In 1981, American physicist and Nobel Laureate, Richard Feynman, gave a lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) near Boston, in which he outlined a revolutionary idea. Feynman suggested that the strange physics of quantum mechanics could be used to perform calculations.The field of quantum computing was born. In the 40-plus years since, it has become an intensive area of research in computer science. Despite years of frantic development, physicists have not yet built practical quantum computers that are well suited for everyday use and normal conditions (for example, many quantum computers operate at very low temperatures). Questions and uncertainties still remain about the best ways to reach this milestone.What exactly is quantum computing, and how close are we to seeing them enter wide use? Lets first look at classical computing, the type of computing we rely on today, like the laptop I am using to write this piece.Classical computers process information using combinations of bits, their smallest units of data. These bits have values of either 0 or 1. Everything you do on your computer, from writing emails to browsing the web, is made possible by processing combinations of these bits in strings of zeroes and ones.Quantum computers, on the other hand, use quantum bits, or qubits. Unlike classical bits, qubits dont just represent 0 or 1. Thanks to a property called quantum superposition, qubits can be in multiple states simultaneously. This means a qubit can be 0, 1, or both at the same time. This is what gives quantum computers the ability to process massive amounts of data and information simultaneously.Imagine being able to explore every possible solution to a problem all at once, instead of once at a time. It would allow you to navigate your way through a maze by simultaneously trying all possible paths at the same time to find the right one. Quantum computers are therefore incredibly fast at finding optimal solutions, such as identifying the shortest path, the quickest way.Different qubits can be linked via the quantum phenomenon of entanglement.Jurik Peter / ShutterstockThink about the extremely complex problem of rescheduling airline flights after a delay or an unexpected incident. This happens with regularity in the real world, but the solutions applied may not be the best or optimal ones. In order to work out the optimal responses, standard computers would need to consider, one by one, all possible combinations of moving, rerouting, delaying, cancelling or grouping, flights.Every day there are more than 45,000 flights, organised by over 500 airlines, connecting more than 4,000 airports. This problem would take years to solve for a classical computer.On the other hand, a quantum computer would be able to try all these possibilities at once and let the best configuration organically emerge. Qubits also have a physical property known as entanglement. When qubits are entangled, the state of one qubit can depend on the state of another, no matter how far apart they are.This is something that, again, has no counterpart in classical computing. Entanglement allows quantum computers to solve certain problems exponentially faster than traditional computers can.A common question is whether quantum computers will completely replace classical computers or not. The short answer is no, at least not in the foreseeable future. Quantum computers are incredibly powerful for solving specific problems such as simulating the interactions between different molecules, finding the best solution from many options or dealing with encryption and decryption. However, they are not suited to every type of task.Classical computers process one calculation at a time in a linear sequence, and they follow algorithms (sets of mathematical rules for carrying out particular computing tasks) designed for use with classical bits that are either 0 or 1. This makes them extremely predictable, robust and less prone to errors than quantum machines. For everyday computing needs such as word processing or browsing the internet, classical computers will continue to play a dominant role.There are at least two reasons for that. The first one is practical. Building a quantum computer that can run reliable calculations is extremely difficult. The quantum world is incredibly volatile, and qubits are easily disturbed by things in their environment, such as interference from electromagnetic radiation, which makes them prone to errors.The second reason lies in the inherent uncertainty in dealing with qubits. Because qubits are in superposition (are neither a 0 or 1) they are not as predictable as the bits used in classical computing. Physicists therefore describe qubits and their calculations in terms of probabilities. This means that the same problem, using the same quantum algorithm, run multiple times on the same quantum computer might return a different solution each time.To address this uncertainty, quantum algorithms are typically run multiple times. The results are then analysed statistically to determine the most likely solution. This approach allows researchers to extract meaningful information from the inherently probabilistic quantum computations.From a commercial point of view, the development of quantum computing is still in its early stages, but the landscape is very diverse with lots of new companies appearing every year. It is fascinating to see that in addition to big, established companies like IBM and Google, new ones are joining, such as IQM, Pasqal and startups such as Alice and Bob. They are all working on making quantum computers more reliable, scalable and accessible.In the past, manufacturers have drawn attention to the number of qubits in their quantum computers, as a measure of how powerful the machine is. Manufacturers are increasingly prioritising ways to correct the errors that quantum computers are prone to. This shift is crucial for developing large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers, as these techniques are essential for improving their usability.Googles latest quantum chip, Willow, recently demonstrated remarkable progress in this area. The more qubits Google used in Willow, the more it reduced the errors. This achievement marks a significant step towards building commercially relevant quantum computers that can revolutionise fields like medicine, energy and AI.After more than 40 years, quantum computing is still in its infancy, but significant progress is expected in the next decade. The probabilistic nature of these machines represents a fundamental difference between quantum and classical computing. It is what makes them fragile and hard to develop and scale.At the same time, it is what makes them a very powerful tool to solve optimisation problems, exploring multiple solutions at the same time, faster and more efficiently that classical computers can.Domenico Vicinanza, Associate Professor of Intelligent Systems and Data Science, Anglia Ruskin UniversityThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Story by The Conversation An independent news and commentary website produced by academics and journalists. 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There are a handful of challenges that many developers like to tackle as something of a rite of passage to prove their coding worth.One is creating a compiler. That fundamental building block of many programming languages translates the more human-understandable code into something a computer understands.Another and far more ambitious challenge is building an operating system. The scope is almost limitless. You could create a Linux distribution, which often requires less coding, but more assembling of pre-existing packages and dependencies. You could create a command line operating system that works on limited hardware or on a low-level machine. Or you can create an all-singing, all-dancing graphical operating system in an attempt to take on the Windows, macOS, and Linux oligopoly.Finally, theres a browser. On the surface, this doesnt seem as difficult as an operating system, but think of how complex websites have become and the thousands of things a browser needs to handle. Like creating a Linux distribution, you could take an open-source rendering engine, the part that converts the code behind web pages to what you see and interact with, and add an interface. This is the approach many browsers take. Alternatively, you could create everything from scratch and challenge the Chromium (Google Chrome, Edge, Brave, and more) and WebKit (Safari and others) duopoly. A battle that even the venerable Firefox is slowly losing.Register NowOr you could do all three.Andreas Kling is one of the people trying to do that.Kling rose to broader public attention around 2018, when he started working on SerenityOS, a retro-inspired operating system built completely from scratch as something of a project to help Kling get through a drug recovery program.I tried to figure out what to do after rehab, which was like six hours a day, every day, the Swedish programmer recalls. And when that ended, what was I supposed to do? I now had these full empty days with nothing to do and all this energy. And I just needed something to do. So, I just started programming, which is what I always do. And I started building an operating system because I thought that would be fun.From Serenity to the LadybirdSerenityOS found success for two main reasons: it was a perfect project for experienced hackers and it gained attention thanks to Klings regular coding live streams where he worked on the OS.The SerenityOS codebase is a monorepo, meaning that contributors can find the code for all functionality in one place. This means they could start with an interest in working on the text editor but gain experience by also digging into and becoming involved with the code that interacts with the host hardware. One of the most popular components of SerenityOS was the Ladybird browser. More on that later.Over time, Klings live streams attracted thousands who would watch him code and struggle to solve problems in the Serenity codebase. This helped viewers learn, and helped Kling overcome shyness and emerge from a reclusive lifestyle to become accountable to an increasingly large group of people.At one point, nearly the same number of contributors were involved with Ladybird as Serenity. This situation created challenges for the different contributor groups and led Kling to realise that the web could do with a new browser and browser engine. People were eager to work on this and, more importantly, to finance its development.While Kling had received reasonable but small donations throughout the lifespan of Serenity and Ladybird, in 2023, Ladybird attracted larger donations from Shopify and Chris Wandsworth, a GitHub cofounder.I reached out to Wandsworth and asked, Hey, do you like Serenity? Do you like browsers, too? says Kling. We connected over this idea of building an open-source browser and trying to avoid the mistakes other open-source browsers have been making, especially regarding how they pay for stuff.The browser driveThis isnt Klings first experience building browsers. For two years, he worked on building browsers for the Qt team at Nokia. Qt is a cross-platform toolkit for building native applications used in various use cases, some of which you likely use daily. In the early 2000s, Qt was pushed as an option to counter the rise of Android and iOS. Those attempts failed, but the project continues, and you can find many engineers from that era spread across European tech.The Qt browsers used WebKit, which has a long and scattered history but is now primarily the rendering engine in Apples Safari, which led to Kling working on Apples WebKit team. Working for a US company from Sweden for nearly six years took its toll, leading to the drug problem mentioned earlier and where our story about Ladybird began.So why build a new browser at all?Its an interesting time for the browser market. There are dozens of intriguing competitors to the dominance of Google Chrome and Apples Safari, but they barely dent their combined market share of 85%. Even Safari accounts for only 17% of that number. Microsofts Edge comprises about 5%, Firefox is around 2.5%, and all the rest register such small percentages that you can barely make them out on charts. Despite this, 1 or 2% of 5 billion internet users are still tens of millions of people and a decent-sized business, so browsers like Brave, Arc, and DuckDuckGo, while barely registering on usage charts, are making decent progress.However, without the weight of Googles advertising revenue (though, in the age of AI chatbots, this is less certain) or Apples hardware and services profits behind them, they have to find some way to fund their operations. People dont expect to have to pay for a browser, so can they convince enough users to either subscribe (Arc) or use privacy-focused ads (Brave and DuckDuckGo) or tokens (Brave again)?Money for the LadybirdKling plans for Ladybird to be donation-supported, which is challenging for platforms aiming to become market leaders. Could Signal survive on just donations if its user base scaled from the current 70 million to WhatsApps 2 billion per month? Could Mastodon survive if it scaled from its 10 million users to the 3 billion per month of Facebook? It would be a challenge.But again, you dont need a large share of users to be viable and do something meaningful. As Kling puts it:We feel there should be a browser not beholden to the advertising industry or anybody else for funding. Donations are all no strings attached, so you cant get us to do anything besides putting your logo on our website.The world should have a browser that, even if we cant throw a thousand engineers at performance, we believe we can build something thats useful to people and works well enough that people would like it.Browser standardsAnother reason for building a new browser and rendering engine is standards. While it was during the webs nascent days, anyone old enough to remember the dominance of Internet Explorer will remember how many websites wouldnt work in anything but Internet Explorer. With the number of websites I encounter that seem to have only been tested to work in Chromium-based (the open source core of Google Chrome and many other browsers) browsers, sometimes it feels much the same today. The webs loose standards body, the W3C, publishes specifications and standards on many web features. None of them is binding, and browser engines can interpret them differently, not at all, or use their alternatives instead. With Chromium browsers so dominant, users can come to expect web pages to work a certain way, even if its not the standard way. And as frustrating as this might be for the spirit of the open and compliant web, with a 70% market share, why should designers and developers spend time building for targets other than Chromium?Kling hopes Ladybird will stick to and implement the W3C specifications as much as possible.Sticking to the spec is one big reason people like what were doing. And its a big part of why we want to make a browser. We want to make one that follows the specs, and that proves that the specs are implementable.Despite its early stages, Ladybird already has representatives in W3C working groups contributing to the project.We even have people from the W3C who now actively hang out in our community and actively contribute to Ladybird, says Kling. And this [plan to stick to spec] is sort of what got them interested.Building for impactKling and the Ladybird project aim for an alpha release around mid-2026, which sounds like a long time away, but the project has seven full-time engineers starting from scratch. In comparison, while there are no exact figures, thats a tiny fraction of the probable size of the Chrome team, and the Chromium project alone has nearly as many lines of code as the Linux Kernel.At Ladybird, Kling aims to prioritise the largest impacts.I dont have a full picture of everything needed, but its fairly complicated, he says. One issue were having is that we have to figure out what gives the most benefit across the board.We could spend a bunch of time getting games to work well in the browser, but maybe that doesnt benefit most websites, even though its fun to do that kind of stuff. We want broad compatibility at reduced fidelity with a large part of the popular web.Freeing the LadybirdThe interests and enthusiasm of the contributor community will guide much of the feature development. As Kling says, sometimes this leads to less popular decisions.We are deferring on a bunch of things that are not popular. So were deferring on Windows and mobile. iOS outside of Europe is basically locked down browser-wise anyway.Contributing to a browser isnt the simplest task, even as an experienced developer, but if Ladybird and what it stands for interests you, one task anyone (on macOS and Linux) can get involved with is testing websites to see if they work and if not, why not.The web and how we interact with it is in a state of change. A change we can be an active part of if we want it.Weve all been shepherded into this reality where a big advertising company controls the web, says Kling. Weve accepted that thats just the way things are. And then the idea that maybe it doesnt have to be that way. I think that appeals to people. Story by Chris Chinchilla Technology writer, podcaster, and video maker by day. Fiction, games, and music by night.chrischinchilla.com Technology writer, podcaster, and video maker by day. 