AI learns to deceive, startups explode into space, fitness trackers are crushing IoT and more

Quick Hits

AI vs. Swift: AI beats drone race champs.

AI vs. T. Swift: Label signs AI pop singer.

Don’t tell the boss: AI attends meetings for you.

Playing doctor: ChatGPT found 72% effective.

Going up: iPhone prices.

X out: Two hours without tweets!

Europe only: Instagram nixes ads.

Hire aspiration: X recommends your next job.

Bot block: Papers fight AI data harvesting.

Smart e-pants: U.S. wants surveillance clothing.

‘Privacy nightmare’: Mozilla tests connected cars.

Autobahn charge: Germany expands EV network.

Chipping in: China commits $40B to industry.

Explode into space

India’s successful landing on the moon’s south pole is the latest evidence of a space renaissance. The U.S., Russia, China, India, and Israel are racing to space alongside commercial enterprises like SpaceX, and the cost of getting zero gravity is cratering. Japan’s Gitai raised fresh funds for moon robots; India’s Mansatu Space raised funds to help astronauts avoid collisions; and NASA is partnering with San Francisco’s TransAstra to clean up the debris that’s left behind with a giant inflatable bag.

AI-ventures in healthcare

Top venture firms are going big on healthtech amid the AI boom. They’re backing AI tools to help with patient care, improve clinical note-taking, and drug discovery—but there are limits. “We actually don’t think that generative AI is ready to do diagnoses,” the founder of Hippocratic AI says.

Crushing IoT

Studies find Fitbits and other IoT fitness trackers promote physical activity and family fun — but it’s a tricky habit to keep. People increased their daily step counts nearly 2k steps and boosted daily walking time by 40 minutes compared to their lives pre-wearable.

TeLLMe no lies

Meta’s CICERO is a “master of deception” among a growing list of AI agents powered by large language models (LLMs) that learn to deceive. Digital organisms taught themselves to lie in a game inspired by Among Us and to play dead in another simulator. Carnegie Mellon proved AI can bluff with the best of them at the poker table, and Cornell AI-powered deceptive negotiation.

Au revoir e-scooters

Paris is the first major European city to ban e-scooter rentals — five years after being one of the first to allow them. A public referendum repealed overwhelming (90%) support for the measure, which does not apply to private scooters.

X founder on ‘x-risk’

Elon Musk is among the tech leaders discussing “doomsday scenarios” with U.S. lawmakers. He and OpenAI founder Sam Altman belong to the camp warning of existential risk (“x-risk”); others want regulators to focus on more immediate issues like misinformation and bias.

Finding Trinidad in Wisconsin

Shipwreck hunters used modern tools to find a 19th century shipwreck (called the “Trinidad”) in Lake Michigan. They built a tow fish to deploy low-frequency sonar nearly 300 feet below the surface and then created a 3D map of the lake’s bottom to explore.

Tech workers remain in-demand

With only minor month-to-month fluctuations, tech sector employment and technology jobs across the economy have risen steadily in the last two years. Despite a topsy turvy start to the year, the tech unemployment rate is 2% in the U.S., nearly half the national average, which hovers around 3.7%.

Recently Funded

San Francisco-based Noetik, an AI drug discovery company, raised a $14M seed funding led by DCVC.

San Francisco-based space logistics startup TransAstra won an $850k NASA contract to develop an inflatable capture bag to transport orbital debris and asteroids.

Charlotte, North Carolina–based Mentra, which uses AI to help large companies hire neurodiverse employees, raised $3.5M seed round led by Shine Capital, with participation from Sam Altman’s venture firm Hydrazine Capital.

San Francisco-based Atomicwork, an employee support startup, raised an $11M seed round led by Blume Ventures and Matrix Partners.

New York-based Point.me, a “metasearch” engine for flights, raised a $10M Series A led by? Thayer Ventures.

London-based Opna, a carbon projects financing platform, raised a $6.5M seed round led by Atomico with participation from Tiny VC.

Miami-based Kind Designs, a developer of 3D-printed seawalls, raised a $5M seed round led by GOVO Venture Partners.

Belfast-based Enzai, a provider of AI governance software, raised a $4M seed round led by Cavalry Ventures.

Portland-based RideWithGPS, a bicycle route planning tool, secured $3M in funding from an undisclosed strategic investor.

Post of the Week

Podcasts of the Week

Driving Innovation in radio astronomy (ThoughtWorks)

What We’re Reading

Robots are pouring drinks in Vegas. As AI grows, the city's workers brace for change (NPR)

Potential Supreme Court clash looms over copyright issues in generative AI training data (VentureBeat)

The do’s and don’ts of using ChatGPT in your daily life (WashPo)

The generative AI boom should have been Appen’s time to shine. Here’s what went wrong (CNBC)

Starfield creator on 'choice anxiety', long games and exclusive titles (BBC)

Poll of the Week

Startups Hiring Now

Paxos: Building transparent and transformative financial solutions | 37 open roles

Arena: Autopilot for business-critical enterprise decision making | 4 open roles

Monad Labs: Highest-Performance Smart Contract Blockchain | 7 open roles

Help us spread the word: we'll pay you $200?for every friend you get hired through Wellfound!