spotify Spotify Spends $340 Million to Acquire Gimlet and Anchor Spotify confirms it spends nearly $340 million in cash to purchase podcast networks Gimlet and Anchor. The acquisitions are part of a larger $500 million strategy to dominate the podcasting industry.
openai OpenAI Withholds Dangerous Text-Generating AI Over Fake News Fears OpenAI restricts access to its advanced GPT-2 text generator due to concerns about public deception and fake news. The AI model produces highly believable text that poses significant societal risks.
nasa NASA Ends 15-Year Mars Rover Mission After Massive Dust Storm NASA officially declares the Mars rover Opportunity dead after losing contact with the spacecraft during a massive dust storm last summer. The resilient robot far outlives its planned 90-day mission, leaving behind a massive scientific legacy.
general motors General Motors Enters E-Bike Market with ARĪV Brand General Motors introduces its new electric bike brand, ARĪV, featuring two connected models named Meld and Merge as the automaker expands into personal mobility.
facebook Social Platforms Struggle to Halt Viral Spread of New Zealand Shooting Video Major tech companies face an ongoing battle to remove live-streamed footage of a deadly mosque attack in New Zealand as copies rapidly multiply across the internet.
tesla Tesla Launches Sentry Mode to Combat Vehicle Break-Ins and Theft Tesla rolls out Sentry Mode, a new security feature that uses external cameras to monitor and respond to threats around unattended vehicles. The system alerts owners of incidents via mobile app and saves video footage to a USB drive.
johnson and johnson Johnson & Johnson Buys Auris Health for $3.4 Billion to Expand Robotic Surgery Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon division acquires robotic surgery startup Auris Health for $3.4 billion in cash to enhance its lung cancer diagnostics and treatment capabilities.
asteroid Asteroid Builds Biosensory Interface Engine to Prepare AR Developers for the Future Asteroid creates a node-based human-machine interaction engine that helps developers integrate advanced biosensory data like eye-tracking and brain-computer inputs into their apps. The startup also offers a crowdfunded hardware dev kit to showcase these emerging interface capabilities.
vicarious surgical Bill Gates Backs Virtual Reality Surgical Robots Vicarious Surgical develops tiny robots that let surgeons operate inside the human body using virtual reality headsets. The startup raises $31.8 million from prominent tech investors to bring this sci-fi concept to life.
xnor Xnor Unveils Battery-Free Solar-Powered AI Hardware Xnor introduces a tiny, solar-powered AI device that performs real-time object detection without needing a battery. This breakthrough eliminates power as the final barrier to putting artificial intelligence at the edge.
google Google Commits $13 Billion to U.S. Data Centers and Offices Google plans to spend $13 billion on U.S. infrastructure in 2019, significantly increasing its footprint to compete with AWS and Azure. The massive investment focuses heavily on new and expanded data centers in middle America.
apple Apple Plans March 25 Event to Launch Video and News Streaming Services Apple schedules a March 25 event to unveil its new video and news subscription services as the company looks to offset declining iPhone sales. The tech giant combines original content with third-party networks while negotiating tough revenue splits with publishers.
apple Apple Rewards Teenager for Discovering FaceTime Eavesdropping Flaw Apple awards a bug bounty to a 14-year-old who uncovers a major FaceTime audio eavesdropping glitch. Meanwhile, another researcher boycotts Apple over its lack of compensation for macOS vulnerabilities.
darpa DARPA Develops Smart Bandages to Automatically Heal Battlefield Wounds DARPA introduces the BETR program to create intelligent bandages that monitor injuries and deliver targeted treatments in real time. These smart systems aim to significantly improve medical outcomes for wounded soldiers in unpredictable combat conditions.
ubisoft Ubisoft and Mozilla Collaborate on AI Coding Assistant Clever-Commit Ubisoft and Mozilla partner to build Clever-Commit, an AI tool that spots potential bugs by learning from past code regressions. Mozilla plans to use the proprietary assistant to improve code quality during Firefox development.