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Tech News
A tech industry leader with over two decades of experience, including roughly ten years in leadership, argues that faster work enabled by AI tools is taking a toll on team wellbeing. The piece draws on personal management experience to make the case that output speed and employee morale are closely linked.
Vancouver startup Pikio has released the Si Oblik road cycling helmet, which uses a new internal safety system called Oblik. It scored 4.61 on Virginia Tech's STAR helmet-safety scale, where lower is better, beating the previous top performer, Canyon's Deflectr, which scored 6.82. Founder Daniel Abram says the design draws on 18 years of impact-protection research, including work at Simon Fraser University.
Competing tech companies are striking alliances to secure scarce AI computing resources, according to a report describing a scramble for chips and data-center capacity. The report states that executives have had to step in personally to negotiate access to computing power needed to support AI development.
Owlet, the FDA-cleared wearable baby monitor co-founded by Kurt Workman, Zach Bomsta and Jordan Monroe, has now monitored more than 2.5 million infants, tracking over 21 trillion heartbeats and two billion hours of sleep data. The company, which grew from zero to $20 million in revenue in its first year and went public in 2021, has also launched a Baby Safety Task Force to work with legislators, clinicians and other brands on industry safety standards.
A published opinion column argues that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who is not a trained scientist or scholar, is unfit to hold significant influence over the trajectory of artificial intelligence and its impact on humanity. The piece draws a contrast with J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist who led the Manhattan Project, to question Altman's qualifications for the outsized role he plays in AI development.
The Trump administration accused Microsoft of abusing the H-1B visa program and said it is cutting off the company's access to it. Microsoft responded that 80% of its roughly 6,000 H-1B applications last fiscal year were to extend or change status for existing employees rather than hire new workers, and that new-employee filings equaled just 1% of its U.S. workforce. The company said all H-1B employees are paid comparably to other staff in similar roles.
American hardtech startups are attracting more attention, with deep tech funds outperforming traditional venture capital. Increased investment is supporting the transition from invention to commercial scale, reflecting a growing recognition of the sector's potential.
Leading technology companies like OpenAI and Meta are designing their AI agents with a focus on adorable and friendly visuals, using elements such as sparkles, gradients, and cartoon-like characters. This trend aims to make AI interactions more approachable and engaging for users.
As organizations accelerate AI adoption, some are increasing spending on employee training and development, whereas others are diverting funds from staffing to support new technology. This shift reflects differing strategies in balancing human talent with AI integration.
A survey of nearly 31,000 developers from 169 countries reveals widespread complacency, dissatisfaction, and happiness levels within the tech community. The rise of AI tools has led to increased use among developers, with some experiencing reduced fulfillment and identity struggles, as many spend hours daily on AI-assisted coding. These trends highlight growing concerns about job satisfaction and professional identity in the evolving tech landscape.
Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days sale includes markdowns on mattresses, bedding and sleep gadgets such as sound machines, with discounts reportedly running up to $600 off. WIRED editors highlighted tested picks from brands including Helix, Nolah, Bbhugme, Slumber Cloud, Blueair, Turtl and Snooz, noting the sale window closes the same night.
Eight Sleep, a company focused on sleep monitoring and health diagnostics through its smart beds, secured $200 million in funding, boosting its valuation to $1.5 billion. Co-founder Alexandra Zatarain emphasized the company's goal to turn beds into early health detection devices, inspired by her father's battle with cancer. The company is already profitable and aims to revolutionize health monitoring by integrating diagnostics into everyday sleep environments.