Market Trends & Consumer Behaviour
The Download: AI’s energy future Summary MIT Technology Review has released a short video to accompany a deep investigation into how much energy the AI industry consumes — down to estimates per query. The piece highlights that data-centre electricity use jumped about 80% between 2020 and 2025 and is set to rise further as billions […]
Melania Trump’s AI Era Is Upon Us Summary Melania Trump, long notable for her relative absence from public life, is re-emerging with a brief to provide thought leadership on artificial intelligence — specifically aimed at children and education. The move has attracted a mix of enthusiasm from some insiders and deep scepticism from others, with […]
The Download: America’s gun crisis, and how AI video models work Summary This edition of The Download pulls together several major items: a critique of the Trump administration’s child-health strategy for ignoring gun violence, an explainer on how modern AI video generators operate and why they matter, and a roundup of other notable tech stories […]
Schulman Properties secures approval for 21-story condo-hotel in downtown Las Vegas Summary Schulman Properties has won planning approval from the Las Vegas Planning Commission to build the 21-storey Eterno Hotel on a six-acre site at 1003 Iron Horse Court, near Charleston Boulevard and Grand Central Parkway. Groundbreaking is planned for January 2026 and completion is […]
Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt Summary This weekly roundup highlights the top insightful and funniest comments from Techdirt readers. Standouts include MrWilson’s observations on the risks of walling off the open internet and comments about attempts to hide booing of public figures at major events. The piece also showcases editor’s picks across […]
The Download: Trump’s impact on science, and meet our climate and energy honourees Summary Today’s newsletter issue covers several linked themes: how the Trump administration’s policies are affecting early-career scientists in the US; profiles of climate and energy innovators on MIT Technology Review’s 2025 Innovators Under 35 list (including Ethiopian-born researcher Iwnetim Abate and his […]
Responding to COVID‐19 Through Cross‐Border E‐Commerce: Evidence From Millions of De Minimis Import Orders From China Summary This paper uses millions of small‑package (de minimis) online order records to examine how US commuting zones responded to COVID‑19 via cross‑border e‑commerce from China. The authors find that areas hit harder by the pandemic bought more via […]
The Trade Impact of the Creation/Disbandment of Diplomatic Relations: The Case Involving Mainland China and Chinese Taiwan Summary This paper studies how the establishment and the disbandment of formal diplomatic ties affect bilateral trade, using the case of countries that switched recognition from Chinese Taiwan to Mainland China between 1995 and 2019. Employing a staggered […]
Is AI the New Frontier of Women’s Oppression? Summary Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, argues in her new book, The New Age of Sexism, that AI and emerging technologies are amplifying and reinventing misogyny. Through interviews, survivor accounts and hands-on investigation, Bates details how tools such as deepfakes, AI sexbots, customised “girlfriends” […]
I Hate My AI Friend Summary WIRED tests Friend, a pendant-style wearable chatbot created by Avi Schiffmann that uses Google’s Gemini 2.5 in the cloud. The puck-like device connects via Bluetooth to an iPhone companion app, responds to taps and voice prompts, and — crucially — listens continuously through always-on microphones to offer running commentary […]