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DeepSeek proves that Silicon Valley cant monopolise AI innovation, according to a European AI entrepreneur.Muj Choudhury, the CEO and co-founder of British voice processing startup RocketPhone, welcomed DeepSeeks rapid rise. He hopes the Chinese company signals a shift in the balance of AI power.AI development has long been dominated by Silicon Valleys powerful VC firms, which wield immense influence by pouring vast sums into the technology and shaping its trajectory, he said.In this landscape, an outsider like DeepSeek breaking through is not just impressive. Its necessary.The industry needs challengers to drive real innovation and prevent AIs future from being monopolised by a handful of players.That handful has certainly been shaken by DeepSeeks emergence. The Chinese startups AI assistant has overtaken ChatGPT to reach the top spot on the Apple App Stores free app rankings.The of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!The companys open-source models have also stunned the market. In tests, theyve outperformed rival models from OpenAI and Meta at just a fraction of the operating costs.The advances have shaken the stock market. According to Choudhury, theyve proven that AI innovation isnt dictated by access to supercomputers or Silicon Valley funding.Fresh from raising $10.5mn for his own startup, Choudhury has growing optimism for Europes AI scene.He wants DeepSeek to inspire the continents tech sector,which is struggling to commercialise AI innovations.For European startups, who have historically excelled at building focused, efficient solutions rather than chasing scale at all costs, DeepSeeks rise suggests theres room for strategic players who can execute well without massive capital outlays, he said.Perhaps this shift will finally allow us to focus on what truly matters: building practical AI systems that solve real enterprise problems and deliver tangible business value, rather than chasing the next viral consumer app. Story by Thomas Macaulay Managing editor Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he e (show all) Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse). Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

DeepSeek sent ripples through the global tech landscape this week as it soared above ChatGPT in Apples app store. The meteoric rise has shifted the dynamics of US-China tech competition, shocked global tech stock valuations, and reshaped the future direction of artificial intelligence (AI) development.Among the industry buzz created by DeepSeeks rise to prominence, one question looms large: what does this mean for the strategy of the third leading global nation for AI development the United Kingdom?The generative AI era was kickstarted by the release of ChatGPT on November 30 2022, when large language models (LLMs) entered mainstream consciousness and began reshaping industries and workflows, while everyday users explored new ways to write, brainstorm, search and code. We are now witnessing the DeepSeek moment a pivotal shift that demonstrates the viability of a more efficient and cost-effective approach for AI development.DeepSeek isnt just another AI tool. Unlike ChatGPT and other major LLMs developed by tech giants and AI startups in the USA and Europe, DeepSeek represents a significant evolution in the way AI models are developed and trained.Most existing approaches rely on large-scale computing power and datasets (used to train or improve the AI systems), limiting development to very few extremely wealthy market players. DeepSeek not only demonstrates a significantly cheaper and more efficient way of training AI models, its open-source MIT licence (after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where it was developed) allows users to deploy and develop the tool.This helps democratise AI, taking up the mantle from US company OpenAI whose initial mission was to build artificial general intelligence (AGI) that is safe and benefits all of humanity enabling smaller players to enter the space and innovate.By making cutting-edge AI development accessible and affordable to all, DeepSeek has reshaped the competitive landscape, allowing innovation to flourish beyond the confines of large, resource-rich organisations and countries.It has also set a new benchmark for efficiency in its approach, by training its model at a fraction of the cost, and matching even surpassing the performance of most existing LLMs. By employing innovative algorithms and architectures, it is delivering superior results with significantly lower computational demands and environmental impact.Why DeepSeek mattersDeepSeek was conceived by a group of quantitative trading experts in China. Thisunconventional origin holds lessons for the UK and US.While the UK particularly London has long attracted scientific and technological excellence, many of the highest achieving young graduates have tended to disproportionately opt for careers in finance, something that has come the expense of innovation in other critical sectors such as AI. Diversifying the pathways for Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) professionals could yield transformative outcomes.The UK governments recent and much-publicised 50-point action plan on AI offers glimpses of progressive intent, but also displayed a lack of boldness to drive real change. Incremental steps are not sufficient in such a fast-moving environment. The UK needs a new plan one that leverages its unique strengths while addressing systemic weaknesses.Firstly, its important to recognise that the UKs comparative advantage lies in its leading interdisciplinary expertise. World-class universities, thriving fintech and dynamic professional services and creative sectors offer fertile ground for AI applications that extend beyond traditional tech silos. The intersection of AI with finance, law, creative industries and medicine presents opportunities to lead in some niche but high-impact areas.The UKs funding and regulatory frameworks are due an overhaul. DeepSeeks development underscores the importance of agile, well-funded ecosystems that can support big, ambitious moonshot projects. Current UK funding mechanisms are bureaucratic and fragmented, favouring incremental innovations over radical breakthroughs, at times stifling innovation rather than nurturing it. Simplifying grant applications and offering targeted tax incentives for AI startups would represent a healthy start.Finally, it will be critical for the UK to keep its talent in the country. The UKs AI sector faces a brain drain as top talent gravitates toward better-funded opportunities in the US and China. Initiatives such as public-private partnerships for AI research development can help anchor talent at home.DeepSeeks rise is an excellent example of strategic foresight and execution. It doesnt merely aim to improve existing models, but redefines the very boundaries of how AI could be developed and deployed while demonstrating efficient, cost-effective approaches that can yield astounding results. The UK should adopt a similarly ambitious mindset, focusing on areas where it can set global standards rather than playing catch-up.AIs geopolitics cannot be ignored either. As the US and China compete with one another, the UK has a critical role to play as the trusted intermediary and ethical leader in AI governance. By championing transparent AI standards and fostering international collaboration, the UK can punch above its weight on the global stage.DeepSeeks success should serve as a wake-up call. Britain has the talent, institutions and entrepreneurial spirit to be a significant leading player in AI but it must act decisively, and now.It is time to remove token gestures and embrace bold strategies that move the needle and position the UK as a leader in an AI-driven future. This moment calls for action, not just more conversation.DeepSeek has raised the bar. It is now up to the UK to meet it.Feng Li, Chair of Information Management, Associate Dean for Research & Innovation, Bayes Business School, City St Georges, University of LondonThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Story by The Conversation An independent news and commentary website produced by academics and journalists. 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From 2013 to 2023, the number of ICT specialists in the EU increased by 59.3% according to Eurostat. In that period, most of these tech workers were found in Germany, which provided employment for 21.5% of the EUs ICT specialistsunsurprising when you consider the fact that the country is home to a myriad of high-tech companies and organisations such as SAP, Siemens, Bosch, and Audi.France had the second largest share at 13.8%, with Italy and Spain representing 9.9% and 9.6% respectively. While the demand for tech workers is increasing, this is happening in tandem with a worsening skills gap.5 software roles to apply for nowLabour market challenges2024 data from Eurostat shows that 57.5% of EU businesses just cant recruit necessary ICT talent, and that the gap between labour demand and actual employment has grown by 20% in the past ten years. Large companies arent faring much better with 68% unable to fill all their open tech roles.The skills gap looks set to worsen as new technologies open up demand for emerging job roles.Register NowAdditionally, universities and learning institutions often cant keep up with ever-changing technology requirements. The length of many higher education courses means that qualified tech talent is often in a pipeline that is simply too long for wider hiring needs.The European Commission is highly aware of its ongoing skills gap issue and the threat that this poses for economic expansion. It is seeking to address it with a series of measures which include up- and reskilling needs, improving labour and skill forecasting and addressing individual and structural barriers to labour market participation, for example.The recent Future of Jobs report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) has identified 15 of the fastest-growing job titles by 2030. These are highly tech focused and include big data specialists, fintech engineers, AI and ML specialists, plus software and applications developers. Security management specialists, data warehousing specialists, UI and UX designers, IoT specialists, data analysts, information security analysts, and DevOps engineering roles will also increase.New opportunities for software devsFor software developers in particular, emerging technologies are set to significantly impact their skillsets and career trajectories this year and beyond.Think of the continued expansion of artificial intelligence and machine learning as one key area of growth. Additionally, low-code/no-code platforms, cloud-native development, edge computing, DevSecOps, quantum computing, natural language processing (NLP), and robotic process automation (RPA) are more technologies software developers may need to get to grips with.The WEF says that Three technologies in particular are set to have the biggest impact: robots and automation, energy generation and storage technology, and AI and information processing.It found that 86% of leaders expect AI and information processing technologies to transform their business by 2030. That will lead to a rise in the jobs available and the skills required, which may prompt the rise of focused roles such as generative AI engineer, AI ethicist, prompt engineer, remote AI training specialist, robotics software engineer, AI product manager and business intelligence developer with AI focus.Quantum computing is also a rapidly emerging field and as it continues to advance, a variety of new job titles are likely to emerge, reflecting the unique skills and expertise required in this cutting-edge field.Think roles for quantum optimisation engineers, quantum algorithm developers, quantum software engineers, and application specialists, for example. Roles could also develop for quantum error correction specialists, quantum machine learning scientists, quantum health researchers, quantum data scientists, and quantum sensing engineers.Upskilling for the futureSkill gaps represent opportunities for software engineers with the right skills. However, keeping up with an ever-changing industry can be daunting. Developers who want to stay ahead of emerging technologies and job titles over the next five years can adopt several strategies.Continuous learning and upskilling is a key aspect to focus on. Online courses, certifications and bootcamps, and coding workshops can all hone and develop your skills. Platforms like Coursera, edX, or Pluralsight can be used to develop skills that are focused on specific technologies such as low-code/no-code development, or AI frameworks like TensorFlow and PyTorch, for example.If you arent getting the experience youd like within your current work environment, think about developing personal projects using new technologies. This will give you valuable hands-on experience, and could involve creating applications with AI capabilities or exploring quantum computing simulations.You can also contribute to or collaborate on open-source projects to apply new skills in real-world scenarios, while gaining visibility within the developer community. Keep your curiosity going by joining relevant professional networks, both on and offline.Conferences and meetups are another rich resource to mine, and you can be among the first to learn about the latest trends, as well as network with your peers.Lastly, think about how you can make yourself the most employable youve ever been by identifying and then focusing on niche skills. Generative AI, ethical AI practices, or quantum algorithm development are just some to look at. Exploring how emergent technologies can intersect with other industries can also significantly broaden your career opportunities.Ready to look for a new tech role? Check out The Next Web Job Board now Story by Kirstie McDermott Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Content provided by Amply and TNWAlso tagged with

