TREND REPORTS
Revolutionizing Debt Collection : ClearGrid's $10M AI Power Play in MENA
[Investing]
2025/03/21 09:06
Debt collection in emerging markets often feels outdated and can be costly — damaging borrower trust. As consumer lending surges and regulators push for fairer practices, legacy collection outfits are struggling to maintain pace.ClearGrid aims to help modernize debt collection — and recovery — with AI. The Dubai-based startup, which is emerging from stealth with $10 million in funding ($3.5...
The Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps - a16z
[Business]
2025/03/21 09:05
In just six months, the consumer AI landscape has been redrawn. Some products surged, others stalled, and a few unexpected players rewrote the leaderboard overnight. Deepseek rocketed from obscurity to a leading ChatGPT challenger. AI video models advanced from experimental to fairly dependable (at least for short clips!). And so-called “vibecoding” is changing who can create with AI, not jus...
The World’s First 3D-Printed Train Station Will Take Just Six Hours to Build
[Tech]
2025/03/21 09:04
Hatsushima Station is a 3D-printed train station that will be assembled on-site in around six hours. 3D-printed architecture continues to go from strength to strength, with all kinds of projects now being created with the burgeoning technology, including a Walmart, housing, and even a data center. The latest example comes from Japan, where a new train station will be built in just six hours.To...
World-First Sodium-Ion Power Bank with 9,000-mAh Capacity Lasts 5,000 Cycles
[Product]
2025/03/21 09:03
The sodium-ion battery inside Elecom’s power bank offers up to 5,000 charge cycles, far outlasting typical lithium-ion batteries. This power bank operates in temperatures as low as -30°F.Japanese hardware company Elecom has introduced what it claims is the world’s first power bank powered by a sodium-ion battery.Unlike traditional lithium-ion batteries, this new battery type promises a signi...
(PDF) BoA Report - Gen Z : A New Economic Force
[Consumer]
2025/03/20 09:10
Despite strong wage growth, high cost of living is weighing on Gen Z, prompting them to spend twice as much as they are saving.Key takeawaysBetween significant wealth and increased spending levels over the next 10 years, the consumption patterns of Gen Z will have a strong influence on the global economy. In roughly the next five years, they will have globally amassed $36 trillion in income and...
Prezent Raises $20M to Build AI for Slide Decks
[Investing]
2025/03/20 09:09
Prezent, a startup empowering customers to build slide decks using generative AI, has raised $20 million as it further develops and refines its AI models for different use cases and expands into new markets.AI has many different applications — one of which is generating decks for business presentations, as it turns out. Off-the-shelf models tend to be not very good at this because they don’t...
(PDF) BCG - The $10 Billion Opportunity in Green Shipping
[Business]
2025/03/20 09:08
Should cargo carriers wait for regulatory clarity before taking proactive steps toward achieving zero-carbon shipping? The short answer is no.BCG’s fourth annual Shipping Decarbonization Survey, a study aimed at assessing the readiness of shipping customers to pay a premium for green transportation solutions, found that cargo owners now fall into three distinct segments: laggards, followers, a...
‘Audible Enclaves’ Could Enable Private Listening Without Headphones
[Tech]
2025/03/20 09:07
Postdoctoral scholar Jia-Xin "Jay" Zhong prepares to test the "audible enclave" technology on a mannequin.Imagine being able to listen to music or other audio that no one else can hear, without having to wear headphones. Doing so is now possible via so-called "audible enclaves," which already exist in functional prototype form.The technology is being developed at The Pennsylvania State Universi...
What’s Next for AI Agents ? 4 Trends to Watch in 2025
[Business]
2025/03/20 09:05
From increasing specialization to rising infrastructure markets, here’s where the opportunities lie across the AI agent landscape.AI agents are dominating the conversation. Mentions on corporate earnings calls grew 4x quarter-over-quarter in Q4’24. And they’re on pace to double again this quarter.These LLM-based systems mark an evolution beyond copilots: AI agents can accomplish complex task...
