Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

Since AI tools went mainstream, filmmakers, writers, and actors have been scrambling to figure out whether these technologies can truly assist their creativity or if they might end up replacing humans. But there’s a larger concern to address before we get swept away by debate: AI can’t run without enormous data centers and energy infrastructure. A new joint venture, dubbed Utopai East, aims to address that need by developing infrastructure specifically for producing movies and TV shows using AI. The joint venture is held 50-50 by investment firm Stock Farm Road (SFR) and AI film and television production company Utopai…

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 20 Democrat-led states are challenging a new Trump administration policy designed to block nonprofit and government workers from a student loan cancellation program if federal officials determine their employer has a “substantial illegal purpose.”The policy is aimed primarily at organizations that work with immigrants and transgender youth.In the lawsuit filed Monday in Massachusetts, the states argue the Trump administration overstepped its authority when it added new eligibility rules for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The overhaul will worsen job shortages and create instability in state workforces, the suit said.The legal challenge is being led…

BOSTON (AP) — A Harvard Medical School building has reopened while a “very active” investigation continues into a weekend explosion that authorities said was intentionally set off. An officer who responded to a fire alarm early Saturday morning encountered two people running from the Goldenson Building, according to university police. The explosion occurred on the fourth floor of the building, which houses labs and offices associated with the medical school’s Department of Neurobiology.The Boston Fire Department determined that the explosion was intentional and officers did not find additional devices in a sweep of the building, police said. No one was…

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Germany’s BioNTech on Monday lifted its 2025 revenue guidance after receiving initial payments from its new partner Bristol Myers Squibb in a cancer immunotherapy alliance that seeks to challenge Merck’s best-selling Keytruda.BioNTech, Pfizer’s partner on COVID-19 vaccines, said it was projecting full-year revenue of 2.6 billion euros ($3.03 billion) to 2.8 billion euros, up from a previous guidance range of 1.7 billion to 2.2 billion euros.Earlier this year, Bristol agreed to pay up to $11.1 billion in the partnership deal over time, depending on achievements.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBioNTech said on Monday that the partners extended their clinical trial programme for the…

San Francisco goes by many names. There are the basics: SF, San Fran, and even Frisco. Now, as AI takes hold of the city, some have taken to calling it Cerebral Valley.For Julian Windeck, the 23-year-old founder of Attention Engineering, San Francisco these days evokes an earlier era where creativity was its own currency.”What Florence was in the Renaissance, SF is in the age of AI,” Windeck told Business Insider.Windeck and Aidan Guo, 19, launched Attention Engineering earlier this year to build a next-generation desktop assistant powered by AI.”It’s not exactly a desktop assistant, but kind of becomes one: ambient,…

Nineteen-year-old Mathieu Rihet initially wanted to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. After he was diagnosed with essential tremors, he decided to pursue an entrepreneurial path.In his sophomore year at Emory University, Rihet came across a LinkedIn post by Georges Casassovici, 18, a high school student seeking a non-technical cofounder to build with. The two began brainstorming on different ideas virtually, and both dropped out of school after being accepted into Y Combinator’s Spring 2025 class.Now, their startup Novoflow is building AI agents for medical clinics. The idea for Novoflow stemmed from Rihet’s experiences working as a medical translator and witnessing the…

Taking melatonin for long periods of time could be a sign of underlying heart problems.Long-term use of the popular over-the-counter sleep aid has been linked to a higher risk of heart failure and early death in adults with insomnia, according to research released Monday.There’s no evidence that melatonin supplements themselves cause heart problems, the researchers said. But a need to take them on a regular basis to help with falling and staying asleep could be a signal that the body is experiencing cardiac issues.“Insomnia can increase blood pressure, stress hormones and inflammation,” said Dr. Ekenedilichukwu Nnadi, lead author of the…

The race to dominate artificial intelligence has turned into an expensive competition that traps Big Tech companies into “a little bit of a prisoner’s dilemma,” a top hedge-fund executive said.”You have to invest in it because your peers are investing in it, and so if you’re left behind, you’re not going to have the stronger competitive position to it,” said Tony Yoseloff, the chief investment officer at hedge fund Davidson Kempner Capital Management, which manages about $37 billion. He spoke on the Goldman Sachs “Exchanges” podcast published on Friday.He said that spending dynamic doesn’t just affect Silicon Valley. Because a…

Kevin Rose has a visceral rule for evaluating AI hardware investments: “If you feel like you should punch someone in the face for wearing it, you probably shouldn’t invest in it.” It’s a typically candid assessment from the veteran investor, and one born from watching the current wave of AI hardware startups repeat mistakes he’s seen before. Rose, a general partner at True Ventures and early investor in Peloton, Ring, and Fitbit, has largely avoided the AI hardware gold rush that’s consumed Silicon Valley. While other VCs rush to fund the next smart glasses or AI pendant, Rose is taking…

The government shutdown is triggering a wave of closures of Head Start centers, leaving working parents scrambling for child care and shutting some of the nation’s neediest children out of preschool.Dozens of centers are missing out on federal grant payments that were due to arrive Nov. 1. Some say they’ll close indefinitely, while others are staying afloat with emergency funding from local governments and school districts. The closures mean Head Start students — who come from low-income households, are homeless or are in foster care — are missing out on preschool, where they are fed two meals a day and…