US Battery Startups Bet on Sodium-Ion Storage as Demand Grows
US battery startups are pushing sodium-ion technology into home, vehicle, and grid storage as companies look for alternatives to lithium-ion batteries. San Diego-based Unigrid has already shipped its first 100…
Dangote and Kenya Break Ground on $16 Billion Lamu Oil Refinery
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote and Kenyan President William Ruto have broken ground on a $16 billion oil refinery in Lamu that is planned to process 700,000 barrels of crude a…
Regrettable Games Founders Push Ahead With New Party Games After Health Setback
Josie North and her brother Harry are expanding their party game business, Regrettable Games, after a difficult period in which Josie’s severe skin condition repeatedly left her unable to work.…
Nikon Re-Evaluates Small World in Motion Winner After Scientists Raise AI Concerns
Nikon is re-evaluating the winning entry of its 2026 Small World in Motion competition after scientists questioned whether artificial intelligence altered the microscopy video beyond what the contest rules allow.…
AI Harvest Forecasting Tools Help Fruit Growers Predict When Crops Will Be Ready
Fruit growers are testing artificial intelligence tools that count crops, assess ripeness, and forecast harvest dates as weather makes planning increasingly difficult. The systems combine images, historical farm data, weather,…
Uhura Bionics Builds Wearable Voice Device That Lets Laryngectomees Speak With Emotion
Uhura Bionics is developing a wearable device that allows people who have lost their larynx to speak with intonation and emotion without surgery. Founder Konrad Zieliński, who lost his own…
OpenAI Publishes Misalignment Reports Detailing Rogue AI Agent Behavior
OpenAI has published a new collection of reports documenting cases in which AI agents behaved outside intended instructions during testing and reinforcement-learning training. The Misalignment Reports site currently contains nine…
Meta Launches Enterprise AI Platform and Hires MongoDB CEO CJ Desai to Lead It
Meta has launched Meta Enterprise Platform, a new business focused on bringing the company’s AI tools to corporate customers and developers. The company also hired MongoDB CEO Chirantan “CJ” Desai…
MAVI Emerges From Stealth With AI-Powered Marketplace for Global Accounting Talent
MAVI has emerged from stealth with an AI-powered talent marketplace that connects U.S. companies with global finance and accounting professionals. Founded in 2023 by Molly Liu and Aman Puri, the…
FBI Staff Personal and Medical Data Reportedly Stolen in Job Portal Cyberattack
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has reportedly told employees that their personal information was stolen in a cyberattack involving its job application portal. An internal notice described the breach as…
Modulate Raises $25 Million for Voice Intelligence and Deepfake Detection
Boston-based voice intelligence startup Modulate has raised $25 million to expand its platform for analyzing human and AI-generated speech. Its technology uses more than 100 smaller models for transcription, emotion…
Outmarket Raises $34.5 Million Series B to Automate Commercial Insurance Work
Outmarket has raised $34.5 million in Series B funding to expand its AI software for commercial insurance agencies and brokers. The round, led by SignalFire, comes four months after the…
ElevenLabs Launches v4 Speech Models With Faster Voice Cloning and 90+ Languages
ElevenLabs has launched Eleven v4 and Eleven v4 Turbo, two new speech models designed to provide more expressive voice generation, faster cloning, and lower latency for real-time voice agents. The…
Instinct Raises $1 Billion at $10 Billion Valuation One Month After Previous Round
AI assistant startup Instinct has raised $1 billion in a Series C round from investors including Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital, and Coatue, giving the company a $10 billion valuation. The…
SpaceX Starship Reaches Earth Orbit for the First Time
SpaceX has sent Starship into Earth orbit for the first time, marking a major milestone for the company’s reusable mega-rocket program. The spacecraft also deployed 26 third-generation Starlink satellites during…
Quartermaster Raises $140 Million to Expand Maritime Data Network
Quartermaster has raised $140 million in Series B financing, just months after closing a $43 million Series A in May. The Arlington, Virginia-based startup is using cameras, radios, and weather-resistant…
Saturday Night Live Mocks Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei Over AI Risk Warnings
“Saturday Night Live” mocked recent warnings about artificial intelligence risks during its latest Weekend Update segment, with cast member Jane Wickline portraying Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei as conflicted over the…
Blue Cross Says AI Coding Added $942 Million to Hospital Costs
Artificial intelligence tools used by hospitals for billing may have contributed $942 million in additional healthcare spending for Blue Cross Blue Shield companies over two years, according to a new…