In the latest development, Shield AI -- which makes software and hardware for drones and other autonomous aircraft used by military and other government organizations -- has raised $165 million in funding, $90 million in Series E equity and $75 million in debt.
The funding is coming in at a $2.3 billion valuation, Shield AI said. The company has been on a strong pace on that front: it follows on from a $210-$300 million Series D about ten months ago that valued the company at $1.25 billion. (It never confirmed the final amount, which was also a mix of equity and debt.)
The Biden administration this week proposed new standards for its program to build a national network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations by 2030.
Officials said the proposal will help establish the groundwork for states to build charging station projects that are accessible to all drivers regardless of the location, EV brand or charging company. Earlier this year, the White House introduced a plan to allocate $5 billion to states to fund EV chargers during the next five years.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has acquired the government's first quantum computer. Quantum computers can make very complex calculations extremely quickly and their creators say they can solve the problems regular computers cannot. The MoD will work with British company Orca Computing to explore applications for quantum technology in defence.
E-coin is preparing for its most significant overhaul since it was launched nearly a decade ago. The network is moving from a proof-of-work mining model to a proof of stake model. This requires users to leverage their existing cache of ether as a means to verify transactions and mint new tokens.
Baidu's electric vehicle arm Jidu Auto launches a "robot" concept car. The concept car is free of door handles and can be fully controlled via voice recognition. The company plans to mass produce the model, which would be 90% similar to the concept, in 2023.
Alex Kipman led efforts to develop the HoloLens headset An executive at the core of Microsoft metaverse strategy is leaving the company. Alex Kipman, a technical fellow at Microsoft who led its augmented-reality headset project, is stepping down, Scott Guthrie, Microsoft’s cloud and artificial-intelligence group executive vice president, wrote in an internal email Tuesday viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
AutoFlight has released video of its upgraded eVTOL air taxi Prosperity I undergoing a new battery of test flights. The company hopes to have the definitive design of the plane ready by the third quarter of this year. The air taxi could be in commercial service by 2026.
The EU agreed on legislation to require a universal charging port on all smartphones sold in the EU by fall 2024.
Apple, which uses the lightning port on iPhones, has previously spoken against the legislation. Consumers can save up to 250 million euros a year from buying chargers under the law, according to the EU.
Microsoft is laying off 400 employees in Russia. The company suspended new sales of products and services in Russia in March. Microsoft says it's working with impacted employees. Russia accounts for less than one percent of Microsoft’s revenue. The move comes more than three months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Apple has established a subsidiary called Apple Financing to conduct credit checks and customer approvals. The new firm will operate separately from Apple, but it has obtained the necessary state licenses. Apple Pay Later will launch alongside iOS 16 later this year. The tech giant is also developing its own payment processing engine.
The B2B playbook will evolve to include some version of the same strategies as the consumer marketing playbook. The tech that will be the foundation of the metaverse – including immersive games, VR headsets, 3D meeting rooms and more – is already being used for business. As more employees, including key business contacts, began working remotely, there’s a wider audience that B 2B marketers can reach.
TikTok has introduced Avatars, a new way for users to express themselves on the social media platform. The feature is rolling out globally to all TikTok users. Users will have the ability to recreate themselves in the digital space, similar to Snapchat's Bitmoji.