Can cloud seeding fight drought? Startup Rainmaker just raised $100 million to find out

Rainmaker, the weather modification startup focused on generating rain and snow through cloud seeding, announced today that it has raised $100 million in Series B funding. Investors including NOA VC, Upfront Ventures, DCVC, Lowercarbon Capital, and Dream…

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Is your company’s AI getting smarter every day? It should be

Imagine working with someone who was completely unable to learn, to gain any experience whatsoever. There’s no need to picture someone completely stupid: just think of someone who joins the company, starts to deal with a lot of customers, experiences…

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U.S. proposes a ‘notification mechanism’ for AI incidents that affect national security

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday the U.S. has proposed a new “notification mechanism” for artificial intelligence incidents that could affect national security, part of weekend discussions ahead of talks at the White House this week between…

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Codie Sanchez thinks you should buy a business, not just invest

Own or be owned. That’s Codie Sanchez’s ultimatum for anyone serious about their financial future. The founder of Contrarian Thinking and author of the new book Own or Be Owned makes her most impassioned case yet for why buying a small business is the most…

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Tesla’s Cybercab exposes a robotaxi emergency-response problem

For the self-driving car industry, first responder guidance is a collective action problem. Tesla’s Cybercab, a gold-tinted self-driving sedan outfitted with doors that eject sideways and upward, officially hit the road earlier this month. In some cities, the…

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Refurbished vs. new tech: Which gear is safe to buy used (and what to avoid)

The tech industry wants you to believe that every device must be unboxed fresh from the factory floor. But for practical professionals, buying certified refurbished hardware is the easiest way to pocket a 40%-60% discount without sacrificing performance. The…

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Transform Chrome’s new tab page into the ultimate bookmark launchpad

Whenever I install a new web browser, one of the first things I do is replace the new tab page. Depending on which browser you use, the default home page could be cluttered with news headlines, promotional tiles, or a messy list of recently visited sites…

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The big AI labs’ safety push could come with a competitive advantage

Some investors, analysts, and industry watchers believe the big AI labs, especially Anthropic, are taking advantage of the current AI safety scare by inviting regulations that only the largest labs can easily comply with. The AI safety concerns are real, but…

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Can you trust AI’s answer to your question? Here’s what to consider

I recently typed a simple question into Google search: How much screen time is too much for teenagers? Instead of presenting links, as Google had been doing for many years, it gave me an AI-generated answer. The artificial intelligence agent cited a number…

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Someone used Claude to build a potential bioweapon. The real threat is much deeper

Today’s frontier AI models know everything–how to safely thaw a frozen chicken breast, re-shingle your roof, and treat your dog’s ragweed allergies, if my recent chat history is any indication. Apparently, they also know how to create fiendishly deadly…

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iPhone 18 too expensive? Here are 3 ways to make your old iPhone feel like new again

The new iPhone 18 Pro series went on sale this week. Though they are the best iPhones Apple has ever made, their enhanced features—blazing-fast chips, better cameras, and foldability—come at a high price. While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max started…

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Will your robotic vacuum snitch on you? What home devices mean for privacy and the law

A husband in Taiwan suspected his wife of having an affair. In September 2023, he found a used toothbrush at their holiday home, and garage video showed an unfamiliar man driving his wife there. Three months later, he opened their robot vacuum’s app to speak…

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This gadget—and free software—makes e-reading fun again

Hello again, and welcome back to Fast Company’s Plugged In . At first blush, it sounds like a canonical example of a gizmo the world could live without. The device in question is a truly diminutive e-reader designed to snap magnetically to the back of your…

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This AI toothbrush wants to find trouble before your dentist does

If you’ve ever wanted more information about what’s going on inside your mouth between dental visits, you’re in luck. Now, there’s an at-home oral-care system designed to give you exactly that. The oral-care technology company usmile just introduced an…

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Why every AI launch now makes the backlash worse

The past few weeks have seen a host of AI model and tool releases, and—although it might sound cliché at this point—it’s fair to say the abilities of AI today make what was available even six months ago seem like toys. During the same period, the AI industry…

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Claude, Anthropic’s AI model, is helping to develop the next version of itself

Anthropic’s Claude is helping the company develop the next, more intelligent version of the model, the artificial intelligence lab said in an announcement Thursday. Claude is leading 26% of Anthropic’s model research and development, which the company said…

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I tried the new Fairphone, a phone designed to be repaired

When I unpacked a new Fairphone from its box, I noticed something that doesn’t come with any other phone: a screwdriver. The tool is one small part of the company’s bigger effort to make a phone that users can actually repair—and that lasts as long as…

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Employers aren’t giving up on computer science grads. Here’s what they want instead

Not long ago, a computer science degree was widely seen as a golden ticket to a lucrative career. Over the past year, a different narrative has taken hold: In the age of artificial intelligence , that path is collapsing. From coders working at Chipotle to the…

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AI systems don’t have a drive to survive. Here’s why

In controlled safety tests described earlier this year, researchers asked AI models to solve a series of simple math problems. Partway through the exercise, the instructors warned the bots that if they tried to solve the next problem, the computer environment…

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The Navy’s push for shipboard laser weapons just got a new entrant

This article is republished with permission from Laser Wars , a newsletter about military laser weapons and other futuristic defense technology. The U.S. Navy has awarded a modest contract to America’s largest shipbuilder for a new high-energy laser weapon…

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