Starship Technologies raises $90M to roll out delivery droids

Feb06
by on February 6, 2024 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Uncategorized


Autonomous delivery startup Starship Technologies announced today it had raised $90mn on its mission to “make science fiction a reality” and roll out its self-driving robots across streets in Europe and the US.  There are sci-fi scenarios where robots turn on their makers, hunt them down, and initiate either the enslavement or the extinction of humanity. Then there are the R2-D2s and the BB8s of the genre — resourceful droid helpers that somehow manage to tug on our heartstrings nearly as much as a Pixar puppy. While perhaps not quite as empathy-inducing, Starship Technologies’ delivery robots are decidedly more reminiscent…

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EU member states approve world-first AI law

Feb02
by on February 2, 2024 at 3:17 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized


The European Union’s member states have finally approved the world’s first comprehensive AI regulation. Ambassadors from all 27 countries reached a deal on the landmark AI Act today. The final text on the harmonised rules was agreed after lengthy negotiations between representations of the European Council, European Parliament, and European Commission. France, Germany, and Italy had all expressed late reservations about the plans. The trio had called for limited regulation of foundation models, a general-purpose AI technology that supports a diverse range of applications. The GPT foundation models, for instance, underpin OpenAI’s ChatGPT. France had been the last holdout on the…

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Oxford spinout breaks world record for most efficient solar panel

Feb02
by on February 2, 2024 at 2:32 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized


Oxford PV has built the most efficient solar panel ever made. The solar cell can convert 25% of the sun’s energy it receives into electricity, compared to an industry average of between 15-20%.  The Oxford University spinout credits the breakthrough to its perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cells. Perovskite, a calcium titanium oxide mineral, is better at absorbing light than the crystalline silicon used exclusively in most panels and could revolutionise the industry.  Designed in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Germany, the panels have a theoretical efficiency of 43%, although this has yet to be achieved in…

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AI vision and autonomous lifeboats could be the future of sea rescue

Feb02
by on February 2, 2024 at 1:34 pm
Posted In: Insider


Few know the risks of working in the ocean better than Sam Mayall. A sailor since he was a boy, Mayall has witnessed several treacherous accidents offshore — some of which were fatal.  That’s what drew the young deckhand to found Zelim in 2017. The startup’s technology aims to make remote-controlled search and rescue the norm — keeping people out of danger while, ultimately, saving lives. Zelim, based out of Edinburgh, recently inked a deal with offshore wind giant Ocean Winds to trial its AI-powered person-overboard detection technology at a floating wind farm off the coast of Portugal.  Using footage…

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Taylor Swift deepfake porn deluge a ‘wake-up call’ for lawmakers

Feb01
by on February 1, 2024 at 3:39 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized


Last week, explicit, non-consensual deepfake images of Taylor Swift flooded X, formerly Twitter — one of the videos racked up 47 million views before it was removed 17 hours later.  In an attempt to stop the distribution of the images, X banned searches like “Taylor Swift” or “Taylor Swift AI”. However, simply rearranging the search from “Taylor Swift AI” to “Taylor AI Swift” yielded results.  The social media platform has come under fire for its sluggish response, which many blame on Elon Musk, who has cut 80% of the company’s content moderation team since taking over in 2022.      The deluge…

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