Geeky international news on technology, business and culture.
Study shows ‘benevolent sexism’ in startups widens the gender gap
26 April 2024 @ 6:00 pm
Our understanding of the challenges women face in the startup ecosystem is limited. Past research has focused on overt negative sexist attitudes that question women’s competence and suitability for entrepreneurship. This view overlooks the existence of more subtle, yet pervasive and socially acceptable, sexist attitudes that often go unnoticed. Given the sheer number of people interested or working in startups today, from investors to suppliers to job applicants, the effects of these subtle forms of sexism can accumulate across a large and diverse group of decision-makers. For initiatives tackling gender inequality in entrepreneurship to be effective, we must gain a…This week in Dutch tech
26 April 2024 @ 4:21 pm
Hallo, Netherlands! Welcome to TNW’s first weekly round-up of tech news from our glorious home country. As we count down to TNW conference in Amsterdam on June 20 and 21, we’re ramping up our coverage of the Dutch IT sector. 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 your deepest, darkest secrets. In the meantime, let’s get to the news. What we’re writing Chip giant ASML plans Eindhoven expansion in big win for Dutch tech ‘Airbnb for cars’ platform…This storWhy Lithuania is a hidden gem of Europe’s startup ecosystem
26 April 2024 @ 4:14 pm
In 2022, over 20,000 Lithuanians returned to their country of birth from abroad. A high quality of life coupled with a booming entrepreneurial ecosystem and a collaborative mentality has contributed to what investors are calling a “reverse brain drain.” Many of their minds reemerge in the country’s startup scene. It was on a visit to Lisbon that I first heard someone refer to Lithuania as “a hidden gem” of Europe’s startup ecosystem. A recent trip to Vilnius convinced me they were right. To further drive the inspiring transformation it has achieved since regaining its independence from the Soviet Union in…DeepL launches AI writing assistant for businesses trained on its own LLM
26 April 2024 @ 12:41 pm
DeepL, which has been rivalling machine translation giants such as Google Translate and Microsoft Translator, has launched an AI writing assistant tailored for businesses. Dubbed DeepL Write Pro, the product acts as a creative assistant for use during the drafting process. It provides suggestions on word choice, phrasing, style, and tone, aiming to improve the text, while preserving the writer’s own voice. Currently available in English and German, the tool comes with customisation options for both style (such as business, academic, or casual) and tone (such as friendly, diplomatic, or enthusiastic). Its use scope covers multiple types of business communication,…Darktrace agrees £4.3B sale to US investor in blow to UK stock market
26 April 2024 @ 10:16 am
British cybersecurity flag bearer Darktrace is set to leave London’s stock market after agreeing a £4.3bn sale to US private equity firm Thoma Bravo. Shareholders will have to approve the takeover before it’s rubber-stamped. The chair of Darktrace, Gordon Hurst, said the deal represents “an attractive premium and an opportunity for shareholders.” “The proposed acquisition will provide Darktrace access to a strong financial partner in Thoma Bravo, with deep software sector expertise, who can enhance the company’s position as a best-in-class cyber AI business headquartered in the UK,” he added. The deal would end a turbulent spell on the London’s…To understand the risks posed by AI, follow the money
26 April 2024 @ 6:51 am
Time and again, leading scientists, technologists, and philosophers have made spectacularly terrible guesses about the direction of innovation. Even Einstein was not immune, claiming, “There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable,” just ten years before Enrico Fermi completed construction of the first fission reactor in Chicago. Shortly thereafter, the consensus switched to fears of an imminent nuclear holocaust. Similarly, today’s experts warn that an artificial general intelligence (AGI) doomsday is imminent. Others retort that large language models (LLMs) have already reached the peak of their powers. It’s difficult to argue with David Collingridge’s influential…Cyberattacks on Poland surged after election of pro-Ukraine government, NetScout says
25 April 2024 @ 5:51 pm
Cyber attackers battered Poland after the country’s change of government late last year. DDoS attacks at the end of 2023 were nearly quadruple the country’s average, according to cybersecurity firm NetScout’s observations. The surge began when the Law and Justice party (PiS) lost its majority in last year’s Polish general election. PiS had ruled the country since 2015. It was replaced by a coalition government, which reaffirmed support for Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s invasion. NetScout described these developments as “a perfect storm” for adversaries. Several hacktivist gangs promptly responded with a barrage of cyberattacks. The most notable group was NoName057, which…Europe taps deep learning to make industrial robots safer colleagues
25 April 2024 @ 1:05 pm
Demand for industrial robots is rising in Europe, especially driven by the benefits of automation. However, there are ongoing challenges in ensuring seamless collaboration with humans while maintaining safety. To address this issue, a consortium of European universities, technology accelerators, and private research labs is launching the RoboSAPIENs project. The aim is to build the necessary safety mechanisms with a particular focus on adaptive industrial robots — a category of autonomous robots that can learn new behaviours without being reprogrammed and adapt to changes in their system structure or environment. One eye-catching ambition targets a big problem for adaptive robots:…AI unicorn Synthesia launches most ’emotionally expressive’ avatars on the market
25 April 2024 @ 11:23 am
A British startup today unveiled new AI humans that blur the line between the virtual and the real. Synthesia calls the digital beings “Expressive Avatars.” They promise the most realistic emotional expressions on the market. Generated by an AI model that’s trained on footage of real actors, the avatars are built for video creation. Users simply enter a text prompt and the synthetic humans read them out on a screen. The photorealistic renders are certainly impressive. But what makes them unique is their capacity to convey human feelings. Using a technique called “automatic sentiment prediction,” Synthesia’s AI models infer the…‘Airbnb for cars’ platform SnappCar changes hands in bid for further growth
24 April 2024 @ 2:01 pm
Dutch car-sharing platform SnappCar, which claims to be the largest of its kind in the Netherlands, has been fully acquired by AutoBinck Group — a shareholder in the scaleup since its founding in 2011. The ownership change also sees the return of SnappCar’s founder, Victor van Tol, in the role of the CEO. Van Told told local newspaper mt/sprout that the acquisition will enable faster decisions and eliminate the need for external investments. AutoBinck, which specialises in mobility and energy solutions, has a turnover of approximately €1bn. According to the two companies, the deal aims to support SnappCar’s further growth.…
Donald Trump’s Friday morning claim Manhattan’s Criminal Courts Building is “heavily guarded” so his supporters cannot attend his trial was torched by a top CNN anchor. The ex-president, facing 34 felony charges in New York, had been urging his followers to show up and protest on the courthouse steps, but few have.“I’m at the heavily guarded Courthouse. Security is that of Fort Knox, all so that MAGA will not be able to attend this trial, presided over by a highly conflicted pawn of the Democrat Party. It is a sight to behold! Getting ready to do my Courthouse presser. Two minutes!” Trump wrote Friday morning on his Truth Social account. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins supplied a different view.
