TheFutureParty
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The Henn na Hotel chain in Japan has become almost entirely staffed by robots. Why It Hits: The human-facing hospitality industry is still in the early days of automation, but it’s already creeping into the US — with San Francisco’s LUMA Hotel using four onsite “digital curators” and Disney testing robots in its parks. Southeast […]
Sean Duffy, the Transportation Secretary currently serving as NASA’s interim administrator, is pushing the space agency to accelerate the creation of a nuclear-fission reactor for deployment on the Moon. The Big Power Up: Setting up a lunar colony is seen as the “second space race,” with countries like China, Russia, India, and Japan vying for […]
Meta is positioning AI-powered smartglasses as the next must-have consumer device — one that could even replace the smartphone as the primary tool for on-the-go computing. The Big Vision: The smartphone — and by smartphone, we really mean the iPhone — has been the most important and widely used consumer device for nearly two decades. […]
Jake Adler, the 21-year-old founder of biotech and defense startup Pilgrim, cut his leg open on camera to show off his wound-healing gauze, Kingsfoil. The Big Cut: Founders using their bodies as test subjects has ramped up in recent years, especially in the world of biotech, with figures like Bryan Johnson and Josie Zayner leading […]
Microsoft is introducing an animated virtual character of its Copilot chatbot. Why It Hits: More and more tech giants are trying to figure out a way to anthropomorphize AI — whether that’s Microsoft with Copilot, Meta’s various chatbot experiments, or X with its NSFW characters — in an effort to move past text and simple […]
Meta unveiled a wristband it’s been developing for years that allows wearers to control computers, tablets, and smartphones without touching them. Why It Hits: Big Tech would love to make the act of scrolling and typing a thing of the past. While most of the attention is paid to riskier ventures involving brain-interface chips, Meta’s use of electrical signals in our muscles […]
Emerging studies are showing how the interaction between AI and toddlers could have profound effects on child development. The Big Development: Chatbot development is moving at lightning speed these days, typically with little oversight on how it’s affecting the adults who use it. But even less attention is being paid to how kids — now […]
Smart-bathroom startup Throne Labs is rolling out high-tech stalls all across America that are clean, cost-effective, and designed to keep out those who make a mess. Why It Hits: Public restrooms are something of a crisis in the US, with studies finding the country ranks 30th in the world for clean, accessible facilities (tied with […]
AI startup Decart has developed an AI model, Mirage, that can manipulate live video in real time. The Fake Picture: Smart internet scrollers already have their antennas up for spotting deepfake videos. But now that livestreams can be AI-generated too, determining whether what you’re watching is real could become exponentially harder. Behind the Code: Without wasting any time […]
Tourists are increasingly being duped into visiting places that don’t actually exist — fake travel destinations generated by AI. Why It Hurts: Generating a person using AI has, sadly, become commonplace… but generating a place is a new thing entirely. As online personalities spread misinformation about hot tourism spots, travelers will need to be more vigilant about not planning […]