The Download: head transplants, and filtering sounds with AI

May 24, 2024
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. That viral video showing a head transplant is a fake. But it might be real someday.  An animated video posted this week has a voice-over that sounds like a late-night TV ad, but…

Lucid Motors slashes 400 jobs ahead of crucial SUV launch

May 24, 2024

Lucid Motors is laying off about 400 employees, or roughly 6% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring ahead of the launch of its first electric SUV later this year. The company said in a regulatory filing on Friday morning that it expects to complete the restructuring by the end of the third quarter […]

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Google invests $350 million in India’s Flipkart

May 24, 2024

Google is investing nearly $350 million in Flipkart, becoming the latest high-profile name to back the Indian e-commerce startup. The Android-maker will also provide the Bengaluru-headquartered e-commerce startup with cloud offerings as part of the deal, the two said Friday. The investment is part of a nearly $1 billion funding round, much of which (about […]

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Splashy breakthroughs are exciting, but people with spinal cord injuries need more

May 24, 2024
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.  This week, I wrote about an external stimulator that delivers electrical pulses to the spine to help improve hand and arm function in people who are paralyzed. This…

Foursquare just laid off 105 employees

May 24, 2024

Foursquare, the location-focused outfit that in 2020 merged with Factual, another location-focused outfit, is joining the parade of companies to make cuts to one of its biggest cost centers – employees – in 2024.  Per an email sent out to staffers this afternoon by current CEO Gary Little and viewed by TechCrunch, 105 employees were […]

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Using memes, social media users have become red teams for half-baked AI features

May 24, 2024

“Running with scissors is a cardio exercise that can increase your heart rate and require concentration and focus,” says Google’s new AI search feature. “Some say it can also improve your pores and give you strength.” Google’s AI feature pulled this response from a website called Little Old Lady Comedy, which, as its name makes […]

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ESA prepares for the post-ISS era, selects The Exploration Company, Thales Alenia to develop cargo spacecraft

May 23, 2024

The European Space Agency selected two companies on Wednesday to advance designs of a cargo spacecraft that could establish the continent’s first sovereign access to space.  The two awardees, major aerospace prime Thales Alenia Space and French startup The Exploration Company, will receive €25 million ($27 million) each to advance concepts for vehicles that can […]

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