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Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry. In today’s episode, Ioanna and Andrii talk about the potentially good news about ASML’s future in the Netherlands, the latest developments at Stability AI, carbon capture solutions, and...

It’s safe to say that the age of generative AI is well and truly upon us, rapidly changing the world of work as we know it. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Future of Jobs Report, more than 75% of companies are looking to adopt technologies like AI in the next five years, so it’s no surprise that career opportunities in the space...

A British startup aims to launch science satellites into space in 2025 after raising a fresh £2mn. Blue Skies Space has devised a unique business plan for the stargazers. They will be the first-ever science satellites that provide data directly to researchers via a membership model, the company said. The approach offers a new route to the secrets of our universe. Currently, researchers rely on government agencies such...

In a major win for the Dutch tech industry, chip giant ASML intends to remain and further expand in the Netherlands. The chip machine manufacturer has signed a non-binding letter of intent with the City Council of Eindhoven, eyeing a potential expansion at the Brainport Industries Campus (BIC), west of the city. Located at Eindhoven’s Brainport region — a major tech and innovation hub...

Yesterday, the EU issued TikTok an ultimatum. The Chinese-owned social media app was given just 24 hours to outline the mental health risks related to its new app TikTok Lite or face huge daily fines. This is the EU’s second probe into TikTok under the Digital Service Act (DSA). The DSA is a new law to protect users from harmful or illegal online content....

Grindr is being sued. The  LGBTQ+ dating app is accused of sharing its users’ medical data with advertisers. This data includes their HIV status. UK law firm Austen Hays filed the claim at London’s High Court yesterday. The class action lawsuit represents hundreds of users of the app.   Austen Hays claims that US-based Grindr breached UK data protection law by selling sensitive data to...

I am really into (my friends might say somewhat obsessed with) coffee. Not just for the hits of caffeine that fuel our productivity-enthralled capitalist society, but also for the taste, as well as different styles of brewing (although my Swedish roots make me partial to a pour-over).  Sadly, I do not often get to write about it, as — even though coffee roasting and...

We will all face the consequences of runaway climate change. Unless, maybe, you live in one of Elon Musk’s new homes on Mars. But for the rest of us poor souls, tackling global heating is pretty much the top priority. The bad news is that we are not on track to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. A new report has also revealed that...

In an attempt to reduce the workload of GPs, the UK is planning to introduce a new National Health Service (NHS) algorithm that will enable self-issued sick notes. The move is part of the government’s effort to reform the sick note system, as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is seeking not only to alleviate GPs, but also end the “sick note culture.” “We need to...

Today — on Earth Day — non-profit search engine Ecosia has launched the “greenest browser on Earth” as it seeks to offer customers a more sustainable alternative to Google Chrome or Apple’s Safari.  Just like Ecosia’s search engine, the more you use the browser, the more trees you will help plant. The Berlin-based company says it has already planted 200 million trees since 2009. ...

New data published today by Dealroom reveal that European VC investment rose 5% year-on-year for the first quarter of 2024. What’s more, the Netherlands is showing a particularly strong comeback. Amsterdam funding rose a highly encouraging 107%. Overall, European VC investment reached $13.7bn in Q1 2024, an increase fuelled to a great extent by the energy transition. Energy was the biggest sector for tech...

Just a decade ago, the world’s biggest tech beast was a relative minnow. Microsoft had become notorious for disappointing product launches, stagnant innovation, and losing top talent. The first true software giant was becoming a big tech dinosaur. Fast forward to 2024 and Microsoft is the planet’s most valuable business. Under the leadership of CEO Satya Nadella, stock has soared by over 1,000% in 10...

Britain is exploring new curbs on China’s access to “sensitive technologies” following allegations of cyber espionage. Oliver Dowden, the UK’s deputy prime minister, launched a review of the restrictions on Thursday. He warned that “hostile states” could use British funds and tech for “military and intelligence” projects that threaten national security. “Our open economy is being targeted by state-based actors and their proxies,” Dowden...