Shares in ASML have bounced back from the hit inflicted by DeepSeeks AI advances. Celebrating the results, ASML predicted that the sudden emergence of low-cost models will boost demand for the firms semiconductor machines.The companys stock price rose by over 10% on Wednesday after the Dutch business reported impressive orders for its chip-making equipment. The tools produce the most advanced semiconductors in the world and ASML is the only company that manufactures them.This dominant position has made ASML the second most valuable tech firm in Europe. But the business was shaken on Monday by DeepSeeks rapid AI progress.Last week, the Chinese company released a new chatbot and models with a stunning blend of high performance and low cost.The of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!The results sent tech stocks spiralling. Nvidia set an alarming precedent, suffering the largest rout in market history.Shares in ASML slumped by as much as 12%. But the company has been reinvigorated by strong results from 2024.The firm reported total annual sales of 28.3bn just above its forecast of 28bn. Net bookings, meanwhile, surged to 7.1bn in the fourth quarter of 2024 169% above the 2.63bn reported in Q3.Christophe Fouquet, ASMLs CEO, expects demand for the companys machines to grow. He told CNBC that the business will benefit from rise oflow-cost AImodels developed by the likes of DeepSeek.A lower cost of AI could mean more applications, Fouquet said. More applications means more demand over time. We see that as an opportunity for more chips demand. Story by Thomas Macaulay Managing editor Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he e (show all) Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse). Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Stunning AI advances from Chinese startup DeepSeek have sent tech stocks tumbling across the US and Europe.DeepSeek released a free chatbot and new open-source AI models last week. Within days, the chatbot had overtaken ChatGPT to reach the top spot on the Apple App Stores free app rankings.The new R1 models sent further shockwaves through the AI world. R1 promised performance to rival OpenAI tops reasoning model at just a fraction of the cost. Marc Andreessen, one of the worlds most powerful VCs, called the release AIs Sputnik moment.The markets were also astounded. Shaken by the threat of a powerful, low-cost AI challenger from China, shares in US tech titans plummeted on Monday. Chip designer Nvidia set an alarming example. The chip designer suffered the largest rout in stock market history.The of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!European semiconductor firms were also hit hard. Shares in Dutch chip leader ASML the continents most valuable public tech company slumped by as much as 12%.Semiconductor firms Besi and Asm International also endured double-digit drops. Yet chip companies were not the only European businesses to feel a painful impacts.The continents power equipment makers were also clobbered. Stocks plummeted particularly sharply at Germanys Siemens Energy and Frances Schneider Electric.Amid the market torment, DeepSeek has also sparked excitement. By offering powerful yet affordable open-source models, the startup could accelerate the spread of AIs benefits across the world. For the sectors established leaders, however, the landscape has been shaken. Story by Thomas Macaulay Managing editor Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he e (show all) Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse). Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Remember when spotting a drone in the sky was a novelty? Now its like playing whack-a-mole with flying machines. Delivery drones, military drones, AI drones, hobby drones our skies are busier than the queue at airport security. Without air traffic control, were one step away from midair collisions and drones arguing over parking spots.Enter AirDodge, a Norwegian startup thats stepping in to tame the chaos. The Oslo-based company just secured a $500,000 pre-seed funding round, led by VC firms Nordic Makers and Antler. The investment will help AirDodge develop its U-Space software platform, designed to manage large-scale drone operations across Europe.At AirDodge, we envision a future where drones seamlessly integrate into the airspace, contributing positively to various industries while ensuring safety and compliance, said Umar Chughtai, who founded AirDodge in 2022. This funding will allow us to accelerate the development of our U-Space platform, bringing us closer to realising that vision.The AirDodge platform provides a real-time map of drone activity and aims to simplify the process of obtaining flight permissions. The tech aligns with the EUs U-Space standards which are designed to provide safe, efficient and secure access to airspace for large numbers of unmanned aircraft, operating automatically and beyond visual line of sight.The of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!In 2018, Londons Gatwick airport was forced to shut down after drones were spotted flying near the runway. The incident affected around 1,000 flights and 140,000 passengers. Many similar incidents have occurred over the years, from Stockholm to Frankfurt.If AirDodges tech had been around during the Gatwick fiasco, it couldve spotted the rogue drones in real-time, flagged them faster than airport security can confiscate a water bottle, and perhaps kept flights running smoothly. By enforcing no-fly zones and syncing drones with air traffic control, the platform might have saved 140,000 passengers a lot of headaches (and missed connections).Drone technology has the potential to have a positive impact on society, business and public services, but there is not yet a way to guarantee safety, said Kristian Jul Rsj, partner at Antler. High-profile disruptions are hindering the development of this technology and AirDodge will provide a much-needed solution.AirDodge will use the pre-seed funding to accelerate the development of its platform. The company aims to launch the alpha version in mid-2025.Across the EU, the market for drone services is soaring. One projection valuing it at 14.5bn by 2030, bringing in 145,000 new jobs. But as drones proliferate, so do the challenges.We have the drones, but we lack the infrastructure, said Nima Tisdall, partner at Nordic Makers. In this case, the infrastructure is not roads, plumbing, or electrical wires; but rather ethereal communication systems.Tisdall added that Airdodge had unusual strengths for the region.The founding team is forceful and ambitious qualities that can be surprisingly rare to find in Nordic entrepreneurs, but integral in building a category-winning business, she said. Were excited to be supporting a local player who can help unlock the large-scale adoption of drones across Europe. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Swedish startup Adsorbi has secured 1mn to ramp up production of a cellulose-based material that sucks up pollutants from the air.Mets Spring, the venture arm of the Finnish forestry giant, led the funding round alongside Chalmers Ventures and Jovitech Invest.We are planning to launch the pilot plant in June and we will be equipped to meet our customer demands while maintaining consistent quality, Hanna Johansson, CEO of Adsorbi, told TNW via email. The facility will have an expected capacity of 100 tonnes per year.Johansson co-founded Adsorbi in 2022 alongside Christian Lfvendahl, Romain Bordes, and Kinga Grenda. The team spun out the company from materials research at the ChalmersUniversity of Technology in Gothenburg.Limited tickets available - Book NowBordes and Grenda, the chief researchers, originally wanted to develop new ways to protect works of art from harmful pollution. But in the process, they discovered a way to turn cellulose from Swedens abundant forests into an air purification material with wide-ranging applications.Adsorbis material can be used wherever gaseous air pollutants are a problem, from air filters to products that remove odours. Continuing the teams initial objective, the startup also works with museums to protect artefacts and artworks.The substance which looks like little, white pieces of sponge promises a better, greener alternative to activated carbon, the current market standard. Adsorbi claims its product lasts longer, doesnt release any hazardous organic compounds back into the air, and is water and fire-resistant. Plus, the material has half the carbon footprint of activated carbon, the startup said. Handily, the substance also changes colour to indicate when it needs to be replaced. Adsorbis material can be used in air filters, products that remove odours, and in museums to protect works of art. Credit: AdsorbiAir pollutant control is needed in many markets, and were ready to offer a commercial solution that ensures the air we breathe is clean without extensive use of fossil-based materials, said Johansson.Air pollution is something we usually associate with the outdoors. However, indoor air can be two to five times more polluted than outdoor air, according to the American Lung Association.Adsorbis patented material is designed to capture nitrogen oxides like nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) major contributors to air pollution as well as acids and aldehydes. The latter is commonly found in cosmetics, perfumes, cleaning products, odourant dispensers, and grooming aids.Last September, Adsorbi launched eco-friendly shoe deodoriser inserts in partnership with footwear giant Icebug and odour reducer Smellwell. The company said it is also working with multinational air filtration companies on several other products, including air fresheners and sustainable art conservation products. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Spanish tech star TravelPerk has raised a whopping $200mn and sealed the acquisition of expenses platform Yokoy.The investment values TravelPerk at $2.7bn almost double last years $1.4bn valuation. The business travel giant said the funds would fuel further product development and expansion into the US. European VC firm Atomico led the Series E investment.Alongside the cash injection, TravelPerk announced the purchase of Yokoy, a Swiss startup thats become a market leader in expense management. TravelPerk will now integrate Yokoy into one automated platform for travel and expenses.Customers dont have to compromise anymore, said JC Taunay-Bucalo, TravelPerks president and COO. Now, they can have the best travel management product built on the worlds largest inventory, and the expense management product that works best for their business, combined for the best-integrated experience there is.The of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!The announcements come amid renewed hopes for the travel industry. Global tourism rebounded to pre-COVID-19 levels in 2024, while business travel was tracking to surpass the peak it hit before the pandemic.Funding is now flowing back into travel tech startups. Last year, they enjoyed a record-breaking year of investments.The news also brings together two members of TNWs extended family. TravelPerk is an alumni of TNWs TECH5 a competition for European scaleups. The contest returns to TNW Conference on June 19 and 20. Applications are open until February 28.Yokoy, meanwhile, is a member of TNWs community of fast-growing tech companies. In 2022, the startup opened a new European base in TNW City, Amsterdam.Announcing the move, Yokoy pointed to the attractions of the local fintech scene.Our move into the market is not about just setting up a satellite sales office in a new location we see Amsterdam as a crucial hub for growing our European operations, Lars Mangelsdorf, the companys co-founder and chief customer officer, said at the time.The Dutch market is advanced when it comes to fintech adoption, and it felt like a natural next move to bring our spend management solution to businesses in the region. Story by Thomas Macaulay Managing editor Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he e (show all) Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse). Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

The practice of medicine has undergone an incredible, albeit incomplete, transformation over the past 50 years, moving steadily from a field informed primarily by expert opinion and the anecdotal experience of individual clinicians toward a formal scientific discipline.The advent of evidence-based medicine meant clinicians identified the most effective treatment options for their patients based on quality evaluations of the latest research. Now, precision medicine is enabling providers to use a patients individual genetic, environmental and clinical information to further personalize their care.The potential benefits of precision medicine also come with new challenges. Importantly, the amount and complexity of data available for each patient is rapidly increasing. How will clinicians figure out which data is useful for a particular patient? What is the most effective way to interpret the data in order to select the best treatment?These are precisely the challenges that computer scientists like me are working to address. Collaborating with experts in genetics, medicine and environmental science, my colleagues and I develop computer-based systems, often using artificial intelligence, to help clinicians integrate a wide range of complex patient data to make the best care decisions.The rise of evidence-based medicineAs recently as the 1970s, clinical decisions were primarily based on expert opinion, anecdotal experience and theories of disease mechanisms that were frequently unsupported by empirical research. Around that time, a few pioneering researchers argued that clinical decision-making should be grounded in the best available evidence. By the 1990s, the term evidence-based medicine was introduced to describe the discipline of integrating research with clinical expertise when making decisions about patient care.The bedrock of evidence-based medicine is a hierarchy of evidence quality that determines what kinds of information clinicians should rely on most heavily to make treatment decisions.Certain types of evidence are stronger than others. While filtered information has been evaluated for rigor and quality, unfiltered information has not.CFCF/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SARandomized controlled trials randomly place participants in different groups that receive either an experimental treatment or a placebo. These studies, also called clinical trials, are considered the best individual sources of evidence because they allow researchers to compare treatment effectiveness with minimal bias by ensuring the groups are similar.Observational studies, such as cohort and case-control studies, focus on the health outcomes of a group of participants without any intervention from the researchers. While used in evidence-based medicine, these studies are considered weaker than clinical trials because they dont control for potential confounding factors and biases.Overall, systematic reviews that synthesize the findings of multiple research studies offer the highest quality evidence. In contrast, single-case reports detailing one individuals experience are weak evidence because they may not apply to a wider population. Similarly, personal testimonials and expert opinions alone are not supported by empirical data.In practice, clinicians can use the framework of evidence-based medicine to formulate a specific clinical question about their patient that can be clearly answered by reviewing the best available research. For example, a clinician might ask whether statins would be more effective than diet and exercise to lower LDL cholesterol for a 50 year-old male with no other risk factors. Integrating evidence, patient preferences and their own expertise, they can develop diagnoses and treatment plans.As may be expected, gathering and putting