Nintendo consoles have never had the strongest suite of shooters. The Switch 2 has the power to change that.

OpinionApril 10, 20254 min readScientists Need to Speak Out beyond the Classroom and the LabScience cannot operate like a black box and expect the trust of the publicBy Seven Rasmussen Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesThe day I first set foot on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s campus, an uncharacteristic heat baked the concrete walkways and radiated off the twisted steel facades. The quads were green, empty of students who had fled to air-conditioned lounges. Far off, the pavement seemed to shimmer with possibility. I did too—I felt like I had finally arrived. It was August of 2018. The story of a scientist that had begun at a community college in the Appalachian foothills was reaching its rightful zenith. But just like the ripples on the asphalt, it was a mirage.The fata morgana on my horizon was the illusion that science is a quiet, orderly, aristocratic thing. Science happened in million-dollar labs at Ivy League institutions—the kind with clean whiteboards, new equipment, and donor names over the doors. I thought science belonged on a pedestal behind a wall. I believed in the myth of the ivory tower.This isolationist model of science does not serve the society and the moment we live in. Public trust in science has sharply declined since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In January of 2019, 73 percent of Americans said that science had a “mostly positive effect on society.” By October of 2023, that number had fallen to 57 percent, according to the Pew Research Center. Even though the National Science Foundation reports that support for federal funding of scientific research has remained relatively steady for decades, nearly one in four Americans believe that scientists do not act in the best interest of the public.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Of course, there’s plenty of blame to go around outside the ivory tower. Many of society’s loudest voices decry vaccines or espouse conspiracy theories. With skepticism of mass media at a record high (39 percent of Americans report “no trust at all”), many turn to alternative, unvetted sources of news. One of the most popular podcasts of our era, The Joe Rogan Experience, has tens of millions of listeners across various platforms and hosts antivaccine speakers like Robert Malone, while praising notable antiscience voices such as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Americans also hear from their own members of Congress that global warming is a hoax, evolution is a lie, drinking unpasteurized (“raw”) milk is safe, and the federal government is concealing evidence of aliens. Even state governments cherry-pick the science—or lack thereof—that is included in public K–12 curricula.Science is uniquely poised to combat the creep of this agenda, but much like a creature finding itself in a hostile new environment, it must adapt. Scientists cannot continue to cordon themselves off from the world and simply expect the public to take their results at face value. If a person hears from a podcaster who says a vaccine will hurt them, but not from a scientist who might explain how it works, why should they take it? For many, surviving in a rapidly changing world means taking fewer risks. It means working with what you trust, what has worked in the past. It means being wary of the unfamiliar. Science is increasingly—intentionally—being pushed out of the realm of what you trust and into the realm of the unfamiliar. Scientists must resist this push. We owe this to society—to one another—because the people around us created the environment in which we were able to become scientists. We must remember that people who were not scientists built a world where a child who watches the stars barefoot from a hay meadow can grow up to be an astrophysicist.The ivory tower functions like a black box. Federal funding and faceless men in lab coats go in; vaccines, climate predictions and invasive computer algorithms come out. This starts with the apprenticeship model of education: professors take on one or a few graduate students and train them to become a professor themselves. Arriving at just the selection point is a gauntlet in itself, a playing field tilted in favor of those with wealth, and all the inequities contained within.In the ascent, students learn to conduct research, to write technical reports and to share high-level results with other scientists—all in the slim hopes of obtaining a permanent academic position. To speak of the realistic job market is taboo. To learn “soft” skills such as public speaking and accessible writing is worthy of scorn. To leave is to fail. As a result, science produces a glut of Ph.D.s without the skills or interest to engage with the real world problems their knowledge could help to solve.Dismantling the ivory tower for the good of society means challenging the process that creates scientists and the biases that underpin it. The apprenticeship model should not be discarded, but rebuilt, expanded. Graduate programs must shift their focus from minting lengthy resumes to creating scientists who understand the context in which their