For the past two years, I have worked at a company whose workforce hails from around the globe, including the United States, Europe, and Latin America. I’m the only team member based in Santa Marta, on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, and I work remotely — like many of my colleagues on the other continents.  The experience has opened my eyes to a dynamic blend of...

Dutch startup Meatable has hosted the first legally approved tasting of cultivated meat in Europe. On the menu was a lab-grown pork sausage. Meatable says the produce is “indistinguishable” from traditional meat, but causes no harm to animals or the environment. To replicate the flavours and textures of livestock, Meatable first extracts a single cell sample from a pig. The sample is then cultivated in...

AI threatens to decimate the translation profession, according to a new survey by a British union. Almost four in ten translators (36%) said they’ve already lost work due to generative AI. Nearly half of them (43%) said the tech has decreased their income. They fear far worse is to come. Over three-quarters of translators (77%) believe GenAI will negatively impact future income from their...

California-based quantum circuitry company Rigetti has brought a commercially available quantum computer to the UK. Only the second in the country, it was installed in collaboration with Oxford Instruments NanoScience — a cryogenics company that provides the cooling needed for superconducting qubits.  The system, supported by grants from the UK government, is Rigetti’s first UK-based quantum computer and will be accessible via the company’s...

 Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry. In today’s episode, Linnea and Andrii talk about artificial general intelligence, repairable airbuds, some Wolverine nerdery, drone delivery adoption, and much more. The guest of the show...

Amid the semiconductor industry’s slowdown and increasing geopolitical tensions, Dutch chip machine-maker ASML reported a decrease both in sales and profits. Europe’s most valuable tech company saw orders fall to €3.6bn in the first quarter of 2024, down from €9.2bn in the previous quarter. Its net profit also dropped to €1.2bn — a 37% decrease compared to Q4 2023. “We see 2024 as a...

Under orders from the EU, tech giants have launched 11 advertising transparency tools. None of them are fit for purpose, according to a new study from Mozilla. The tools provide libraries of data about online adverts. By exploring the repositories, researchers can identify the funders and techniques behind the ads. At least, that’s the idea. The libraries are obligatory under the EU’s Digital Services...

A British drone maker plans to launch air taxis in 2026 after raising a whopping $110mn. Skyports has already flown electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft on delivery and monitoring trials. The new funding brings commercial air taxis closer to the services on offer. The first flights are slated to take off in the United Arab Emirates. Earlier this year, Skyports inked a deal...

Berlin-based Ecosia, best known as the tree-planting search engine, has teamed up with French startup Kanop to monitor its reforestation efforts from space. With around 20 million users, Ecosia is the world’s largest not-for-profit search engine. It is also one of the biggest tree-planters in the world. The company claims to have planted 200 million trees since its inception in 2009.  To date, Ecosia...

We have all been guilty of falling under the foundation model spell of the past year-and-a-half, initiated by OpenAI’s unveiling of ChatGPT to the public. But it is not only where large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-4 are concerned that incredible progress has been made in the field of artificial intelligence. And one company has been behind more impressive milestones than most —...

PhotonVentures, a Dutch deep tech fund aiming to boost Europe’s photonics industry, has closed its second fundraising round with over €15mn — bringing its total capital to €75mn. The fund targets startups and scaleups developing solutions with photonic chips for a wide range of applications: from data transmission and health diagnostics to smart sensors, AI, AR, and VR. PhotonVentures will initially invest in 20...

In 2013, Dutch scientist Mark Post unveiled the world’s first cultivated meat burger on live television — taking lab-grown meat from the realm of science fiction to science fact.  Post ended up turning his invention into a startup called Mosa Meat. The new venture promised to bring the “world’s kindest burger” to supermarket shelves.  Today, Mosa Meat announced it has secured another €40mn —...

