February 18, 2026

The robots who predict the future

To be human is, fundamentally, to be a forecaster. Occasionally a pretty good one. Trying to see the future, whether through the lens of past experience or the logic of cause and effect, has helped us hunt, avoid being hunted, plant crops, forge social bonds, and in general survive in a world that does not…

SoftBank posts loss, with a cumulative loss of $6.3B in its Vision Fund business

August 8, 2023
As SoftBank prepares to dive deeper into AI investments, the group posted an unexpected consecutive quarterly overall loss, as well as a continued loss in its existing investment business. SoftBank’s Vision Fund 1 and 2 and its Latin American fund together posted a quarterly investment loss of 13 billion yen ($91 million). That is significantly […]

Seoul-based proptech Dongnae acquires co-living platform Dears

August 8, 2023
Proptech startup Dongnae said Tuesday it plans to acquire Stevens, a South Korean company that operates co-living business Dears. The two companies did not disclose the acquisition price, but Dongnae said it will purchase Stevens with a mix of cash and equity. The Seoul-based proptech outfit previously raised a total of $34 million, including a $21 million […]

Apple Music adds a new algorithmic station to let users discover new music

August 8, 2023
Apple Music has added a new algorithmic radio station to the app called ‘Discovery Station’ in a way to compete with Spotify’s personalized lists. Apple’s Sweden-based rival service has offered its signature “Discover” playlists for years now. In response to that, Apple Music has started rolling out the new station for people to find new […]

China’s draft measures demand ‘individual consent’ for facial recognition use

August 8, 2023
The pervasive use of facial recognition technology across all facets of life in China has elicited both praise for its convenience and backlash around privacy concerns. The widespread adoption has also fueled the exponential growth of valuations in companies specializing in the field, such as AI giants SenseTime and Megvii. Now the industry is facing […]

Meet with Samsung Next and other pivotal partners at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023

August 7, 2023
TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, which runs September 19–21 in San Francisco, is the startup world’s big tent. It draws founders, venture partners, CEOs, engineers, scientists, policy makers, researchers and entrepreneurs, product managers, CMOs, corporate M&A directors, MBA candidates and business developers who form the entire backbone of the startup ecosystem. The basic gist: It’s where startups […]

Authors are losing their patience with AI, part 349235

August 7, 2023
On Monday morning, numerous writers woke up to learn that their books had been uploaded and scanned into a massive dataset without their consent. A project of cloud word processor Shaxpir, Prosecraft compiled over 27,000 books, comparing, ranking and analyzing them based on the “vividness” of their language. Many authors — including Young Adult powerhouse […]