Amazon just bought a startup making kid-size humanoid robots
The acquisition of Fauna Robotics is the second robotics startup Amazon has purchased this month.
The Download: investigating deaths at the US border’s “virtual wall”
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. The US spent billions on border surveillance. Why can’t it catch people before they die? When José Morales Bernal crossed the border into the US in April 2024, the day before…
With $3.5B in fresh capital, Kleiner Perkins is going all in on AI
The fundraise includes $1 billion for investing in early-stage startups, and $2.5 billion for late-stage growth businesses.
New Mexico just handed Meta its first courtroom defeat over child safety, and the rest of the country is watching
The dollar amount isn’t as important as the fact that this is the first jury verdict of its kind against Meta over harm to young people.
Lululemon bets Epoch Biodesign can eat its shorts, literally
Startup Epoch Biodesign uses enzymes to break plastic waste down into monomers, the chemical building blocks that can be used to make new plastic.
OpenAI’s Sora was the creepiest app on your phone — now it’s shutting down
Though the underlying Sora 2 video- and audio-generation model is scarily impressive, there was not sustained interest in an AI-only social feed.
Accel, Prosus pick six ‘off-the-map’ startups for inaugural India cohort
The six startups were selected from over 2,000 applications and will receive $500,000 to $2 million each.
Kentucky woman rejects $26 million offer to turn her farm into a data center
A “major artificial intelligence company” reportedly offered a Kentucky women $26 million to build a data center on their farm.
This Is the Year AI Will Stop Assisting and Start Leading — Plus 2 Other Ways It Will Transform the Workplace
The companies that see the most success with AI this year won’t be the ones with the most AI tools.
Anthropic hands Claude Code more control, but keeps it on a leash
Anthropic’s new auto mode for Claude Code lets AI execute tasks with fewer approvals, reflecting a broader shift toward more autonomous tools that balance speed with safety through built-in safeguards.
Spotify tests new tool to stop AI slop from being attributed to real artists
The idea behind the new tool is to give artists more control over which tracks are associated with their name on Spotify.