French SaaS company Planisware launched its initial public offering (IPO) today, reaching a valuation of €1.11bn. This is the largest IPO on the Euronext Paris stock exchange in the past three years. Planisware was founded in 1996 by Yves Humblot, Pierre Demonsant, Matthieu Delille, and François Pelissolo. Planisware provides software for enterprise project portfolio management. It counts over 500 blue-chip clients across the globe, including...

More than 50 European VCs and startups have joined forces to launch Climate Brick — a new community designed to fast-track investment in green technologies.  Climate Brick launched today along with what its founders claim to be one of the most comprehensive climate tech studies ever conducted. The report, featuring interviews with 100 climate experts and 3,000 companies, offers a roadmap for climate tech...

The boom of artificial intelligence has spurred a regulatory frenzy across the globe — and Europe is at the forefront of the developments. Both the EU and the UK are attempting to find the elusive balance between leveraging AI’s growth and mitigating potential risks — but their approaches differ significantly. The former has opted for a hands-on, risk-based approach, whereas the latter has promised...

Space nerds delight: you can now play as an astronaut in Fortnite. You can even team up with your buddies to build a lunar habitat based on real future missions of the European Space Agency. Designed by Epic Games, Lunar Horizons is set at the lunar south pole. This is the point on the Moon deemed most suitable for human habitation due to the...

While it’s commonly said we live in the information era, I like calling it something else: the screen age. Over the past seventy years, we’ve seen displays seep into almost every aspect of our lives. We had televisions arrive in our homes, reshaping news and entertainment. Hot on their heels came smartphones, which changed communication and how we interact with the world at large....

Dutch ebike maker VanMoof has begun selling ebikes on its own website once more, following an almost year-long hiatus after it went bankrupt in July last year.   The models on offer are refreshed versions of the S5 and A5, which were first released in 2022. Although the upgraded ebikes look exactly the same, they’ve been re-engineered in almost every aspect, says the company’s co-CEO...

A weird technology has emerged as a leader in the quest for net zero. But this form of carbon capture, called Enhanced Rock Weathering (or ERW for short), still requires innovation — and government oversight. Society has a knack for embracing new technologies, often driven by a blend of vanity, curiosity, and a desire to be ahead of the curve. Whether it’s being the...

Homeowners delight: a startup from Slovenia has created what might just be the most badass security camera ever made.  The “world-first” device is called Eve, but she ain’t no saint. Eve is an AI-powered home security system that fires paintballs and tear gas pellets at intruders.  Via computer vision technology — that also works at night — the cam can recognise individual faces and...

Ever heard of hybrid matter-photon implementation of verifiable blind quantum computing? No? Neither had we, until today. But it could just be what will make next-generation quantum computers securely accessible to “millions of individuals and companies” — without exposing any of their data. At least, according to scientists at Oxford University Physics. A team of researchers at its UK Quantum Computing and Simulation Hub...

German startup Bluu Seafood today launched Europe’s first pilot plant for cultivated fish. The facility in Hamburg brings lab-grown seafood a step closer to the market. Bluu had previously developed the controversial food in a small lab in Lübeck, Germany. The new site expands the work across 2,000 square metres of customised research, production, and office space. At the plant’s core are new fermenters for cultivating muscle,...

Open source is at a crossroads. For the past few years, venture capital has directly or indirectly paid for many of the contributors and much of the infrastructure it needed to keep going. That was until the past 24 months or so, when funding started to slow down, leading to less internal development or funding resources going toward open source. Companies suddenly had to...

A space tourism company promising stratospheric balloon rides has unveiled the vehicle’s capsule design. Halo Space is building the balloon for zero-emission commercial flights to altitudes of up to 40km. Tickets will cost a whopping €150,000 each. On each flight, a pilot and eight passengers will enter the pressurised cabin. The helium balloon will then gradually ascend with minimal G-forces to the stratosphere. From...

A British R&D unit today unveiled a futuristic vision of “quantitative safety guarantees” for AI. The Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) compares the guarantees to the high safety standards in nuclear power and passenger aviation. In the case of machine learning, the standards involve a probabilistic guarantee that no harm will result from a particular action. At the core of ARIA’s plan is...

