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A satellite will hurtle down to Earth this week and no one knows quite when or where it’s going to land — but there’s no need to worry. In the space sector, this is standard operating procedure.  The satellite in question is the European Space Agency’s ERS-2. Launched in 1995, the spacecraft set new standards for Earth observation. It was also an extremely durable machine....

The European Union is set to fine Apple €500mn for allegedly elbowing out competitors to its music streaming business, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing unmanned sources familiar with the matter.   EU officials first started investigating the matter in 2019, following a complaint for Spotify. The Swedish company claimed it was made to ramp up its monthly subscription to cover the 30% fee...

With the flip of a switch, the snowmobile springs to life. The batteries beneath my seat engage, and launch me at lightning speed through the fresh white powder ahead. Soon I am gliding across a frozen lake in Swedish Lapland like a speedboat on water.  Mindful not to get carried away, I loop back toward the starting point, engaging the brakes just before the...

The digital advertising landscape in Europe is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by antitrust cases against tech giants, new regulations like the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, and the rise of emerging players. This change promises to regulate competition concerns, manage consumer protection, and handle the responsibilities of digital platforms in the advertising ecosystem. European antitrust actions: a regulatory landscape In 2023,...

AI might be ready to disrupt how businesses operate, but businesess aren’t ready for the AI transformation. According to Cisco’s AI Readiness Index for 2023, only 14% of businesses across the globe are prepared to leverage and deploy artificial intelligence. European companies in particular also struggle to train their employees on AI use and develop a clear strategy for responsible AI. “At the moment,...

How are your New Year’s resolutions coming along? As we conclude the first weeks of 2024, chances are that the fresh-start effect has begun to wane. When it comes to succeeding in what we set out to achieve and the habits we want to instil, consistency and dedication will beat that oh-so-fickle motivation every time. But could technology — specifically wearables — help us...

Tags on chips and a global registry of their locations can reduce the risks of AI espionage by hostile nations, experts say. The proposals were made in a new report on AI safety, which calls for a stronger regulation of hardware. Three Cambridge University institutes co-led the study paper, alongside OpenAI and the GovAI research community. They fear that governments are overlooking the dangers of compute,...

Microsoft will invest €3.2bn in AI tech in Germany over the next two years, the firm’s vice chair Brad Smith announced today. The investment will see the doubling of Microsoft’s AI and data centre infrastructure capacity in Germany, said Smith. It marks the largest single investment in Microsoft’s 40-year history in the EU country.  German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed the move, noting that it...

Anti-piracy campaigns can actually cause more piracy — if you’re a man. So say the cybercrime experts at the University of Portsmouth, who investigated efforts to deter illegal torrenting, streaming, and file-sharing. To test the techniques, the researchers exposed 962 adults to threatening messages used in anti-piracy campaigns. They then evaluated potential changes in behaviour. They discovered a cavernous gender gap. The messages led piracy...

The construction sector builds the homes we live in, the offices we work in, and the schools our children learn in — but in Europe, there’s a chronic shortage of people to do this critical work. Dutch startup Monumental thinks it has a solution: AI-powered bricklaying robots capable of working autonomously alongside humans. Fitted with sensors and computer vision, the fully-electric machines use small...

Recently, a New Zealand-based supermarket was miffed to find its AI meal bot going haywire. Instead of providing wholesome recipe suggestions using its products, it had begun suggesting dishes such as “bleach-infused rice surprise” and “mysterious meat stew” (with the mysterious meat being human flesh). While this may have been a bit of fun for internet pranksters who prompted the bot with ever more...

It’s Valentine’s Day and digital romances are blossoming. Across the world, lonely hearts are opening up to virtual lovers. But their secrets aren’t as safe as they may seem. According to a new analysis by Mozilla, AI girlfriends harvest reams of private and intimate data. This information can then be shared with marketers, advertisers, and data brokers. It’s also vulnerable to leaks. The research...

Dutch fintech Finom has raised €50mn, which the startup will use to boost its digital banking services. Founded in 2019, the Amsterdam-based business operates a pan-European neobank for SMEs and entrepreneurs. It integrates online banking, accounting, and financial management into a single platform. Kos Stiskin, co-founder at Finom, said the company was built to simplify banking for small businesses. “Finom was born as a...

 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, Andrii and Linnea talk about deepfake face swapping, the incredible race of Arm’s stock price, epilepsy trolling, and learn more about how much startup...

We’re just months away from TNW Conference 2024 (ahem, Europe’s leading tech festival). Now, if you’re a startup, you may be thinking of attending to meet some investors and fresh new hires, get your name out there, and get inspired. But why be a spectator when you can be part of the show? We caught up with Isabell Trinh, Communications Specialist at Nostics and...

From Skynet to The Matrix, the possibility of machines one day being able to outsmart us has provided the backdrop to stories from science fiction books to the silver screen. But with AI technology evolving at rapid speed, will it soon be time to say “hasta la vista baby” to humans’ control over machines? Although many now agree that the trajectory towards Artificial General...

A giant tidal energy “kite” located in the waters off Vestmannsund, Faroe Islands, has delivered its first power to the grid, in a significant step forward for the budding ocean energy industry. Dubbed the Dragon 12, the device swims against the current, which turns its rotor and generates about 1.2MW of clean electricity — enough to power a small town of around 1,000 homes. ...

Automation doesn’t only threaten human workers. Our canine colleagues may also need new jobs because there’s a new robot guide dog in town — and it doesn’t even need walkies. Named Roboguide, the quadruped was bred at the University of Glasgow. The research team built the prototype pooch to support blind and partially sighted people in indoor spaces. Their design solves common problems in assistive tech. “One significant drawback...

As the world electrifies, the race is on to build better batteries that take you further, charge faster, are safer, and more sustainable.  Dutch startup LionVolt is developing 3D solid-state batteries that it says ticks all the above — and it’s just raised €15mn to scale up production. LionVolt — a spinout from TNO’s Holst Centre in Eindhoven, the Netherlands — is working on...

A new biotech startup developing immuno-dermatology technologies for skin diseases has launched today with $100mn (€93mn) in seed funding. Based in Boston and Geneva, Alys Pharmaceuticals is co-founded by Medicixi, a European healthcare-focused investment firm, and six university scientists, including Nobel Prize winner Craig Mello. The startup is a merger of six individual companies in the field (also backed by Medicixi), which in combination...

Google has launched a €25mn training and skills programme to help Europe’s workforce “seize the opportunity of AI,” the tech giant announced today.  The initiative is targeted at “vulnerable and underserved” communities, who Google said risk getting left behind as the use of AI in the workplace skyrockets — a trend that is expected to continue. Google said it had opened applications for social...

Riders in numerous locations throughout Europe can now have their Cowboy ebikes repaired without ever leaving their couch.  Through the Cowboy app, you can request a mechanic to come to your home and carry out services like repairs, general maintenance, and the installation of a child seat. The call-out fee starts at €69.  “It’s imperative that customers are confident that when they invest in...

The recent changes to immigration rules in the UK have prompted some entrepreneurs to fear that they may be forced to leave the country as they don’t pay themselves enough to meet the new earnings criteria. This could prove a considerable mistake for a country that actively wants to attract and encourage startups. Immigrants make up a disproportionate share of entrepreneurs — 39% of...

In its last hurrah before being shut down, a 40-year-old fusion reactor in the UK set a new world record for energy output — bringing the decades-old promise of clean, limitless energy one step closer to reality. Scientists at the Joint European Torus (JET) — a huge, donut-shaped machine known as a tokamak — produced a record 69 megajoules of fusion energy for five...