all the evidence together can be a laborious process. Consequently, clinicians and patients commonly rely on clinical guidelines developed by third parties such as the American Medical Association, the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization. These guidelines provide recommendations and standards of care based on systematic and thorough assessment of available research.Dawn of precision medicineAround the same time that evidence-based medicine was gaining traction, two other transformative developments in science and health care were underway. These advances would lead to the emergence of precision medicine, which uses patient-specific information to tailor health care decisions to each person.The first was the Human Genome Project, which officially began in 1990 and was completed in 2003. It sought to create a reference map of human DNA, or the genetic information cells use to function and survive.This map of the human genome enabled scientists to discover genes linked to thousands of rare diseases, understand why people respond differently to the same drug, and identify mutations in tumors that can be targeted with specific treatments. Increasingly, clinicians are analyzing a patients DNA to identify genetic variations that inform their care.Output from the DNA sequencer used by the Human Genome Project.National Human Genome Research Institute/FlickrThe second was the development of electronic medical records to store patient medical history. Although researchers had been conducting pilot studies of digital records for several years, the development of industry standards for electronic medical records began only in the late 1980s. Adoption did not become widespread until after the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.Electronic medical records enable scientists to conduct large-scale studies of the associations between genetic variants and observable traits that inform precision medicine. By storing data in an organized digital format, researchers can also use these patient records to train AI models for use in medical practice.More data, more AI, more precisionSuperficially, the idea of using patient health information to personalize care is not new. For example, the ongoing Framingham Heart Study, which began in 1948, yielded a mathematical model to estimate a patients coronary artery disease risk based on their individual health information, rather than the average population risk.One fundamental difference between efforts to personalize medicine now and prior to the Human Genome Project and electronic medical records, however, is that the mental capacity required to analyze the scale and complexity of individual patient data available today far exceeds that of the human brain. Each person has hundreds of genetic variants, hundreds to thousands of environmental exposures and a clinical history that may include numerous physiological measurements, lab values and imaging results. In my teams ongoing work, the AI models were developing to detect sepsis in infants use dozens of input variables, many of which are updated every hour.Researchers like me are using AI to develop tools that help clinicians analyze all this data to tailor diagnoses and treatment plans to each individual. For example, some genes can affect how well certain medications work for different patients. While genetic tests can reveal some of these traits, it is not yet feasible to screen every patient due to cost. Instead, AI systems can analyze a patients medical history to predict whether genetic testing will be beneficial based on how likely they are to be prescribed a medication known to be influenced by genetic factors.Another example is diagnosing rare diseases, or conditions that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. Diagnosis is very difficult because many of the several thousand known rare diseases have overlapping symptoms, and the same disease can present differently among different people. AI tools can assist by examining a patients unique genetic traits and clinical characteristics to determine which ones likely cause disease. These AI systems may include components that predict whether the patients specific genetic variation negatively affects protein function and whether the patients symptoms are similar to specific rare diseases.Future of clinical decision-makingNew technologies will soon enable routine measurement of other types of biomolecular data beyond genetics. Wearable health devices can continuously monitor heart rate, blood pressure and other physiological features, producing data that AI tools can use to diagnose disease and personalize treatment.Related studies are already producing promising results in precision oncology and personalized preventive health. For example, researchers are developing a wearable ultrasound scanner to detect breast cancer, and engineers are developing skinlike sensors to detect changes in tumor size.Research will continue to expand our knowledge of genetics, the health effects of environmental exposures and how AI works. These developments will significantly alter how clinicians make decisions and provide care over the next 50 years.Aaron J. Masino, Associate Professor of Computing, Clemson UniversityThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Story by The Conversation An independent news and commentary website produced by academics and journalists. An independent news and commentary website produced by academics and journalists. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Right now, theres at least one nuclear-power, nuclear-armed submarine stealthily patrolling the waters off the UK. The sub is powered by a nuclear reactor, so it can cruise undetected for over 20 years without refuelling. Oh, and its also armed with eight nuclear warheads each six times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.Since 1969, the Royal Navy has kept at least one of these fission-powered submarines in the water at all times. The vessels are the backbone of Britains nuclear deterrent and send a giant warning to other nations who might get funny ideas.Rolls-Royce today announced that it has secured a whopping 9bn contract to maintain and upgrade the Navys submarine nuclear reactors. Under the deal, the British engineering firm will also build reactors for the UKs new class of nuclear-powered subs.The Royal Navys submarine fleet is split between Astute-class attack submarines (SSNs) and Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs). The Astute-class are nuclear-powered but conventionally armed. Six of seven planned vessels are already operational. The Navy eventually plans to replace the Astutes with SSN-AUKUS submarines, the result of a collaboration with the US and Australia.Limited tickets available - Book NowMeanwhile, the Vanguard class, which first entered service in 1994, forms the backbone of the UKs nuclear deterrent, carrying Trident II D5 nuclear missiles. The Navy plans to replace the Vanguards with the Dreadnought-class SSBNs in the early 2030s.Under the so-called Unity contract, Rolls-Royce will design, manufacture, and support the new subs pressurised water reactors (PWRs). These machines use uranium to generate heat, turning water into steam that spins a turbine to generate electricity. The steam then cools, and the process repeats.The Unity deal is the largest Ministry of Defence deal Rolls-Royce has landed in its 121-year history. Predictably, the UK government is celebrating the new contract as a win for national security and job creation.National security is a foundation of our governments plan for change, and this is a clear demonstration of our commitment to the UKs nuclear deterrent, which is our ultimate insurance policy in a more dangerous world, said the defence secretary, John Healey.The contract is expected to create more than 1,000 UK jobs and safeguard 4,000 other roles. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

A new season of the Champions League of Tech has begun with the return of TECH5 Europes hottest scaleup contest.Over the next five months, TECH5 will showcase the continents future stars. The competition comes to a climax on June 19-20, when the 2025 winners are announced on the main stage of TNW Conference.Applications for the tournament opened this week. Promising scaleups from across the continent have been invited to submit their entries here.A range of prizes are at stake, from media coverage to VIP passes to TNW Conference. Companies need to act fast though the application window slams shut on February 28.The selected participants will join an illustrious list of TECH5 graduates. Among the previous winners are Starling Bank, Wise, Too Good To Go, Picnic, and Tier and a host of other industry leaders.The of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!A total of 588 companies are TECH5 alumni. Since entering the contest, theyve experienced tremendous success. Revolut, for instance, went on to become Europes most valuable private tech firm. Deliveroo, meanwhile, enjoyed the biggest flotation on the London Stock Exchange for a decade. Collectively, TECH5 finalists have raised over 10bn.Arbo Robotics, a pioneer in automotive radar, is one of many winners that have attracted big investments. Just this month, Arbo announced plans to raise a fresh $29mn through a stock offering which would bring its total funding to an estimated $251mn.Shlomit Hacohen, Arbos Chief Marketing Officer, credited TECH5 with accelerating the companys rise.Being named a top five company in TNWs TECH5 review back in 2019 provided us with valuable exposure in Europe and the US during the early stages of our growth, she said.TNWs TECH5 is exceptional at identifying companies with the potential for market success. Since the competition, Arbe has gone public and has established itself as the leading developer of radar technology in the automotive industry.This years nominees will enter a revamped competition. Like the Champions League of football, the tournament rules have been tweaked to improve the results.The contenders will be evaluated on upgraded criteria. Alongside company and team growth, the judges will now assess a new metric: impact. The change aligns with broader trends in the ecosystem.TECH5 in 2025Across the tech sector, growth alone is no longer perceived as the sole marker of success. Companies are now increasingly judged by their impacts and solutions to big problems. Thats not only wishful thinking just look at the strategic shifts of businesses, investors, and policymakers.A blend of economic instability, environmental concerns, and socially conscious consumption has fueled support for tech with real-world impacts.Major funds are now flowing towards scaleups that address important issues. Last year, research firm Brainy Insights estimated that the impact investing market will grow from $3 trillion to $7.78 trillion by 2033.Government regulations are encouraging the momentum. The EU has taken a global lead in the charge, introducing new rules that push sustainable innovation in everything from AI to EVs.TECH5 plans to stimulate the progress further. Yeni Joseph, TNWs Head of Ecosystem Strategy & Partnerships, expects this years edition to deliver a powerful boost.For TNW, identifying and showcasing Europes fastest-growing and most impactful scaleups is at the core of our mission to drive innovation and foster connections in the tech ecosystem, she said.By spotlighting these companies, we not only celebrate their success but also create opportunities for collaboration, investment, and growth that fuel the future of technology in Europe.The spotlight will shine on a range of locations. For this years edition, TECH5 is covering scaleups in the following regions:Benelux: Belgium, Netherlands, LuxembourgUK & IrelandNordics: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, SwedenDACH: Germany, Austria, SwitzerlandSouthern Europe: Andorra, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, SpainFranceBaltic States: Estonia, Latvia, LithuaniaWant to represent your region and show your vision to the world? Then apply to enter TECH5 via this link. Story by Thomas Macaulay Managing editor Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he e (show all) Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse). Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Ah, quantum computing that moonshot technology full of potential, full of promise and jam-packed with enough jargon to make the average person cry.Qubits, entanglement, superposition, trapped-ions, Schrdingers cat. These terms sound strange because the world of quantum mechanics where things can exist in multiple states at once is strange.And thats why I want you to bear with me while I relay this latest piece of news from the buzzing quantum computing startup scene.ZuriQ, a spin-out from ETH Zurich in Switzerland, has raised $4.2mn to commercialise a new chip architecture that could dramatically increase the number of qubits a trapped-ion quantum computer can handle, supercharging its computational power.The space for few-qubit devices that act as toy models is already saturated, and devices with 20-40 qubits wont drive large profits, said Pavel Hrmo, CEO of ZuriQ. We need to focus on long-term scalability.ZuriQ wants to build a quantum computer with thousands of qubits, powerful enough to solve wickedly complex problems and revolutionise fields from medicine to cryptography.How can it do that, you ask? Well, its got something vaguely to do with aeroplanes, cars, and magnetic fields. But first, a quick science lesson.Qubits are the basic units of information in a quantum computer. Unlike bits in a regular computer, which can only be 0 or 1, qubits can be 0, 1, or both at the same time. This allows quantum computers to solve many problems simultaneously, making them light-years faster than even the top supercomputers of today.Now, there are two main kinds of quantum computers in development. The first and most common are superconducting quantum computers, pioneered by the likes of Google and IBM. They use tiny loops of supercooledmetal to create qubits. These machines are lightning-fast. However, they must be kept at 273C at all times and are more error-prone than their main rival, the trapped-ion machine.Trapped-ion quantum computers use charged atoms (ions) as qubits. Electric and magnetic fields trap these ions in place, and lasers control them to perform calculations.Theyre very stable and precise but slower than superconducting quantum computers due to one fatal flaw: ions arranged in a line, like cars in a traffic jam, become overcrowded and inefficient as more qubits are added.Thats why scaling up the number of qubits in a trapped-ion quantum computer has proved a major roadblock for companies developing them, like IonQ and Quantinium putting a cap on their abilities. That is, perhaps, until now.Setting qubits freeZuriQ has developed a completely new way to design trapped-ion quantum computers by allowing ions (the qubits) to move freely in two dimensions on a quantum chip instead of being restricted to one-dimensional chains. This allows qubits to move in all spatial directions like an aeroplane, instead of like cars driving along roads and through junctions.If the startups technology is all it is cracked up to be, it could enable trapped-ion quantum computers to far exceed the capabilities of their superconducting counterparts.Fuelled by fresh funding, ZuriQ is on track to demonstrate its first prototype machine by the end of this year. The startup said it aims to become the flagship provider of quantum computing worldwide.We have been highly impressed by the speed of execution of ZuriQs founding team and the pace of progress towards technical milestones that have been elusive in the community so far, said Pascal Mathis, partner at Switzerland-based VC Founderful, which led the investment round.The funding arrives at exciting times for quantum computing. Interest in the field has been abuzz since Google unveiled an experimental machine that was able to solve a mathematical equation in five minutes that a traditional supercomputer could not master in 10 septillion years thats older than the universe. The breakthrough brought the dream of quantum computing a step closer to reality. Nevertheless, Nvidias CEO Jensen Huang was quick to pour cold water on the hype, cautioning at CES 2025 that practical quantum applications are still 15-30 years away. