Paayal Zaveri / Bloomberg: Cloud backup startup Eon raised $70M led by BOND at a $1.4B valuation, taking its total funding to $200M since its January 2024 founding by AWS alumni  —  – BOND led a $70 million funding round, Eon’s third this year  — Cloud backup startup was founded by Amazon Web Services alumni

Arjun Kharpal / CNBC: Reddit COO Jen Wong says ~50% of current users are located outside the US, and the company is developing new search tools to simplify navigation on Reddit  —  Reddit is ramping up efforts to attract more users outside of the U.S., putting countries like India and Brazil in focus as it […]

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch: Alibaba releases QwQ-32B-Preview under an Apache 2.0 license and claims the “reasoning” AI model beats OpenAI’s o1 models on the AIME and MATH tests  —  A new so-called “reasoning” AI model, QwQ-32B-Preview, has arrived on the scene.  It’s one of the few to rival OpenAI’s o1 …

The long history of robotics should teach us to be more sceptical when it comes to autonomous humanoid robots, says Nicole Kobie

The new limits, which are expected to be announced Monday, are intended to slow China’s ability to build large and powerful AI models.

When you need something that’s as unnecessarily masculinized as you can get for the Man™ in your life, we have you covered.

We just found the best Black Friday deal on the best earbuds for iPhone owners.

Jon Henley / The Guardian: Romania’s regulator calls for TikTok’s suspension after an ultranationalist’s shock first-round win fueled by viral TikTok videos, amid vote interference fears  —  Far-right, pro-Moscow candidate Călin Georgescu came from 5% in polls to win presidential election’s first round

Abner Li / 9to5Google: Google Chat is rolling out huddles to let users instantly start an audio-first meeting, with a floating window displaying controls to add video or share screens  —  As previewed in August of 2023, Google Chat is adding an audio-first meeting feature called “Huddles” that are described as being “instant-on.”

Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch: Spotify will no longer allow developers building new third-party apps with its Web API to access several features, such as song and artist recommendations  —  Spotify will no longer allow developers building third-party apps with its Web API to access several features within the music streaming platform …

Near Space Labs’s autonomous balloon fleet is already taking high-resolution images of the ground, and its range will expand to the entire continental US early next year

Recent developments in AI and neurological research may prompt concern. However, placing outright bans on such research is unlikely to be the best solution – and may hold us back

Russia’s new ballistic missile flies on a high arc out of Earth’s atmosphere and releases multiple high-speed projectiles, making it challenging but not impossible to intercept

Twelve exercises to help you see possibilities that others miss.

How to lay the strategic foundations for long-term success early on to avoid flaming out.

Research-backed tips to help you move forward after conflict with a colleague.

In a time when AI-powered imaging software tweaks and smooths every digital photo to appear perfect, some photographers are embracing the quirky flaws of vintage digital cameras.

Radioisotopes are a vital resource for imaging patients’ organs and tumors—but these unstable elements also suffer from an unstable supply chain.

Why slather on concealer when you can just stick on a pimple patch?

Sarah Jacob / Bloomberg: Amsterdam-based Just Eat plans to delist from the London Stock Exchange on December 27 owing to the low liquidity, shifting to just an Amsterdam listing  —  The Amsterdam-headquartered meal delivery firm intends to cancel its secondary listing from the London Stock Exchange to reduce the associated …

Jess Weatherbed / The Verge: Anthropic updates Claude to add custom writing styles tailored to users, aiming to personalize its replies, following similar ChatGPT and Gemini features  —  Anthropic is adding a new feature to its Claude AI assistant that will give users more control over how the chatbot responds to different writing tasks.

IDC: IDC expects global smartphone shipments to rise 6.2% YoY to 1.24B units in 2024, with Android shipments growing 7.6% YoY and iPhone shipments growing 0.4% YoY  —  Worldwide smartphone shipments are forecast to grow 6.2% year-over-year in 2024 to 1.24 billion units, according …

Researchers have used lasers to encode information in diamonds, demonstrating record-breaking data density in an ultra-stable and long-lasting system

The factors impacting successful patient care are many and varied. Early diagnosis, proper adherence to prescription medication schedules, and effective monitoring and management of chronic disease, for example, all contribute to better outcomes. However, each of these factors can be hindered by outside influences — medication doesn’t work as well if it isn’t taken as […]

You don’t have to wait for the official sales to begin in order to score early Walmart Black Friday deals.

Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s ongoing feud has mostly been a war of words, fought online. With several court filings this week, Drake aimed to take it to a different venue.

Bring the theater to you with these killer Black Friday soundbar deals.

