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Elon Musk’s MAGA politics are fast becoming a mega problem for Tesla. New registrations of Tesla vehicles plummeted across Europe last month amid widespread boycotts against the EV brand. While broader economic forces are at play, Musk’s role in the Trump administration and his open support of far-right politicians appears to be fuelling his company’s precipitous fall from grace — and gifting rival brands a golden opportunity. Germany’s transport authority reported that new Tesla registrations in January fell by nearly 60% year-on-year. That’s despite the country’s battery-electric vehicles sector seeing a combined 53.5% growth in sales last month. Dramatic declines…

Europe’s startup scene has entered troubled waters. Long overshadowed by Silicon Valley and now being chased down by China, the continent is urgently looking for boosts. Increasingly, the search is leading to ecosystems.  The ecosystem model creates networks of individuals, organisations, and resources. Their shared expertise and resources can produce a multiplier effect, driving innovation and accelerating growth. A core component of European ecosystems is the EU. While its tech strategy often faces criticism, the bloc has also played a key role in driving startup success. Just ask Nicolas Benady, the CEO of Swan, a thriving banking-as-a-service (BaaS) fintech based in France.…

A British R&D unit that’s been compared to DARPA is funding synthetic muscles, electronic skin, and mechanical hands for a robotics dexterity project. The Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) today unveiled the 10 teams selected for the programme. Their mission: usher in a new era of dexterity that will transform robotics and human productivity. Members of the group span startups, university labs, public research organisations, and large companies. Collectively, they will receive £52mn to advance the physical dexterity of robots. The funds aim to bridge the software-hardware gap in robotics, which has widened during the AI boom. Robot bodies now…

Shares in European aerospace and defence companies soared to record highs this week, elevating expectations for the continent’s military tech startups. Britain’s BAE Systems leapt by 9% on Monday, while Germany’s Rheinmetall jumped by 14%. Stocks in Sweden’s Saab, Italy’s Leonardo, and France’s Thales also boomed. By the day’s end, the Stoxx Europe aerospace and defence index had hit an all-time peak. Military tech firms have also been surging. Kate Leaman, chief market analyst at online broker AvaTrade, said these companies have “huge potential” for growth — particularly those with AI-driven solutions. “We’re already seeing a shake-up in the defence sector, with…

British startup Earthwave and a group of European scientists have used satellite data to map out glacial melt across the globe — and the results are alarming. The team discovered that the European Alps’ glaciers have shrunk the most of all — 39% in just over two decades, compared to a global average of 5%. Earthwave co-founder Livia Jakob said the project was invaluable to our understanding of glacier ice loss.  “We developed an algorithm to combine all the different datasets into one common estimate of glacier mass balance, giving us a new and improved picture of glacier behaviour in…

Do you remember your first phone? The thought of mine brings a tear to my eye. It was a beautiful blue Nokia 3310 — and it was borderline indestructible. Best of all, the handset had the greatest mobile feature of all time: Snake. It also offered calls and SMS, but I had little use for those extravagances. I had a pay-as-you-go contract, and money was tight back then. I also had a home phone — and Mum footed the bills. As for SMS, what was the point of that when you had the joys of MSN Messenger available for free?…This story continues at The Next Web

British tech mogul Mel Morris has announced the general release of AI research engine Corpora.ai. The system provides a new approach to research. Built to generate comprehensive reports from single prompts, Corpora promises in-depth analysis and accurate outputs. Speed is another big selling point. According to Corpora, the engine can process 2 million documents per second. After receiving a prompt, the AI model scans through academic papers, news articles, legal documents, and other data on the web. The content is then compiled into summaries or reports. Corpora has shared an array of the results. They range from analyses of autism and…

The US continues to hog the global herd of unicorns, dwarfing the EU in both the number and total valuation of billion-dollar startups. However, the Netherlands provides a minor bright spot, according to a new report by PwC.    More than 3,000 companies worldwide have reached unicorn status since 2013, collectively reaching a staggering valuation of $27 trillion, according to the study. The US accounts for 55% of these and a whopping 75% of their total valuation.   In stark contrast, the EU has contributed just 9% of billion-dollar startups and generated 4% of global unicorn value in that timeframe.  Despite the…

Sustainability tech has been all the buzz in the last few years. Investors are hunting promising ESG businesses, governments are pushing ambitious legislation, and companies are getting on board to adopt new solutions. Sustainability funding is projected to reach unprecedented levels, with BCG Henderson Institute estimating accumulated global investment to achieve net zero to hit $75 trillion by 2050.  And yet, behind the curtain, the picture isn’t quite as rosy. According to Statista, VC investment in sustainability and climate tech has been steadily declining since 2021. While AI startups often manage to secure funding rounds within mere weeks, sustainability-focused companies…

“For the third time, stop tapping!” my primary school teacher screams at me from across the room. I must not have heard her the first two times. I’d been drumming on the desk again, using my fingers for sticks and the floor beneath for a kick drum. While my body was in maths class, my mind was elsewhere.   It was 1970. I was John Bonham, drummer of legendary rock band Led Zeppelin, on stage at the Royal Albert Hall, performing “Moby Dick” — one of the most iconic drum solos of all time. The lights are low, the atmosphere electric,…This story continues