work belongs. They must stop regarding outreach and science communication as trivial distractions from research, and start making them mandatory, even central elements of the curriculum.Furthermore, we must shed the elitism that permeates our field. A scientific hierarchy, even one we believe to be meritocratic, always puts the people who need us most at the bottom. And why should anyone listen to someone who is talking down to them? We are not above the public. We are part of it, and we must use our training and our knowledge to better it.I wish I could bottle the way I felt that hot Cambridge day. I wish I could stash it away, to be enjoyed like a nostalgic perfume. Because as misguided as it was, it felt good. The ivory tower’s siren song promises a safe and certain world, a dishonest picture of science untroubled by the trials of the outside. It’s a mirage, a ghost ship that carries no passengers, an oasis without water. So we must press on without it, through a world that is dark and uncertain and very real. But free of our tower, we have the power to change it.This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

Do I play Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on Switch 2 or should I wait for Switch 3? At some point you've just got to jump in or you'll forever miss out. Image credit: Nintendo / Eurogamer Opinion by Tom Orry Editorial Director, Gamer Network Published on April 10, 2025 No, that's not a serious question, but it is very close to the way my mind has been working recently. Should I play the new big game now? If I wait a bit, maybe it'll get patched and be better? What if it gets updated for a Pro console? New generation consoles are only a few years away, and it's bound to be re-released for those, so maybe I should wait and play something else instead? Do the questions ever stop? Why must I overcomplicate everything? Breathe… how do I breathe!? In the old days, back when you could buy a new console for pennies (ignore the fact that a Sega Mega Drive would cost £550 in today's money), sweets also cost a penny, and people rode around on penny farthings, a game pretty much lived on one console. You bought it for the SNES and you only played it on the SNES. In some instances a game (usually a popular arcade game) would get a later release on a newer system, but generally something like The Alien 3 would be released on all the available consoles at the same time, and that would be that. You'd convince your parents to buy the version for your console, and that was done and dusted. Alien 3 ain't getting any better in the future. I didn't know it at the time, but that is a feeling I'd come to miss. Watch on YouTube Today, games move around with you or are re-released/remastered, making the decision about when to play something less obvious than it may seem. There may be even better examples, but Gears 5 (a game I think is a little underrated if you're wondering), is a brilliant achievement on Xbox One considering the hardware, but it's significantly better on Xbox One X, and even betterer on Xbox Series X. If you're not someone who replays games (some of us barely have time to play them a first time), there are some decisions to be made about what you play and when. This 'issue' I feel has become worse as we've seen the PC gaming space pull ahead of consoles in significant ways. In the 8-bit and 16-bit eras PC gaming was awkward and offered a very different experience to what we had on consoles. I wasn't jealous of what was on PC, although I did become heavily into PC gaming for a while from the mid-90s until I binned goblin mode and embraced life (read: I stopped playing Football Manager). Even so, most 32-bit games on PlayStation/Saturn looked so ropey that PCs weren't able to do much to make the situation better. Regardless, I was happy with my console games and gleefully played as many games as I could as soon as I could get my hands on them, warts and all. With the Xbox 360 we even had a console that was outperforming a lot of PCs. It was a great time to be a console gamer, but ever since then the gap has seemingly widened. Enthusiast PCs can offer vastly superior image quality to consoles and open up the opportunity for high-end ray tracing that consoles can only dream of. PS5 Pro narrows the gap a little, but to my eyes there's a stark difference to how a game like Cyberpunk 2077 looks on an Xbox Series X vs. a mid-high end gaming PC. Ignorance is bliss, I think, when it comes to console gaming, but sadly I've seen beyond and struggle to accept what is available now without a huge dollop of FOMO. My face when I think about the hoops I make myself jump through to play a game. | Image credit: Konami On a more day-by-day level, I've been struck down by something similar to this with the Silent Hill 2 remake. Firstly I waited for the PS5 Pro, which wasn't a huge hardship other than to my wallet, but since then the game has been widely discussed as having graphical issues that haven't been fixed. So I now find myself in backlog limbo, waiting around for an update that may never arrive, and that might not even fix the issue. (And this isn't even accounting for the fact it's a remake - imagine if I'd never played the original and had decided back in 2001 that