Sam Kim / Bloomberg: South Korea says it will bolster its domestic chipmakers next year with $10.2B in support including loans, citing potential economic uncertainty under Trump  —  – Seoul flags trade concerns ahead of Trump inauguration  — Aid marks latest support for chipmakers facing competition

Kate Knibbs / Wired: Analysis finds over 54% of longer English-language posts on LinkedIn are likely AI-generated; LinkedIn says it doesn’t track how many posts are created by AI  —  A new analysis estimates that over half of longer English-language posts on LinkedIn are AI-generated, indicating the platform’s embrace of AI tools has been a […]

David Shepardson / Reuters: The FCC approves a license for SpaceX and T-Mobile to use Starlink to offer supplemental coverage from space in a bid to extend internet access to remote areas  —  The Federal Communications Commission said on Tuesday it has approved a license for T-Mobile (TMUS.O) and Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink unit …

Today’s huge AI models are composed of several billion numbers known as weights and changing just one of them can destroy their ability to function, leading to “gibberish” output

From Oct. 21 to 22, a delegation of 21 MIT students and one postdoc met in Washington for the 14th Executive Visit Days (ExVD). Organized by the MIT Science Policy Initiative (SPI) and the MIT Washington Office, ExVD enables students to engage with officials and scientists from federal agencies. Students are given a platform to form […]

Troy Van Voorhis, the Robert T. Haslam and Bradley Dewey Professor of Chemistry, will step down as department head of the Department of Chemistry at the end of this academic year. Van Voorhis has served as department head since 2019, previously serving the department as associate department head since 2015. “Troy has been an invaluable […]

Capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius is a tall order. Achieving that goal will not only require a massive reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, but also a substantial reallocation of land to support that effort and sustain the biosphere, including humans. More land will be needed to accommodate a growing demand […]

A study of 275,000 customers found that the option to pay in installments increased revenue — but was used most by financially constrained shoppers.

Harvard Business School professor James K. Sebenius discusses how to deal with tough negotiators effectively and ethically.

A new study highlights how the United States might struggle to replace vital goods in an escalating trade war.

From politicians to VC firms, everyone is falling out of love with the massive, money-oriented, global technology titans. In their place, we have the chance to build something open and trustworthy.

Newly published research finds that the flashing lights on police cruisers and ambulances can cause “digital epileptic seizures” in image-based automated driving systems, potentially risking wrecks.

While we wait for scientists to come up with a miracle pill, we can take matters into our own hands with easy steps to ensure that life in old age isn’t also the end of living well.

Adam Satariano / New York Times: An interview with Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s tech antitrust enforcer since 2014, on her “partly successful” tenure, US collaboration, Trump, the DSA, and more  —  Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s antitrust regulator, who put technology’s harms on the global agenda …

Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch: Cradle, which uses AI to help design proteins and says its SaaS model has proven popular, raised a $73M Series B led by IVP, after a $24M Series A in 2023  —  Using AI to accelerate biotech is fast becoming standard practice, and companies offering services to deploy the tech quickly […]

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters: Google proposes Search tweaks in Europe to comply with the DMA, including removing the map showing hotel locations and results in Germany, Belgium, and Estonia  —  Google has proposed more changes to its search results in Europe after some smaller rivals complained about lower traffic …

Whether you’re manufacturing cement, steel, chemicals, or paper, you need a large amount of heat. Almost without exception, manufacturers around the world create that heat by burning fossil fuels. In an effort to clean up the industrial sector, some startups are changing manufacturing processes for specific materials. Some are even changing the materials themselves. Daniel […]

Elon Musk’s brain implant company is launching a new study to test whether its wireless device can control a robotic arm.

Rich countries have agreed to pay developing nations $300 billion a year to help them with their climate actions—but the agreement doesn’t say who specifically should contribute or how.

PlayStation’s handheld will finally support dedicated game streaming—and with another portable playing device supposedly inbound, can Sony make cloud gaming take off? If it can’t, who else can?

Wall Street Journal: A ransomware attack on Blue Yonder, a major supply chain software provider, is disrupting operations at Starbucks, the UK’s Sainsbury’s, and other retailers  —  Attack strikes operations managed through Blue Yonder, one of the largest supply chain technology providers

Maria Deutscher / SiliconANGLE: N-able, which sells software for managed service providers and spun off from SolarWinds in 2021, acquires DC-based cybersecurity company Adlumin in a $266M deal  —  N-able Inc., a supplier of software for managed service providers, is acquiring partner Adlumin Inc. to expand its cybersecurity portfolio.

Jordan Novet / CNBC: Zoom reports Q3 revenue up 4% YoY to $1.18B, vs. $1.16B est., net income of $207.1M, up from $141.2M, and changes its corporate name to Zoom Communications Inc.  —  Zoom shares were down 4% in extended trading on Monday after the video calling software maker announced strong fiscal third-quarter results …