March 6, 2025

AR/VR

Mistral releases new optical character recognition (OCR) API claiming top performance globally

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Well-funded French AI startup Mistral is content to go its own way. In a sea of competing reasoning models, the company has introduced Mistral OCR, a new optical character recognition (OCR) API designed to provide advanced document understanding capabilities. The API extracts content — including handwritten notes, typed text, images, tables and equations — from unstructured

Carl Franzen March 6, 2025

Google co-founder Larry Page reportedly has a new AI startup | TechCrunch

Google co-founder Larry Page is building a new company called Dynatomics that’s focused on applying AI to product manufacturing, according to The Information. Page is reportedly working with a small group of engineers on AI that can create “highly optimized” designs for objects and then have a factory build them, per The Information. Chris Anderson, previously the CTO of Page-backed electric airplane startup Kittyhawk, is running the stealth effort, The Information reports. Page isn’t the

Kyle Wiggers March 6, 2025

Robotics

Aescape raises $83M to bring robotic massager to more locations – The Robot Report

Aecape uses AI to deliver a fully automated, customizable massage experience for personalized wellness and recovery. | Source: Aescape Aescape Inc., which has developed massage robots using artificial intelligence, this week said it has raised $83 million in strategic funding. The startup said it plans to use its funding, which now totals $128 million, to scale operations, expand into new markets, and grow its partnerships with global brands. “Our first six months in the market

The Robot Report Staff March 6, 2025

Software

Inside the Incredible Potential of Quantum Computing in Drug Development | HackerNoon

Drug development takes years — often over a decade. If drugmakers could shorten that timeline, they could save lives. Healthcare leaders are looking to quantum computers as the driver for this change. It has incredible potential in discovery and design. Why Healthcare Needs Quantum Computing Technology Today, most drug candidates never make it to production. During clinical studies, an estimated 90% of them fail at the trial or approval stages. A lack of clinical efficacy,

Zac Amos March 6, 2025

Software

Code Smell 293 – You Should Avoid Adding isTesting or Similar Flags | HackerNoon

Don’t let test code sneak into production TL;DR: Avoid adding isTesting or similar flags. Problems 😔 Solutions 😃 Remove behavior Ifs Use dependency injection Model external services (Don’t mock them) Separate configurations Isolate test logic Maintain clean behavior boundaries Refactorings ⚙️ Context 💬 When you add flags like isTesting, you mix testing and production code. This creates hidden paths that are only active in tests. Also, you don’t cover real production code. You risk shipping

Maximiliano Contieri March 6, 2025

Exclusive: Scale AI is being investigated by the US Department of Labor

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is investigating the data-labeling startup Scale AI for compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, TechCrunch has learned. That’s a federal law that regulates unpaid wages, misclassification of employees as contractors, and illegal retaliation against workers. The investigation has been active since at least August 2024, a document seen by TechCrunch shows. And it’s ongoing, according to a person directly familiar with the matter. The mere existence of an

Charles Rollet March 6, 2025

AR/VR

Anthropic just launched a new platform that lets everyone in your company collaborate on AI — not just the tech team

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Anthropic has launched a significant overhaul to its developer platform, introducing team collaboration features and extended reasoning capabilities for its Claude AI assistant that aim to solve major pain points for organizations implementing AI solutions. The upgraded Anthropic Console now allows cross-functional teams to collaborate on AI prompts — the text instructions that guide AI models

Michael Nuñez March 6, 2025

Shield AI raises $240M at a $5.3B valuation to commercialize its AI drone tech | TechCrunch

Shield AI, the San Diego defense tech startup that builds drones and other AI-powered military systems, has raised a $240 million round at a $5.3 billion valuation, it announced today. Shield AI says its Hivemind software already enables fighter jets and drones to fly autonomously. Now, Shield AI wants to sell Hivemind to a broader range of customers like robotics companies. The round’s investors include L3Harris, one of the U.S.’s biggest defense contractors, and Hanwha

Charles Rollet March 6, 2025

Consent: It’s Not Just for Doctors’ Offices Anymore—Tech Needs It Too | HackerNoon

When you hear “consent,” you might think of signing forms at a doctor’s office, giving the medical team permission to treat you. This kind of medical consent is critical, ensuring patients understand what’s being done to their bodies and can make informed choices about their health. However, there is another realm where consent plays a crucial role — the world of technology and data privacy. In this series, I’ll explore how the principles of medical

Shaurya March 6, 2025