Sneaker Company Allbirds Plans to Pivot to A.I. Yes, A.I.
After selling its business for $39 million last month, the company said it planned to buy powerful computer chips and rebrand itself NewBird AI.
Science/Tech
Effect of ‘gamechanger’ Alzheimer’s drugs ‘trivial’, review concludes
Data assessed from 17 clinical trials of anti-amyloid drugs found no ‘meaningful effect’ on cognitive decline
Drugs that have been hailed as a gamechanger for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease make no noticeable difference to patients, according to an extensive review.
The analysis of clinical trials in people with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia found that the effects of...
Boston Dynamics’ Robot Dog Can Now Read Gauges, Spot Spills, and Reason
Boston Dynamics has integrated Google DeepMind into its robotic dog Spot, giving it more autonomous reasoning for industrial inspections like spotting spills and reading gauges. Spot can also now recognize when to call on other AI tools. IEEE Spectrum reports: Boston Dynamics is one of the few companies to commercially deploy legged robots at any appreciable scale; there are now several...
‘The Last Airbender’ Leaked Online. Some Fans Say Paramount Deserves the Fallout
After the full movie leaked, animators mourned the chance to release their work as intended. Others feel the leak is justified in light of Paramount’s marketing blunders and association with Trump.
US Jobs Too Important To Risk Chinese Car Imports, Says Ford CEO
In an interview with Fox News, Ford CEO Jim Farley warned that allowing Chinese vehicle imports could put nearly a million U.S. jobs at risk. He said China’s heavily subsidized auto industry has enough excess capacity to supply the entire U.S. market, while also raising serious cybersecurity concerns given how much data modern connected cars collect. Ars Technica reports: “First of all, the...
Cal.com Is Going Closed Source Because of AI
Cal is moving its flagship scheduling software from open source to a proprietary license, arguing that AI coding tools now make it much easier for attackers to scan public codebases for vulnerabilities. “Open source security always relied on people to find and fix any problems,” said Peer Richelsen, co-founder of Cal. “Now AI attackers are flaunting that transparency.” CEO Bailey Pumfleet...
Ford Says Doug Field, Who Led Company’s E.V. Push, is Leaving
Doug Field, a former Tesla and Apple executive, had returned to Ford Motor in 2021 to help develop new electric models and software.
Live Nation Illegally Monopolized Ticketing Market, Jury Finds
A Manhattan federal jury found that Live Nation and Ticketmaster illegally maintained monopoly power in the ticketing market. The findings follow an antitrust case brought by states after a separate DOJ settlement. CNN reports: The verdict was reached following a lengthy trial in New York federal court that included testimony from top executives in the music and entertainment industries. Jurors...
Anna’s Archive Loses $322 Million Spotify Piracy Case Without a Fight
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TorrentFreak: Spotify and several major record labels, including UMG, Sony, and Warner, secured a $322 million default judgment against the unknown operators of Anna’s Archive. The shadow library failed to appear in court and briefly released millions of tracks that were scraped from Spotify via BitTorrent. In addition to the monetary penalty, a...
NASA Wants to Put Nuclear Reactors on the Moon
The White House has announced that NASA will work with the Departments of Defense and Energy to put nuclear reactors in orbit and on the surface of the moon.
AI Could Democratize One of Tech’s Most Valuable Resources
AI is making it easier to design chips and optimize software for different silicon. Some startups envision a revolution in chipmaking.
The Guardian view on social science research: embracing uncertainty | Editorial
Science rarely produces identical outcomes. Mistaking this for failure turns caution into an excuse for inaction
A new set of studies out this month suggests that as many as half of all results published in reputable journals in the social sciences can’t be replicated by independent analysis. This is part of a long-running problem across many research fields – most visibly in the social...
Ad Companies Settle With F.T.C. Over Claims of Harm to Conservative Sites
WPP, Dentsu and Publicis settled claims they colluded on policies to combat misinformation, denying ad revenue to publishers on the right.
Microsoft Surface PCs Are Getting Big Price Hikes, and the Cheaper Models Are Going Away
The price increases range from $200 to $300, and Microsoft doesn’t sell a sub-$1,000 Surface anymore. The rising cost of consumer tech is a common theme in 2026.
We can prove which twin fathered the child in this paternity dispute | Letter
Prof Michael Krawczak says the required molecular genetic testing comes at a cost, but should not be ruled out as it was in a recent court case
I read with great astonishment your article regarding the court of appeal’s decision on proving paternity in the case of a child whose father could be either one of a pair of monozygotic twins (Court of appeal says it cannot rule on which identical...
Top Bullish Cryptos to Buy Today: BlockDAG, Solana, Avalanche, and Chainlink Lead the New Market Surge!
Digital assets in 2026 are valued by active users, liquidity, and major exchange support. Investors now prioritize infrastructure over hype. BlockDAG, Solana, Avalanche, and Chainlink lead this shift. They offer high-speed execution and the vital data feeds necessary for modern decentralized finance. These projects represent the backbone of a maturing industry that rewards technical reliability...
Struggling Shoe Retailer Allbirds Pivots To AI, Stock Explodes More Than 700%
Allbirds made a surprise announcement this morning: it’s pivoting from sustainable shoes to AI compute infrastructure, rebranding as NewBird AI after selling its brand assets and closing its U.S. full-price stores. The move sent shares soaring more than 700%. CNBC reports: The move boosted shares of the miniscule market cap company — it was valued at about $21 million at Tuesday’s close — by...
Why Amazon Is Buying Globalstar—and What It Means for Your iPhone
Amazon is paying more than $11 billion for a small satellite company.
Chronyx Studios Closed 1.5M USD Seed Round to Accelerate Growth and Expand Its Gaming Ecosystem
Tortola, British Virgin Islands — Chronyx Studios, the game development studio behind Sands of Avalon, is highlighting the successful close of its $1.5 million Seed round, completed in July 2022, with backing from MH Ventures, HVS Ventures, NeuralHash Capital，Brotherhood Ventures, GAP VC, TPC, and other investors. The funding provided an important foundation for the studio’s […]
Rivian’s Illinois Factory Will Run On Recycled EV Batteries
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Wall Street Journal: Rivian is joining with Redwood Materials to reuse EV batteries for energy storage — the largest repurposed-battery energy storage system for an automotive manufacturer in the U.S., executives told The Wall Street Journal. Redwood Materials is a battery-recycling firm started by Tesla co-founder JB Straubel. Once completed later...
The US Government Will Ask Data Centers How Much Power They Use
In a letter obtained by WIRED, the Energy Information Administration tells two senators that it plans to develop a mandatory assessment of data centers’ energy use.