In this article, you will learn five practical strategies for managing context windows in long-running AI agent applications, along with the key tradeoffs each approach...

A hands-on walkthrough of a hybrid local-cloud workflow using Gemma 4 and GPT-5.4, with reasoning and structured outputs The post Stop Choosing Between Local and Cloud LLMs: A Field Guide to Hybrid Patterns appeared first on Towards Data Science.

Artificial intelligence is transforming what is possible in agriculture, but industry leaders should be wary of investing in AI without first laying the groundwork.  The use cases are promising, especially for an industry navigating volatile fertilizer costs, unpredictable weather, and margins that leave little room for error. Research shows AI-enabled predictive models can improve crop…

Discussion | Link

Swedish deeptech company Digiclean has raised €2.5 millionin a seed funding round to advance its platform for industrial cleaning andmaintenance optimisation. The round was co-led by Unconventional Ve...

Venture capital firms are using AI the wrong way, argues Gilion's Henrik Landgren, who says that building better data infrastructure and connecting directly to sources like financial, payment and accounting systems would improve due diligence, help investors identify overlooked startups, and make investment decisions both faster and more accurate.

The artificial intelligence space saw two major developments last week that highlight how technology companies are trying to manage the soaring costs and complexity of AI computing. In an interview with Crunchbase News, Dave Munichiello, a managing partner at GV, discusses the mechanics behind the Qualcomm-Modular deal, the practical realities of managing hardware scarcity, and what the current wave of consolidation means for the future of independent startups.

Jordyn Holman / New York Times: Q&A with Grindr CEO George Arison on turning Grindr into an “AI-native company”, “impos[ing]” AI on staff, facing “opposition”, using AI as a CEO, and more  —  George Arison, the gay dating app's chief executive, is aiming for all code to be eventually written …

For decades, the senator has argued that concentrated wealth threatened American democracy. Now he’s betting that frustration with Big Tech, billionaires, and unchecked AI is reaching a tipping point.

Bloomberg: How Spain's LaLiga uses nationwide IP blocking to combat illegal sports streams, impacting an estimated 550K+ domains, putting it in conflict with Cloudflare  —  From small businesses to government agencies, legitimate websites are getting caught in the crossfire of LaLiga's fight against illegal sports streams

Apple. Anthropic. Disney Research. Google. Meta. Microsoft. NVIDIA. OpenAI. Few places outside Silicon Valley can claim R&D hubs from all of these companies. Fewer still are concentrated in a city of just over 400,000 people—roughly half the size of San Francisco. Over the past two decades, however, many of the world’s most influential technology companies…

Emmy Martin / New York Times: As OpenAI and Anthropic prepare to go public, San Francisco tech workers making six figures say they cannot compete with the new AI elite and may have to leave  —  As OpenAI and Anthropic prepare to go public, tech workers making six figures are grousing that they cannot compete with the new A.I. elite.

