Embark’s autonomous trucking solution just demonstrated what it could be capable of in a big way: It make a coast-to-coast trip from L.A. to Jacksonville, Florida, driving 2,400 miles and delivering refrigerators for Electrolux from one end of the U.S. to the other. This follows Embark‘s prior test route, which ran from L.A. to El Paso, and covers more than four times the distance… Read More
Category: United States
A four-sentence HomePod review (with appendices)
Apple’s HomePod delivers superior sound quality and solid Siri performance but still lags behind competition on breadth of voice commands. Read More
Stressing aptitude over achievement, Strive Talent pitches a new way to hire
A number of startups are rethinking how hiring should work, because while many employers require a college degree for a job, the fact is that most of the skills needed to perform those jobs aren’t taught in college. Enter Strive Talent, a new startup that’s trying to come up with (arguably) better criteria to determine an applicant’s suitability for a job. Read More
While the U.S. waits, China has been CRISPRing human cancer patients since 2015
While the U.S. is just gearing up to the idea of CRISPRing its first humans, China seems to be benefiting from the “move fast and break things” — or cut them with the CRISPR scissors — motto. As The Wall Street Journal reports, China has already gene-edited 86 people using CRISPR-Cas9 since 2015. Unhindered by rules and regulations like the ones we have in America… Read More
Investing in tech for hospitality and food, Almanac Investments raises $30 million
David Barber, the storied owner of the Blue Hill restaurant, farm, and hospitality consulting mecca (a favorite of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama), has long been an angel investor in startup companies.
Individually, he’s backed companies like Sweetgreen, the fast casual farm-to-table restaurant chain, that share Blue Hill’s focus on sustainable products and… Read More
Want to learn about African immigrants? Mr. President, meet Africa’s tech sector
President Trump’s comments about immigrants coming from “shithole” countries are continuing to stir up a shitstorm internationally. And while the language itself is bad enough, the President and his advisors need to also reboot their assumptions about the African continent — not just for the immigration debate but for U.S. foreign policy considerations. Among other… Read More
SpaceX can’t test launch Falcon Heavy while government is shut down
SpaceX is impacted by the ongoing U.S. Government shutdown – which is bad news both for its pending Falcon Heavy test flight, as well as for its other missions, which include imminent ISS resupply and commercial satellite launches. The Verge has confirmed that SpaceX’s dependence on U.S. Air Force support for launch operations at Cape Canaveral has held up any potential launch… Read More
WTF is GDPR?
Within a matter of months, the General Data Protection Regulation will apply across the EU and business processing citizens’ data will need to be sure they’re compliant. We explain the major changes incoming and take a look at some possible impacts… Read More
It’s time for Washington to start working on artificial intelligence
One of the more unexpected sights within the United States Capitol lies just outside the Old Supreme Court Chamber. There you can find a plaque marking the first ever long-distance communication by electronic telegraph, which took place inside the Capitol in 1844, when Samuel Morse sent and received messages from Baltimore. Morse’s first experimental line was made possible thanks to a… Read More
The state of Israel’s cybersecurity market
The Equifax breach, WannaCry, NotPetya, the NSA leak, and many more cyber incidents – 2017 was certainly a busy year for hackers, illustrating yet again just how vital innovative cybersecurity solutions are in the fight against cyber threats.
Second only to the U.S., in terms of cybersecurity investment 2017 was another excellent year for Israeli cybersecurity startups, with dozens of… Read More
US & Canada VCs favor late-stage giants over upstarts in Q4
Startup investors in the U.S. and Canada have been putting a little less money to work across a lot fewer deals in recent months. After three quarters of rising investment at early through growth stage, VCs have cut back in the fourth quarter of …
View More US & Canada VCs favor late-stage giants over upstarts in Q4Peer-to-peer real estate marketplace Homie wants to replace your realtor with a bot
Just a few weeks ago I was in Utah for the holidays, spending time with the many family members my husband and I both have there. At one family gathering, a cousin began talking about how he bought a brand new home and sold his own home all witho…
View More Peer-to-peer real estate marketplace Homie wants to replace your realtor with a bot