The big cryptocurrency exchange goes public through a direct listing, and it could make a bigger debut than Facebook. Physicists are constantly rethinking how bubbles burst. It’s one of those nagging problems in physics, deceptively simple, like working out the forces that keep a bike upright. The problem is that while bubbles pop around us
In a record quarter for VC funding, California still takes the cake—further evidence that reports of the region’s demise are greatly exaggerated. Silicon Valley’s most valuable asset is no longer silicon, to make computer chips, or even tech talent, to code software products. Instead, it is capital, which has been accumulating in the region since
The company plans to buy Nuance, a speech-recognition firm that grasps the specialized language of medicine—tech that won’t be easy for others to replicate. When Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella spoke to investors Monday about his company’s plan to acquire speech-recognition specialist Nuance for $16 billion, he emphasized the importance of artificial intelligence in health care.
During the pandemic, insurers accelerated the use of automated tools to estimate repair costs. Garage operators say the numbers can be wildly inaccurate. In the Before Times, Jerry McNee wasn’t always a fan of appraisers. McNee is the president of Ultimate Collision Repair, an auto repair shop in Edison, New Jersey. From his perspective, appraisers
The German automaker uses new software from chipmaker Nvidia to simulate train robots and human workers. German carmaker BMW plans to start making drivetrains for electric vehicles at a vast factory in Regensburg, Bavaria, later in 2021. Well before any new parts roll off the production line, the entire manufacturing process will run in stunningly
Facebook is being sued for weakening data protections. Google is being sued for strengthening them. Can that paradox be resolved? Here’s something to puzzle over. In December, the Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of states filed antitrust lawsuits against Facebook, alleging that as the company grew more dominant and faced less competition, it reneged
Medtronic’s GI Genius, recently cleared by the FDA, will help doctors identify precancerous polyps. Michael Wallace has performed hundreds of colonoscopies in his 20 years as a gastroenterologist. He thinks he’s pretty good at recognizing the growths, or polyps, that can spring up along the ridges of the colon and potentially turn into cancer. But
Facebook has been criticized for failing to curb misinformation in English. But little attention has been paid to the scale of the problem in Arabic. Bill Gates is dressed as the Joker. His hair is fluorescent green, his face painted white and his elongated smile is cut into his face. In his hand is a
Union supporters face a setback in Bessemer, Alabama, but indicate the fight isn’t over yet. Deep in the aisles of a vast Amazon fulfillment center, one aggrieved young worker mounted a very tiny rebellion. A comic book fan, he would squirrel away intriguing titles as they arrived at the warehouse, stealing glances as he stocked
Why petty drama matters in the workplace, and other advice on office thievery. Dear OOO, I work in digital marketing. Several months ago a colleague, ‘Mary,’ and I worked together to develop a proposal for a monthly newsletter, which was approved. I do all the monthly work to produce it, and I have no issue
A growing number of robots are operated remotely, often by workers thousands of miles away. Could it be a job of the future? David Tejeda helps deliver food and drinks to tables at a small restaurant in Dallas. And another in Sonoma County, California. Sometimes he lends a hand at a restaurant in Los Angeles
In 2019, I made a painful decision. But to the algorithms that drive Facebook, Pinterest, and a million other apps, I’m forever getting married. I still have a photograph of the breakfast I made the morning I ended an eight-year relationship and canceled a wedding. It was an unremarkable breakfast—a fried egg—but it is now
“Now is the time to start stepping on the gas,” as one prominent VC firm put it to founders. Venture capitalists behave a bit like oracles. They imagine the future, make prophecies about how we get there, and decide the fate of founders and startups. Usually, these divinations take the form of cash, showing where
The president’s $2 trillion infrastructure proposal boosts funding for buses and rail. It even envisions actually tearing down some freeways. The US is car country. Its 4.1-million-mile road network is the world’s most expansive. It has more motor vehicles per person than any other major nation. Eighty-six percent of Americans drive to work (or did
The $100 billion proposal will probably be met with fierce resistance by telecom companies, but there’s a lot to like for internet users. President Biden’s plan to connect all Americans with high-speed broadband includes proposals to boost competition, build more publicly owned networks, lower prices, and prioritize “future-proof” networks instead of ones that would quickly
