CADE METZ | The Seattle Times

An image of San Francisco taken by a satellite launched into orbit in 2018, by the Finnish company Iceye. High-altitude surveillance was once the domain of global superpowers. Now, a growing number of start-ups like Iceye are turning it into a business, aiming to sell insights gleaned from cameras and other sensors installed on small and inexpensive “cube satellites.” (Iceye via The New York Times) – NO SALES – FOR USE ONLY WITH STORY SLUGGED: SATELLITE-BUSINESS-SURVEILLANCE BY CADE METZ – ALL OTHER USE PROHIBITED

January 27, 2019 at 5:00 pm

Startups help companies track their competition with spy satellites

High-altitude surveillance was once the domain of global superpowers. Now, a growing number of startups are turning it into a business, aiming to sell insights...

Business

A worker loads an order into a Nuro mini car, which is a self-driving vehicle, outside Fry’s Food Store in Scottsdale, Ariz., Dec. 13, 2018. Nuro’s mini cars are running as part of a partnership with Fry’s Food Store on an autonomous delivery service. (Caitlin O’Hara/The New York Times) XNYT6

December 18, 2018 at 6:05 am

A toaster on wheels to deliver groceries? Self-driving tech tests practical uses.

With driverless passenger services slow to become realities, the autonomous industry is casting about for ways to profitably use its technology.

Business

November 25, 2018 at 5:00 pm

Finally, researchers develop a computer that can finish your sentence

Over the past several months, researchers have shown that computer systems can learn the vagaries of language and then apply what they have learned to...

Business

Christopher Savoie, founder and chief executive of Zapata, at his startup’s office in Cambridge, Mass., Oct. 11, 2018. Savoie said he had offered jobs to three foreign scientists who specialize in quantum computing. He’s still waiting for their visas to be approved. By some estimates, only 1,000 or so researchers can claim to understand the technology. Finding more could become a national security issue. (Tony Luong/The New York Times) XNYT82 XNYT82

October 28, 2018 at 2:15 pm

The next tech talent shortage: quantum computing researchers

Unless policies and priorities change, U.S. businesses and universities will have trouble attracting the talent needed to build quantum technology, which could make today’s computers...

Business

October 26, 2018 at 6:44 pm

The next Big One? Earthquake scientists look to AI.

Scientists have a miserable record of predicting where and when earthquakes will strike. Some are now turning to artificial intelligence for answers.

Business

October 14, 2018 at 12:18 pm

Jeff Hawkins, creator of Palm and Handspring, is finally ready to explain his brain research

He created the mobile computing companies Palm and Handspring. But for decades his passion has been studying how the human brain works.

Business

Laura Nolan, a software engineer who left Google in June over the company’s involvement in a Department of Defense project, in Dublin, Ireland, Oct. 4, 2018. Tech employees concerned their products are being deployed for government surveillance or censorship are increasingly asking their employers how the technology is being used. (Paulo Nunes dos Santos/The New York Times)

October 7, 2018 at 1:35 pm

Tech workers with ethics concerns now want to know: What are we building this for?

Across the technology industry — from Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Salesforce, to tech startups — rank-and-file employees are demanding greater insight into how their companies...

Business

Matt Werner, an engineer, demonstrates how lidar technology can be applied at the southwestern border in Del Rio, Texas, Aug. 28, 2018. In a rural Texas county, lidar sensor technology is being tested as a way to spot illegal intruders from Mexico– a use that could divide workers in Silicon Valley. (Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times)

September 23, 2018 at 5:00 pm

It’s the eyes for a driverless car — what about for a virtual border wall?

While President Donald Trump still vows to build a physical border wall, tech companies hope to help build a “virtual wall” that some policymakers believe...

Business

A Robinson R44 helicopter outfitted with 360-degree camera and imaging radar by SkyRyse, a startup which hopes to make autonomous flight readily available, in Tracy, Calif., Aug. 22, 2018. A new flying ambulance service will use small helicopters outfitted with tech that could eventually let them fly without pilots. (Jason Henry/The New York Times)

August 28, 2018 at 6:45 pm

Silicon Valley takes a (careful) step toward autonomous flying

Autonomous flight can drive new kinds of passenger services or even change the economics of today’s airlines. But self-flying aircraft will take a while, for...

Business

June 7, 2018 at 5:04 pm

Google promises its AI will not be used for weapons

But the company said it will continue to work with governments and the military.

Business