Access and Accountability: The Trade-Offs in Data-Driven Lending
Egypt’s Commercial International Bank (CIB) is integrating alternative data—utility bills, telecom payments and recurring transfers—into its underwriting to broaden credit access while tightening risk assessment. The bank argues that real‑time transaction patterns give a dynamic view of borrower stability, enabling responsible expansion into underbanked segments. Similar approaches are emerging across Africa, with Nigeria’s Paga and fintech Cede leveraging behavioural signals to gauge reliability beyond traditional credit histories. However, the surge in data use raises governance, bias and accountability concerns that could offset inclusion gains if not managed carefully.
73% Portuguese Shoppers Driven by Price
A ConsumerChoice report finds 73% of Portuguese online shoppers prioritize low price, with 71% driven by promotions. Over half (51%) compare prices before purchase, and 81% shop via marketplaces, followed by brand sites (54%). 63% have increased online buying in...
Africa’s Corporate Banking Push Hits Integration Headaches
Egypt’s Commercial International Bank (CIB) has rolled out a new mobile app for SME clients that bundles payments, cash‑management and credit visibility, while expanding API‑based connectivity for corporate treasury systems. The move reflects a continent‑wide push by African banks to...
DTCC Teams with Amazon to Cloud‑Migrate Core Clearing Systems by 2030
Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC) announced a partnership with Amazon Web Services to move its core clearing, settlement and risk‑management systems to the cloud by the end of the decade. The phased migration aims to modernize the backbone of...
Google’s Patent On Autonomous Search Results via @Sejournal, @Martinibuster
Google has filed a continuation patent that enables its search engine and AI assistants to monitor unanswered queries and automatically deliver answers once satisfactory information becomes available. The invention defines quality, authority and completeness standards, stores the query, and pushes...
AscentX Medical’s Dr. Sandhu on a New Approach to Treating GERD
AscentX Medical is developing G125, a regenerative injectable biomaterial designed to reinforce the lower esophageal sphincter in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The platform delivers a biocompatible scaffold via a patented needle that integrates with tissue, promoting collagen growth...
China Can Overcome Chip Process Gap by Stacking More
Jensen Huang: The claim that China lacks AI chips is utterly baseless; they can scale up computing power infinitely if they choose to. China can fully compensate for the process gap in individual chips by stacking more chips. 'They have...
Peacock Renews ‘The ’Burbs’ for Season 2 After 1.7 Billion Minutes Streamed
Peacock has ordered a second season of the comedy‑thriller series “The ’Burbs,” citing more than 1.7 billion minutes viewed since its February 8 launch. The renewal underscores NBCUniversal’s data‑driven push to grow scripted originals that attract and retain subscribers.
At Capital Markets Day, Kering Outlines Next Step for Beauty Business, L’Oréal Partnership
Kering announced at its Florence Capital Markets Day that beauty will be anchored in a new "Kering Next" division, signaling a strategic shift from licensing to a growth engine. The group will deepen its partnership with L’Oréal, leveraging the cosmetics...
Is ‘Nearly Right’ AI Generated Code Becoming an Enterprise Business Risk?
Anthropic says nearly all of its software is now produced by AI, confirming the CEO’s 2025 prediction that coding will become fully automated. Analysts estimate 40‑60% of code across the industry is already AI‑generated, but the rapid rise brings hidden...
Europe’s Power‑Grid Bottlenecks Threaten Electrification Targets
Europe’s electrification agenda is hitting a wall as grid infrastructure lags behind demand. In the Netherlands, more than 15,000 companies sit on waiting lists for connections, underscoring a continent‑wide bottleneck that could stall policy goals worth trillions of euros.
TaiLan New Energy Launches Embodied AI Solid-State Battery Solution, First Batch Delivered
TaiLan New Energy unveiled its "Safe+" solid‑state battery solution for embodied AI robots, delivering the first batch of packs to leading Chinese robotics firms for multi‑scenario testing. The hybrid solid‑liquid cells operate from –40°C to 80°C and sustain 1C discharge...
