ClearGrid, armed with a fresh $10M, is developing AI to improve debt collection in MENA

June 18, 2025

Puzzle Corner

Ready for a fresh set of puzzles? Click here for the July/August 2025 Puzzle Corner, brought to you by guest editor Ed Faulkner ’03. Send problems, solutions (by August 1), and comments to puzzlecorner@technologyreview.com. Editor emeritus Allan Gottlieb ’67 launched Puzzle Corner in 1966. Find back issues through 2022 at cs.nyu.edu/~gottlieb/tr and more recent back issues at technologyreview.com/puzzle-corner.

March 20, 2025

Debt collection in emerging markets often feels outdated, and can be costly — damaging borrower trust. As consumer lending surges and regulators push for fairer practices, legacy collection outfits are struggling to maintain pace. ClearGrid aims to help modernize debt collection — and recovery — with AI. The Dubai-based startup, which is emerging from stealth […]

SoftBank to acquire semiconductor designer Ampere in $6.5B all-cash deal

March 20, 2025

SoftBank Group announced on Wednesday that it will acquire Ampere Computing, a chip designer founded by former Intel executive Renee James, through a $6.5 billion all-cash deal as a strategic move to broaden its investment in AI infrastructure. Ampere will be operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of SoftBank after the deal, which is expected to […]

How a $6M bet on Wiz turned into a massive 200x return for one early backer

March 20, 2025

Wiz’s $32 billion all-cash acquisition by Google parent Alphabet promises a colossal payday for the cybersecurity startup’s early-stage investors. The deal is a big win for Sequoia, one of the best-known VC firms, which stands to make $3 billion, about 25x the money it invested in the company, Bloomberg reported. Despite substantial returns for Sequoia’s […]

OpenAI’s o1-pro is the company’s most expensive AI model yet

March 19, 2025

OpenAI has launched a more powerful version of its o1 “reasoning” AI model, o1-pro, in its developer API. According to OpenAI, o1-pro uses more computing than o1 to provide “consistently better responses.” Currently, it’s only available to select developers — those who’ve spent at least $5 on OpenAI API services — and it’s pricey. Very […]

Data breach at stalkerware SpyX affects close to 2 million, including thousands of Apple users

March 19, 2025

Another consumer-grade spyware operation was hacked in June 2024, which exposed thousands of Apple Account credentials.

The Fed’s Decision to Keep Rates Steady Is ‘Unsurprising,’ According to a JPMorgan Expert. Here’s Why.

March 19, 2025

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that the Fed wasn’t in any rush to make rate adjustments.

X users treating Grok like a fact-checker spark concerns over misinformation

March 19, 2025

Some users on X are turning to Grok for fact-checking, raising concerns among fact-checkers.

‘Strapping a Rocket to Our Backs’: What Is Wiz? Here’s What to Know About Google’s Largest Acquisition Ever.

March 19, 2025

Wiz will be folded into Google Cloud. It’s the biggest deal of 2025 so far.

Sequoia shutters D.C. office, lets go of policy team

March 19, 2025

Sequoia will shutter its D.C. office as well as part ways with the policy team there at the end of March, TechCrunch has confirmed. The news comes — and is somewhat in contrast — with the other prominent VC firms in Silicon Valley strengthening their ties with Capitol Hill and the new Trump administration. Andreessen […]

OpenAI research lead Noam Brown thinks AI ‘reasoning’ models could’ve arrived decades ago

March 19, 2025

Noam Brown, who leads AI reasoning research at OpenAI, says “reasoning” AI models like OpenAI’s o1 could’ve arrived 20 years earlier had researchers “known [the right] approach” and algorithms. “There were various reasons why this research direction was neglected,” Brown said during a panel at Nvidia’s GTC conference in San Jose on Wednesday. “I noticed […]

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