I was going to wait for a remake built on the fifth generation of the Unreal Engine in 2024. Prophetic, for sure, but not wise.) Similarly, I've been playing Avowed on Series X but part of me is wondering if I'd be better off waiting for the PS5 Pro version that will hopefully clear up the game's ugly image ghosting. I'm starting to think I might have a problem, but I can't be the only one? Which brings me to Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. After about an hour or so with the game at launch I started to have a persistent and nagging thought: won't this be a lot better on the Switch 2? Back then the Switch 2 seemed to have a shot at releasing in 2024, too, so it wasn't such a ludicrous idea to wait for Nintendo's new console, and so I made my decision and stuck with it. From what I've seen, that choice seems to have been a wise one, even if the wait has been a fair bit longer than I expected. I prefer playing sprawling adventures like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom on a big screen, and the Switch 2 will make these games so much prettier, plus there are some neat new features coming via the updated Nintendo Switch mobile app. I'll probably start a new save, but you can carry on with your existing save file if you want. I did make the right decision, didn't I? I mean, I missed out on all the excited chat from everyone playing TotK at launch, and I didn't appreciate how good all those viral contraption videos were, and I only accidentally heard a handful of spoilers, and it's not as if I'll be spending all my free time playing Mario Kart World and not in fact Zelda, is it? Then Donkey Kong Bananza follows hot on its rear wheels, and then Metroid Prime 4. I should really play Silent Hill 2 at some point, too. What have I done to myself? Maybe I'll be waiting for the Switch 3 after all.

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here The latest free item in Fortnite is a loading screen that shows a stock market crash. The loading screen can be obtained by simply logging into the game by the end of the season, so you can easily add it to your locker. Interestingly, Epic Games released the loading screen on Tuesday, April 8, just hours ahead of a massive crash. The loading screen came out just a few weeks after the crypto rug pull in Fortnite, showing just how unstable the in-game economy is. Unfortunately, the real life doesn’t seem to be much better! The newest Fortnite item shows the stock market crash Big Dill is the most prominent figure in the current Fortnite season. This Soundcloud rapper has played a major role in the storyline and has even released Dill Bits, a new crypto coin. This business venture ended up with him pulling the rug and tanking the value of his currency. This has seemingly resulted in the market crash, which can be seen on the free loading screen. In a strange coincidence, the real-life stock market crashed on the same day as Fortnite’s did. Numerous companies have lost billions of dollars, but fortunately, the market has recovered since then. It’s hard to say what the future holds, but if Fortnite is a good indicator, we’re certainly in trouble! In the meantime, we’ll have to keep an eye on Big Dill, as he’s certainly up to no good. With Fortnite Chapter 6 – Season 3 releasing on May 2, the current storyline should conclude soon. However, it will be interesting to see how Epic Games will transition the story of a stock market crash into Star Wars. Let’s just hope that economic problems will not prevent Darth Sidious from building the Death Star! Fortnite Platform(s): Android, iOS, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X Genre(s): Action, Massively Multiplayer, Shooter 9 VideoGamer Related Topics Fortnite Subscribe to our newsletters! By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime. Share

It wasn’t until spring 2019 when it finally sold for $2.9 million—12 years later and 84% less than the home’s original listing. The Power producer reportedly planned to donate the cash from the sale to his nonprofit, G-Unit Foundation Inc. At the time of its sale, 50 Cent was reportedly living in an apartment in Midtown Manhattan, though details of that property are scarce. It may or may not have had a Versace toilet, per a 2015 interview with the New York Post.“I just don’t need the same things [anymore],” 50 Cent said in an interview with Haute Living in 2024. “I do things differently. Now, I know myself more. I know what I require, and I definitely don’t require 55,000 square feet. If I had 13 kids, maybe, they would fit comfortably in 18 rooms. Other than that, it’s just me. I really need three rooms total. A bedroom, an office, a guest bedroom.”Long Island dwellingIn 2007, 50 Cent paid a reported $2.4 million for a mansion in the Long Island hamlet of Dix Hills. The dwelling was a 5,200-square-foot Colonial with six bedrooms and five bathrooms, according to Newsday. It’s unclear if he ever actually resided at the home, but his ex-girlfriend, Shaniqua Tompkins, and their then-10-year-old son, Marquise, lived there when the residence was at the center of a dispute between the couple in 2008. In the midst of the legal battle, the house burned down in a fire that officials deemed “suspicious.” Since