Microsoft has collaborated with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) of the United States Department of Energy to narrow down millions of candidate new battery materials to only a few using its Azure Quantum Elements service. One of these materials is already in the prototype stage, according to Microsoft’s announcement …

Unity has reduced its employment yet again, only a few weeks after its most recent wave of layoffs. As the corporation strives to recover from a challenging year financially, around 1,800 workers will be let go in the next few weeks. One of the most popular gaming engines in the …

After being added to the EU’s Digital Services Act’s strictest list of platforms, Pornhub, Stripchat, and XVideos may use age verification technology. The EU named 17 VLOPs and two VLOSEs under the DSA in April. No adult sites were on the first list. The three platforms announced today change that. …

Elon Musk bought Twitter more than a year ago, and its effects are still being felt on other social platforms, including new ones. Ex-Twitter employees founded Spill, which is closing out its first year by opening its beta to all iOS and Android users. Spill, unlike X, alienates users with …

A rewards app and social network called Claim raised $4 million in seed funding with Sequoia Capital as the lead investor. The startup wants to make shopping fun, rewarding, and social. With an invite-only beta launch in January, the app targets Boston college and university students. Claim lets friends and …

Rite Aid was banned from using facial recognition software for five years by the FTC for its “reckless use of facial surveillance systems” that humiliated customers and put their “sensitive information at risk.” After Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, the FTC ordered Rite Aid to delete …

Bird filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, ending a rough year for the electric scooter company. Bird announced today that it had begun a “financial restructuring process aimed at strengthening its balance sheet” but would continue to pursue “long-term, sustainable growth.” Bird, founded in 2017 by former Lyft and Uber executive …

Spotify reconsidered leaving Uruguay after the government promised copyright law changes would not cost it. For those unfamiliar with Uruguay’s music streaming scene, the story went like this. Last October, Uruguay mandated “fair and equitable” artist pay. Besides the “featured” artist, this included composers, performers, session musicians, and others on …

Instagram announced Wednesday that users can post video notes. Instagram’s status feature, Notes, launched a year ago. You could only post text or emojis to your status update before. A two-second looping video note can now be shared with mutual followers or close friends for 24 hours. Since Instagram already …

Duet AI for Developers, the suite of AI-powered code completion and generation tools Google announced earlier this year, is now generally available and will start using Google’s more powerful Gemini model in the coming weeks. GitHub’s Copilot leads in developer mindshare for code completion and generation tools, but Google is …