Israel’s high-tech sector surged into 2025 with remarkable momentum, instead of continuing the two-year slump in funding.
According to new figures from Startup Nation Central, private Israeli tech firms raised $3.2 billion through 185 deals in the first quarter, rather than declining as in previous periods. This marked a 12% rise from the previous quarter and a 14% increase year on year.
The most striking figure came from mergers and acquisitions, which reached a record-breaking $35.9 billion across 38 deals.
Even excluding the Wiz acquisition, the M&A volume still hit $3.9 billion—its highest since the third quarter of 2023. Instead of reflecting a single outlier, the strong figures suggest a broader resurgence in investor confidence and corporate activity.
It signals that global interest in Israel’s innovation sector is gaining strength again, instead of continuing to wane as seen over the past two years.
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A powerful earthquake in Myanmar has significantly disrupted the junta’s cyber operations, severely damaging the National Cyber Security Center and a major e-Government data hub in Naypyitaw.
The Ministry of Transport and Communications confirmed that repairs are underway, though many internet services in quake-affected areas remain unstable.
According to the opposition National Unity Government (NUG), the damage could weaken the military regime’s ability to monitor and suppress dissent online.
The National Cyber Security Center, which played a central role in tracking online activity and orchestrating arrests via surveillance tools, was among the worst-hit sites. Thousands of communication stations were also damaged, with less than half restored so far.
The quake has also taken down several junta ministry websites and left staff in Naypyitaw facing harsh living conditions. With Myanmar recording the highest number of internet shutdowns globally in 2024, activists fear the regime will attempt to regain control, but the full extent of the digital disruption may be greater than reported.
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Spotify has announced a suite of new advertising tools and features, including generative AI capabilities, at its recent Spotify Advance event in New York.
Designed to simplify ad creation and targeting, the initiative, branded as Spotify GenAI Ads, aims to help advertisers generate scripts and voiceovers at no extra cost.
Advertisers can also collaborate with Spotify’s in-house creative agencies to develop campaigns, while upgraded tools on the Spotify Ad Exchange (SAX) offer access to logged-in users through real-time auctions.
Integration with platforms such as Google Display & Video 360, The Trade Desk, Magnite, and Yahoo DSP further enhances reach and targeting options.
A new Spotify Ads Manager tool is also being rolled out in the US and Canada, providing advanced audience segmentation and performance tracking for tailored campaigns. These innovations reflect Spotify’s growing focus on personalisation and automation in digital advertising.
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Two leading AI systems, OpenAI’s GPT-4.5 and Meta’s Llama-3.1, have passed a key milestone by outperforming humans in a modern version of the Turing Test.
The experiment, conducted by researchers at the University of California San Diego, found that GPT-4.5 was mistaken for a human 73% of the time, surpassing the human identification rate. Meta’s Llama-3.1 followed closely, with a 56% success rate.
The study used a three-party test where participants held simultaneous five-minute conversations with both a human and an AI, and then tried to determine which was which.
These trials were conducted across two independent groups: university undergraduates and prolific online workers. The results provide the first substantial evidence that AI can convincingly mimic human responses in spontaneous conversations.
Earlier language models such as ELIZA and GPT-4o were correctly identified as non-human in over 75% of cases.
The success of newer models in passing this benchmark points to how rapidly conversational AI is evolving, raising fresh questions about the ethical and societal implications of indistinguishable AI interactions.
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Meta and Anthropic’s recent attempts to defend their use of copyrighted books in training AI tools under the US legal concept of ‘fair use’ are unlikely to succeed in UK courts, according to the Publishers Association and the Society of Authors.
Legal experts argue that ‘fair use’ is far broader than the UK’s stricter ‘fair dealing’ rules, which limit the unauthorised use of copyrighted works.
The controversy follows revelations that Meta may have used pirated books from LibraryGenesis to train its AI model, Llama 3. Legal filings in the US claim the use of these books was transformative and formed only a small part of the training data.
However, UK organisations and authors insist that such use amounts to large-scale copyright infringement and would not be justified under UK law.
Calls for transparency and licensing reform are growing, with more than 8,000 writers signing a petition and protests planned outside Meta’s London headquarters.
Critics, including Baroness Beeban Kidron, argue that AI models rely on the creativity and quality of copyrighted content—making it all the more important for authors to retain control and receive proper compensation.
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Air India has launched a new partnership with Apple to enhance baggage tracking by integrating Apple’s AirTag technology into its existing systems.
The collaboration connects AirTag’s location-sharing capabilities with Air India’s mobile app and website, allowing passengers to track misplaced luggage more efficiently.
Travellers using Apple devices can generate a location link for their AirTag through the Find My app and submit it to Air India along with a lost baggage report.