then, the former couple have continued to have a contentious relationship, and 50 Cent reportedly offloaded the vacant property for $365,000 in 2010.Houston homeThough no details have been released about his residence, 50 Cent announced in May 2021 that he had moved to Texas. “I Love NY, but I live in Houston now,” he posted. The Lone Star state was confirmed as the rapper’s primary residence by his lawyer the next month, when a New Jersey apartment rented by “one of [his] corporate entities” was burglarized. It’s unclear if he maintains a home in Houston.Black-and-white abode50 offered a peek into his latest mansion for Us Weekly’s August 2024 cover story. Featuring an exclusively black-and-white color scheme, the pad boasts marble floors, samurai statues, crystal chandeliers, and larger-than-life art appointed by the media mogul. “I put this together myself,” he told the outlet. “I didn’t use an interior decorator.” 50 Cent also shared glimpses of a trophy-lined office and a formal dining area with a nearby wine cellar. Per Us, the pad also has a spa complete with a sauna, cold plunge, and indoor lap pool.Though the rapper hasn’t disclosed the location of the boldly decorated dwelling, a New Jersey-based contractor van was parked outside during a tour of the space that 50 Cent shared on Instagram live.Business investments in LouisianaThough it’s unknown if he owns a home nearby, 50 Cent has most recently invested in real estate for his business ventures in downtown Shreveport, Louisiana, where the businessman has built a studio for his production company, G-Unit Studios. “The studio itself, it’s for me to create content, to go make television shows and films and stuff like that,” he said in July 2024. “But Shreveport, I have to be able to create an experience for people to come, so I started investing in the downtown area, buying properties and stuff. I got to revitalize that along with the studio.”

Back and Forth: President Trump has announced a 90-day pause on new tariffs against all countries except China, just a week after what experts called a "nuclear bomb" on global trade. Global reciprocal tariffs have been reduced to 10%, while anti-China taxes have surged to a historic 125%. The decision marks a sharp reversal from the steep tariffs the President announced on April 2, which included significant duties on imports from countries such as Japan (24%), Vietnam (46%), and Cambodia (49%). Last week's announcement sent markets into disarray: Nintendo delayed pre-orders for the recently announced Switch 2, customers rushed to Apple Stores fearing imminent price hikes, two laptop manufacturers paused US shipments, and Micron raised SSD prices, just to name a few. Alright, I think people knew of the tariff pause and traded it beforehand. You can see before Trump posted "buy" on Truth Social, traders opened $QQQ $TQQQ and $SPY calls RIGHT BEFORE THE NEWS, someone opened $SPY 509 calls, expiring TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those calls are up 2100% in one hour. [image or embed] – Unusual Whales (@unusualwhales.bsky.social) April 9, 2025 at 2:21 PM In a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed that the US has begun new trade negotiations with over 75 countries, framing the pause as a successful intimidation tactic. However, billionaire Elon Musk and members of the President's own party have criticized the tariffs, which far exceeded expectations. Some analysts are now questioning whether market activity surrounding the announcement points to deliberate stock manipulation. // Related Stories White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the current universal reciprocal tariff rate stands at 10%. However, The Washington Post noted that the total tariffs on Mexico and Canada remain unclear, possibly ranging between 10% and 35%. Trump appears to have stepped back from a full-blown global trade war just hours after the April 2 tariffs went into effect – but tensions with China are intensifying. The economic fallout could significantly impact prices and the availability of many goods. To recap: on April 2, the President raised anti-China tariffs to 54%, and later increased them to 104%. In response, China imposed an 84% tariff on US imports and began restricting exports of rare earth metals – a move that eerily mirrors the plot of Call of Duty: Black Ops II, which was released in 2012 and set in the year 2025. The White House then retaliated with the latest increase to 125%. TL;DR: The new U.S. tariff rate against our two largest trading partners is either 10%, 25% or 35%, and so far no one I've reached out to at the White House is able to tell me which. [image or embed] – Megan Cassella (@megancnbc.bsky.social) April 9, 2025 at 2:38 PM The pause on most tariffs for countries like Vietnam and Cambodia will likely bring relief to companies such as Nintendo, which had already begun shifting manufacturing away from China. However, divesting from the country is difficult. A recent Bloomberg report highlights that products like laptops, smartphones, batteries, and other small appliances are still heavily dependent on Chinese imports. Even when devices aren't assembled in China, they rely on supply chains that run through China and many other countries.