While President Joe Biden is trying to appeal to a broad coalition by reaching out to everyone from liberals and progressives to independents, Never Trumpers and conservative Nikki Haley voters, presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has been making a concerted effort to fire up his MAGA base as much as possible.But at the same time, GOP strategists and members of Trump's campaign realize that he will also need some independents if he hopes to win in November. The Daily Beast's Jake Lahut, in article published on April 26, cites examples of things Trump has recently done that irritated his base — for example, some comments on abortion that anti-abortion activists c
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is reportedly on presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's short list for a possible running mate — a list that also includes, among others, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-New York) and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio). The Republican governor, an aggressive supporter of Trump's MAGA agenda, is promoting herself with a new book, 
2024 has been a turbulent year for former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel. After leaving the RNC — where the new ultra-MAGA leadership includes Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump — McDaniel was planning to work as an NBC News contributor. But because of her past support of former President Donald Trump's false, repeatedly debunked claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him, a long list of MSNBC hosts — from conservative Joe Scarborough to liberal Rachel Maddow — were vehemently critical of the decision to hire her. And NBC News fired McDaniel less than a week after she started.But despite all this turbulence, McDaniel is not struggling financially. READ MORE: 
Though the U.S. Supreme Court appears likely to reject Donald Trump's claim of absolute immunity, several onlookers expect it to make a move that will greatly delay Jack Smith's election interference case against the ex-president.
But a legal expert says the special counsel still has "one trick up his sleeve" to skip past any further trial delay conservative justices might grant.
The justices seemed skeptical of the former president's claims that the office of president makes him immune from pr
With the United States' 2024 presidential election only half a year away, Vice President Kamala Harris has been busy making a case for reelecting President Joe Biden. Harris, as vice president, requires an extensive Secret Service detail — and on Monday morning, April 22, a member of that detail was, according to the conservative Washington Examiner, removed for behavior that colleagues "found distressing."The incident, first reported by
After Kayden Asher told his dad that he was transgender, their relationship fell apart and the teenager entered Texas’ troubled foster care system. As Asher tumbled through several foster placements, Texas leaders intensified their efforts to regulate the lives of LGBTQ+ people.
Credit: Greta Díaz González Vázquez
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Businessman and TV personality Mark Cuban has a seemingly straightforward question for the huge drug middleman owned by CVS: If you’re as transparent about drug pricing as you claim, why don’t you publish prices on your website?
The company didn’t answer directly.
Cuban, founder of Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs, last week raised that question to the Capital Journal in response to a paid column that appeared April 3 in Forbes magazine. It was written by David Joyner, president of CVS Caremark, CVS’s pharmacy benefit manager, or PBM.
The company is the largest drug middleman in the United States. It represents insurers in drug transactions by creating lists of drugs that are covered, negotiating deals with manufacturers, re
The UAW’s successful unionization effort last week at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee — the first successful unionization effort at a car factory in the South since the 1940s — is breaking the brains of Republicans in that region. They’re truly astonished that workers might not trust their corporate overlords with their working conditions, pay, health, and retirement.Tennessee’s Republican Governor Bill Lee — along with Governors Kay Ivey (AL), Brian Kemp (GA), Tate Reeves (MS), Henry McMaster (SC), and Greg Abbott (TX) — issued a joint statement last Tuesday condemning the vote:“We the Governors of Alabam
Yesterday’s oral argument before the Supreme Court about Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution for inciting an insurrection was a farce and a ruse. A farce because the Republican appointees to the court suggested that presidents have some level of immunity — certainly for official actions well within the duties of the office. But this case clearly isn’t about official action within the duties of the office. This case is whether presidents have immunity for instigating an insurrection seeking to overturn the results of an election. No matter. The Republican appointees to the court then explored how to decide which actions are official and which are purely private. It was a ruse because the Republican appo