DIGIDECK Demonstrates the Organization-Wide Impact of Managed AI with Navi
DIGIDECK has deployed GrowthIQ’s Navi, a managed AI orchestration platform, across its sales and customer‑success teams. The system integrates Salesforce, Zoom, Google Drive and internal knowledge bases to deliver real‑time pipeline insights, coaching, and upsell planning. In Q1 2026 the deployment...
Nippon Express and Nikon Sign SAF Agreement
Japanese logistics firm Nippon Express and camera maker Nikon have renewed a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) agreement for air cargo shipments, marking the second consecutive year of collaboration. The deal leverages Nippon’s NX‑GREEN SAF program to issue CO₂‑reduction certificates for...
Vodafone Touts Commercial 5G Slicing for Enterprises
Vodafone Business has rolled out a commercial 5G+ Local Slicing service that delivers a dedicated slice of its standalone 5G network to enterprise customers across areas up to 5 km². The offering promises guaranteed mobile performance for high‑density venues such as...
RAW Charging Powers up One of the Largest EV Charging Hubs in the Midlands at Leamington Spa Shopping Park
RAW Charging has activated a 17‑bay electric‑vehicle charging hub at Leamington Spa Shopping Park, featuring six AC fast bays and eleven 150 kW ultra‑rapid DC bays. The site, the largest EV hub in the Midlands, serves a high‑footfall retail and leisure...
Bank of America Rolls Out CashPro Upgrades to Drive 20% B2B Payments Growth
Bank of America announced a suite of upgrades to its CashPro B2B payments platform, aiming to sustain a 20% usage increase after processing $1.2 trillion in 2025. The enhancements add AI‑driven analytics, biometric login and a new digital identity verification flow,...
Is Your Internal Platform Ready to Keep Up With AI-Accelerated Development?
AI‑powered coding assistants are pushing developers to ship code faster than traditional Continuous Delivery pipelines can reliably serve. As a result, platform engineers are inundated with ad‑hoc requests, manual handoffs, and inconsistent delivery across teams. The New Stack promotes an upcoming...
The Complete History of Voyager’s Golden Record and What the Decision About What to Include Revealed About How Humanity Sees...
In 1977 a NASA‑appointed committee led by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan assembled the Voyager Golden Record, a 12‑inch gold‑plated disc containing 90 minutes of audio and over 100 images intended to represent Earth to any extraterrestrial listener. The team...
Speak CTO Overhauls Hiring with AI Coding Agents, Shifts Engineer Roles
Speak cofounder and CTO Andrew Hsu says the startup has replaced traditional algorithmic screens with AI‑assisted coding challenges, arguing that 80% of routine code can now be generated by agents. The new process evaluates "agentic engineering" skills, aiming to keep...
New 300 Home Development Becomes 'World's Largest' Zero Bills Neighbourhood
Octopus Energy has teamed with housebuilder Prosperity Group to create a 300‑home development in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, branded as the world’s largest Zero Bills neighbourhood. The scheme guarantees residents no electricity or gas charges for ten years, backed by integrated renewable generation...
Maine Legislature Passes First‑In‑Nation Temporary Ban on New Data Centers
The Maine Legislature approved LD 307, a temporary moratorium on new data centers consuming 20 MW or more of electricity until November 2027, and sent the bill to Governor Janet Mills. Proponents say the pause lets the state study power and water impacts,...
Stanford Team Generates Light Inside Deep Tissue Using Ultrasound‑Activated Nanoparticles
Stanford scientists have shown that ultrasound can activate specially engineered nanophosphors circulating in the bloodstream to emit light deep inside living tissue. The breakthrough, demonstrated in mice, could replace invasive fiber‑optic probes for optogenetics, imaging and cancer treatment.
Sam's Club and BJ's Narrow Costco Gap in Grocery Sales as Inflation Fuels Bulk Buying
Sam's Club and BJ's are gaining grocery market share as Costco's dominance eases, with the retailer's grocery share climbing only to 8.4% and competitors posting double‑digit growth. Inflation‑driven shifts toward bulk buying are reshaping the warehouse‑club landscape and prompting a...
BFI Infinity Stakes $11.1 M in Defiance Quantum ETF, Marking Major Institutional Play
BFI Infinity Ltd. initiated a $11.13 million stake in the Defiance Quantum ETF by purchasing 103,726 shares, representing 6.24% of its reportable 13F assets. The move underscores growing institutional appetite for quantum‑computing exposure as the fund outperforms the S&P 500 by...
