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Tech and Space Initiatives Advance in Washington and Beyond
Washington, D.C. – February 4, 2026 – The intersection of technology and policy continued to evolve this week as the U.S. House took steps toward a commercial deep space program, while advancements in AI speech-to-text models and coding tools emerged from the tech sector. These developments highlight the ongoing integration of technology into various aspects of daily life, from government initiatives to software development.
A U.S. House committee unanimously passed a reauthorization act for NASA on Wednesday, signaling a move toward creating a "commercial" deep space program, according to Ars Technica. The legislation, which still requires approval from the full House and the Senate, provides a general direction for the space agency, distinct from appropriations bills that allocate specific funding.
Meanwhile, Mistral AI, a Paris-based startup, launched Voxtral Transcribe 2, a pair of open-source speech-to-text models designed to run on devices like smartphones and laptops. VentureBeat reported that Mistral claims these models can transcribe audio faster, more accurately, and more cheaply than existing solutions, processing sensitive audio without transmitting it to remote servers. This development positions Mistral as a European competitor to OpenAI in the voice AI space, a technology increasingly vital for automated customer service and real-time translation.
In the realm of software development, Kilo, an AI coding startup, unveiled Kilo CLI 1.0, a command-line tool supporting over 500 AI models from various providers, including Alibaba's Qwen. According to VentureBeat, this release, backed by GitLab co-founder Sid Sijbrandij, aims to provide developers with flexibility in their development environments. This followed Kilo's recent launch of a Slackbot that allows developers to ship code directly from Slack, powered by MiniMax, a Chinese AI startup.
The Verge noted the increasing influence of technology on Washington politics, describing it as "Tech surrenders to the daily chaos of Washington politicking." Tina Nguyen, Senior Reporter for The Verge, covers the second Trump administration, political influencers, tech lobbying and Big Tech vs. Big Government.
In other tech news, Visible, a company offering access to Verizon's network, promoted its affordable unlimited plans, starting at $25 per month, including unlimited data, talk, and text, as well as service to Mexico and Canada, according to Wired.
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