December 20, 2024

Why childhood vaccines are a public health success story

This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here. Later today, around 10 minutes after this email lands in your inbox, I’ll be holding my four-year-old daughter tight as she receives her booster dose of the MMR…

Meta adds AI-powered features to WhatsApp Business app

June 6, 2024

Last year, during the Q3 2023 earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg talked about leveraging AI to have business accounts respond to customers for purchase and support queries. Today, Meta announced AI-powered features for WhatsApp Business apps, such as helping with the creation of click-to-WhatsApp ads and generating responses to frequent customer messages. Mark Zuckerberg announced these […]

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TikTok is testing Snapchat-like streaks

June 6, 2024

TikTok is testing streaks that are similar to Snapchat’s in order to boost engagement, including how long people stay on the app.

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Inside Fisker’s collapse and robotaxis come to more US cities

June 6, 2024

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Your usual host Kirsten Korosec is taking a much deserved vacation, so I’ll be walking you through this week’s transportation news. Top of mind is my colleague […]

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Revel’s latest pivot: Ditching all-employee ride-hail in favor of gig worker model

June 6, 2024

New York-based Revel has made a lot of pivots since initially launching in 2018 as a dockless e-moped sharing service. The BlackRock-backed startup briefly stepped into the e-bike subscription business. It launched and now operates a handful of electric vehicle charging stations across the five boroughs. And it started an all-Tesla, all-employee ride-hail service, in […]

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Google Play cracks down on AI apps after circulation of apps for making deepfake nudes

June 6, 2024

Google today is issuing new guidance for developers building AI apps distributed through Google Play, in hopes of cutting down on inappropriate and otherwise prohibited content. The company says apps offering AI features will have to prevent the generation of restricted content — which includes sexual content, violence, and more — and will need to […]

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FDA advisors just said no to the use of MDMA as a therapy

June 6, 2024
On Tuesday, the FDA asked a panel of experts to weigh in on whether the evidence shows that MDMA, also known as ecstasy, is a safe and efficacious treatment for PTSD. The answer was a resounding no. Just two out of 11 panel members agreed that MDMA-assisted therapy is effective. And only one panel member…