Tag: tech

Google Ventures-backed Merlin Labs is building AI that can fly planes

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Merlin Labs, which develops autonomous systems that fly airplanes, has emerged from stealth with $25 million in funding from Google Ventures and others. The company says it wants to be the “the definitive autonomy platform for things that fly.” Merlin announced Wednesday it signed a deal to outfit 55 twin-turboprop King Air planes owned by Dynamic Aviation with AI flight systems. The startup also has a contract with the Air Force to develop autonomous transport planes. Boston-based Merlin Labs, which currently has roughly 50 employees (including full-time contractors), has a dedicated flight facility at the Mojave Air & Space Port where it’s been testing its AI platform. The system has already piloted hundreds of unmanned test flights from takeoff to touchdown, Merlin’s co-founder and CEO Matthew George tells me. [Photo: Merlin Labs] The first Dynamic Aviation King Air to be outfitted with a Merlin Labs AI system is now doing test flights in the Mojave. Eventually, the AI-enabled King Airs will do flights that are too “dull, dirty, or dangerous” for human pilots, George says. Currently, Dynamic Aviation uses humans for flying fire surveillance missions, transporting goods, and patrolling far out over the ocean, but it hopes Merlin’s AI will be able to ultimately take over the cockpit. Dynamic Aviation offers these flights as a service to customers that include federal defense and intelligence agencies, state and local governments, and private companies. Merlin’s AI will have to get clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) before Dynamic’s King Airs can go pilotless. George says his company has been working closely with the regulator to get its AI flight system certified as safe. But the FAA currently does not have a certification for autonomous systems that fly fixed-wing aircraft (the only aviation regulator in the world that does is in New Zealand). The agency is working on the requirements of the certification now, George says. Read More …

Beyond Beeple’s $69M NFT: How creators can (and will) thrive in the crypto economy

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On March 11, 2021, an NFT ( non-fungible token ) created by the digital artist Beeple sold at Christie’s for $69 million dollars. Overnight, NFTs became the No. 1 topic within the creator economy. After a wave of eye-popping sales to crypto-rich investors, the hype exposed the world to the opportunities that crypto offers artists Read More …

Beyond Beeple’s $69M NFT: How creators can (and will) thrive in the crypto economy

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On March 11, 2021, an NFT ( non-fungible token ) created by the digital artist Beeple sold at Christie’s for $69 million dollars. Overnight, NFTs became the No. 1 topic within the creator economy. After a wave of eye-popping sales to crypto-rich investors, the hype exposed the world to the opportunities that crypto offers artists. A new creator crypto economy has emerged. During my time at Patreon, I saw the potential of a direct-to-fan monetization model. By empowering creators to earn a steady, sustainable revenue stream through direct engagement with their communities, the system—which puts control and ownership into the hands of creators—will build a more beautiful and rewarding creator economy. For artists to maximize the benefits of crypto, they will need to think beyond NFTs and begin building a more cohesive and inclusive system where all fans (including the crypto whales) can participate. Artists can focus on what they love: releasing art and bringing value to their communities. NFTs are just one part of a larger crypto revolution While the NFT craze seemingly exploded out of nowhere, another blockchain development has been simmering in the background: the concept of social tokens. Social tokens are custom cryptocurrencies made by creators—artists, musicians, celebrities, and others—to foster deeper connections with their communities and to power financial transactions within their fan ecosystems. Read More …

This spiritual successor to StumbleUpon makes the internet fun again

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Back before Twitter consumed the bulk of my spare internet time, I used to love discovering websites on StumbleUpon. The web 2.0-era site presented you with a little orange Stumble button. Pressing it would sweep you away to a seemingly random spot on the internet, with a persistent StumbledUpon menu so you could keep stumbling to more sites after that. Surfing the web through StumbleUpon always led to some strange and interesting places, and it felt joyful in a way that social media and search engines seldom do Read More …

Why the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack is a sign of things to come

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Ransomware has grown fouler than ever, but it’s also grown up. The practice of using malware to encrypt files on a victim’s devices and then demanding a ransom payment for unlocking them has advanced far beyond its origins as a nuisance for individual users. These days, it’s a massively profitable business that has spawned its own ecosystem of partner and affiliate firms. And as a succession of security experts made clear at the RSA Conference last week, we remain nowhere near developing an equivalent of a vaccine for this online plague. “It’s professionalized more than it’s ever been,” said Raj Samani, chief scientist at McAfee, in an RSA panel . “Criminals are starting to make more money,” said Jen Miller-Osborn, deputy director of threat intelligence at Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42, in another session . Read More …