NASA selects four companies for Moon material collection as it seeks to set precedent on private sector outer space mining NASA has selected the winning candidates that they’ve decided to tap to collect lunar resources for eventual Earth return, from a number of commercial companies who applied. The four companies all have […]

Alibaba and Ethiopian Airlines to launch cold chain exporting China’s COVID vaccines China has pledged that it would be sharing its COVID-19 vaccines with other countries, especially those with which it has close ties. While the country is not ready to deploy its vaccines internationally, it is gearing up the infrastructure for […]

AutoX becomes China’s first to remove safety drivers from robotaxis Residents of Shenzhen will see truly driverless cars on the road starting Thursday. AutoX, a four-year-old startup backed by Alibaba, MediaTek and Shanghai Motors, is deploying a fleet of 25 unmanned vehicles in downtown Shenzhen, marking the first time any autonomous driving […]

Self-driving trucks startup TuSimple raises 0M from U.S. rail, retail and freight giants Self-driving trucks startup TuSimple has closed a $350 million funding round from a diverse consortium of strategic investors that include major U.S. corporations in rail, retail and freight, according to sources familiar with the deal.  The round, which was oversubscribed, […]

Scale AI hits .5B valuation as its turns the AI boom into a venture bonanza Scale AI, the four-year-old data labeling startup, has discovered that selling the picks and shovels needed to develop and apply artificial intelligence is big business. The company, which created a visual data labeling platform that uses software […]

The road to smart city infrastructure starts with research Dominik Schiener Contributor Dominik Schiener is co-Founder and Chairman of the IOTA Foundation. He has been in the blockchain space since 2011, with several startups in Switzerland, UK and Germany. His primary focus is how to improve physical infrastructure with digital infrastructure such […]

Alibaba vies for a piece of China’s booming EV market There’s no lack of news these days on China’s tech giants teaming up with traditional carmakers. Companies from Alibaba to Huawei are striving to become relevant in the trillion-dollar auto industry, which itself is seeking an electric transition and intelligent upgrade as […]

Remote-controlled delivery carts are now working for the local Los Angeles grocer Robots are no longer the high-tech tools reserved for university labs, e-commerce giants and buzzy Silicon Valley startups. The local grocer now has access too. Tortoise, the one-year-old Silicon Valley startup known for its remote repositioning electric scooters, has taken […]

Google-backed Chinese truck-hailing firm Manbang raises .7 billion The Chinese Uber for trucks Manbang announced Tuesday that it has raised $1.7 billion in its latest funding round, two years after it hauled in $1.9 billion from investors including SoftBank Group and Alphabet Inc’s venture capital fund CapitalG. The news came fresh off […]