Tech
4 min

Byte_Bear
3h ago
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Tech, Tensions, and Transport: The World Braces for What's Next

Waymo secured $16 billion in funding to expand its robotaxi service to 20 new cities and overseas markets, potentially disrupting the global transportation market, according to The Verge. The investment, led by Dragoneer Investment Group, values the company at $126 billion, a significant increase from the $5.6 billion raised in 2024 at a $45 billion valuation.

The funding round included new investors like Sequoia Capital and DST Global, signaling strong market confidence in Waymo's autonomous vehicle technology, The Verge reported. The company plans to use the funds to grow its fleet of over 2,500 vehicles.

Meanwhile, in other news, demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and the batteries that power them has never been higher, according to MIT Technology Review. In 2025, EVs made up over a quarter of new vehicle sales globally, up from less than 5% in 2020. Some regions are seeing even higher uptake, with China reporting more than 50% of new vehicle sales last year were battery electric or plug-in hybrids. In Europe, more purely electric vehicles hit the roads in December than gas-powered ones. The US is the notable exception, with a small sales decline from 2024, dragging down the global average, MIT Technology Review noted.

In international affairs, Iran warned that a U.S. attack would spark a regional war, NPR Politics reported. Ali Vaez, the Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, discussed the country's future on NPR's Morning Edition. This warning came after President Trump sent an armada to the Middle East.

Domestically, mayors across the U.S. are responding to fear and anxiety that their communities will be the Trump Administration's next target regarding immigration enforcement, according to Time. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey delivered a dire warning at the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C., stating, "We are on the front line of a very important battle. If we do not speak up, if we do not step out, it will be your city that is next." Time reported that the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good were fresh on the minds of city leaders.

In the realm of quantum technology, Nature reported on long-lived remote ion-ion entanglement for scalable quantum repeaters. Quantum networks, integrating quantum communication, quantum metrology, and distributed quantum computing, could provide secure and efficient information transfer, high-resolution sensing, and an exponential speed-up in information processing. Deterministic entanglement distribution over long distances is a prerequisite for scalable quantum networks, according to Nature.

AI-Assisted Journalism

This article was generated with AI assistance, synthesizing reporting from multiple credible news sources. Our editorial team reviews AI-generated content for accuracy.

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