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Peter Burke, Ireland's minister for enterprise, outlined the country's ambitions to capture more of the global AI investment boom. He addressed how Europe's regulatory stance, including the EU's AI Act that began phasing in during 2025, is evolving as governments try to balance oversight with economic competitiveness.
Flapping Airplanes, a one-year-old AI lab, announced a $1 billion Series A round co-led by Index Ventures and Lux Capital at a reported $6 billion valuation. The raise follows a $180 million seed round nine months earlier that had valued the company at $1.5 billion, with Sequoia, GV and Kleiner Perkins returning as investors alongside new backers including Nvidia.
Peter Thiel has been giving closed-door, invitation-only talks in San Francisco and, in March, Rome, arguing that effective altruism's apocalyptic AI-safety worldview risks producing what he calls the Antichrist. The lectures build on a 2023 talk at the Catholic University of America and focus on eschatology, the theological study of end-times. Thiel reportedly described the secrecy around the talks as good marketing, since restricting access generates more attention than making them public.
Doppler Labs, a startup that aimed to turn earbuds into computing devices, shut down in 2017 before bringing its vision to market. Many of the features it pioneered, such as audio augmentation and smart in-ear controls, later appeared in Apple's AirPods and competing products from other companies.
Billionaire investor Vinod Khosla is recruiting a new chief of staff, posting the opening on X to nearly two million views. The role requires in-person work in Menlo Park, California, availability from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. including nights and weekends, and a three-year commitment. Khosla's post did not list a salary, though Indeed data shows Bay Area chiefs of staff typically earn a median of $175,000.
Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak criticized the most ambitious players in the AI race, labeling them the 'lunatic fringe' of Silicon Valley. He argued Apple's slower, privacy-focused approach to AI features is deliberate, prioritizing useful tasks for everyday users over rapid, unconstrained advancement.
A former WIRED editor recounts how Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos secured favorable coverage across major outlets, starting with a 2013 Wall Street Journal opinion piece and followed by WIRED's own 2014 Q&A profile, plus features in Fortune, The New Yorker, and Inc. The piece traces how Holmes was repeatedly framed as the 'next Steve Jobs' before Theranos was later exposed as fraudulent.
A new documentary focused on Elizabeth Holmes, the convicted founder of blood-testing startup Theranos, is set to be released, prompting discussion over how it portrays her. Details of the film's content and distribution have not been fully disclosed in available reporting.
Local authorities in Milpitas, California have ordered operators of the 342-acre Newby Island landfill to deploy drones and install monitors to track chemicals causing persistent bad smells, and to automate collection of landfill gases. Residents, including engineer Chia-Ling Kong who has campaigned against the odours, say smells have lasted hours daily despite recent improvements. The landfill's operators say they are committed to safe operation and protecting air quality.
A new wave of films and documentaries, including 'The Social Reckoning' and a Musk documentary by Alex Gibney, dramatize and investigate the personal conduct of major tech executives. These productions draw on existing investigative journalism, such as Frances Haugen's whistleblower allegations against Meta, to portray figures like Mark Zuckerberg in a far less flattering light than earlier works like 'The Social Network'.
Fast Company reports that tech-industry-backed super PACs are spending tens of millions of dollars to influence midterm elections, yet their political advertisements largely avoid discussing artificial intelligence. The PACs are funded by donors with a stake in favorable AI policy, but their messaging focuses elsewhere.
Reports indicate that technology companies in Silicon Valley had already been increasing security measures against foreign spying before an arrest linked to OpenAI came to light. Separately, questions are being raised about restrictions placed on Ukraine's access to Starlink, and UBS is reportedly preparing for a significant strategic shift.