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Silo AI launches Nordic LLM family to protect Europe’s linguistic diversity
Europe’s linguistic diversity has received a boost into the AI era with the launch of new LLMs for Nordic languages. Fittingly named Viking, the model family is the brainchild of Finnish startup Silo AI. The company claims to host Europe’s largest private AI lab and has pledged to protect the continent’s digital sovereignty. Viking is the latest step of that mission. By integrating Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish into its open-source models, Silo AI plans to expand digital inclusivity. Peter Sarlin, the startup’s CEO and co-founder, wants the LLMs to “bridge gaps” in digital communication. “We aim to cater…This story continues at The Next Web
Europe’s linguistic diversity has received a boost into the AI era with the launch of new LLMs for Nordic languages. Fittingly named Viking, the model family is the brainchild of Finnish startup Silo AI. The company claims to host Europe’s largest private AI lab and has pledged to protect the continent’s digital sovereignty. Viking is the latest step of that mission. By integrating Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish into its open-source models, Silo AI plans to expand digital inclusivity. Peter Sarlin, the startup’s CEO and co-founder, wants the LLMs to “bridge gaps” in digital communication. “We aim to cater…
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TNW Podcast: Flying cars and invisibility shields; Svilen Rangelov on drones and Dronamics
Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry. In today’s episode, Linnea and Andrii talk about flying cars, unexpected effects of climate change, espresso origins, and real-life invisibility shields. The guest of the show is Svilen Rangelov, co-founder and CEO of Dronamics, a Bulgarian scale-up that’s working on long-distance drone transportation with remote piloting. Here are the stories and things mentioned in the episode: Flying cars edge towards takeoff after Chinese…This story continues at The Next Web
Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry. In today’s episode, Linnea and Andrii talk about flying cars, unexpected effects of climate change, espresso origins, and real-life invisibility shields. The guest of the show is Svilen Rangelov, co-founder and CEO of Dronamics, a Bulgarian scale-up that’s working on long-distance drone transportation with remote piloting. Here are the stories and things mentioned in the episode: Flying cars edge towards takeoff after Chinese…
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This startup detects heart disease using motion sensors in your phone
Health tech has a rocky history. For every story of the Apple Watch saving someone’s life, there’s a Theranos out there ruining it for everyone. Yet the sector marches on. We all want to be healthy and know more about our bodies — and this is an opportunity for profit that tech companies can’t ignore. The problem is that, as consumers, we struggle to separate the wheat from the chaff, the hard science from the cosmetic. Take, for example, the heart monitoring features on popular wearables like the Apple Watch or the Fitbit Charge. These are useful tools for general…This story continues at The Next Web
Health tech has a rocky history. For every story of the Apple Watch saving someone’s life, there’s a Theranos out there ruining it for everyone. Yet the sector marches on. We all want to be healthy and know more about our bodies — and this is an opportunity for profit that tech companies can’t ignore. The problem is that, as consumers, we struggle to separate the wheat from the chaff, the hard science from the cosmetic. Take, for example, the heart monitoring features on popular wearables like the Apple Watch or the Fitbit Charge. These are useful tools for general…
This story continues at The Next Web
Quantinuum, Microsoft claim to have quieted quantum computing ‘noise’
Two of the leaders in quantum technologies, Quantinuum and Microsoft, today announced a breakthrough in reducing ‘noise’ that could mean quantum advantage is closer than previously thought. When it comes to quantum computing, noise refers to internal and external interference that lead to errors in quantum computations. Without properly conquering challenges such as variations in temperature, external electromagnetic fields, and quantum decoherence, quantum computers will not surpass the capabilities of classical computers. Because of how prone they are to errors resulting from these kinds of interference, today’s machines are referred to as what is known as NISQ-era devices — Noisy…This story continues at The Next WebOr just read more coverage about: Microsoft
Two of the leaders in quantum technologies, Quantinuum and Microsoft, today announced a breakthrough in reducing ‘noise’ that could mean quantum advantage is closer than previously thought. When it comes to quantum computing, noise refers to internal and external interference that lead to errors in quantum computations. Without properly conquering challenges such as variations in temperature, external electromagnetic fields, and quantum decoherence, quantum computers will not surpass the capabilities of classical computers. Because of how prone they are to errors resulting from these kinds of interference, today’s machines are referred to as what is known as NISQ-era devices — Noisy…
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Or just read more coverage about: Microsoft
Mistral AI, Europe’s OpenAI rival, adds top LLM to Amazon Bedrock
Amazon Bedrock, the tech giant’s platform for building generative AI applications, has added Mistral Large, the latest and most advanced Large Language Model (LLM) of Mistral AI, to its service. The Paris-based startup released the model in February, boasting its top-tier reasoning capabilities. Mistral Large is also proficient in code, text, and mathematics. It’s fluent in five languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, and Italia. The move follows the addition of Mistral 7B and Mixtral 8x7B on Amazon Bedrock last month, placing the startup’s LLMs next to models of heavyweights such as Meta, Anthropic, and Stability AI. Mistral’s three models…This story continues at The Next WebOr just read more coverage about: Amazon
Amazon Bedrock, the tech giant’s platform for building generative AI applications, has added Mistral Large, the latest and most advanced Large Language Model (LLM) of Mistral AI, to its service. The Paris-based startup released the model in February, boasting its top-tier reasoning capabilities. Mistral Large is also proficient in code, text, and mathematics. It’s fluent in five languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, and Italia. The move follows the addition of Mistral 7B and Mixtral 8x7B on Amazon Bedrock last month, placing the startup’s LLMs next to models of heavyweights such as Meta, Anthropic, and Stability AI. Mistral’s three models…
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Or just read more coverage about: Amazon