This month’s focus is on reporters who have been subjected to harassment, abuse, and arrests related to online posts. These are their cases. In May 2019, WIRED joined the One Free Press Coalition, a united group of preeminent editors and publishers using their global reach and social platforms to spotlight journalists under attack worldwide. On
Megan collects advice on judging whether your workplace is inclusive—and how to build trust with your colleagues. Dear OOO, Is it worth trying to explain to colleagues that my bluntness stems from being on the spectrum? Or just acknowledge that my approach isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and just go from there? —Anonymous I sometimes
Growth slowed last year at the tech giant, as it had trouble securing the most advanced chips. China’s government has a plan to change that. Huawei, the crown jewel of China’s tech industry, is reeling from a financial one-two punch delivered by US chip sanctions and a campaign aimed at cutting international markets. But with
The labels attached to images used to train machine-vision systems are often wrong. That could mean bad decisions by self-driving cars and medical algorithms. The current boom in artificial intelligence can be traced back to 2012 and a breakthrough during a competition built around ImageNet, a set of 14 million labeled images. In the competition,
Spot is a new platform dedicated entirely to walking meetings, launched by a longtime remote work evangelist. Seven years ago, Greg Caplan ditched his desk at Groupon, where he managed the site’s Things to Do category, and committed to doing more things himself. He wanted to travel the world, and he wanted to help others
The makers of Eleuther hope it will be an open source alternative to GPT-3, the well-known language program from OpenAI. Some of the most dazzling recent advances in artificial intelligence have come thanks to resources only available at big tech companies, where thousands of powerful computers and terabytes of data can be as copious as
Both sides are preparing for a potentially protracted battle over ballots and labor practices. It’s been a star-studded, action-packed seven weeks since the union ballots shipped to the workers at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama, fulfillment center on February 8. President Joe Biden tweeted out a video of support. Tina Fey, Sarah Silverman, and The Matrix director
Manufacturers say the devices remove 99 percent of viruses. Researchers say such claims are unproven, and cheaper air filters are more effective. Last fall, Jeff Kreiter, director of operational services for the school district in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, found himself flooded with proposals to clean the air inside classrooms. The ideas varied—UV lights, air
Everyone knows Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube make money by keeping users engaged. Why won’t their executives admit it to Congress? Anyone who has been paying any attention at all knows that big social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube prioritize user engagement above just about anything else. So why won’t their CEOs admit it?
The Locus Charter asks companies to commit to 10 principles, including minimizing data collection and actively seeking consent from users. As smartphone apps track our every move, a group of technologists in the US and UK this week offered guidelines for the ethical uses of location data. Leaders of the American Geographical Society and Britain’s
The task won’t be easy: Tugboats, excavators, and cranes all may be enlisted to help the Ever Given, while at least 34 other ships wait around the blockage. Every day, some 50 ships pass through the Suez Canal, the waterway slashed between the Mediteranean and the Red Sea. These are big ships: Some 10 percent
The semiconductor giant announced plans to open its factories to others, but it will send some of its most advanced designs to be made in Taiwan. Intel announced on Tuesday that it plans to spend $20 billion to build new chipmaking factories. The move aims to show that the company, and the US, are serious
Is a job offer a way out, or a pathway to soul-crushing disappointment? Megan weighs in. Dear OOO, My job is awful and is crushing my soul. For insurance reasons, though, I can’t quit until I have a new job lined up. This week I got an offer. It’s not my dream job, but it’s
As tech campuses became ghost towns, the people who kept them running—cooks, custodians, drivers—faced an existential threat to their livelihoods. A year ago, while people across America were still taking the subway to work, sharing elevators and conference rooms, Silicon Valley was emptying out. Its companies were among the first to ask that people work
We’re looking for new voices to provide an insider perspective on rapidly changing industries. Between a pandemic, climate change, and advances in technology that continue to reshape almost every way of life, the past year has been a bellwether for work in the US. At WIRED, we believe some of the people best situated to