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Capitalism Innit Ubisoft argues The Crew players should've realised they weren't paying for "unfettered ownership" of a game and whips out the phrase "inactionable puffery" about some words on a box Ubi's lawyers aren't fans of folks suggesting the slogan "Never Drive Alone" should be legally binding. Image credit: Ubisoft News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on April 10, 2025 A response from Ubisoft and its lawyers to the claims of an ongoing lawsuit a number of The Crew players affected by the game's shutdown has surfaced, and it's an interesting read, if pretty depressing if you're still under the illusion that you actually own any of the games you've bought. If you're out of the loop, this legal battle's been in motion since last year, when Ubisoft deep-sixed the online driving game citing "necessary due to upcoming server infrastructure and licensing constraints". That led two players to accuse Ubisoft of violating California consumer protection laws, hence this court case that's all about what constitutes a game and what you're actually paying for when you buy one. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Will, in this response to the suit issued in Feburary this year - which has come to light now thanks to Polygon - Ubisoft's pretty clear that it thinks the players had no reason to believe they were buying "unfettered ownership." "To the extent it contains any substantive indications bearing on the reasonable consumer standard," reads on passage, "the Complainr indicates that a reasonable modern video game consumer would fully understand they were purchasing a limited licence to play The Crew. The packaging's warnings that Ubisoft could 'cancel access' to the game and that the software is 'subject to licence' dispelled readers of the idea they were obtaining unfettered ownership." Somewhat related to that, there's another passage that caught my eye reading through the response, and it involves the slogan you'll find on the back of the game's box. "In their most desperate Hail Mary," Ubisoft wrote, "plaintiffs allege that Ubisoft represented that consumers were obtaining full ownership of the game by including the tag line 'Never Drive Alone' on the packaging. That statement is a nod to the social nature of The Crew and the game's multiplayer function. It amounts to nothing more than inactionable puffery because it does not describe specific or absolute characteristics of the product." Damn, inactionable puffery. There's a phrase you don't see every day, and one I'll definitely now be using to describe any video game slogans or taglines I run into. Anyway, the plaintiffs - that's the players - responded to this with an amended complaint issued on March 18, which brought fresh allegations about The Crew's in-game currency and that Ubisoft implied the game would be playable for the long-haul due its packaging citing an activation code as not expiring until 2099. Ubisoft now has until April 29 to issue a response to that, as the argument rumbles on. Did you play a bunch of THe Crew before it shut down? Let us know below!

