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To understand the risks posed by AI, follow the money
2024-04-26 09:51 The Conversation

Time and again, leading scientists, technologists, and philosophers have made spectacularly terrible guesses about the direction of innovation. Even Einstein was not immune, claiming, “There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable,” just ten years before Enrico Fermi completed construction of the first fission reactor in Chicago. Shortly thereafter, the consensus switched to fears of an imminent nuclear holocaust. Similarly, today’s experts warn that an artificial general intelligence (AGI) doomsday is imminent. Others retort that large language models (LLMs) have already reached the peak of their powers. It’s difficult to argue with David Collingridge’s influential…

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Cyberattacks on Poland surged after election of pro-Ukraine government, NetScout says
2024-04-25 20:51 Thomas Macaulay

Cyber attackers battered Poland after the country’s change of government late last year. DDoS attacks at the end of 2023 were nearly quadruple the country’s average, according to cybersecurity firm NetScout’s observations. The surge began when the Law and Justice party (PiS) lost its majority in last year’s Polish general election. PiS had ruled the country since 2015. It was replaced by a coalition government, which reaffirmed support for Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s invasion. NetScout described these developments as “a perfect storm” for adversaries. Several hacktivist gangs promptly responded with a barrage of cyberattacks. The most notable group was NoName057, which…

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Europe taps deep learning to make industrial robots safer colleagues
2024-04-25 16:05 Ioanna Lykiardopoulou

Demand for industrial robots is rising in Europe, especially driven by the benefits of automation. However, there are ongoing challenges in ensuring seamless collaboration with humans while maintaining safety. To address this issue, a consortium of European universities, technology accelerators, and private research labs is launching the RoboSAPIENs project. The aim is to build the necessary safety mechanisms with a particular focus on adaptive industrial robots — a category of autonomous robots that can learn new behaviours without being reprogrammed and adapt to changes in their system structure or environment. One eye-catching ambition targets a big problem for adaptive robots:…

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AI unicorn Synthesia launches most ’emotionally expressive’ avatars on the market
2024-04-25 14:23 Thomas Macaulay

A British startup today unveiled new AI humans that blur the line between the virtual and the real. Synthesia calls the digital beings “Expressive Avatars.” They promise the most realistic emotional expressions on the market.  Generated by an AI model that’s trained on footage of real actors, the avatars are built for video creation. Users simply enter a text prompt and the synthetic humans read them out on a screen. The photorealistic renders are certainly impressive. But what makes them unique is their capacity to convey human feelings. Using a technique called “automatic sentiment prediction,” Synthesia’s AI models infer the…

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‘Airbnb for cars’ platform SnappCar changes hands in bid for ‘further growth’
2024-04-24 17:01 Ioanna Lykiardopoulou

Dutch car-sharing platform SnappCar, which claims to be the largest of its kind in the Netherlands, has been fully acquired by AutoBinck Group — a shareholder in the scaleup since its founding in 2011. The ownership change also sees the return of SnappCar’s founder, Victor van Tol, in the role of the CEO. Van Told told local newspaper mt/sprout that the acquisition will enable faster decisions and eliminate the need for external investments. AutoBinck, which specialises in mobility and energy solutions, has a turnover of approximately €1bn. According to the two companies, the deal aims to support SnappCar’s further growth.…

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Paris startup adds ‘universal compute’ weapon to France’s growing AI arsenal
2024-04-24 14:39 Thomas Macaulay

A startup promising “universal AI compute” has joined France’s thriving artificial intelligence sector. Paris-based FlexAI emerged from stealth today with a €28.5mn war chest and an ambitious plan to “unlock the future of machine intelligence.” To pick that lock, FlexAI is rearchitecting compute infrastructure. The startup’s centrepiece is an on-demand cloud service. Set to launch later this year, the product will enable developers to build and train AI applications with heterogeneous compute architectures. An integrated software layer will abstract and orchestrate the workload to the optimal architecture.  As a result, users can apply multiple hardware configurations without complex code changes.…

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TNW Podcast: Sebastian Aristotelis on thriving in space; the future of ASML and Stability AI
2024-04-24 12:18 Andrii Degeler

Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry. In today’s episode, Ioanna and Andrii talk about the potentially good news about ASML’s future in the Netherlands, the latest developments at Stability AI, carbon capture solutions, and much more. The guest of the show is Sebastian Aristotelis, whose title is co-founder and Lead Architect at SAGA Space Architects, a Danish company that is building human habitats to use on other planets.  Here are…

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The top programming languages to learn if you want to get into AI
2024-04-24 12:07 Nathalie Marquez Courtney

It’s safe to say that the age of generative AI is well and truly upon us, rapidly changing the world of work as we know it. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Future of Jobs Report, more than 75% of companies are looking to adopt technologies like AI in the next five years, so it’s no surprise that career opportunities in the space are exploding, especially for developers. But which programming language is leading the way? Python is without a doubt the most buzzed-about language for AI development. However, a decent programmer can work with AI in nearly any…

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World-first satellites for commercial science set for launch in 2025
2024-04-24 02:01 Thomas Macaulay

A British startup aims to launch science satellites into space in 2025 after raising a fresh £2mn. Blue Skies Space has devised a unique business plan for the stargazers. They will be the first-ever science satellites that provide data directly to researchers via a membership model, the company said. The approach offers a new route to the secrets of our universe. Currently, researchers rely on government agencies such as NASA and ESA to access space data. Unfortunately, this supply doesn’t meet the demand. The James Webb Telescope, for instance, received 1,600 requests for observing time. Only of them 249 were selected. That equates to…

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Chip giant ASML plans Eindhoven expansion in big win for Dutch tech
2024-04-23 18:09 Ioanna Lykiardopoulou

In a major win for the Dutch tech industry, chip giant ASML intends to remain and further expand in the Netherlands. The chip machine manufacturer has signed a non-binding letter of intent with the City Council of Eindhoven, eyeing a potential expansion at the Brainport Industries Campus (BIC), west of the city. Located at Eindhoven’s Brainport region — a major tech and innovation hub in Europe — BIC is dedicated to the high-tech manufacturing industry. For ASML, BIC represents an “interesting option,” Roger Dassen, the company’s CFO, said in a statement. That’s because of the campus’ close proximity to Veldhoven, where…

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EU threatens to suspend ‘addictive’ TikTok feature by end of today
2024-04-23 17:25 Siôn Geschwindt

Yesterday, the EU issued TikTok an ultimatum. The Chinese-owned social media app was given just 24 hours to outline the mental health risks related to its new app TikTok Lite or face huge daily fines. This is the EU’s second probe into TikTok under the Digital Service Act (DSA). The DSA is a new law to protect users from harmful or illegal online content. It requires large platforms like TikTok to submit a risk assessment before launching any major new features. The EU’s latest gripe with the Chinese-owned company is over TikTok Lite. The barebones version of the regular app…

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Hundreds of users sue Grindr for allegedly selling their HIV data to advertisers
2024-04-23 13:31 Siôn Geschwindt

Grindr is being sued. The  LGBTQ+ dating app is accused of sharing its users’ medical data with advertisers. This data includes their HIV status. UK law firm Austen Hays filed the claim at London’s High Court yesterday. The class action lawsuit represents hundreds of users of the app.   Austen Hays claims that US-based Grindr breached UK data protection law by selling sensitive data to third parties without users’ consent. Aside from medical facts, this includes info about people’s ethnicity, sex life, and sexual orientation.  “Our clients have experienced significant distress over their highly sensitive and private information being shared without…

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Is this the future of coffee? Kaffa Roastery releases AI-conic blend
2024-04-22 19:35 Linnea Ahlgren

I am really into (my friends might say somewhat obsessed with) coffee. Not just for the hits of caffeine that fuel our productivity-enthralled capitalist society, but also for the taste, as well as different styles of brewing (although my Swedish roots make me partial to a pour-over).  Sadly, I do not often get to write about it, as — even though coffee roasting and brewing rely on technological engineering — tech startups and coffee hardly ever intersect in the news. Enter Helsinki-based Kaffa Roastery, and its new blend of beans called AI-conic.  The blend for the coffee (which costs €12.90…

