Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA
Oura CEO Tom Hale is trying to set the record straight about the smart ring maker’s partnership with the Department of Defense (DoD) and data miner Palantir, which is used by defense, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies in the United States and elsewhere. At the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference on Monday, Hale’s interview started off with a bang with his outright denial that the company was sharing user data with the government. “There was a lot of misinformation about this,” he said, referring to the numerous influencer-driven reports that led to a viral backlash against the health tracker. Oura’s rings…
Aaron Rodgers showed he can still sling it with a take-that performance.Maybe the NFL’s oldest quarterback just needed a fresh start. The 41-year-old four-time NFL MVP avenged an awkward departure from the New York Jets by tossing four touchdown passes to help the Pittsburgh Steelers beat his former team 34-32 on Sunday.Rodgers completed 22 of 30 passes for 244 yards with no turnovers, spoiling new Jets coach Aaron Glenn’s homecoming.“There were probably people in the organization that didn’t think I could play anymore,” Rodgers said after the game. “So, it was nice to remind those people that I still can.”Rodgers’…
One of Big Tech’s last remaining RTO holdouts is officially sending employees back to the office.Microsoft is mandating employees work from offices at least three days a week, according to an internal email the company sent to staff on Tuesday.The mandate will happen in three phases, beginning at the end of February 2026, with Seattle-area employees who live within 50 miles of a Microsoft office. It will then expand to other US offices and eventually internationally, according to the email from Microsoft HR chief Amy Coleman. February 23 was one of the start dates Microsoft considered, but it hasn’t been…
If you’ve upgraded to a newer iPhone model recently, you’ve probably noticed that Apple Intelligence is showing up in some of your most-used apps, like Messages, Mail, and Notes. Apple Intelligence (yes, also abbreviated to AI) showed up in Apple’s ecosystem in October 2024, and it’s here to stay as Apple competes with Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, and others to build the best AI tools. What is Apple Intelligence? Image Credits:Apple Cupertino marketing executives have branded Apple Intelligence: “AI for the rest of us.” The platform is designed to leverage the things that generative AI already does well, like text and…
Florida’s surgeon general made a surprising announcement last week that the state is moving to “end all vaccine mandates.”Dr. Joseph Ladapo said the Florida Department of Health would be working with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office to end all mandates in state law. DeSantis noted that some vaccine mandates would be removed immediately while others would require legislative intervention.Ladapo said that parents should be able “to choose” what vaccines they want their children to receive or not to receive.MORE: Trump says RFK Jr. ‘means very well’ after his Senate testimony on vaccine policyIn a statement to ABC News, the Florida Department…
Facing growing political pressure, Texas A&M University President Mark A. Welsh III announced Monday evening that the dean and department head overseeing a children’s literature course at the center of a viral recording were going to be removed, saying they approved plans to teach material inconsistent with the published course description.The announcement came after a video circulated online Monday showing a student confronting a professor over LGBTQ-related content in the class, sparking backlash from Republican lawmakers and calls for investigations, a response from the U.S. Department of Justice, and a statement from the Texas A&M System chancellor pledging to discipline…
Companies that have dug deep into AI have fallen in love with nuclear power for its promise of 24/7 electricity. Meta, Google, and Microsoft have all made deals with startups or reactor operators. But does the nuclear industry love AI back? Yes, with caveats. No one is proposing to let an AI run a reactor, but power companies are increasingly interested in the technology’s potential to tighten things up on the business side, Bradley Fox, co-founder and CEO of Nuclearn, told TechCrunch. Fox and Jerrold Vincent started Nuclearn to capitalize on that interest. The company says its AI tools are…
Europe’s big comeback plan to close the innovation gap with the US and China is struggling to take off.One year ago, former Italian prime minister and former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi warned that the EU faced an “existential challenge” if it didn’t invest in advanced technologies like artificial intelligence.In his landmark report, Draghi said Europe had missed the boat on cloud computing and quantum, but argued it still had a shot at leadership in generative AI and other frontier industries.A year later, the follow-through looks underwhelming, according to a new Deutsche Bank report published on Tuesday.Only 11.2% of…
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Suspended Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, who was found guilty earlier this year of sexually abusing a minor, was detained by police on Tuesday and admitted into a clinic in the Dominican Republic for mental health issues, according to authorities.The request to have him detained and admitted came from his family, police spokesman Col. Diego Pesqueira told The Associated Press. He noted that Franco’s admittance into a private clinic in his hometown of Baní is not linked to any legal issues.Last weekend, the 24-year-old player took to social media to denounce that $16,000…
Mistral AI, the French company that develops the AI chatbot, Le Chat, and several foundational large language models, is considered one of France’s most promising tech startups, and is arguably the only European company that could compete with OpenAI. “Go and download Le Chat, which is made by Mistral, rather than ChatGPT by OpenAI — or something else,” French president Emmanuel Macron said in a TV interview ahead of the AI Action Summit in Paris in February 2025. In a significant step up from its June 2024 valuation of $6 billion, Mistral is now valued at €11.7 billion (approximately $13.8…