FTC and Eight States Settle Antitrust Case with WPP, Publicis and Dentsu Over Brand‑Safety Collusion
The Federal Trade Commission and eight Republican‑led states secured a consent decree with advertising giants WPP, Publicis and Dentsu, prohibiting coordinated brand‑safety rules that allegedly suppressed conservative media. The agencies denied wrongdoing but agreed to a court‑ordered monitor and five‑year...
WPP Media Wins Strategic Media Mandate for KFC and Pizza Hut Singapore
WPP Media has been selected as the integrated media agency for KFC Singapore and Pizza Hut Singapore after a competitive pitch. The agency will handle media strategy, planning and buying, using its AI‑driven WPP Open platform to turn consumer insights...
Caterpillar Acquires Monarch Tractor, Adding $251M VC‑Backed AI Platform to Its Portfolio
Caterpillar Inc. announced the acquisition of Monarch Tractor, a California startup that raised roughly $251 million to develop electric and autonomous off‑road vehicles. The deal, disclosed in mid‑April, gives the heavy‑equipment maker access to Monarch’s MK‑V “data platform on wheels” without...
Iran Operates Chinese Spy Satellite to Scan U.S. Bases, Raising SpaceTech Tensions
Iran has begun operating a Chinese‑built spy satellite that can image U.S. military installations, according to a Financial Times report cited by the Strait Times on April 15. The move deepens the space‑technology rivalry between Tehran, Beijing and Washington, prompting...
Broadcom Expands AI Chip Deal with Meta to Support Data Centers
Broadcom announced an expanded AI chip partnership with Meta Platforms that will run through 2029. The agreement covers both training and inference workloads, with an initial deployment of more than 1 GW of compute capacity. Broadcom’s XPU platform will integrate with...
Hitachi to Develop Portugal’s Second Translator Tech for ETCS Trains on Legacy Lines
Hitachi Rail has secured a contract from Infraestruturas de Portugal to build the country’s second Specific Transmission Module (STM), a translator that lets ETCS‑equipped trains run on legacy Convel signalling. About 69% of Portugal’s 2,500‑km network still uses Convel, so...
Netherlands Allocates €248 Million to Build Combat Drones for Ukraine
The Netherlands announced a €248 million ($293 million) program to manufacture combat drones for Ukraine, with production split between Dutch and Ukrainian facilities. The move deepens NATO support, provokes a Russian warning, and opens new business for Dutch aerospace firms.
5 Real Writing Rules Behind 1,200+ Posts
I've written 1,200+ social media posts in the last year. here are 5 writing rules I actually follow. none of them are "use hooks" or "add emojis."
GPT Proto Now Offers DeepSeek API Access at Unbeatable Prices
GPT Proto, the developer‑first AI API platform of Talent Tech Global, now offers direct access to DeepSeek’s V3, V3.2 and R1 models through a single OpenAI‑compatible endpoint. The service promises lower per‑call pricing, faster time‑to‑first‑token, and a 99.9% uptime SLA...
Philippines Registers Solar Module Maker Targeting EU Export Market
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has registered Genuine Renewable Energy and Eco‑Friendly Energy Network Corp. (GREEENC) as an ecozone enterprise to produce photovoltaic (PV) modules for export, primarily to the European Union. GREEENC will invest about PHP 370 million ($6.16 million) in...
Inside United Airlines’ ‘Mean Girls Day’ Campaign and the Pivot that Made It Work
United Airlines' social team built a Mean Girls Day campaign for Oct. 3, featuring actor Jonathan Bennett. When Taylor Swift announced a new album release on the same day, the team quickly re‑engineered the concept, weaving Swift’s buzz into the video...
CoreWeave Reports $66.8 Billion AI Compute Backlog, Boosting B2B Growth Outlook
CoreWeave announced a $66.8 billion AI‑compute revenue backlog and a $21 billion contract extension with Meta Platforms through 2032. The neocloud provider added 11 data centers in 2025, bringing its contracted power capacity to 3.1 GW and positioning it for near‑term revenue conversion.