Image: NintendoYes, you read that right. Raised by Chozo, DNA spliced to hell and back, and with several incredibly demanding missions behind her, Super Metroid's Samus Aran — ex-Galactic Federation superstar (and part-time metal ball) — has somehow found the energy to start slapping big monsters around the Forbidden Lands. What an absolute legend. As shown in these Monster Hunter Wilds screens from @Rulia_Hermitaur, a talented artist can use the incredibly flexible character creation suite in Capcom's action-RPG (plus the right armour set) to fashion what we reckon is a very impressive rendition of everyone's favourite Ellen Ripley tribute act.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube806kWatch on YouTube Google Translate tells us that the Japanese below reads: "Samus finally joins Wildz! Of course there's Zero Suit Samus too!" As you can see, and especially in the shots of the character creator and the Zero Suit cutscene, this is some majorly impressive work. In fact, we're not sure Metroid: Zero Mission's slick outfit could have worked out much better than it has here. The legs on the default suit are also a very good likeness. Of course, what we really want to know, though, is if she turns into a ball when you keeping pressing the roll button to crouch (yes, there's a free MHW tip for you). Samus isn't the first Nintendo character, or even the first completely unrelated celebrity face to show up in Monster Hunter Wilds, either. Oh boy, not by a long shot. Indeed, a cursory check of the game's Reddit forums reveals that there's actually lots of really gre...wait...no...no there's been a mistake. Somebody has turned the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom into tents. Ok, not gonna lie, we're kind of jonesing for a range of Nintendo camping equipment now. This is quite impressive. However, we're really not sure about these next additions. MJ and Snoop Dogg have joined the Link Party! And even Old Gregg from The Mighty Boosh is getting involved. He's still Old Gregg. Still absolutely terrifying. Comment by u/OnshiftGamer from discussion in MonsterHunter Ok, that's quite enough. Happy thoughts. Keep busy. The nightmares will stop, eventually. Make sure to let us know of any fun Nintendo characters you've spotted in Monster Hunter Wilds (or any other game for that matter)! Check out our impressions of Samus' next adventure in our hands-on preview, too. Beyond expectations [source x.com, via reddit.com] Related Games See Also Share:0 0 PJ is a staff writer across Pure Xbox and Nintendo Life. He's been playing video games pretty much nonstop since the early 1980s, and enjoys boring people with tedious stories about how long ago that really is. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment... Related Articles Yep, Metroid Prime 4's Box Art For Switch 2 Is... Corrupted What have you done..? Hands On: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond On Switch 2 Is Staggering Beyond expectations Video: Street Fighter 6 Side-By-Side Comparison (Switch 2 & PlayStation 5) Get ready for 60fps, crossplay and exclusive modes Oops, Yoshi's Woolly World Featured In Switch 2's "Compatible Switch Games" What's going on here? Random: Of Course Nintendo Fans Are Already Camping Out For The Switch 2 Two months and counting!

How do you get talented engineers to work for a startup in a mundane field at a time when more exciting companies are paying well and hiring aggressively? Here’s an answer from one insurance startup out of Poland called Ominimo: make pay competitive, but more importantly, give those engineers the license to apply their talent and reinvent how the field works.  Launched on a bootstrapped budget just 12 months ago, Ominimo believes it’s found a different and better approach to understanding and pricing risk. The company says it’s already profitable and growing fast, with 300,000 policies signed up in its first market of Hungary. Now, to fuel its next stage of life, it’s taking its first outside investment from a strategic backer, Zurich Insurance Group. TechCrunch understands from sources that Zurich is making a €10 million (around $11 million) equity investment for 5% of the company, valuing Ominimo at €200 million ($220 million). Neither Ominimo nor Zurich commented on the amount invested, but both have confirmed the valuation.  Ominimo has raised funding at a time when one of the most well-known and well-capitalized insurance startups in Europe — the once-unicorn WeFox — is selling off parts of its business and picking up lifeline financing to stay afloat. WeFox serves as both a cautionary tale about how to grow an insurance business, but also a clear opportunity. Arguably the reason WeFox grew so fast was because of demand in the market (both from consumers and investors) — a startup only had to surf that wave without wiping out. Ominimo is already profitable, but it’s arguably a modest effort. Today the startup is active in just one market, Hungary, and focuses only on one kind of insurance, car insurance for consumers. The plan is to replicate its model in more geographies and categories. The company plans to expand into more than 10 more new markets, starting with Poland, Sweden and the Netherlands. Zurich Insurance will serve as its risk carrier, and Ominimo will operate as a broker, specifically a managing general agent, for Zurich. The startup is focusing initially on automotive insurance, but intends to add property insurance over time as well.  