From The%20Next%20Web

  • 'Just like meaty sausages!' Europe hosts first cultivated meat tasting

    Dutch startup Meatable has hosted the first legally approved tasting of cultivated meat in Europe. On the menu was a lab-grown pork sausage. Meatable says the produce is "indistinguishable" from traditional meat, but causes no harm to animals or the environment. To replicate the flavours and textures of livestock, Meatable first extracts a single cell sample from a pig. The sample is then cultivated in a bioreactor. Over time, the sample multiplies and forms real muscle tissue, which is...

  • 4 in 10 translators are losing work to AI. They want remuneration from devs

    AI threatens to decimate the translation profession, according to a new survey by a British union. Almost four in ten translators (36%) said they've already lost work due to generative AI. Nearly half of them (43%) said the tech has decreased their income. They fear far worse is to come. Over three-quarters of translators (77%) believe GenAI will negatively impact future income from their creative work. The survey was conducted by the Society of Authors (SoA), the UK's largest trade...

  • The UK’s second commercial quantum computer has come online

    California-based quantum circuitry company Rigetti has brought a commercially available quantum computer to the UK. Only the second in the country, it was installed in collaboration with Oxford Instruments NanoScience — a cryogenics company that provides the cooling needed for superconducting qubits. The system, supported by grants from the UK government, is Rigetti’s first UK-based quantum computer and will be accessible via the company’s cloud computing services. When it comes to...

  • TNW Podcast: Caroline Viarouge on EIT Manufacturing and EU-UK collaboration

     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 artificial general intelligence, repairable airbuds, some Wolverine nerdery, drone delivery adoption, and much more. The guest of the show is Caroline Viarouge, CEO at EIT Manufacturing. A big part of the conversation...

  • China still ASML’s biggest market, but falling sales cause drop in profit

    Amid the semiconductor industry’s slowdown and increasing geopolitical tensions, Dutch chip machine-maker ASML reported a decrease both in sales and profits. Europe’s most valuable tech company saw orders fall to €3.6bn in the first quarter of 2024, down from €9.2bn in the previous quarter. Its net profit also dropped to €1.2bn — a 37% decrease compared to Q4 2023. “We see 2024 as a transition,” ASML's President and CEO Peter Wennink said in a statement. Wennink expects a stronger...

  • In biggest-ever election year, tech platforms are wide open for voter manipulation

    Under orders from the EU, tech giants have launched 11 advertising transparency tools. None of them are fit for purpose, according to a new study from Mozilla. The tools provide libraries of data about online adverts. By exploring the repositories, researchers can identify the funders and techniques behind the ads. At least, that's the idea. The libraries are obligatory under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), a law designed to safeguard online environments. By shining a light on ad...

  • Air taxi firm raises $110M, plans to launch commercial service in 2026

    A British drone maker plans to launch air taxis in 2026 after raising a whopping $110mn. Skyports has already flown electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft on delivery and monitoring trials. The new funding brings commercial air taxis closer to the services on offer. The first flights are slated to take off in the United Arab Emirates. Earlier this year, Skyports inked a deal with authorities in Dubai to build four vertiports ahead of the launch of air taxi services in 2026....

  • Tree-planting search engine Ecosia to monitor reforestation from space

    Berlin-based Ecosia, best known as the tree-planting search engine, has teamed up with French startup Kanop to monitor its reforestation efforts from space. With around 20 million users, Ecosia is the world’s largest not-for-profit search engine. It is also one of the biggest tree-planters in the world. The company claims to have planted 200 million trees since its inception in 2009. To date, Ecosia has monitored its tree-planting efforts using ground-based observations. But with the help...

  • Google will outpace Microsoft in AI investment, DeepMind CEO says

    We have all been guilty of falling under the foundation model spell of the past year-and-a-half, initiated by OpenAI’s unveiling of ChatGPT to the public. But it is not only where large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-4 are concerned that incredible progress has been made in the field of artificial intelligence. And one company has been behind more impressive milestones than most — DeepMind, acquired by Google in 2014 for a reported £400mn to £650mn. Speaking at the TED 40th...

  • Dutch deep tech fund for photonics startups reaches €75M after second close

    PhotonVentures, a Dutch deep tech fund aiming to boost Europe’s photonics industry, has closed its second fundraising round with over €15mn — bringing its total capital to €75mn. The fund targets startups and scaleups developing solutions with photonic chips for a wide range of applications: from data transmission and health diagnostics to smart sensors, AI, AR, and VR. PhotonVentures will initially invest in 20 early-stage companies with international growth potential. It will focus on...

  • Dutch cultivated meat startup secures €40M for ‘world’s kindest burger’

    In 2013, Dutch scientist Mark Post unveiled the world’s first cultivated meat burger on live television — taking lab-grown meat from the realm of science fiction to science fact. Post ended up turning his invention into a startup called Mosa Meat. The new venture promised to bring the “world’s kindest burger” to supermarket shelves. Today, Mosa Meat announced it has secured another €40mn — just two years after closing a $85mn Series B funding round. Lowercarbon Capital and M Ventures led...

  • French software firm launches biggest IPO on EU stock exchange in 3 years

    French SaaS company Planisware launched its initial public offering (IPO) today, reaching a valuation of €1.11bn. This is the largest IPO on the Euronext Paris stock exchange in the past three years. Planisware was founded in 1996 by Yves Humblot, Pierre Demonsant, Matthieu Delille, and François Pelissolo. Planisware provides software for enterprise project portfolio management. It counts over 500 blue-chip clients across the globe, including PepsiCo and Pfizer, and employs circa 700 people. ...