News Archive
Pick a date to read that day's stories.
Days with a blue dot have stories.
- 01 of 10SCIENCE
A team of 37,000 AI agents helped find a possible lung cancer drug target
Stanford researchers built a virtual biotech company made entirely of AI agents that reviewed thousands of clinical trials and proposed a protein that could be targeted to treat lung cancer. Human scientists then checked the AI's work before moving the idea toward further testing.
OUR TAKEA company with 37,000 staff and zero coffee breaks is either the future of medicine or every manager's fantasy, possibly both.
Read more → - 02 of 10HEALTH
New AI test predicts breast cancer's return more accurately than current standard
Researchers from the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group and Caris Life Sciences built an AI model called IICM+ that combines tumour images, patient details and gene data to predict recurrence risk. Tested on more than 4,400 patients from the long-running TAILORx trial, it outperformed the widely used 21-gene Recurrence Score test.
OUR TAKEMore than a decade of patient data later, and the machine finally reads the tea leaves better than we do.
Read more → - 03 of 10POLICY
Germany and Canada put over 300 million Canadian dollars into AI safety group LawZero
Germany is contributing around 100 million euros and Canada up to 150 million Canadian dollars to LawZero, a non-profit founded by AI researcher Yoshua Bengio to build safer alternatives to autonomous AI agents. Some of the funding will support a new LawZero site in Berlin, alongside expanded computing power in Canada.
OUR TAKETwo governments are now paying good money for an AI that promises not to want anything, which is either wise or a very expensive way to build a houseplant.
Read more → - 04 of 10AFRICA
Meta opens an AI training academy in Kenya
Meta has teamed up with African accelerator This Is Digital to launch an AI academy in Kenya, offering an eight-week course in AI basics, prompt writing and business skills for students, developers and small firms. A pitch event in October will let Kenyan founders compete for funding and a spot at Meta's AI summit in Istanbul.
OUR TAKEFree training from a trillion-dollar company; the small print on where your data goes is presumably optional reading.
Read more → - 05 of 10FUNDING
Coding startup Factory triples its value to $5 billion in five months
Factory, which sells AI agents that write and manage software for big companies, raised $200 million from investors including Blackstone and Sequoia. Its valuation has more than tripled since April, and backers now include former F1 champion Nico Rosberg.
OUR TAKENothing says sound investment thesis like a retired racing driver putting money into software that writes itself.
Read more → - 06 of 10DEFENCE
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries invests in Japanese AI firm Preferred Networks for defence tech
Mitsubishi Heavy signed a capital and business partnership with Preferred Networks worth about $64 million to jointly develop AI for security and defence equipment. The two firms had already agreed in June to work together on AI for security systems.
OUR TAKEJapan's biggest shipbuilder is now also in the software business, which feels like a natural pairing once you think about it for longer than five seconds.
Read more → - 07 of 10WORK
SK Telecom unveils a voice AI agent to handle taxes and hospital bookings
SK Telecom presented plans for an AI assistant, working title Modu's AI, that can book hospital appointments, help pay taxes and make phone calls on a user's behalf. The service is aimed particularly at young people, seniors and small business owners who find current digital tools hard to use.
OUR TAKEAn AI that phones the hospital for you is either a huge convenience or the death of small talk with receptionists, take your pick.
Read more → - 08 of 10FINANCE
South Korean bank group JB Financial partners with Upstage on AI tools
JB Financial Group, which owns Jeonbuk Bank and Kwangju Bank, signed an agreement with AI firm Upstage to build financial AI tools and plans to extend the technology across its branches in Southeast Asia. Upstage's Solar Pro 4 model is also part of a government-backed project to build a national AI system for Korea.
OUR TAKENothing reassures a bank customer quite like knowing their branch manager now has an AI co-pilot.
Read more → - 09 of 10POLICY
Saudi Arabia says its firms must now show AI is actually paying off
Business leaders in Saudi Arabia say the country's AI conversation has shifted from simply adopting the technology to proving it delivers real financial results. Consultants from Deloitte and PwC say organisations need to redesign how they work, not just add more AI tools on top of old processes.
OUR TAKETurns out buying the tool was always the easy part; using it properly was where everyone got stuck.
Read more → - 10 of 10FUNDING
Brazil's development bank picks Monashees to run a new AI startup fund
Brazil's BNDES and Finep chose venture firm Monashees to manage a fund that could put up to 500 million reais into Brazilian AI startups. The fund is part of Brazil's national AI plan and will focus on companies that build AI as their core product rather than as an add-on feature.
OUR TAKEA government committee picking startup winners always works out fine, ask absolutely no one in particular.
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