Investors shun long-term ESG rewards in quest for short-term gains, says EY survey
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A blinkered view of climate change and sustainability has taken hold across the world’s investor community and is fueling a focus on short-term performance at the expense of longer-term gains from environmental, social and governance (ESG) investments, according to consultancy firm EY, in summarising the findings of its latest EY Institutional Investor Survey. The survey, […]
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Institute of Physics awards ‘revolutionary’ waste heat-to-electricity technology
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A technology that converts low-temperature waste heat into electricity has earned the Institute of Physics (IOP) Business Innovation Award for FeTu, the Elland-based green energy business behind the approach. The award celebrates FeTu’s success in translating physics research into a viable commercial enterprise with a product that the IOP judges described as a “revolutionary heat […]
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Researchers reduce bias in AI models while preserving or improving accuracy
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Machine-learning models can fail when they try to make predictions for individuals who were underrepresented in the datasets they were trained on. For instance, a model that predicts the best treatment option for someone with a chronic disease may be trained using a dataset that contains mostly male patients. That model might make incorrect predictions […]
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Speak Secures $78M Series C Funding at $1B Valuation to Transform AI-Powered Language Learning
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Speak, a global leader in AI-powered language learning, has raised $78 million in Series C funding, achieving a $1 billion valuation. This funding milestone underscores the company’s mission to transform language education by prioritizing spoken fluency through innovative AI technology. Founded in 2016 by Connor Zwick and Andrew Hsu, Speak has become a trailblazer in […]
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Study: Some language reward models exhibit political bias
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Large language models (LLMs) that drive generative artificial intelligence apps, such as ChatGPT, have been proliferating at lightning speed and have improved to the point that it is often impossible to distinguish between something written through generative AI and human-composed text. However, these models can also sometimes generate false statements or display a political bias. […]
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How Business Leaders Can Achieve Their Goals in Both AI and Sustainability
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For companies, balancing AI adoption and environmental impact is an imperative. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the power needed to support AI’s growth is doubling every 100 days. By 2028, AI’s energy consumption could exceed the total power used by Iceland in 2021. AI can be a double-edged sword: while it can significantly […]
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Dr. Devavrat Shah, Co-Founder & CEO of Ikigai Labs – Interview Series
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Dr. Devavrat Shah is the Co-founder and CEO of Ikigai Labs and he is a professor and a director of Statistics and Data Science Center at MIT. He co-founded Celect, a predictive analytics platform for retailers, which he sold to Nike. Devavrat holds a Bachelor and PhD in Computer Science from Indian Institute of Technology and Stanford University, […]
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A Buried Treasure Trove of NEPA Documents
Back in 2003, Michael Herz and I wrote an article calling for the creation of an online, word searchable database of environmental impact statements that had been prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and its state equivalents. These EISs are written at great expense and contain massive amounts of observational data about air and water […]
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LambdaTest Raises $38M to Advance Software Quality Assurance with KaneAI, the Intelligent Testing Assistant
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As software teams race to deliver seamless, high-quality digital experiences, LambdaTest—a leading intelligent, cloud-based QA platform—has secured $38 million in new funding. Led by Avataar Ventures, with participation from Qualcomm Ventures, this latest round brings LambdaTest’s total capital raised to $108 million. With more than 15,000 customers, including Fortune 500 and G2000 enterprises, and over […]
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Q&A: What could a US-China trade war mean for the energy transition?
Ahead of Donald Trump’s second term as US president, a rerun of his first trade war with China is firmly on the cards – and minerals key to the energy transition may end up in the crossfire. The president-elect has threatened to raise tariffs on goods from China, as well as on other countries through which […]
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Gentrace Secures $8M Series A to Revolutionize Generative AI Testing
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Gentrace, a cutting-edge platform for testing and monitoring generative AI applications, has announced the successful completion of an $8 million Series A funding round led by Matrix Partners, with contributions from Headline and K9 Ventures. This funding milestone, which brings the company’s total funding to $14 million, coincides with the launch of its flagship tool, […]
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Enabling AI to explain its predictions in plain language
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Machine-learning models can make mistakes and be difficult to use, so scientists have developed explanation methods to help users understand when and how they should trust a model’s predictions. These explanations are often complex, however, perhaps containing information about hundreds of model features. And they are sometimes presented as multifaceted visualizations that can be difficult […]
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Daniela Rus wins John Scott Award
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Daniela Rus, director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and MIT professor of electrical engineering and computer science, was recently named a co-recipient of the 2024 John Scott Award by the board of directors of City Trusts. This prestigious honor, steeped in historical significance, celebrates scientific innovation at the very location where American […]
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Sabin Center Files Amicus Brief in Support of EPA’s 2024 Vehicle Emissions Standards
On Friday, December 6, the Sabin Center filed an amicus brief on behalf of the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors in support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Kentucky v. EPA as part of our ongoing amicus efforts to support strong federal climate regulations. The case involves EPA’s […]
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Sabin Center Colloquium on Innovative Environmental Law Scholarship
Columbia Law School June 12-13, 2025 (via Zoom) This 13th Annual Sabin Colloquium will allow junior environmental law scholars to present early-stage work and receive constructive feedback from a panel of senior scholars and from each other. Eligible applicants are pre-tenure professors, fellows, visiting assistant professors, and other junior scholars in similar academic positions. Papers on environmental law, […]
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HARPA AI Review: How I Finally Tamed My Tab Overload
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Have you ever felt like your online tasks are getting out of hand with countless tabs open, emails to respond to, and social media posts to schedule? I’m the worst when it comes to having way too many tabs open. I recently came across HARPA AI, and I was impressed with its capabilities. It’s a […]
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Joe Philleo, Founder & CEO at Edia – Interview Series
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Joe Philleo, the co-founder and CEO of Edia, leads the development of an AI-powered math platform designed for teachers and students, aiming to improve outcomes on state exams. The platform operates on the belief that education plays a crucial role in shaping individuals’ life trajectories. Edia’s mission is to create technology that ensures every student […]
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Breaking the Scaling Code: How AI Models Are Redefining the Rules
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Artificial intelligence has taken remarkable strides in recent years. Models that once struggled with basic tasks now excel at solving math problems, generating code, and answering complex questions. Central to this progress is the concept of scaling laws—rules that explain how AI models improve as they grow, are trained on more data, or are powered […]