Yuh Leads Swiss Neobanks, Yet Only 1% Primary Users
Swiss Neobanks: Yuh Overtakes Almost Everyone Yuh reaches 400K customers (4.5 yrs post-launch), overtakes Neon (250K, launched 2019). 100% owned by Swissquote. Revolut unclear; counts all who completed KYC (1M+ claimed), but actual active users likely much lower per Swiss Payment...
Gemini Citations Plunge From 96% to 3.7%
Did the number of citations in Gemini drop recently? For one ecommerce brand, Gemini historically used citations in 96% of responses. Over the course of one week this dropped to just 3.7%. We're seeing some interesting moves... https://t.co/QorjbQaFid
Your Chatbot Is Likely Not a Reliable Source on Nutrition
A BMJ Open study by Nicholas Tiller et al. evaluated five chatbots across five medical topics and found that overall half of the AI‑generated answers were problematic. Nutrition performed the worst, with nearly 75% of responses containing errors, and physical performance...
Open Source AI Coding Tools Now Rival Paid Services
🆓 Goose fait ce que Claude Code fait à 200$/mois… gratuitement. L'open source rattrape les outils dev IA premium à une vitesse folle. Le moat des "AI coding tools" fond à vue d'œil. https://t.co/ozymqPO0N1
Plans Announced for 260MW Data Center in Konin, Poland
Central Energy Group (CGE) announced a €3 billion ($3.5 bn) AI‑focused data centre in Konin, Poland, delivering 260 MW of compute capacity. The project has secured power connections and environmental permits, with construction targeted for 2027 once a strategic investor and building permits...
New £50m Fund to Bring AI and Robotics to UK Farms
UK's government and private investors are committing roughly $62.5 million to accelerate AI, robotics, and biological innovations on farms. The Investor Partnerships initiative will co‑fund up to 12 tools, with $10 million public money matched by $50 million private capital. Projects include FA...
OpenAI Pivots to Enterprise AI, Rolls Out New “Spud” Model to Chase Profit
OpenAI announced a strategic pivot toward enterprise‑oriented AI, unveiling its upcoming “Spud” model and targeting a jump from 20% to 50% of revenue from business customers by the end of 2026. The move comes as the San Francisco lab battles...
Technology, Culture, and the Next AI Interface with Signüll
In this episode, A16Z partner Anish Acharya chats with the enigmatic online commentator known as Signal about the accelerating convergence of technology, culture, and AI personalities. They explore how AI’s growing power—especially through agents and model "personality" development—remains primitive and...
Retail AI Council Debuts AI Assistant
On April 16, 2026, the Retail AI Council launched Ask.RetailAICouncil, an AI assistant that delivers retailer‑specific guidance derived from practitioner expertise rather than vendor marketing. The tool helps users research vendors, compare software solutions, draft RFP outlines, and prepare internal stakeholder...
Andy Jassy’s $200 Billion ‘Diss Track’: Why the Amazon CEO Is So Defensive
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is fielding intense scrutiny over a planned $200 billion investment in artificial intelligence, AI‑focused infrastructure, and custom chips. Jassy’s defensive tone in interviews has drawn media attention, suggesting uncertainty about the scale and timing of the spend....
Johnson & Johnson’s Experience Navigating The Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher Program
Johnson & Johnson’s hematology division secured FDA approval for a new multiple myeloma regimen—Tecvayli plus Darzalex Faspro—through the FDA Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher pilot. The approval came just 55 days after filing, marking the first blood‑cancer therapy to use the voucher...
This Long Beach Startup Says It Has a Patch for California's Power Problems
Long Beach‑based Critical Loop secured $26 million in new funding, bringing its total to $49 million, to accelerate deployment of battery‑and‑grid‑management systems that deliver power in days rather than years. The startup’s controller instantly switches between the public grid, on‑site batteries, solar...
The Mexican Security Company with a $1.27 Billion Surveillance Empire
Grupo Seguritech, founded in 1995 as a modest alarm‑system firm, has evolved into Mexico’s $1.27 billion surveillance powerhouse. The company now runs 52 active projects, employs over 2,200 specialists, and operates a sprawling portfolio of 27 subsidiaries plus three overseas branches....