Startups and technology

Booking.com joins tech giants as ‘gatekeeper’ under EU competition rules

Booking.com has joined the ranks of tech giants, such as Google and Meta, that fall under the EU’s sweeping online competition rules. Dubbed the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the law aims to establish a level digital playing field by setting clear rights and obligations for large online platforms, referred to as “gatekeepers.” The goal is …

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Einride starts building ‘world’s largest’ autonomous trucking network in Dubai

Einride has partnered with Jebel Ali Port in Dubai as part of its ambitious plan to build the world’s largest autonomous trucking network. The Swedish freight mobility startup has signed a deal with DP World, which handles logistics at the port — the world’s 10th busiest. The firm will use hundreds of Einride’s electric trucks …

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Semiconductor giant Arm to launch AI chips next year, report says

UK-based Arm, one of the world’s key players in the chip market, is reportedly planning to expand into the development of AI chips. Arm designs the building architecture for chips (mainly) in consumer electronics, which it licenses to semiconductor giants such as Qualcomm and Nvidia. The company claims that its technology is powering 99% of …

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France rides AI wave to secure €15B in foreign investment

France has secured €15bn in foreign investment from the likes of Microsoft and Amazon as part of this year’s Choose France summit, an annual event that aims to promote the country’s economic and business attractiveness. The €15bn mark represents a record amount since the summit’s first edition in 2018, with commitments coming from 56 different …

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Inside the fight to ban — and destroy — PFAS ‘forever chemicals’

For over 40 years, Ted Van der Vlies and his wife Marga grew fruits and vegetables in their backyard on the outskirts of Dordrecht, the Netherlands. Onions, potatoes, lettuce, carrots, rhubarb, cherries, you name it.  Little did they know that their homegrown produce was likely poisoning them.  Just a kilometre away from their garden sits …

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British Navy taps VR to train sailors in warship navigation

The Royal Navy has installed VR simulators at three military training sites in the UK.  The simulators, built by Portsmouth-based Metaverse VR, recreate the bridge of a warship. A bridge, or wheelhouse, is like an aeroplane cockpit for ships. The Navy hopes that the new simulators will make training sailors faster and more lifelike. “You …

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‘Deadbots’ and the ‘digital afterlife industry’ risk haunting the living, researchers warn

AI ethicists have called for urgent safeguards against an emerging “digital afterlife” industry. The concerns centre on chatbots that mimic the appearances, speech, and personalities of dead people. Known as “deadbots” or “griefbots,” these AI clones are trained on data about the deceased. They then provide simulated interactions with virtual recreations of the departed. This “postmortem …

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The key technologies fuelling chatbot evolution

Most of us are familiar with chatbots on customer service portals, government departments, and through services like Google Bard and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. They are convenient, easy to use, and always available, leading to their growing use for a diverse range of applications across the web.  Unfortunately, most current chatbots are limited due to their reliance …

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Dutch VC Capital Mills invests in German no-code startup Innoloft

No-code startup Innoloft has raised €2mn in a new funding round led by Dutch VC firm Capital Mills. This marks the firm’s first investment into a German company. Innoloft’s no-code platform enables businesses to build web applications without any programming knowledge. Founded in 2019, the startup now counts over 70,000 end-users and includes customers such …

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French AI scene toasts $200M for Holistic as Sonio sale shows risks of success

France’s budding AI scene has received another boost from a big investment in the startup Holistic. Amid the celebrations, however, the sale of medtech firm Sonio has added a warning about the dangers of success. The Holistic funding was revealed by Bloomberg on Tuesday. The Paris-based firm has reportedly raised $200mn (€186mn) in a round …

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