China’s free AI models may not stay free, Goldman says
China’s free AI models may not stay free, Goldman says

For a year, the story of Chinese AI has been simple. It is nearly as good as the American frontier, and it is effectively free. That second part may be about to change. Chinese developers could start charging cloud platforms commercial licensing fees t…

AI writes half our code now. It still fails security tests 44% of the time.
AI writes half our code now. It still fails security tests 44% of the time.

AI can now write compilable code almost every time it tries. It still ships a security hole in nearly half of it, and that has not changed in a year. That is the headline finding of Veracode’s 2026 GenAI Code Security Report, which tested more than 100…

Starbucks’ AI tool didn’t die in a pilot. It died in 11,300 stores.
Starbucks’ AI tool didn’t die in a pilot. It died in 11,300 stores.

Starbucks told NomadGo on 3 April that it was scrapping the AI inventory tool the Redmond startup had built for it. Within days the 30-person company cut a large part of its workforce, according to GeekWire. The cuts included the technical team that ra…

Only 27% of US hospitals can run an EEG. Epitel raised $26m for the rest
Only 27% of US hospitals can run an EEG. Epitel raised $26m for the rest

Epitel has raised $26m in a Series B round to expand a wireless EEG system that patients wear at home. Catalyst Health Ventures and Genoa Ventures co-led the round. The Salt Lake City company says it will spend the money on sales, marketing and distrib…

Friendsurance invented peer-to-peer insurance. It just sold for its paperwork.
Friendsurance invented peer-to-peer insurance. It just sold for its paperwork.

Cover Genius has acquired Friendsurance, the Berlin company that invented peer-to-peer insurance. The deal took effect immediately, and neither side disclosed a price. Friendsurance built its name on a simple idea. Small groups of policyholders pool to…

A development bank just built a €1.4bn insurer in two years
A development bank just built a €1.4bn insurer in two years

A development bank has just minted a unicorn, and it took two years. Ominimo, a Budapest-based motor insurance startup founded by Serbian and Hungarian entrepreneurs, has closed a Series B led by the venture arm of the European Bank for Reconstruction …

Roku raises streaming device prices by up to 60 percent as the memory shortage reaches the living room
Roku raises streaming device prices by up to 60 percent as the memory shortage reaches the living room

Roku has raised prices on its entire US streaming hardware lineup, with increases ranging from $10 to $50 per device, as the global memory shortage driven by AI data centre demand reaches a product category that had been one of the last bastions of aff…

Waymo to end Uber exclusivity in Austin and Atlanta, launching its own app in January 2028
Waymo to end Uber exclusivity in Austin and Atlanta, launching its own app in January 2028

Waymo has notified Uber that it plans to launch its own app in Austin and Atlanta in January 2028, ending the exclusivity arrangement that has kept its robotaxis available only through Uber in both cities. An Uber spokesperson confirmed the notice to C…

10 Platforms for AI Visibility and Link Building in 2026
10 Platforms for AI Visibility and Link Building in 2026

Millions now choose products through ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews appear in nearly half of all search queries. According to Muck Rack, 84% of AI citations come from media outlets, the same outlets where SEO specialists have …

Stripe wants to own the toll booth between AI models, for ~$10bn
Stripe wants to own the toll booth between AI models, for ~$10bn

Stripe wants a foothold in AI, and it is willing to pay dearly for it. The payments company is in talks to buy OpenRouter for about $10 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. That is a staggering price for a startup valued at just $1.3 billion in M…