Once shared, airline staff can view an interactive map of the item’s location, updated in real time, until the luggage is recovered or the tracking expires after seven days.
This move makes Air India the first Indian airline to adopt Apple’s ‘Share Item Location’ feature, joining a global group that includes British Airways, Lufthansa, and Virgin Atlantic.
The new system is compatible with iPhones, iPads, and Macs running the latest software versions, offering Indian users a smarter way to stay connected with their belongings throughout their journey.
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Aetherflux, the space solar startup founded by Baiju Bhatt, the billionaire co-founder of Robinhood, has secured $50 million in Series A funding to advance its first low Earth orbit demonstration scheduled for 2026.
The California-based startup, which emerged from stealth in October, plans to deploy a constellation of satellites capable of collecting solar energy and transmitting it to Earth.
The concept, inspired by Isaac Asimov’s 1941 short story ‘Reason,’ is set to change the way power is sourced globally. Bhatt is dedicated to transforming this science fiction-inspired idea into reality.
With the newly raised capital, Aetherflux aims to hire more engineers and build the technology needed for its missions. The company will use the funds to develop its satellite payload and improve infrastructure.
The satellites will send power back to Earth via lasers, with energy captured by ground stations featuring photovoltaic arrays. These stations will store energy for future use and may one day deliver electricity to remote areas.
Bhatt’s team, consisting of experts from NASA, SpaceX, and the US Navy, is also focused on building the first ground station. While a location hasn’t been chosen, military sites are being considered for their controlled airspace.
If successful, Aetherflux will pave the way for scalable space-based solar power systems.
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Microsoft has unveiled Copilot Search, a new AI-powered feature designed to enhance the Bing search experience.
Available at bing.com/copilotsearch, it generates responses using AI, providing users with summarised answers, related links, and reasoning behind the results. The feature follows Google‘s introduction of AI Mode in Search, which similarly offers AI-generated overviews for complex queries.
Copilot Search enables users to explore their queries more interactively. Responses include two key options: ‘See all links,’ which displays sources used in the summary, and ‘See reasoning,’ which explains how the response was generated.
Users can also submit follow-up questions within the same interface, keeping the entire conversation on a single page for easier navigation. Additional options for images and videos are available, though they redirect to Bing’s standard media search.
The latest search enhancement introduced by Microsoft reflects the increasing role of AI in online search, blending AI-generated insights with traditional web links.
Bing users who prefer the classic search experience will still have access to traditional results, while AI-generated answers will appear at the top of natural language queries.
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Amazon has introduced a new Recaps feature for Kindle users, designed to help readers recall key plot points and character developments before starting the next book in a series.
The feature, now available to Kindle users in the United States, provides AI-generated summaries for thousands of best-selling English-language e-books.
While Amazon did not initially mention AI in its announcement, the company later confirmed that Recaps are created using generative AI, with human moderators ensuring accuracy.
Concerns about the reliability of AI-generated summaries have surfaced among Kindle users, with some questioning whether they will accurately reflect book content. Amazon maintains that its process ensures accuracy, though further details have not been provided.
Recaps can be accessed through the Kindle Library or within a book series page, and users must acknowledge a spoiler warning before viewing the summary.
The feature aims to improve the reading experience by helping readers stay immersed in complex stories without having to re-read previous books.
Amazon plans to expand Recaps to the Kindle app for iOS soon, covering a variety of genres, including fantasy, mystery, and thriller series.
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Midjourney has launched V7, its first new AI image model in nearly a year, introducing major improvements in image quality and text prompt accuracy.
The model, which rolled out in alpha on Thursday, features enhanced textures, better coherence in generating bodies and objects, and a new personalization system that tailors results to individual users.
To access V7, users must first rate around 200 images to create a personalised profile, a feature enabled by default for the first time.
We're now beginning the alpha-test phase of our new V7 image Model. It's our smartest, most beautiful, most coherent model yet. Give it a shot and expect updates every week or two for the next two months. pic.twitter.com/Ogqt0fgiY7
The new model is available in two versions: Turbo, which generates images at a higher cost, and Relax, a more budget-friendly option. A new Draft Mode also allows users to create lower-quality images at ten times the speed and half the cost of standard mode, with the option to enhance them later.
Some existing Midjourney features, such as image upscaling and retexturing, are not yet available in V7 but are expected within two months.
Midjourney remains an independent company, having raised no external funding since its launch in 2022. The San Francisco-based firm is reportedly generating around $200 million in revenue and is expanding into hardware, video, and 3D object generation.
However, the company faces ongoing legal challenges, with multiple lawsuits accusing it of using copyrighted images without permission to train its AI models.
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