In the run-up to the winter storm currently pummeling much of the U.S., weather forecasts for some regions were all over the map, with snowfall predictions varying wildly.
Nvidia couldn’t have timed the release of its new Earth-2 weather forecasting models any better. Or, given how accurate the company claims the new models are, maybe it knew something we didn’t?
The new AI models…
Synthesia hits $4B valuation, lets employees cash out
January 27, 2026
British startup Synthesia, whose AI platform helps companies create interactive training videos, has raised a $200 million Series E round of funding that brings its valuation to $4 billion – up from $2.1 billion just a year ago.
Unlike some other AI startups that are…
Big Tech companies and upcoming startups want to use generative AI to build software and hardware for kids. A lot of those experiences are limited to text or voice, and kids might not find that captivating. Three former Google employees want to get over that hurdle with…
Who’s behind AMI Labs, Yann LeCun’s ‘world model’ startup
January 26, 2026
Yann LeCun’s new venture, AMI Labs, has drawn intense attention since the AI scientist left Meta to found it. This week, the startup finally confirmed what it’s building – and several key details have been hiding in plain sight.
On its newly launched website, the startup disclosed its plans to develop “world models” in order to “build intelligent systems that…
Meta pauses teen access to AI characters ahead of new version
January 26, 2026
Meta today said that it is pausing teens’ access to its AI characters globally across all its apps. The company mentioned that it is not abandoning its efforts but wants to develop an updated version of AI characters for teens, the company exclusively told…
OpenAI chief Sam Altman plans India visit as AI leaders converge in New Delhi: sources
January 26, 2026
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is planning to visit India in mid-February, his first visit to the country in nearly a year, TechCrunch has learned. The visit comes as New Delhi prepares to host a major AI summit expected to draw top executives from Meta, Google, and Anthropic.
India…
Spotify is rolling out Prompted Playlists, a new AI playlist creation tool, to Premium subscribers in the U.S. and Canada. The feature, which was originally tested in New Zealand, allows users to make a playlist by describing what they want to hear, in their own words.
Prompted Playlists builds on an earlier AI playlist product, launched in 2024, which allowed for simpler prompts like “get…
Companies and governments are looking for tools to run AI locally in a bid to slash cloud infrastructure costs and build sovereign capability. Quadric, a chip-IP startup founded by veterans of early bitcoin mining firm 21E6, is trying to power that shift, scaling beyond…
Big Tech companies and upcoming startups want to use generative AI to build software and hardware for kids. A lot of those experiences are limited to text or voice, and kids might not find that captivating. Three former Google employees want to get over that hurdle with…
Zanskar thinks 1 TW of geothermal power is being overlooked
January 22, 2026
The ground beneath our feet holds so much energy that experts at the Department of Energy (DOE) think geothermal power could generate 60 gigawatts – or nearly 10% of U.S. electricity – by 2050.
Zanskar co-founder and CEO Carl Hoiland thinks that lofty number is too low, mostly because it’s discounting conventional geothermal’s potential.
The DOE’s figures assume…