Catherine Fadashe says she's learned how to protect her energy. Catherine Fadashe Marketing associate Catherine Fadashe said she identifies as an introvert. Fadashe said it helps to imagine she's about to go onstage when she enters her office. She finds solitude in certain parts of her office and spends an hour in silence after work to recharge. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Catherine Fadashe, a 30-year-old communications and marketing associate at an asset management firm based in the UK. Her employment and identity have been confirmed by Business Insider. This story has been edited for length and clarity. We operate in a hybrid setting. I spend three days in the office and two days at home. I joined nearly three years ago, right around when we were easing out of the strictly remote situation. My previous role, which was my first corporate job, was at a strictly remote venture capital firm. As an introvert, it was a huge adjustment transitioning to hybrid work — and I've had to learn how to protect my energy by adopting a few habits. I've chosen to be in this career and I know that it requires me to interact with people. So it's my duty to figure out coping mechanisms that work. I pretend I'm on stage When I walk into the office, I pretend I'm going on stage. When the lift doors open, I make a mental countdown. Five, four, three, two, one, and then lights, camera, action. Being in the mindset that I'm about to go onstage helps because I need something to help me role play. It's my coping mechanism. For me, work isn't about being myself. People talk about bringing your authentic self to work, but as an introvert, I don't think that would serve me well. That would mean me not really talking to anyone and just typing away at my desk. It's not to say that I don't bring a bit of my own personality, but I owe it to the profession I've chosen to not always be my most authentic self. I felt like I had to have this mentality in my role because I have to be able to communicate with people, and I always have to "be on." It's a relationship-driven role. I protect my energy I need to recharge quite a lot. I love being in my own bubble. I need a lot of alone time. A lot of people in the corporate space eat lunch together. I get the advantages of that, but I also know I have to protect my energy. I still go out with colleagues sometimes, but I prefer one-on-one as opposed to a group situation. Typically though, during lunch or between the working day, I go out for a mini walk to clear my head and be by myself. I also book times in meeting rooms sometimes to get a chunk of work done. We have a library in the office that not a lot of people use. So, that's also a great place for me to recharge and decompress. I spend an hour in complete silence after work It depends on the workload, but I'm a highly sensitive person, and sometimes I feel overstimulated after work, both after the office and working from home. After work, I can finally bring all my feelings to the surface and I need to decompress. So I spend a good hour in complete silence. It allows my brain to simmer down and recharge. I don't even like listening to music at that time and I try not to go on social media on my way to work. I don't want that input because I get enough at work. I like to keep my brain silent for as long as possible, and that helps my body calm down and process all the information. Being an introvert means nothing about my colleagues or where I work. It's about who I am as a person. And I think that's what I believe employees need to be more cognizant of. The corporate world often rewards extroverts, but we're all different, and the working space should reward different kinds of personalities. Read the original article on Business Insider

Reuters: Meituan open-sources LongCat-2.0, a 1.6T-parameter model that it says was trained on a 50K-chip cluster of domestic Chinese processors, without giving details  —  China's food delivery giant Meituan (3690.HK) said on Tuesday it had released and would open-source its next-generation LongCat …

A RAM (random access memory) chip, commonly used in PCs. HUIZENG HU/Getty Images The memory shortage at the heart of recent price hikes on consumer electronics is expected to worsen in the next year. A TF International analyst expects 15-20% of capacity allocated to consumer electronics will shift to data centers in 2027. The supply and demand imbalance for memory chips is hitting consumers' wallets — and eating into companies' margins. The memory shortage at the heart of recent price hikes on consumer electronics is expected to get worse, with CEOs and analysts expecting further pricing pressures into 2027 and possibly beyond. The issue is simultaneously a consumer problem (shoppers are now paying more for Apple products and Xboxes), a supply-chain problem (companies face higher component costs, tighter margins, and increased competition for memory amid the AI data center build-out), and a PR problem (data centers were plenty polarizing before being tied in a roundabout way to consumer price hikes). There's no quick fix, as the Great AI Infrastructure Buildout pits tech hyperscalers (think Meta, Google, and Amazon) against consumer electronics makers (think Apple, Xbox, and scores of other gadget makers) jockeying for capacity from the memory manufacturers. Memory suppliers are faced with unprecedented demand and deciding which type of memory chips their manufacturing lines will make — and many have been seizing the moment and re-jiggering allocation in favor of the deep-pocketed AI hyperscalers. We're already well along into that new reality, but the share of memory capacity going to data centers is expected to grow. Just take a look at what analysts, research firms, and CEOs have said in the last month: TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote in a note over the weekend that, "Of the memory capacity allocated to consumer electronics in 2026, an estimated 15—20% is expected to shift to data centers in 2027, and that share could grow." Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said on the memory makers's June 24 earnings call that "demand continues to significantly exceed industry supply" and he expects "tight conditions to persist beyond calendar 2027 as a result of AI-driven demand across all segments coupled with structural supply constraints." Research firm Trendforce wrote on June 22 that the three major DRAM suppliers "continue to prioritize advanced-node production to support growing demand" being "driven by AI infrastructure investments." Jefferies analysts recently wrote in a note last week that memory consultant Ethan Tan expects memory pricing will rise 40%-50% quarter-over-quarter in Q3, and by another 30%-40% in the Q4. He expects 2027 price hikes of around 40% to 45% year-over-year. While announcing its third round of Xbox price hikes since 2025, Microsoft signaled further pain ahead: "Unfortunately, console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027." IDC wrote in a June 2 report that "the global PC market is heading into a turbulent second half of 2026, and there's no quick fix on the horizon." The market research firm "forecasts global PC shipments will decline 11.3% for the full year, with conditions worsening progressively through Q4, when shipments are expected to fall 20% year-over-year." Apple boosted Mac and iPad prices, along with other accessories, by hundreds of dollars, with Tim Cook saying memory pricing is "a hundred-year flood," and consumer "price increases are unavoidable." Elon Musk agreed with Cook, calling it the "biggest price jump in anything I've ever seen," the "production shortfall relative to demand is insane," and "MUCH higher production is needed." The good news is that there are efforts underway to expand the memory supply, which, in theory, should loosen the boot currently pressed against the throat of consumer electronics companies. But spinning of memory chip production lines takes time — and there's no guarantee that companies like Apple will decrease MacBook or iPad prices even if their component costs decrease. In the meantime, the impact of the AI buildout is burrowing into people's wallets in a way that's become impossible to ignore. Don't expect that to change anytime soon. Read the original article on Business Insider