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Every two years for the last decade, the World Economic Forum has released a comprehensive, and oft cited report proffering insights into the changing nature of the jobs economy.The latest Future of Jobs Report, which covers 20252030, combines the viewpoints of more than 1,000 prominent international businesses, who together account for over 14 million workers in 22 sector clusters and 55 economies worldwide.Here are a few key takeaways:Gen AI & robotsAccording to the report, by 2030, 60% of employers anticipate that broadening digital access will revolutionise their industry.5 jobs to discover this weekThe of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!Employers agreed the following areas were likely to drive business transformation: artificial intelligence and information processing (86%), robotics and automation (58%), semiconductors and computing technologies (20%), and satellites and space technologies (9%).Gen AI remains the hottest and most accessible tech trend, and has received a rapid surge in both investment and adoption across various sectors.Since ChatGPT was released in November 2022, investment into AI has increased nearly eightfold. And that doesnt include the significant investment in the physical infrastructures required for AI, including servers and data centres.Some 40% of businesses expect to reduce their personnel in areas where AI can automate jobs, two-thirds aim to hire talent with specialised AI capabilities, and half of employers plan to reorient their business in response to AI.Interestingly, the report features data from Coursera, which shows a steep incline in AI upskilling from April 2023 onwards.Meanwhile, robots and autonomous systems have seen steady growth of 5-7% annually since 2020. Worldwide, the average robot density was 162 units per 10,000 workers in 2023, which is twice as many as it was seven years prior.However, 80% of robot installations are taking place in China, Japan, the United States, the Republic of Korea, and Germany, making this technology trend highly concentrated.Skills to pay the billsThe report also highlights the increased demand for both technology-related skills and broader workplace skills.In terms of tech skills, big data and AI (yes, again), networks and cybersecurity, and technological literacy are all predicted to be the top fastest-growing skills.Despite all this, AI and big data only placed 11th in the list of core skills for 2025. In top billing is analytical thinking (69% of employers agree).Resilience, flexibility, and agility come next, followed by leadership and social influence, highlighting the vital role that flexibility and teamwork play in modern workplaces.Creative thinking, plus motivation and self-awareness come in fourth and fifth.Completing the top ten are: technological literacy, empathy and active listening, curiosity and lifelong learning, talent management, and service orientation and customer service.Changing prioritiesThere have been several notable changes in essential skills since this reports previous edition in 2023.Relevance has significantly increased for leadership and social impact, AI and big data, talent management, as well as customer service and service orientation.Overall, the most significant increases in relevance have been observed in the areas of leadership and social impact, resilience, flexibility and agility, and AI and big data.Looking further to 2030, tech skills are increasing in importance. Some 87% of employers consider AI and big data to be important during the next five years, 70% say networks and cybersecurity are hot topics, while 68% say technological literacy will be paramount.Systems thinking also ranks highly (51%), and design and user experience does too (45%).Programming ranked lower overall at 27%, though this was higher in the technology services sector and the telecommunications industry.Technological literacy was most valued in automotive and aerospace, financial services and capital markets, followed by medical and healthcare services.When it comes to the importance of networks and cybersecurity, financial services and capital markets unsurprisingly is the top industry, followed by insurance and pensions management, and energy technology and utilities.With all this data, it might be difficult to narrow down where your next upskilling opportunity should lie. However, AI and big data, networks and cybersecurity, and technological literacy all sound like safe bets.It can be helpful to look at what roles are in demand. In percentage terms, the fastest-growing occupations are those in the technology sector, such as software and application developers, fintech engineers, big data specialists, and experts in artificial intelligence and machine learning.Over six million software and applications developer roles are expected to open up between now and 2030, the third highest growing jobs after farm workers and truck drivers.If you already have transferable skills and youre ready to start your job search, the House of Talent Job Board is the perfect place to start. It features Robin, a conversational AI job search agent that can help you to locate your next tech position, fast.Robin pops up on the bottom right hand side of your screen when youre on the job board, and allows you to search for best-matched jobs using your resume. Not quite sure what you want to do? You can tell it a bit about yourself, your skills, and where youd like to work to generate some ideas.Ready to find your next software job? Check out The Next Web Job Board Story by Amanda Kavanagh Amanda Kavanagh is a Dublin-based journalist and content writer with over a decade of experience writing and editing across digital, print a (show all) Amanda Kavanagh is a Dublin-based journalist and content writer with over a decade of experience writing and editing across digital, print and social. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Content provided by Amply and TNWAlso tagged with

Donald Trumps big AI announcement has turned heads on both sides of the Atlantic.Trump revealed this week that OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle have formed a joint venture called Stargate that will invest $500bn in AI infrastructure. The companies said $100bn of the funding was available immediately. The rest would be deployed over the next four years.Trump billed Stargate as the largest AI infrastructure project by far in history. He added that the project would ensure the future of technology is in the US.Masayoshi Son, the CEO of SoftBank, had another bold prediction. He said the venture would drive artificial superintelligence.Limited tickets available - Book NowEuropean tech leaders echoed the sentiment but fear that the continent will become beholden to American power.David Villaln, the CEO and co-founder of Spanish AI startup Maisa, exemplified this blend of excitement and alarm.This massive investment shows that the next stage in the growth of AI Artificial Superintelligence is no longer a fringe concept but an inevitable reality requiring unprecedented investment in infrastructure, akin to laying down the tracks for the next Industrial Revolution, he said.Villaln added that the transition requires powerful new computing capacity. Stargate will bring a big dose of this to the US. European tech leaders have called for the continent to reactWithout large-scale capital commitments and a bold approach to AI infrastructure, Europe risks surrendering its future to global players who control the fuel of tomorrow, Villaln said.Europes AI worriesVillaln pointed to the example of his home country. He believes Spain has immense potential in renewables, but needs a major funding boost to remain globally competitive and strategically independent.Spain is spending peanuts on vacuous publicity AI projects, while ignoring, or not understanding, whats needed compute, he said.Similar anxieties have reverberated across Europe. Jan Marquardt, the CEO of German startup Zivee, warned that AI companies need strong infrastructure, big funding, and minimal regulation, all of which is available in the USA and not in Europe. Christian Klein, the CEO of German tech SAP, added that Stargate should be a wake-up call for the continent.Villaln shares their concerns.To use a football analogy, Europe is currently in the relegation zone while USA and China with their budgets, quality and ambition are operating in the Champions League, he said. Story by Thomas Macaulay Managing editor Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he e (show all) Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse). Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Google DeepMind spinoff Isomorphic Labs expects testing on its first AI-designed drugs to begin this year, as tech startups race to turn algorithmic magic into actual treatments.Well hopefully have some AI-designed drugs in clinical trials by the end of the year, the firms Nobel Prize-winning CEO Demis Hassabis told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. Thats the plan.The potential of AI-powered drug discovery is huge. Instead of spending years or even decades testing chemicals by hand, machine learning algorithms can sift through mountains of data to spot patterns and predict which molecules could make the next miracle drug. This could lead to faster drug development, cheaper costs, and new cures.By one estimate, there are over 460 AI startups currently working on drug discovery, of which over a quarter come from Europe. Globally, more than $60bn has been invested into the space so far, and the funding flood isnt showing any signs of letting up.Yet discovering the drugs is merely one step in the process. its only when big pharma decides theyre worth manufacturing, marketing, and distributing that itll make a real difference to the likes of you and me.Thats what makes some of the recent hookups between pharma behemoths and AI startups particularly exciting.Last year, Isomorphic Labs inked a $45mn deal with Eli Lilly to collaborate on AI-based research into small molecule therapeutics. Under the agreement, Isomorphic is also eligible to receive up to $1.7bn in performance-based milestones. The company also signed a similar collaboration with Swiss biotech Novartis.Were already working on real drug programs, Hassabis told Bloomberg Television in an interview shortly following the announcements. I would expect in the next couple of years the first AI-designed drugs in the clinic.Exscientia, which spun out from Dundee University in 2012, was among the first to apply AI to drug discovery. In 2024, the company advanced its first AI-designed drug candidate into human clinical trials, achieving this milestone in just 12 months a process that typically takes around five years. US rival Recursion acquired the Oxford-based company for $688mn in November.These are two big examples of an AI-driven drug discovery market thats booming, and increasingly, consolidating. However, there are also plenty of early-stage companies working on more niche applications of the technology. These include Cambridge, UK-based CardiaTec, which is using AI to find new drugs to treat heart conditions, and London-headquartered Multiomic Health, which is working on formulas to treat metabolic diseases.Despite all the potential though, AI isnt a silver bullet for drug discovery. While it can drastically speed up finding the right compounds needed to make new drugs, the most time-consuming steps like wet lab tests with physical samples, clinical trials, and FDA approvals arent going anywhere. Still, AIs real power lies in that critical first phase: zeroing in on targets that mightve otherwise slipped through the cracks, saving researchers time and possibly even unlocking new treatments. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Dutch scaleup Mosa Meat, the maker of the worlds kindest burger, has submitted its first request to sell cultivated meat in the EU.Cultivated or lab-grown meat is made by harvesting animal cells and growing them in a high-tech bioreactor filled with a nutrient-packed broth. The result? Real meat minus the slaughterhouses and climate-heating emissions.Singapore, the US, and most recently Israel are the only countries that have approved sales of cultivated meat for human consumption. The UK has also rubber-stamped one lab-grown treat but thats onlyfor pets. While the Netherlands approved tastings in 2023, selling lab-grown remains illegal across the EU.In a bid to open its home market, Mosa Meat has submitted a novel foods application to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). It is the second cultivated meat company ever to do so. The first was French startup Gourmey last year for its lab-grown foie gras.Limited tickets available - Book NowMosa will now patiently await the verdict very patiently. The approval process will take at least one and a half years.To add insult to injury, the EUs regulatory process requires ingredients to be submitted individually. This forced Mosa to deconstruct its burger. It decided to start with cultivated fat the juiciest bit. After that, the company will work on getting the green light for the muscle component.In the meantime, Mosa plans to blend the cultivated fat with plant-based ingredients to create beefy foods like hamburgers, meatballs, empanadas, or bolognese. Its a departure from the 100% lab-grown meat the company first promised us. Nevertheless, its a quicker route to market.By starting with cultivated fat, were paving the way to introduce our first burgers to consumers while staying true to our long-term vision, said Maarten Bosch, CEO of Mosa Meat. Our initial products will combine cultivated and plant-based ingredients, leveraging our in-house expertise in both areas.Mosa held the first tastings of its cultivated burgers in the Netherlands last year, just months after competitor Meatable hosted the first legally approved tasting of cultivated meat in Europe. In April, Mosa secured 40mn in funding, bringing its total raised to $147mn. Despite strong backing, the company, and others like it, still face a long road ahead.Unlike plant-based meats, pioneered by brands like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, cultivated meat has struggled to get off the ground after an initial wave of enthusiasm. It is still expensive to produce and regulatory roadblocks have cooled investment.Cultivated meat is still a relatively new field, so its natural to see early challenges, whether thats regulatory complexity, high initial production costs, or securing long-term investment, Bosch told TNW.We believe the best way to overcome these hurdles is through a combination of scientific rigour, strategic partnerships and a focus on scaling up production efficiently.Despite the challenges, startups like Mosa are pushing through, convinced that cultivated meat offers consumers an attractive alternative to plant-based meat or regular animal-sourced steak, ribs, or wings.We dont see our cultivated burgers as just competing with plant-based alternatives, said Bosch. We see cultivated meat as an additional option for consumers who appreciate the culinary experience of meat and want to make a meaningful change without giving up what they love. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.

