What is an eVTOL? How flying cars are moving closer to reality

Alef Aeronautics wants to start delivering its $300,000 Model A flying car to customers by 2025. Source: Alef Aeronautics What if flying around in an electric vehicle is a key part of the way you travel in the future? That’s what dozens of companies around the world are betting on. EVTOLs, or electric vertical take-off … Read more

(RDDT) starts trading on NYSE

Reddit shares jumped 48% in their debut on Thursday in the first initial public offering for a major social media company since Pinterest hit the market in 2019. The 19-year-old website that hosts millions of online forums priced its IPO on Wednesday at $34 a share, the top of the expected range. Reddit and selling … Read more

Sam Altman’s Reddit stake worth over $600 million after NYSE debut

Reddit mascot Snoo is seen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as Reddit begins trading in New York on March 21, 2024.  Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says he has no equity in the $80 billion artificial intelligence startup he co-founded in 2015. His … Read more

UK neobank Monzo hits $5 billion valuation after $430 million raise

British digital bank Monzo on Tuesday raised $430 million in fresh capital from investors to help it relaunch its services in the U.S. Monzo raised the money in a new funding round led by CapitalG, the independent venture arm of Google parent company Alphabet. HongShan, the Chinese venture capital firm that split from Sequoia Capital … Read more

Electric air transport set to take off with air taxis, cargo deliveries

A model of a Wisk Aero LLC electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi during the Singapore Airshow in Singapore, on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024.  Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images SINGAPORE — Among displays of defense jets, passenger airliners and high-tech aviation equipment at the Singapore Airshow were electric air transport vehicles — … Read more

Baidu’s Ernie AI chatbot to power Samsung’s new Galaxy S24 smartphones

Samsung Electronics Co. Galaxy S24 smartphones during a media preview event in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. Samsung, the world’s most prolific smartphone maker, is leaning into artificial intelligence as the key to unlocking greater sales this year. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images Baidu … Read more

Tencent’s Riot Games division cuts 11% of staff to ‘create focus’

Ma ”Pony” Huateng, chairman and chief executive officer of Tencent Holdings Ltd., speaks during the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Forum in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, June 20, 2017. In an unusual move, Ma has chosen to convene a summit of government academics and business chieftains in Hong Kong days before the 20th anniversary … Read more

Tencent loses over $43 billion in market value after China proposes new online gaming rules

Tencent lost about $43.5 billion in market value on Friday after China surprised financial markets with a fresh set of rules aimed at curbing excessive gaming and spending. The draft guidelines from China’s National Press and Publication Administration sank the Hong Kong-listed shares of Tencent, NetEase and Bilibili — among the largest online gaming-related counters … Read more

China’s livestream shopping booms, fueling new tech like avatars and AI

HAIAN, CHINA – NOVEMBER 7, 2023 – A crab farmer sells crabs via a live webcast at Xinhai village in Haian city, Jiangsu province, China, Nov 7, 2023. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images BEIJING — Livestream shopping is taking off in China, driving development of new tech products … Read more

Rakuten plans to launch its own AI model: CEO

The logo of Japanese tech giant Rakuten logo seen at the Mobile World Congress 2019. Paco Freire| SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty Images Japan’s Rakuten plans to launch its own proprietary artificial intelligence language model, its CEO told CNBC in an interview that aired Monday. It comes as the fintech-to-e-commerce giant looks to join … Read more