February 18, 2026

Google DeepMind wants to know if chatbots are just virtue signaling

Google DeepMind is calling for the moral behavior of large language models—such as what they do when called on to act as companions, therapists, medical advisors, and so on—to be scrutinized with the same kind of rigor as their ability to code or do math. As LLMs improve, people are asking them to play more…

Robots that learn as they fail could unlock a new era of AI

September 12, 2023
Lerrel Pinto is one of MIT Technology Review’s 2023 Innovators Under 35.  Asked to explain his work, Lerrel Pinto, 31, likes to shoot back another question: When did you last see a cool robot in your home? The answer typically depends on whether the person asking owns a robot vacuum cleaner: yesterday or never. Pinto’s…

How software that tracks covid variants could protect us against future outbreaks

September 12, 2023
Yatish Turakhia is one of MIT Technology Review’s 2023 Innovators Under 35.  When covid-19 started spreading in early 2020, scientists quickly realized that tracking how the virus was mutating would be essential for public health as new strains emerged that put people at greater risk. Yatish Turakhia, then a postdoc at UC Santa Cruz’s Genomics…

There’s never been a more important time in AI policy

September 12, 2023
This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. Before we get started I wanted to flag two great talks this week.  ⚖️ On Tuesday, September 12, at 12 p.m. US Eastern time, we will be hosting a subscriber-only roundtable conversation about…

English learning platform ELSA lands $22.5M Series C

September 12, 2023
ELSA, the English language learning platform, announced today it has raised $22.5 million in Series C funding. It also launched ELSA AI Tutor, which draws on years of speech recognition data collected by the app and reproduces conversations through generative AI to help learners correct their pronunciation, grammar and tone. This brings ELSA’s total raised […]

TikTok Shop officially launches in the U.S.

September 12, 2023
After months of testing, TikTok has finally launched its e-commerce product, TikTok Shop, in the U.S — where it has more than 150 million users. As part of the rollout, the company is bringing features such as a dedicated shop tab on the home screen, live video shopping, shoppable ads, and affiliate programs for creators. […]

E-bike subscription service Dance reaches 10,000 active subscribers

September 12, 2023
Here are two interesting tidbits of news about Dance, the German startup that offers electric bikes and mopeds via subscription packages. First, the company just added a handful of investors to top up its recent €12 million funding round. Second, Dance now has 10,000 active and paying members. For the funding part, Dance isn’t saying […]

Ascento’s robots aid overstretched security guards

September 12, 2023
Like in many industries, there’s an acute shortage of security guards. This means guards still on the job have to pull extra hours and are more likely to make mistakes because of fatigue. Ascento is stepping into the gap with autonomous security patrolling robots called Ascento Guards. Distinguished by their wheel-leg design that can cover […]

California bill to ban driverless autonomous trucks goes to Newsom’s desk

September 12, 2023
In a blow to the autonomous trucking industry, the California Senate passed a bill Monday that requires a trained human safety operator to be present any time a self-driving, heavy-duty vehicle operates on public roads in the state. In effect, the bill bans driverless AV trucks. AB 316, which passed the senate floor with 36 […]

Why Lime says the time is almost right to go public

September 12, 2023
Lime, the startup with shared e-scooters and e-bikes in 280 cities around the world, has been talking about going public for years. Now, Lime CEO Wayne Ting says the economic stars are finally aligning to actually make it happen. The public markets have been in the doldrums for nearly two years amid higher inflation, rising […]

Indian consumers’ rising appetite for premium

September 12, 2023
Indian consumers, traditionally seen as price-conscious, are showing a growing appetite for premium items across a range of sectors, from real estate to smartphones and luxury hotels. The trend, documented by AllianceBernstein analysts in a note to clients this week, signals a shift in the spending habits in the world’s most populated nation that has […]