“Something felt ‘off’” — how AI messed with our human research
All levels of research are being changed by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Don’t have time to read that journal article? AI-powered tools such as TLDRthis will summarise it…
How hydrofoil boat startup Candela took a wild idea and made it fly
In 1906, inventor Enrico Forlanini launched the first hydrofoil boat on Lake Maggiore in the Italian alps. His contemporary innovator Alexander Bell later said a ride on Forlanini’s invention was…
This little carbon-sucking machine could crack DAC’s big energy problem
Direct air capture (DAC) features prominently in the climate plans of many world governments, and has drawn billions of dollars in private investment. And yet, as the costs of the…
Riddled with debt, Sweden’s Embracer sells Star Wars game maker for $500M
Swedish gaming company Embracer Group has sold a big chunk of one of its biggest subsidiaries, US-headquartered Saber Interactive, in a deal totalling $500mn. The buyer is Beacon Interactive, a…
ASML backs €110M Dutch deeptech fund for quantum, semiconductors
The pride and joy of the Dutch tech ecosystem, ASML, has featured heavily in the news this past couple of weeks, after news broke the government was scrambling to keep…
UK fusion startup trials plasma-stabilising laser for ‘holy grail’ of energy
British startup Tokamak Energy is testing a new type of laser that it says is “crucial” to stabilising fusion reactions — the same atom-fusing process that powers the Sun and…
French MoD taps 5 startups to develop fault-tolerant quantum computer
Quantum computers have an almost mythical status among data scientists and researchers. The dream of emerging out of the NISQ (noisy intermediate-scale quantum) era into a world of fault-tolerant qubits…
‘French scar’ leaves another mark on TikTok’s painful week
TikTok’s rough week in the west went from bad to worse today when Italian authorities slapped the app with a €10mn fine over a viral challenge called the “French scar.”…
Dutch startup TheyDo bags $34M to solve ‘biggest business problem of the century’
Dutch startup TheyDo has raised $34mn to solve “the biggest business problem” of the century: scaling customer journeys. Founded in 2019, the company produces a live platform that provides actionable…
Princess Kate photo scandal triggers calls for watermarking untouched images
A distinctly British scandal caused by sloppy photo editing has sparked calls for watermarking untouched images. The pleas come after a picture of Princess Kate intensified wild rumours about her…
UK looks to nature to train AI at 0.1% of the cost
Computing power to develop artificial intelligence does not come cheap. While you can build a simple AI chatbot for next to nothing, training a fine-tuned model on large data sets…
EU finally adopts AI Act, marking a ‘new era’ for artificial intelligence
The EU has officially adopted the AI Act, the world’s first comprehensive rulebook on artificial intelligence. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) overwhelmingly endorsed the regulation on Wednesday. The law…