Dusan Komar, Ominimo’s CEO who co-founded the company with Dennis Weinbender (now chief pricing and data officer) and Laslo Horvath (CTO), saw the challenges the insurance industry faced first-hand when he worked for McKinsey. Major insurance firms, he said, were stuck because of three main issues: rigid legacy systems that were challenging, if not impossible, to use to launch new services quickly or work with newer innovations like AI-based pricing; slow decision-making processes at the corporate level; and talent.  “No brilliant software engineer or data scientist dreams of working for an insurance company,” he said.  McKinsey and others like it typically get called in to try to fix all three at once. Komar and his team would build new products from the ground up and “hand over the code” to the insurance client. “It worked to some extent, but not as perfectly as we would have hoped,” he said. Taking a cue from the worlds of fintech and other insurance startups, Komar and his two co-founders saw an opportunity to develop a product as their own company rather than for a client. They would use APIs to plug in features and functionality from other providers that they might not build themselves, and that is how Ominimo was born.  Ominimo is essentially applying some AI-based reasoning around big-data analytics. When building and pricing an insurance quote, a traditional insurance company might use five or six main parameters (age, economic bracket, type of vehicle, past driving history, or location of car) to determine a price. A newer insurer might add another 10 or 15 parameters to that.  “But there are some not-so-obvious variables that are actually super important,” Komar said. For instance, once you get the license plate of a vehicle, you can tap into a database, he said, which gives you 100 different variables about the vehicle, including the length, height, width and weight of the vehicle. “It’s interesting, for instance, to see that data shows a very strong correlation between the length of the car and the frequency of accidents during parking,” he said.  Ominimo takes all of these details, plus population density and more, into account to perform its calculations.  There are, of course, a lot of insurance startups in the market already that tout the use of AI across their platforms, both for decision-making in the back-end and to improve customer experience at the front-end. Ditto the existence of dozens of startups in fintech that also lay claim to being built on AI. Komar’s response to this is that Ominimo’s track record speaks for itself. “I think what really matters is actually performance in the market, so if you compare our performance to Lemonade’s [a key competitor], you will actually see the difference,” he said. He claimed that Ominimo’s “loss ratio” is below the market average, and it’s already picked up a market share of 7% in Hungary, the only country where it operates. As with a lot of the neobanks in the market — fintech and insurance really do have a lot in common — many “new” insurance players are doing less disruption under the hood as they are creating a more modern user experience.  “There is a difference between claiming to do data science in terms of risk assessment, and actually doing it,” he said. Many of his startup competitors, he believes, “have actually focused on superior customer experience, very nice front-ends, very lean and intuitive journeys. But there was not a lot under the hood.” Giving talent a place to do the kind of work they want to be doing, he claimed, is how Ominimo has attracted and retained key people. “We have eight medalists from mathematics and physics olympiads [prestigious competitions in these fields] among our data science team,” he said. “These are really brilliant young minds who now, for the first time, get to deploy their full potential on a global scale. And this really shows in the KPIs that we see.” That is also what attracted Zurich Insurance, which is looking for more diversified ways to bring in new waves of customers. “Growing our retail business profitably is a key ambition in Zurich’s 2025–2027 cycle. That is why I am delighted with DA Direkt’s distribution partnership with Ominimo, which will allow us to offer innovative motor insurance solutions and expand our retail customer base in Europe, beyond the markets in which Zurich is already present,” said Alison Martin, CEO of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Zurich Insurance Group, in a statement. “I am also pleased we are strengthening our relationship with a minority stake in Ominimo.”