An Icelandic scaleup has sparked hopes of a breakthrough in dementia treatment after raising 26.5mn for groundbreaking research.Arctic Therapeutics (ATx) attracted the investment after pioneering a new approach to drug development. Founded in 2015, the company first analyses genomic data with bioinformatics a blend of computer science and biology.After identifying disease-associated genes and proteins, ATx targets the root causes of a given condition.According to the scaleup, the process cuts the risks, costs, and time involved in developing treatments.Limited tickets available - Book NowThe new financing could push the benefits closer towards patients. ATx said the Series A funds will advance two frontrunner drugs: AT-001 and AT-004.AT-001 has proven particularly promising. The treatment focuses on dementia caused by harmful accumulations of protein. Its primary target is amyloid-induced angiopathy, a condition characterised by proteins amassing in the walls of the brains arteries.Taken orally, AT-001 disrupts and dissolves these harmful protein clusters. Consequently, the treatment could reduce the risks of dementia.ATx is confident of stalling the conditions progression. The company also believes the drug could delay dementias onset and even reverse its course.var Hkonarson, the CEO and co-founder of ATx, said the treatment has transformative potential.AT-001 offers hope for earlier intervention and even preventive use in individuals at high risk of developing dementia based on our biomarker signals, he told TNW.Credit: ATxHkonarson co-founded ATxin 2015 as a spin-off from the US-based Center for Applied Genomics (CAG). Credit: ATxChanging the trajectory of dementiaTests on AT-001 are progressing rapidly. Last year, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved a new clinical trial that will probe the drugs effects on HCCAA a rare form of familial dementia.ATx also plans to launch a clinical trial for AT-004. The study aims to show the treatment is effective and safe for acne, before expanding into other inflammatory skin diseases.ATx expects the new funds to accelerate the research.A syndicate of international investors participated in the round. Among them is the European Commissions EIC Fund, which supports companies developing disruptive tech.Svetoslava Georgieva, the chair of the EIC Fund Board, described the ATx financing as both an opportunity and a responsibility.In Europe alone, dementia affects over 10 million people placing immense strain on families, healthcare systems, and economies, she said in a statement.By providing an equity investment in Arctic Therapeutics, the EIC Fund is supporting groundbreaking preventive treatments that have the potential to change the trajectory of this crisis, improve quality of life, and alleviate the burden on healthcare infrastructure worldwide.

Stuttgart, Germany-based Sereact has secured 25mn to advance its embodied AI software that enables robots to carry out tasks they were never trained to do.With our technology, robots act situationally rather than following rigidly programmed sequences. They adapt to dynamic tasks in real-time, enabling an unprecedented level of autonomy, said Ralf Gulde, CEO and co-founder of Sereact (short for sense, reason, act).Early Spotify and Klarna-backer Creandum led the Series A round. Existing investors Point Nine and Air Street Capital also chipped in as did several prominent angel investors. These include former Formula 1 World Champion Nico Rosberg, ex-DeepMind product lead Mehdi Ghissassi, and past Skype exec Ott Kaukver.Typically, robots like those Roomba vacuum cleaners are hard-coded. This means they follow exact instructions that enable them to repeat specific tasks.Sereacts eembodied AI, however, acts like a robots brain, allowing them to analyse and even learn new jobs on the go. This is thanks to a machine learning technique called zero-shot visual reasoning, which allows AI to understand and interpret images without prior specific training on those types of images.Limited tickets available - Book NowThe model, dubbed PickGPT, makes robots smarter. It also means humans dont have to pre-program them for each task, saving time for the companies that use them.The opportunities here are endless and its great to see this kind of innovation coming from Europe, said Johan Brenner, general partner at Creandum.Sereacts approach is similar to that of UK startup Wayve, which raised $1bn in Europes largest-ever AI funding round last year. However, while Wayves tech targets autonomous vehicles, Sereact focuses on logistics and warehouse robots that do things like pick and pack, sort goods, and runqualitycontrol checks.Firms like BMW, Daimler Truck, Bol and Active Ants have already adopted Sereacts software at their factories. However, the startup is now looking to venture beyond the warehouse.Sereact said it will use the fresh funding to develop new robot hardware platforms, such as mobile robots and humanoids. The company also plans to expand its US presence.Were on an exciting journey to become the leading platform for robotics applications that forever change the daily lives of people and businesses, said Gulde. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Four billion years ago, Earth was a fiery, tumultuous world of molten rock, volcanic eruptions, and toxic skies, with searing heat and the constant threat of asteroid impacts.Thankfully, our planet has cooled off a bit since then. Nevertheless, the Earth still radiates vast amounts of geothermal energy. Its a clean, limitless, always-on power source lying beneath our feet we just have to dig for it. Or get robots to do the hard work for us.Borobotics, a startup from Switzerland, has developed an autonomous drilling machine dubbed the worlds most powerful worm that promises to make harnessing geothermal heat cheaper and more accessible for everyone.Drilling will become possible on properties where it would be unthinkable today small gardens, parking lots, and potentially even basements, Moritz Pill, Borobotics co-founder, tells TNW. At just 13.5 cm wide and 2.8 metres long, the compact boring robot can silently burrow just about anywhere. It could make geothermal a viable backyard energy source.Limited tickets available - Book NowA 3D render of Borobotics geothermal drilling rig. Credit: BoroboticsThe machine nicknamed Grabowski after the famous cartoon mole is the worlds first geothermal drill that operates autonomously, according to the startup. Sensors in Grabowskis head mean it can detect which type of material its boring through. If it bumps into a water spring or gas reservoir on its way down, the robot worm automatically seals the borehole shut. And unlike the diesel-powered drills typical to the industry, the machine plugs into a regular electrical socket.However, Grabowskis humble frame has a few drawbacks. The device is less powerful than bigger rigs. Its also slower and can only dig to a maximum depth of 500 metres. But for Borobotics target market, thats more than adequate, it says.Limitless heat just below our feetWhile most geothermal startups look to produce utility-scale electricity by digging many kilometres below the Earths crust, Borobotics is going shallow.In many European countries, at a depth of 250 metres, you have an average temperature of 14 degrees C, says Pill. This is ideal for efficient heating in winter, while still being cold enough to cool the building in summer.Borobotics wants to tap the burgeoning demand for geothermal heat pumps. These devices use a network of subterranean pipes to transfer heat from below the ground to a building on the surface. Under the right conditions, they double-up as air conditioning.Heating and cooling buildings accounts for half of global energy consumption, the lions share of which comes from burning fossil fuels like natural gas.To curb emissions, the EU has committed to installing 43 million new heat pumps between 2023 and 2030, as part of the blocs 300bn REPowerEU plan.The advantages are obvious. Heat pumps use electricity instead of fossil fuels to transfer heat or cold air. They are up to three times more efficient than the equivalent gas boiler. If they plug into a renewable energy source, even better.The EU backs both geothermal and air-source heat pumps, but the latter dominate thanks to lower costs and easier installation. Thats despite geothermal heat pumps being more efficient because they rely on stable subterranean heat rather than fluctuating outdoor temperatures.The potential of geothermal heat pumps to decarbonise Europe is substantial, as long as the cost comes down, Torsten Kolind, managing partner at Underground Ventures, tells TNW. The minute that happens, the market is open.Underground Ventures, based in Copenhagen, is the worlds first VC dedicated entirely to funding geothermal tech startups. The firm led Borobotics CHF 1.3mn (1.38mn) pre-seed funding round, announced this week.The Borobotics team, based in Zurich, just raised their first major funding round. Credit: BoroboticsDue to their small size, Borobotics says its drill is very resource efficient to produce and maintain. Whats more, Grabowskis autonomous capabilities, other than being cool, have a hidden advantage.Pill paints the following picture:A small team arrive to a site with a Sprinter van containing everything necessary to drill, he explains. They set the drill in half a day and from then on it works autonomously.Pill predicts that one or two people will be able to handle 10-13 drill sites simultaneously. If correct, this means drilling companies can cover more ground in less time, even if Grabowski is a little more sluggish than its fossil-fuelled relatives.Given the EUs chronic shortage of heat pump installers, an autonomous drilling robot may be a welcome helping hand.Despite the apparent potential, its still early days for Borobotics. Founded in 2023, the company is currently developing its first working prototype. Fuelled by its first major pot of funding, it looks to test the robot in real conditions this year.Geothermal tech is heating upIn December, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released its first report on geothermal energy in over 10 years. In the report, the IEA predicted that geothermal could cater to 15% of global energy demand by 2050, up from just 1% today.Geothermal projects of old were largely state-led, and confined to volcanically active regions like Iceland or New Zealand where hot water bubbles at or near the surface. But the next wave of installations looks to be led by startups armed with state-of-the-art technology that allows them to dig deeper and more efficiently.Geothermal energy startups attracted $650mn in VC funding in 2024, the highest value ever recorded, according to Dealroom data. One of those is US-based Fervo Energy, backed by Bill Gates Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Google has already plugged into Fervos geothermal plant in Nevada to power one of its data centres. Another upstart is Canadas Eavor, which is currently building a giant underground radiator in Germany that could heat an entire town.The problem has always been geology and economics, but the advances of startups like Fervo and Eavor in recent years have changed the game, says Kolind.While US startups are leading the pack, Europe is well poised to compete.Europe has excellent geothermal subsurface conditions, and, unlike America, it also has a strong tradition for district heating, says Kolind. The investor believes its only a matter of time before Europes investors and policymakers go all-in on geothermal tech.Unlike natural gas and coal, it is fossil-free. Unlike wind and solar, it is always-on. And unlike nuclear energy, it is geopolitically benign, he says. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

A startup called Scenexus has unveiled plans to build digital twins of cities around the world.A spin-off from Dutch research organisation TNO, Scenexus launched this week with a new platform for urban planning.The software blends multiple datasets to clone entire cities and regions.Planners and engineers then use the replicas to precisely analyse the impacts of their ideas.The of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!According to Scenexus, the platform can accelerate their assessments from days to just minutes. They can then forecast the social, environmental, and economic impacts of developments.A host of factors can be reviewed, from traffic and safety to financial growth and resident sentiment. The concepts can then be fine-tuned to address pressing challenges, such as the housing crisis and congestion.The platform has already attractedclients in Amsterdam, San Diego, and Singapore. More cities are slated to sign up soon.Scenexus has also revealed a new backer for the project. The Hague-based business has raised 1.6mn from the LUMO Rise Fund, a 100mn pot of capital for impact-driven technologies. Scenexus is the first investment from the fund, which is managed by Dutch VC firm LUMO Labs.Andy Lrling, a founding partner at LUMO Labs and a TNW Advisory Board member, has great expectations for the startup.The range of application domains is nearly unlimited, Lrling told TNW.He highlighted 10 particularly promising targets: smart mobility, air quality, noise, climate, spatial development, equity, well-being, liveability, resilience, and energy.To support these applications, Scenexus will supply its digital twin platform as a software-as-a-service solution.Building digital twinsUnder the systems hood, thousands of calculations are processed in parallel by algorithms running on graphical processing units (GPUs). Scenexus said the results arrive up to 1,000 times faster than the leading planning software on the market. Thanks to this speed, clients can rapidly develop new urban planning concepts.Scenexus will now focus on bringing more cities to its platform. The startup has also joined digital cities projects with Microsoft and a European consortium.Lrling is bullish about the companys plans.With Scenexus, cities directly save time, money, and effort, and uncover unforeseen challenges before they arise, he said.At the same time, it enables lasting improvement of the citys liveability and safety, and the well-being of residents and visitors. Story by Thomas Macaulay Managing editor Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he e (show all) Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse). Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Yet another deal has been signed between a publisher and a GenAI leader.Paris startup Mistral and news outlet Agence France-Presse (AFP) announced today that they are combining their services to improve AI responses.The deal provides Mistrals chatbot imaginatively named Le Chat with access to all of AFPs text stories.According to Mistral, the integration will bring enhanced factuality to the AI assistant.The of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!Partnering with a globally trusted news agency like AFP allows Le Chat to offer reliable, factual, and up-to-date responses, verified by professional journalists, said Arthur Mensch, the startups CEO and co-founder.Mistral also highlighted the linguistic capabilities. AFPs daily production of 2,300 text stories spans six languages French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Arabic all of which will be available to LeChat. Through this partnership, we are providing our clients with a unique multicultural and multilingual alternative, Mensch said.For AFP, the deal adds an extra income source and a new outlet for the agencys 1,700 journalists.Through this partnership, AFP is further diversifying its revenue sources, reaching a clientele beyond the media sector and exploring new uses for its content in the daily operations of businesses, said Fabrice Fries, the companys CEO and chairman.Deals and disputes between GenAI firms and news outletsThe content deal expands a growing range of agreements between publishers and GenAI companies.Just a day earlier, two other eye-catching collaborations were announced. One brings news from the Associated Press (AP) to Googles Geminis chatbot. The other merges Axios journalism with OpenAI products. As part of the deal, the ChatGPT-maker will fund the media brands expansion to four new US cities.Axios joins a lengthy list of publishers collaborating with OpenAI. The GenAI giant has now partnered with nearly 20 media organisations, including the Financial Times, Le Monde, and AP. Yet not every news outlet has been a willing collaborator. A group of them led by The New York Times took OpenAI to court this week over alleged copyright infringements.They argue that OpenAI used their content to build systems without consent or payment. OpenAI contends that the fair use law protects the practice.By signing agreements with publishers, GenAI firms could avoid such legal disputes.For Mistral, the partnership with AP is the first content deal of this kind. The integration is slated to roll out to all Le Chat users in the coming weeks. Neither Mistral nor AFP have revealed the value of the multi-year contract. Story by Thomas Macaulay Managing editor Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he e (show all) Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse). Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Shift, a social enterprise founded by Dutch tech entrepreneur Don Ritzen, has announced its ambitious plans to construct a massive landmark designed to inspire action on climate change.Shift aims to attract 1 million annual visitors to the New World Wonder, which it estimates will cost up to $250mn. The startup plans to build the monument in the Netherlands, and if thats successful, construct one on every continent.Civilisations before us built grand monuments to celebrate gods, momentous events or industrial progress, Ritzen told TNW over the phone. I truly believe that our generation needs something equally big and extraordinary to drive people to take action on climate.To turn its vision into reality, Shift has kicked off an international architecture competition with a total prize pool of 250,000. Architects from around the world will battle it out to create a winning design for the landmark.The of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!The Shift team is open to fresh ideas, but it does have a basic outline of what the World Wonder will offer. According to a brief seen by TNW, the startup envisions a striking physical structure that features immersive experiences that engage all the senses.The landmark will serve as a hub for sustainability education, showcasing stories of climate heroes and providing visitors and non-visitors access to thousands of green initiatives via an accompanying digital platform.We want it to be space that inspires awe, said Ritzen. But most importantly, one that ignites hope and empowers people to change their behaviours over the long term.Ritzens vision might seem like a load of hot air, but its a serious proposal coming from a well-respected figure in the Dutch tech scene. Ritzen is the co-founder of Rockstart, a startup incubator that has guided over 350 early-stage companies to a collective net worth of 1.7bn.Shift has a financial roadmap in place and relationships with institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals to develop the design and realise the first landmark, the company said in a statement. It also said it is in discussion with several municipalities in the Netherlands to secure a location for the structure.Ticket sales will constitute the main revenuefor the monument and its accompanying digital platform. The entry fee is expected to start at 20 per person.Shift operates a social enterprise model, with 95% of the company owned by a foundation, Stichting Shift World. The remaining 5% is held by impact investors. Residents of the municipality in which the landmark is to be built also have the option to become co-owners.The architecture competition will run across two stages, with the winning team set to be announced in November. Judges include Ben van Berkel, founder of internationally renowned design firm UNStudio, and Gke Roelink, director at the NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Synthesia has claimed the crown of Britains biggest GenAI company after raising $180mn at a $2.1bn valuation.The London-based business generates lifelike avatars for video content. Enterprises use the software to produce training content and corporate communications.The tech has made Synthesia a leader in the burgeoning synthetic media industry. According to the startup, over 60,000 businesses are customers including more than 60% of the Fortune 100.Investors have also shown a growing interest. In 2023, Synthesia earned unicorn status after securing $90 million in Series C funding at a valuation of $1 billion.Price increase on Friday - Book NowThe latest cash injection creates another milestone. According to Dealroom, Synthesia is now the UKs largest GenAI media company by valuation.The startup wants the fresh funds to fuel a new phase of growth. At the core of the plans is Synthesia 2.0 a product billed as the worlds first enterprise AI video platform. Development of the system is now underway.Synthesia is also preparing for the next generation of synthetic media. Victor Riparbelli, the companys CEO and co-founder, expects big breakthroughs from blending AI videos with reasoning systems such as large language models.We will unlock a new type of media that can think, narrate, and personalise content for us, he told TNW via email.These new interfaces will be centred around intuitive, human communication that is much more effective than text. You could imagine an AI that connects to your Spotify and teaches you music theory based on your skill level and favourite artists. |At work, we may interact with virtual guides that help us make buying decisions, coach us and teach us new skills like you would with a tutor in the real world.Naturally, Riparbelli also shared the funding news in an AI video. Fully generated with Synthesia, the clip summarises the announcement in eight languages. Synthesias position in Europes GenAI landscapeAnnounced today, Synthesias Series D round was led by VC giant NEA. Existing investors GV and MMC Ventures also participated, alongside new backers WiL, Atlassian Ventures, and PSP Growth.The landmark raise has renewed optimism about Europes AI landscape. Yoram Wijngaarde, Dealrooms founder and CEO, is bullish about developments across the continent.Synthesias Series D signals that European AI is picking up where they left off in 2024, he said.AI startups accounted for over 25% of European venture capital last year, up from 15% just four years ago. In one of the most significant technological waves in decades, Synthesia stands out among the emerging AI unicorns reshaping the landscape from this side of the Atlantic.The funding was also welcomed by politicians in Synthesias home country, who announced new plans this week to turbocharge AI.Peter Kyle, the UKs science and technology secretary, said the funding showcases the confidence investors have in British tech and highlights the global leadership of the countrys GenAI pioneers.Riparbelli is also optimistic about the UKs AI scene. He pointed to its combination of talent, capital, and infrastructure. He also praised Britains production of global leaders in the field.There are many countries that want to become AI superpowers but few have a chance to actually succeed, he said. The UK is among the top three for sure, because it has a combination of talent, capital, and infrastructure. Whats also remarkable about the UK is that it produces global leaders, not just regional players.

TNW Conference will be born again this summer.Over 18 years of unforgettable events, countless future tech stars have used our stage as a springboard to success. Weve driven vast investments, showcased endless innovations, and made friends along the way. Weve also learnt from our mistakes. But dont worry, fellow kids were not getting old yet. Were still mixing serious business with festival vibes. We are, however, shaking the party up a bit.To celebrate our coming of age, were going back to our roots. Today, were relaunching TNW Conference with a renewed focus on our founding mission: elevating the startups and scaleups shaping our future.Since 2006, TNW Conference has earned a reputation as a launchpad for world-changing ideas. We make it our thing to introduce startups and scaleups to the right crowd, so big ideas can grow into big things and shake up the world.The likes of Slack, Trello, Bolt, and Vinted have graced our stages en route to becoming world leaders. Theyve been joined by a star-studded selection of speakers, from web inventor Sir Tim-Berners Lee and Reddit CEO Steven Huffman to Hollywood star Zoe Saldana and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.Weve also supported 13 of the 15 Dutch unicorns in the early stages of their growth journeys. This year, we want to foster a new generation of tech titans.At TNW, weve always had a knack for spotting the extraordinary before it becomes the norm, said Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, the founder of TNW. From fledgling startups to transformative technologies, we thrive on helping innovators take their first big leap.Well, that all sounds lovely, I hear you say, but is there any substance behind your grandiose ambitions? Thanks for askingand mind your manners. Of course theres substance. Heres a taste of whats in store.Whats new for TNW Conference 2025?For our return to the iconic NDSM venue in Amsterdam on June 19-20, TNW Conference is being transformed into an exclusive, curated, and higher-quality platform. Were doubling down on the attendee experience and the element of surprise thats a become a trademark of the event.Every change intends to maximise our impact. Lets dig into a few details:Tickets will be restricted to just 4,500 guests. By restricting our numbers, we can create an intimate, tailored experience.The audience has been curated. Over 2,000 startups and scaleups, 675+ investors, 900+ policymakers, and 900+ corporate innovators will be in attendance.Weve focused our agenda around three key themes: Growth & Venture, Next in Tech, and Enterprise Innovation. Streamlining the program allows us to provide more relevant content. It also enhances collaboration and actionable insights.Tech5 returns. The network of top European founders has helped over 585 companies including Wise, Too Good To Go, Picnic, and Revolut. At TNW Conference, the program will feature a competition for the best growth-stage startups.We have a new edition of The Assembly an invite-only gathering of policymakers and business leaders. Themes for this years edition include defence tech a timely pick with the NATO Summit arriving in Amsterdam one week later. Deep tech, AI, climate tech, and other verticals are also on the agenda.The Corporate Innovator ticket launches. Our new pass will connect corporate leaders with tech pioneers in an exclusive Corporate Lounge.Our vision has been endorsed by our gorgeous home city. This years TNW Conference has been chosen as a flagship event of Amsterdam750 a celebration of the Dutch capitals 750th birthday.A hand-picked crew of tech leaders has also supported the refreshed plans. Among them is Victoria Slivkoff, the Head of Ecosystem at VC fund Walden Catalyst Venture and Executive Managing Director of the Extreme Tech Challenge.TNWs renewed focus on empowering startups driving global impact underscores the transformative power of scalable innovation to create a better world, she said.By fostering collaboration, providing unparalleled resources and visibility, TNW is creating a launchpad for visionary entrepreneurs tackling the worlds most pressing challenges.Why attend TNW Conference 2025?Weve redesigned TNW Conference for one reason: to better serve European startups, scaleups, and the surrounding ecosystem. Heres whats on offer for our community:For Startups & Scaleups: Showcase your startup on the same platform where todays tech giant once stood. Gain exposure, connect with industry players, meet investors, and find new clients.For Investors: Unearth techs hottest companies. Expand your deal pipeline, connect with high-growth entrepreneurs, and network with fellow investors.For Corporate Innovators: Inject some startup thinking into your enterprise to stay ahead of the curve and learn how to innovate at scale fast.For Ecosystem Builders: Helping national startups grow into global businesses. Connect key players, foster partnerships, and unearth pioneering innovations.Join us to discover the next big thing before its a thing.The next stepsWell soon share extra details on the agenda including our thrilling first batch of speakers and an eye-catching array of partners. In the meantime, Andy Lrling, a founding partner at VC firm Lumo Labs and a TNW Advisory Board member, has a few tips for the event.The better you prepare for your visit to the conference by exploring the TNW platform to identify who will be attending, who is relevant for you to meet, and which sessions are most valuable for you the higher the quality of your experience will be, he said.Dont hesitate to approach people, start conversations spontaneously, ask questions, and share your own experiences, knowledge, and network.You can join Andy and us at TNW Conference in June. Just dont call it a comeback but you can call it a rebirth.Tickets for TNW Conference are now on sale. Were going to sell-out so dont delay in ordering your pass. Use the code TNWXMEDIA2025 at the check-out to get 30% off the price tag. Story by Thomas Macaulay Managing editor Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he e (show all) Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse). Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.

