AI ethicists have called for urgent safeguards against an emerging “digital afterlife” industry. The concerns centre on chatbots that mimic the appearances, speech, and personalities of dead people. Known as “deadbots” or “griefbots,” these AI clones are trained on data about the deceased. They then provide simulated interactions with virtual recreations of the departed. This “postmortem presence” can social and psychological harm, according to researchers from Cambridge University. Their new... Read more ›
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A propaganda network linked to Russia has sparked alarm about a new weapon of information warfare: large language models (LLMs). The operation was unearthed by Recorded Future, a threat intelligence firm founded by two Swedish computer scientists. In early March, the company spotted a network known as CopyCop using LLMs to manipulate news from mainstream media outlets. Using prompt engineering, CopyCop tailored the content to specific audiences and political biases.... Read more ›
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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, Linnea and Andrii talk about protein powder and carbon capture, Europe’s potential answer to Starlink, Disney’s R&D department, how many browser tabs you can keep open, and more. The guest of... Read more ›
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Most of us are familiar with chatbots on customer service portals, government departments, and through services like Google Bard and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. They are convenient, easy to use, and always available, leading to their growing use for a diverse range of applications across the web. Unfortunately, most current chatbots are limited due to their reliance on static training data. Data outputted by these systems can be obsolete, limiting our ability... Read more ›
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No-code startup Innoloft has raised €2mn in a new funding round led by Dutch VC firm Capital Mills. This marks the firm’s first investment into a German company. Innoloft’s no-code platform enables businesses to build web applications without any programming knowledge. Founded in 2019, the startup now counts over 70,000 end-users and includes customers such as Deutsche Telekom, Aachen University, and German state governments. With the new funding, Innoloft plans... Read more ›
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Cybercrime hunters have unmasked the alleged leader of LockBit, a hacker network dubbed the “most active ransomware group ever.” LockBit gained global notoriety for holding victims’ data to ransom and ransomware-as-a-service, whereby it licenses malware to other hackers. According to Europol, the gang was behind the world’s most deployed ransomware in 2022 — causing billions of euros worth of damage. Among the high-profile victims are US aerospace giant Boeing, Britain’s... Read more ›
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A team of researchers have built a vision implant with tiny electrodes the size of a neuron, seeking to help blind people see again. The development of vision implants first emerged in the 1990s. The technology targets patients suffering from damage to the eye, but whose visual cortex— the brain’s visual centre — is active and able to receive signals. But despite the solution’s potential, existing methods are limited by... Read more ›
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Terra Quantum has today revealed its TQ42 Cryptography library — an open-source suite of quantum-resistant algorithms designed to help developers and businesses protect data from current and future cybersecurity threats. The new cryptography library provides developers with post-quantum algorithms and security and key management functions. They can be used across a range of applications, including mobile, web, IoT, and cloud. The library is now available through the GitHub repository. According... Read more ›
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France’s budding AI scene has received another boost from a big investment in the startup Holistic. Amid the celebrations, however, the sale of medtech firm Sonio has added a warning about the dangers of success. The Holistic funding was revealed by Bloomberg on Tuesday. The Paris-based firm has reportedly raised $200mn (€186mn) in a round that values the company at $370mn (€344mn). Holistic has big plans for the cash. According... Read more ›
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An AI scanning your bank transaction data entails a level of invasiveness that I find difficult to accept — let alone embrace for my own transaction information. But the technology could bring merits, at least in the lending world. Enter Abound. The London-based startup has just raised £800mn for its lending platform that uses AI to determine loan amounts. Dubbed Render, Abound’s AI analyses customers’ full bank transaction data (from... Read more ›
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Reuse Brew is a classic German lager with a twist — it’s made from recycled wastewater. The beer is the result of a tie-up between the south German city of Weissenburg, American water tech company Xylem, and the Technical University of Munich (TUM). Specifically, TUM’s Brewery and Beverage Technology department (why didn’t I study there?!). While the idea of a sewage brew might be hard to swallow, Xylem ensures us... Read more ›
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Infineon, one of the biggest chip makers in Europe, has lowered its revenue outlook for the year, citing “weak” demand from its major target markets. The German company is now expecting a revenue of €15.1bn, plus or minus €400mn. That’s down from the previous forecast of €16bn, plus or minus €500mn. In the second quarter of 2024, Infineon saw a 2% drop in revenue compared to the previous quarter, generating... Read more ›
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Wayve, a London-based startup working on AI systems for autonomous vehicles, has raised $1bn. The colossal funding round marks the largest single investment in a European AI startup. Japanese conglomerate SoftBank led the funding round alongside tech giants Nvidia and Microsoft. Wayve did not disclose its valuation following the investment. Founded in Cambridge in 2017, Wayve is developing so-called embodied AI systems for self-driving cars. Unlike pure software AI like... Read more ›
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The power of generative AI has further ignited the race for advanced humanoid robots, promising more capable machines that can learn and deal with unknown environments and challenges. Amid increasing competition across the globe, Switzerland-based mimic is also throwing its hat in the ring. The startup has raised a pre-seed round of $2.5mn (€2.3mn) to bring the first GenAI-powered collaborative robot to market. A spinoff from ETH Zurich, mimic was... Read more ›
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Tilburg-based Mr. Winston has raised €600,000 to further develop its hospitality POS system and expand into more markets. Founded in 2015, the startup provides a cloud-based POS solution that can work on all devices and operating systems such as iOS and Android. The POS also features additional modules, including reservations, QR ordering, and kitchen screens. “This flexibility towards the user is lacking in our competition,” Koen Lavrijssen, founder and CTO... Read more ›
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The EU has granted €3.3mn to a consortium led by Swedish startup Epishine. The group’s mission is to boost the development of organic solar panels. In this case, organic refers to solar panels that are carbon-based. Instead of using silicon to conduct electricity, these solar panels utilise organic molecules. Organic solar cells are very lightweight, cheap, semi-transparent, printable, and flexible. They can also convert indoor light into electricity. That can... Read more ›
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As I write this, two contrasting regulations on the development of artificial intelligence — namely generative AI — are making their way through the European and British parliaments. The British approach is very simple — looking to ensure AI companies fit into existing laws governing technology companies. In contrast, the EU approach, as White & Case analysis describes, is an entirely new piece of legislation, and is risk-based — looking... Read more ›
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A British startup has devised a way to speed-up enhanced rock weathering using protein powder in a potential step forward for the budding carbon capture industry. Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) involves spreading silicate rock dust on fields to capture carbon. When it rains, the dust reacts with the CO2 in the droplets, permanently storing it in the rocks as carbonate (think chalk or baking soda). This relatively simple technology has... Read more ›
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Friday is here and so is TNW’s weekly round-up of tech news from our glorious home country. This week saw advances in medtech, quantum breakthroughs, and calls to further boost the Dutch chip industry. Our highlights have you covered, but we’d also love to hear your thoughts on the local ecosystem. Drop us a line if you want to showcase your startup, share a digital tip, or just tell us... Read more ›
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Estonian mobility startup Bolt has secured a €220mn credit facility as it plans to go public next year. This type of financing is a more flexible loan option, which allows a business to withdraw and repay funds as needed, on an ongoing basis. Kind of like a credit card for companies. The credit facility provides Bolt “with additional flexibility as we work towards being IPO-ready,” CEO and founder Markus Villig... Read more ›
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02.05.2026 09:41
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