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3 carbon capture technologies you’ve probably never heard of
2024-04-22 18:30 Siôn Geschwindt

We will all face the consequences of runaway climate change. Unless, maybe, you live in one of Elon Musk’s new homes on Mars. But for the rest of us poor souls, tackling global heating is pretty much the top priority. The bad news is that we are not on track to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. A new report has also revealed that temperatures in Europe are rising twice as fast as the rest of the world. We need to make drastic cuts in emissions. We also need to pull out some of the carbon we’ve already put in.…

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Brits to issue their own sick notes via algorithm under plan to save GP time
2024-04-22 14:58 Ioanna Lykiardopoulou

In an attempt to reduce the workload of GPs, the UK is planning to introduce a new National Health Service (NHS) algorithm that will enable self-issued sick notes. The move is part of the government’s effort to reform the sick note system, as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is seeking not only to alleviate GPs, but also end the “sick note culture.” “We need to change the sick note culture so the default becomes what work you can do — not what you can’t,” Sunak said during a speech last week. According to NHS data, 11 million sick notes were issued…

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Earth Day: Ecosia launches world’s first energy-generating browser
2024-04-22 11:20 Siôn Geschwindt

Today — on Earth Day — non-profit search engine Ecosia has launched the “greenest browser on Earth” as it seeks to offer customers a more sustainable alternative to Google Chrome or Apple’s Safari.  Just like Ecosia’s search engine, the more you use the browser, the more trees you will help plant. The Berlin-based company says it has already planted 200 million trees since 2009.  The new browser will be powered by renewable energy from Ecosia’s own solar farms.  In fact, the company says the browser will actually generate green energy — 25Wh per user each day they browse. That’s enough…

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European startups rejoice — VC investment is on the rise again
2024-04-22 08:00 Linnea Ahlgren

New data published today by Dealroom reveal that European VC investment rose 5% year-on-year for the first quarter of 2024. What’s more, the Netherlands is showing a particularly strong comeback. Amsterdam funding rose a highly encouraging 107%. Overall, European VC investment reached $13.7bn in Q1 2024, an increase fuelled to a great extent by the energy transition. Energy was the biggest sector for tech startup and scaleup investment for the fourth quarter in a row, having raised $3.1bn in the first three months of the year. The top five energy deals of the period were: Electra — $330mn, Paris H2…

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How OpenAI and Microsoft reawakened a sleeping software giant
2024-04-19 19:09 Thomas Macaulay

Just a decade ago, the world’s biggest tech beast was a relative minnow. Microsoft had become notorious for disappointing product launches, stagnant innovation, and losing top talent. The first true software giant was becoming a big tech dinosaur. Fast forward to 2024 and Microsoft is the planet’s most valuable business. Under the leadership of CEO Satya Nadella, stock has soared by over 1,000% in 10 years. In January, the company reached a $3 trillion market cap — larger than the whole GDP of France. At the heart of the comeback is artificial intelligence. Microsoft has embedded AI across the Azure cloud computing platform,…

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UK mulls fresh controls on ‘sensitive tech’ after China cyber attack claim
2024-04-19 14:36 Thomas Macaulay

Britain is exploring new curbs on exporting and funding “sensitive technologies” amid growing tensions with China. Oliver Dowden, the UK’s deputy prime minister, launched a review of the restrictions on Thursday. He warned that “hostile states” could use British funds and tech for “military and intelligence” projects that threaten national security. “Our open economy is being targeted by state-based actors and their proxies,” Dowden said in a speech at the Chatham House think tank in London. “Across our inbound and outbound investment flows, our imports and exports, and our academic collaborations, the whole spectrum of our economic security interests is…

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How to build strong, cross-cultural remote teams
2024-04-19 12:25 Stefania Troncoso Fernández

For the past two years, I have worked at a company whose workforce hails from around the globe, including the United States, Europe, and Latin America. I’m the only team member based in Santa Marta, on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, and I work remotely — like many of my colleagues on the other continents.  The experience has opened my eyes to a dynamic blend of workplace norms and cultures, but has also posed some challenges. Differing time zones, humour and customs, access to technology, communication styles, and various perspectives on work-life balance, have made it clear that building cross-cultural remote teams…

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