC reported. Other participants included Microsoft, Coatue, Altimeter, and Thrive. “[This […]

ChatGPT’s new image generator is really good at faking receipts

March 31, 2025
This month, ChatGPT unveiled a new image generator as part of its 4o model that is a lot better at generating text inside images.  People are already using it to generate fake restaurant receipts, potentially adding another tool to the already-extensive toolkit of AI deepfakes used by fraudsters. Prolific social media poster and VC Deedy […]