Category: Technology
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Replika, a ‘virtual friendship’ AI chatbot, hit with data ban in Italy over child safety
San Francisco-based AI chatbot maker, Replika — which operates a freemium ‘virtual friendship’ service based on customizable digital avatars whose “personalized” responses are powered by artificial intelligence (and designed, per its pitch, to make human users feel better) — has been ordered by Italy’s privacy watchdog to stop processing local users’ data. The Garante said…
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Why invest in Ukrainian startups today?
Dmytro Bilash Contributor Share on Twitter Dmytro Bilash is a managing partner at Digital Future. The EU will invest €13.5 billion in research and innovation for 2023-2024 as part of the Horizon Europe program. For the first time in the program’s history, it will include targeted support for Ukraine. This is one of the first…
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Nothing’s second phone will take on the US this year
It there’s one thing Nothing’s first phone excelled at, it was bringing a bit of excitement to the staid world of smartphones. Shipments have been stagnating, slowing and contracting for the past several years, and are now at some of their lowest numbers in roughly a decade. The Phone (1) wasn’t a revolution, but it…
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Google says YouTube Shorts has crossed 50 billion daily views
All social media companies are in a race to win the short video war and Google is showing some progress against TikTok and Instagram. The search giant said during its latest earnings call that YouTube Shorts has crossed 50 billion daily views. The company previously reported 30 billion daily views as part of its Q1…
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SunFi aims to be the fastest way for Nigerians to find, finance and manage solar
SunFi, the Nigerian clean tech startup that connects people and businesses who want solar energy access to payment plans that match their needs, has raised $2.325 million in seed funding. The self-described energy financial tech platform received backing from lead investors Nairobi-based Factor[e] and SCM Capital Asset Management and participating investors such as Voltron Capital,…
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A Massachusetts bill could allow prisoners to swap their organs for their freedom
This article is from The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, sign up here. What is the value of a human organ? It’s a question that’s been on my mind since I heard about a disturbing proposed change to the law in Massachusetts that would allow…
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How Indian health-care workers use WhatsApp to save pregnant women
Hirabai Koli’s medical reports were normal—but she wasn’t happy. She had been monitoring her weight over the first two months of her pregnancy, and she surprised community health-care worker Suraiyya Terdale when she asked why she wasn’t gaining more. (To protect her safety and private health information, Koli is being identified by a pseudonym.) “It…
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How Indian health-care workers use WhatsApp to save pregnant women
Hirabai Koli’s medical reports were normal–but she wasn’t happy. She had been monitoring her weight over the first two months of her pregnancy, and she surprised community health-care worker Suraiyya Terdale when she asked why she wasn’t gaining more. (To protect her safety and private health information, Koli is being identified by a pseudonym.) “It…
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Samooha launches with tech that lets companies share data securely
Samooha, a startup developing a “cross-cloud” data collaboration platform, today announced that it raised $12.5 million in a funding tranche backed by Altimeter Capital and Snowflake Ventures, among others. CEO Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan says that the cash infusion — Samooha’s first — will be put toward product development and hiring; the plan is grow the startup’s…
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Apple’s hardware VP on the HomePod’s return
Maybe nothing ever truly dies in Apple land. The Mac Pro went on an indefinite hiatus as the hardware design team regrouped and reengineered. MagSafe appeared to be gone forever, only to be reborn in altered form on MacBooks of recent vintage. Various models and sizes across different lines have been phased out, only to…