New space mission aims to create solar eclipses on-demand with satellites
Days before a total solar eclipse sweeps across North America, scientists in Europe have revealed another plan to block out the sun. The audacious project — called Proba-3 — will align two spacecraft to produce artificial eclipses. By creating this complicated calibration, the mission will capture new views of the Sun — and complete the first-ever precision formation space flight. At an event today in Belgium, the European Space Agency (ESA) unveiled the Proba-3 satellites: the Occulter and the Coronagraph. Proba-3’s flightpath Artist’s impression of ESA’s Proba-3 mission blocking the Sun. Credit: ESA-P. Carril Under ESA’s plan, the Occulter will…This story continues at The Next Web
Days before a total solar eclipse sweeps across North America, scientists in Europe have revealed another plan to block out the sun. The audacious project — called Proba-3 — will align two spacecraft to produce artificial eclipses. By creating this complicated calibration, the mission will capture new views of the Sun — and complete the first-ever precision formation space flight. At an event today in Belgium, the European Space Agency (ESA) unveiled the Proba-3 satellites: the Occulter and the Coronagraph. Proba-3’s flightpath Artist’s impression of ESA’s Proba-3 mission blocking the Sun. Credit: ESA-P. Carril Under ESA’s plan, the Occulter will…
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Opera is now the first leading browser with built-in local LLMs
Opera now becomes the first major browser to offer built-in access to local AI models. Starting today, the Oslo-based company is introducing experimental support for 150 variants of local Large Language Models (LLMs), covering approximately 50 families. These include Mixtral from Mistral AI, Llama from Meta, Gemma from Google, and Vicuna. The introduction of built-in local LLMs come with a series of advantages, according to Jan Standal, VP at Opera. “Local LLMs allow you to process your prompts directly on your machine, without the need to send data to a server,” Standal told TNW. “Adding access to them in the…This story continues at The Next Web
Opera now becomes the first major browser to offer built-in access to local AI models. Starting today, the Oslo-based company is introducing experimental support for 150 variants of local Large Language Models (LLMs), covering approximately 50 families. These include Mixtral from Mistral AI, Llama from Meta, Gemma from Google, and Vicuna. The introduction of built-in local LLMs come with a series of advantages, according to Jan Standal, VP at Opera. “Local LLMs allow you to process your prompts directly on your machine, without the need to send data to a server,” Standal told TNW. “Adding access to them in the…
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Carpooling rebounds as BlaBlaCar raises €100M and reaches profitability
Carpooling’s resurgence continued today as France’s BlaBlaCar reached two big new milestones. The Paris-based trip-sharing service has raised a €100mn credit line and hit profitability over the last 24 months — its first full years in the black. The company plans to use the new funding to expand its multimodal transport network. Initially launched in 2006 to pair passengers with drivers who have spare car seats, BlaBlaCar has since added local buses to the platform. Trains are also set to join the network. “This milestone demonstrates BlaBlaCar’s maturity and financial stability,” CEO Nicolas Brusson said in a statement. “Nevertheless, we…This story continues at The Next Web
Carpooling’s resurgence continued today as France’s BlaBlaCar reached two big new milestones. The Paris-based trip-sharing service has raised a €100mn credit line and hit profitability over the last 24 months — its first full years in the black. The company plans to use the new funding to expand its multimodal transport network. Initially launched in 2006 to pair passengers with drivers who have spare car seats, BlaBlaCar has since added local buses to the platform. Trains are also set to join the network. “This milestone demonstrates BlaBlaCar’s maturity and financial stability,” CEO Nicolas Brusson said in a statement. “Nevertheless, we…
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The new tech trends set to shape the smart cities of tomorrow
The World Bank estimates that by 2050 the global urban population will double in size, putting ever-increasing pressure on city streets, housing markets, infrastructure, government services, and the environment. Luckily, over the last few years, advancements in the fields of AI, IoT, robotics, and the ongoing deployment of 5G have made the timing ripe for new technological solutions to come to the rescue. In 2023, the global smart cities market was valued at $748.7 billion and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.8% from 2023 to 2030. These new solutions are set to reshape…This story continues at The Next Web
The World Bank estimates that by 2050 the global urban population will double in size, putting ever-increasing pressure on city streets, housing markets, infrastructure, government services, and the environment. Luckily, over the last few years, advancements in the fields of AI, IoT, robotics, and the ongoing deployment of 5G have made the timing ripe for new technological solutions to come to the rescue. In 2023, the global smart cities market was valued at $748.7 billion and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.8% from 2023 to 2030. These new solutions are set to reshape…
This story continues at The Next Web
Speeding ebikes are a new menace. Amsterdam wants to remote-control them
A few weeks back, Amsterdam announced it was trialling new technology that can automatically reduce ebike speed when riders enter certain parts of the city. Predictably, the initiative sparked debate. On Reddit, some expressed concerns about data privacy and state nannying, while others felt that stricter measures were needed to protect other road users from ebikes, especially those with aftermarket mods that make them go faster. Some felt the technology — dubbed Adaptive Speed Governance (ASG) — would be impossible to roll out in practice. Regardless, we deemed the issue worthy of deeper investigation. That’s why we sat down with…This story continues at The Next Web
A few weeks back, Amsterdam announced it was trialling new technology that can automatically reduce ebike speed when riders enter certain parts of the city. Predictably, the initiative sparked debate. On Reddit, some expressed concerns about data privacy and state nannying, while others felt that stricter measures were needed to protect other road users from ebikes, especially those with aftermarket mods that make them go faster. Some felt the technology — dubbed Adaptive Speed Governance (ASG) — would be impossible to roll out in practice. Regardless, we deemed the issue worthy of deeper investigation. That’s why we sat down with…
This story continues at The Next Web