July 23, 2025

The Download: what’s next for AI agents, and how Trump protects US tech companies overseas

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. Navigating the rise of AI agents AI agents is a buzzy term that essentially refers to AI models and algorithms that can not only provide you with information, but take actions on your…

Helm.ai snags $31M to scale its ‘unsupervised’ autonomous driving software

December 19, 2022

A few bright spots remain in the autonomous vehicle industry even amid macroeconomic headwinds that have nearly shut off the spigot of venture capital and led to further consolidation. Helm.ai, a startup developing software designed for advanced driver assistance systems, autonomous driving and robotics, is one of them. The Menlo Park, Calif-based startup recently raised […]

Helm.ai snags $31M to scale its ‘unsupervised’ autonomous driving software by Kirsten Korosec originally published on TechCrunch

A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook?

December 19, 2022
In the fall of 2020, gig workers in Venezuela posted a series of images to online forums where they gathered to talk shop. The photos were mundane, if sometimes intimate, household scenes captured from low angles—including some you really wouldn’t want shared on the Internet.  In one particularly revealing shot, a young woman in a…

FTC fines Fortnite maker Epic Games $520M over children’s privacy charges

December 19, 2022

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Monday morning it will charge Epic Games with a $520 million settlement over charges related to children’s privacy. Epic Games, which makes popular all-ages games like “Fortnite” and “Fall Guys,” allegedly violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by deploying “design tricks, known as dark patterns, to dupe […]

FTC fines Fortnite maker Epic Games $520M over children’s privacy charges by Amanda Silberling originally published on TechCrunch

Instagram’s new Reels template lets users create their own 2022 recaps

December 19, 2022

Instagram is once again offering an in-app method for users to create shareable end-of-year content. The social network announced today that it’s rolling out a new Reels template that allows users to create their own 2022 Recap to share with their friends and followers. Users can customize their 2022 Recap Reel by choosing a narrated […]

Instagram’s new Reels template lets users create their own 2022 recaps by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch

Binance.US to buy Voyager Digital’s assets for $1 billion

December 19, 2022

It’s been a long year for Voyager Digital. After filing for bankruptcy, the crypto lender thought it would be able to return some funds to its customers by selling its assets to FTX. As you know, things haven’t been going well at FTX either. That’s why Binance.US is stepping in today and offering to buy […]

Binance.US to buy Voyager Digital’s assets for $1 billion by Romain Dillet originally published on TechCrunch

A gallery of presidents

December 19, 2022
When Sally Kornbluth becomes MIT’s 18th president on January 1, 2023, she joins a long line of leaders that includes mathematicians, chemists, physicists, engineers, an astronomer, a neurobiologist, two Rad Lab researchers, a US Census superintendent, a dean of the Sloan School, and an editor of Technology Review—many of whom served as scientific advisors to…

Mark and Teresa Medearis

December 19, 2022
After their son Nicky ’22 broke his leg competing for the MIT indoor track team in 2019, Mark and Teresa Medearis, 3,000 miles away in California, were heartened by the outpouring of support from the MIT track community and the Division of Student Life. “We were embraced by the community when we had this adversity,”…

Turning MIT inside-out

December 19, 2022
The all-new MIT Museum opened in Kendall Square this fall, welcoming more than 13,000 visitors in its first month. The 56,000-square-foot space next to the T station offers interactive exhibits and hands-on learning labs and makerspaces. As museum director John Durant told the Boston Globe, “We’re trying to turn MIT inside-out, so that things that…