Rivian will add hands-free driver assist to vehicles this year, ‘eyes-off’ next year

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Rivian is planning to launch a hands-free driving assistant system for its electric R1T and R1S vehicles later this year, followed by an “eyes-off” version in 2026, reveals Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe in a press roundtable interview according to a post on Rivian Forums and reported by Electrek. The … Read more

Best of the Week: It’s All Happening!

It was a big week for crypto following the inauguration of Donald Trump to a second term Monday. The White House issued an executive order on digital assets, calling for a friendly approach to crypto across the administration and the creation of a “digital asset stockpile” (which may, or may not be, a Bitcoin Strategic … Read more

Next Stop for DePIN: Taco Bell

The DePIN revolution is coming to a fast food franchise near you. The movement that started with Helium and has spread to numerous categories, including mapping and car data, this year is now spreading to hospitality. The initiative shows how quickly DePINs — or decentralized networks of physical infrastructure — are becoming mainstream. The fast … Read more

The EU wants to talk to US tech companies ahead of Germany’s upcoming election

The European Union will give tech and social media companies a “stress test” to see how they handle misinformation ahead of Germany’s election next month. European Commission officials have invited tech companies, including: X, Meta, Snap, TikTok, Google, Microsoft, and LinkedIn, to a meeting on January 31, according to multiple news outlets. During this meeting, … Read more

Ellipsoid Algorithms as a Tool Against Predictable Opponents

:::info Authors: (1) Avrim Blum, Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago, IL, USA; (2) Melissa Dutz, Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago, IL, USA. ::: Table of Links Abstract and 1 Introduction 2 Setting and 2.1 Models of behaviorally-biased opponents 3 Preliminaries and Intuition 4.1 Myopic Best Responder and 4.2 Gambler’s Fallacy Opponent 4.3 Win-Stay, Lose-Shift Opponent … Read more

The AI industry’s pace has researchers stressed

To outside observers, AI researchers are in an enviable position. They’re sought after by tech giants. They’re taking home eye-popping salaries. And they’re in the hottest industry of the moment. But all this comes with intense pressure. More than half a dozen researchers TechCrunch spoke with, some of whom requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, … Read more

French e-bike startup Angell nears bankruptcy

Angell, a French smart electric bike startup, has announced in an email to customers that the company is declaring insolvency and approaching a court to ask for judicial liquidation. “It’s over for Angell,” said company co-founder and CEO Marc Simoncini on Instagram. (He also happens to be a judge on the French version of “Shark … Read more

Threads is offically getting ads

Illustration: The Verge Your Threads feed will soon have ads. On Friday, Meta announced that it’s rolling out a “limited, early test of ads in Threads,” and the test will happen with a “handful of brands in the US and Japan,” according to Instagram boss Adam Mosseri. Image: Meta Ads on Threads will appear as … Read more

Kodiak has made its first driverless truck deliveries to customer Atlas Energy

Kodiak Robotics has officially handed off two autonomous trucks to customer Atlas Energy Solutions, marking the startup’s first commercial launch.  Atlas, a provider of proppant (i.e., sand) and oilfield logistics, received its first Kodiak-equipped trucks in December and began driverless operations in an off-road environment in West Texas’s remote Permian Basin shortly after. The company … Read more