With the geopolitical landscape turning more unstable by the day, EU relations with China are also becoming increasingly turbulent. At the core of the rising tensions lies the quest for tech supremacy as well as economic and national security. “In a world powered by technology, those who lead are those who control the most critical technologies, and their supply chains,” EUcompetition chief Margrethe Vestager...

A German startup has secured new funding for a peculiar twisted-looking reactor that could prove a quicker path to clean, virtually limitless fusion energy.  Proxima Fusion has raised €20mn as it looks to bring its designs for the so-called stellarator fusion reactor to life.  “We are working to deliver a demonstrator of net-energy production in continuous operation by 2031, and a first-of-a-kind power plant...

There’s no escaping the hype around artificial general intelligence. Barely a day passes without a new headline about the concept, which envisions computer systems outperforming humans at various cognitive tasks. In the last month alone, a trio of tech luminaries have added fresh proclamations. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang suggested AGI would arrive within five years. Ben “father of AGI” Goertzel forecasted a mere three. Elon Musk...

 Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry. In today’s episode, Linnea and Andrii talk about a promising quantum breakthrough, a public funding disaster in Poland, the first Macintosh in Europe, and much more. The guest...

Backed by state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), Italy is committing €1bn to AI development over the course of the next five years. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni first announced the plan for a dedicated AI fund last month. “The purpose of this mechanism is clearly to act as a multiplier and serve to attract further investment,” Meloni said in a video message. CDP’s...

A vertical farming startup from the UK is taking its technology to new heights.   The UK Space Agency has awarded Vertical Future £1.5mn to build an autonomous farm in orbit. The high-tech veggie garden will be installed on the world’s first commercial space station.  Currently being constructed by US-based Axiom Space, the station is due to open its doors to eager astronauts in 2026....

Ukraine has launched a defence tech accelerator programme for new startups aiming to deliver innovative solutions for military applications. The Defence Builder Accelerator is a four-month-long training programme, which will provide full-cycle support for product development. This includes 100 hours of online lectures and eight 1:1 meetings with mentors. As part of the programme, startups will also receive introductions to investors and further fundraising...

Helsinki-based startup ReOrbit is preparing for the first demonstration of its “software-enabled” satellite. This marks the next phase of the ESA’s UKKO programme, which works with ReOrbit to develop and test next-gen tech for Earth observation satellites. (Fun fact: Ukko is the god of the sky, weather, harvest, and thunder in Finnish mythology). ReOrbit’s first in-orbit demonstration satellite is scheduled for launch in the...

Helsinki-headquartered Basemark has raised €22mn to bring its augmented reality (AR) “toolkit” to automakers across the globe. Basemark’s software, dubbed Rocksolid AR, is an AI-based computer vision system that enables carmakers to develop their own AR applications for Heads-up Displays (HUDs).  Car companies are embracing AR HUDs as a means of relaying important information to the driver. Instead of having to look down at...

If, as a software developer, you want to know what the most popular or best-paid programming languages are in the industry right now, there’s always a constant stream of surveys and reports to let you know. And career advice for developers will typically recommend that constant learning on the job is essential. But if AI can produce code from a few plain-speaking prompts, has...

US pressure to block ASML from servicing the chip-making machines it has sold to China is increasing the Netherlands’ entanglement into an escalating geopolitical race for tech supremacy. Implementing a clear technological and economic decoupling strategy from China, the Biden Administration has introduced a series of thorough export rules aiming to restrict Beijing from obtaining key chip technology. But as the world’s only manufacturer of...

Spotify is further tapping AI to boost its services with a new feature that enables users to create playlists using text prompts. Dubbed AI Playlist, the feature is currently in beta and available on Android and iOS devices for premium subscribers in Australia and the UK. Interestingly, the new tool goes beyond standard playlist creation requests based on genre or artists. Instead, prompts can...