Australian-German startup Quantum Brilliance has raised $20mn in Series A funding as it looks to deploy small, portable quantum accelerators that promise to supercharge the computational power of everything from data centres and robots to satellites.A quantum accelerator is a specialised hardware unit that speeds up specific quantum algorithms, or tasks. They act as co-processors to classical computers, such as CPUs or GPUs, taking on specific quantum calculations.Austrian deep tech fund Main Sequence, In-Q-Tel (IQT) in the US, and Japans Intervalley Ventures led the funding round. It represents a significant step forward as we advance the design, performance, and manufacturability of diamond quantum devices, said Quantum Brilliance CEO Mark Luo.Founded in 2019, Quantum Brilliance uses diamonds in its accelerators, allowing them to operate at room temperature, unlike most quantum systems that need super-cooling. The result is quantum devices that are portable and energy-efficient, making them particularly useful for large-scale deployment in edge devices.Price increase on Friday - Book NowDiamond quantum technology holds immense promise for developing compact and ruggedised quantum sensors and accelerators, said Nat Puffer, managing director at IQT. We believe this technology will play a pivotal role in addressing strategic challenges across industries and critical national priorities.Last year, Quantum Brilliance announced a strategic partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States, home to Frontier, the worlds first exascale supercomputer. The startup will install its diamond accelerators alongside the laboratorys high-performance computing (HPC) systems to explore the potential of combining quantum computing with classical computing.In addition, Germanys cybersecurity agency awarded Quantum Brilliance a $15mn contract in September to deliver the worlds first mobile quantum computer by 2027. A mobile quantum computer could perform complex calculations on-site instead of relying on data centres or cloud access.Quantum computers are rewriting the rules of computing, tapping into the mind-boggling magic of quantum physics to tackle problems regular machines cant touch. Powered by qubits that can juggle multiple states at once, theyre built to crack optimisation puzzles, simulate complex systems, and revolutionise encryption at blistering speeds.Interest in quantum computing has been abuzz since Google unveiled an experimental machine that was able to solve a mathematical equation in five minutes that a traditional supercomputer could not master in 10 septillion years. The breakthrough brought the dream of quantum computing a step closer to reality. Nevertheless, Nvidias CEO Jensen Huang was quick to pour cold water on the hype, cautioning at CES 2025 that practical quantum applications are still 15-30 years away. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Eindhoven-based startup Photon IP has raised 4.75mn in seed funding as it looks to scale up its unique method for creating energy-efficient photonic chips.AI systems, data centres, fibre-optic networks, andeven some sensors rely on photonic chips to send and receive information using light. These chips are a big deal because theyre faster and use less energy than typical semiconductors, which transfer data through electricity.But to make these high-performance, light-speed chips you need special compounds called III-V materials, such as indium phosphide.These materials are relatively scarce and expensive though, so the industry has been looking at ways of using silicon, leveraging all the scale and capability from the world of electronics, Photons CCO John Anderton told TNW.However, combining III-V materials with silicon on one single chip is, simply put, bloody difficult. Thats exactly where Photon has found an attractive market opportunity.The of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!Founded in 2022, the startup has developed a way to integrate III-V materials and silicon onto a single chip that can handle light better, use less power, and be mass-produced for things like faster internet, smarter AI systems, and high-precision sensors. There are many companies making photonic chips, but the challenge is finding the best way to combine and integrate these materials onto a single chip, said Anderton. We bring to market a unique, revolutionary technology that allows us to deliver the lowest energy use and the best performance while being scalable.Photon is fabless, meaning it outsources the chipmaking to established manufacturers, who make the chips to the startups specifications. The commercial value lies in Photons secret sauce.Amsterdam-based deep tech VC Innovation Industries led Photons seed round,with participation from Faber and the Brabant Development Agency. The venture arm of PhotonDelta, a photonics industry body based in Eindhoven, was the fourth and final investor.Photon IP has already secured 2mn in grant funding from the European Innovation Council. Todays seed round is its second injection of private equity, following a 1.1mn investment in 2022 led by Polish early-stage photonics investment firm Vigo Ventures.Photon told TNW it will use the fresh funding to grow its team as it looks to announce its first photonic chip products later this year. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

More than half of knowledge workers now use generative AI weekly, according to a recent piece of research from Asanas Work Innovation Lab, in partnership with Anthropic.The study also found that takeup ramped up by 44% over nine months in 2024. And those who use AI daily benefit most. Eighty-nine percent reported a productivity boost, whereas casual monthly users only saw a 39% increase in productivity.The report also found that knowledge workers believe generative AI has the potential to automate 31% of their job responsibilities. And the more ways they use AI tools at work, the more possibilities they see.8 jobs to discover this weekAlready, knowledge workers are deploying AI across an average of five different use cases at work, from technical writing to idea generation and brainstorming, demonstrating AIs versatility across various workflows, the studys authors say.The of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!As workers apply AI to a broader range of tasks, they discover innovative ways to enhance their work that they might not have initially considered. This leads them to find new applications for AI, creating a virtuous cycle of AI-powered productivity: the more you use it, the more you find new ways to use it, and the more productive you become.Of course, these use cases differ across industries, with those working in technology most likely to use generative AI for technical writing, for example. Those working in financial services are more likely to use it for process automation and it wont be a surprise to find that workers in the media and entertainment sectors gravitate towards tools for image generation.To date, only about 31% of companies have a formal AI strategy in place, which means that in many cases, workers usage of genAI tools is unregulated and has led to the rise of the BYOAI trend, AKA bring your own AI to work.One way all workers can leverage the use of generative AI tools (regardless of their employers stance), is in looking for a new role. Within recruitment, automation is taking over, and software is now doing much of what humans once managed, like sourcing, outreach, and application filtering.Some companies are even using AI to conduct job interviews, with mixed results. In the US, a case was filed last year concerning pharmacy chain CVS. As part of its application process, the company utilises video-interview technology which uses artificial intelligence for analysis. The plaintiff alleged that CVS broke Massachusetts law because it did not provide an opt-out.Amplifying your job searchWhile there may be downsides, the use of generative AI when it comes to job seeking is a net positive.Consider the Reddit user, for example, who recently created an AI bot that was used to automatically apply to 1,000 jobs, with the result being 50 interviews in one month. Thats far more than what many job hunters can expect using traditional career search methods.The user, who subsequently deleted their Reddit account, said at the time that: The tailored CVs and cover letters, customized based on each job description, made a significant difference.Speed and accuracy matter, and on the House of Talent Job Board, a new conversational AI job search agent can help you locate your next tech position quickly and accurately.Find the agent on the bottom right-hand side of your screen where it will allow you to search for best-matched jobs using your CV. Or, you can tell it a bit about yourself, your skills, your current locationor where youd like to work.Once youve isolated the best roles to apply for, generational AI can be tasked with optimising your application materials thanks to its time-saving capabilities.AI tools can help you to make fewer grammatical mistakes, align your experience effectively against the actual job description, and essentially speed up the whole process.Perplexity or ChatGPT can be used to quickly compare your CV against a job ad, outputting areas you need to finesse or skills you should highlight, helping you to optimize application materials for each role you apply for.If youve ever considered sliding into a recruiters DMs on LinkedIn, for example, or sending an email to a hiring manager on spec, then this is another area in which genAI can help. Claude, for example, can help you compose succinct, effective messages or emails you can then edit to make sure theyre completely on point.Cover letters are another time-consuming element of a job hunt that many find daunting. Many job applicants simply dont bother unless its a specific requirement. However, hiring managers like cover letters because they add additional context to your CV. You can showcase your motivation and desire for the role, along with more intangible talents such as your soft skills.The good news is that this process can also be simplified by prompting a Gen AI tool to create a cover letter based on your CV. This framework can then be padded out as you see fit add in additional experience or KPIs you succeeded with, along with an explanation of why youd really love the job.And thats not all. AI can help you research companies, positions, and terminology ahead of job interviews, helping you prepare. You can also use an AI tool as a sounding board for interview preparation, by asking it to generate sample questions for a software engineering role, for example.But no matter what tools or platforms you use, its incumbent on you to check the outputs. Generative AI tools are great assistants, but youre in the driving seat.Ready to look for a new tech role? Check out The Next Web Job Board now Story by Kirstie McDermott Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Content created by Amply and TNWAlso tagged with

Coming from South Africa but living in Europe, I can tell you that sending money to family and friends back home is a bit of a nightmare. Typically you must use a traditional bank,which can take a week or more, or payment apps like PayPal or Wise, which charge high fees.The antiquated nature of remittance payments is something that immigrants are all too familiar with. Demand for better alternatives is giving rise to a new cohort of fintech companies looking to streamline the process. One of them is London-headquartered LemFi.Founded in 2021, the financial services platform enables diaspora communities in North America and Europe to quickly and affordably send money to friends and family in China, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya, and 15 other countries in the Global South. Sadly, for me, South Africa is not yet on the list. However, LemFi is expanding fast so I might not have very long to wait.LemFi has already onboarded 1 million customers so far, who have made a combined $1bn in monthly transactions through the app. Transactions to and from Asia are currently growing at 30% month-on-month, said the company. And last week, LemFi, which employs over 300 people, officially set up shop in Europe. The startup is tapping a global remittance market predicted to reach $1.3 trillion by 2032.All that growth potential, has, unsurprisingly, piqued the interest of VCs. Today, LemFi announced that it has raised $53mn in Series B funding. London-based growth-stage venture firm Highland Europe led the round, with participation from previous investors Left Lane Capital, Palm Drive Capital, and Y-Combinator. The fresh funding brings LemFis total raised to $85mn.When we started building LemFi, we were told remittance had already been solved, said Ridwan Olalere, co-founder and CEO of LemFi, pictured left. But for too many people, it is still too slow, cumbersome and expensive with customers telling us that in some instances it was cheaper to send money from the US via Canada than directly to their families back home.Olalere, originally from Nigeria, founded LemFi alongside Norwegian Rian Cochran. The pair met whilst working at Nigerian fintech unicorn OPay, incubated by Norwegian browser provider Opera.Fuelled by fresh funding, LemFi now looks to add new features and expand to new countries, said Olalere.No doubt part of LemFis popularity is that it advertises zero transaction fees. Well, unless you live in China, India, or Pakistan. The company also makes revenue on foreign currency exchanges. Its business model is dependent on volume, making small profits on numerous transactions while staying competitive for users seeking low-cost international money transfers.LemFi is far from alone in the increasingly crowded remittance fintech market. Perhaps the most well-known is US-based Remitly, which went public in 2021. Other contenders include startups Zepz and Taptap Send, both of which are headquartered in London. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with