A job search can be tough. That's why it's worth reconsidering some of the career advice you've heard. Scott Olson/Getty Images Some of the most common career advice often sounds good, yet doesn't always hold up. You don't necessarily need to find your passion or climb the corporate ladder to enjoy your job. Because finding a job can be tough, it makes sense to think about which pieces of advice to follow. Turns out your boss might not want the fully authentic you. One of the many pieces of career advice that emerged years ago — when the job market was stronger for corporate workers — is the idea that you should bring your whole self to work. As employers across industries remain choosy about whom they hire and as many workers hang onto their jobs, that advice might not hold up. "If you love wearing tight little leather outfits that are strapped on, I don't want to see that," said Margie Warrell, a leadership consultant and author of the book "The Courage Gap." "That's not appropriate," she said. The whole-self idea is one example of workplace wisdom that's meant to guide our careers, yet that often doesn't hold up in practice. Here are six pieces of stale work advice — and what you consider doing instead. Follow your passion The idea of combining what you love with what you do for a living is understandable, though that impulse can also bring a ton of pressure. Feeling like you have to "find your passion" can set you up for disappointment. "That's probably as vague as it gets," said Jochen Menges, a professor of human resource management and leadership at the University of Zurich. "It's not an actionable goal." He said that a better approach would be to set goals focused on the emotion you want to feel in your work. It could be something like pride, even if you might not experience it every day. "If I align my emotional needs more with what I do — with my career prospects — then I'm a lot better off," Menges said. That, in turn, will accelerate your career, he said. Make it a numbers game When you're looking for a job, it can be tempting to click "apply" as many times as possible to boost your shot at getting that seemingly elusive screening call. It's an understandable inclination, especially because it feels good to do something tangible when so much of the search process is out of your control. Yet doing all that applying often isn't the best use of your time. In a poll by the hiring software maker Greenhouse, 53% of recruiters said they review fewer than half of the applications they receive. The survey involved more than 600 recruiters and hiring managers. While the spray-and-pray approach can be tempting, networking to make connections inside an employer can often be more effective, recruiters say. In part, that's because online tools and AI assistants have made it so easy to apply that some employers are drowning in applications. Another strategy to consider when you're in the market: If you have a list of places you're targeting, network before the job gets posted, said Laura Labovich, a career coach. That's because once a job listing is live, recruiters and hiring managers aren't likely to do more than point you to it. Climb the corporate ladder The idea of ascending a corporate hierarchy has become outdated for some, said Christian Tröster, an Academy of Management scholar and a professor of leadership and organizational behavior at Germany's Kühne Logistics University. Instead, he said, people might want to consider a "protean" career. That's one that changes shape over time. Tröster said that instead of focusing on moving up, a better aim for many workers would be to become "psychologically successful." "The ultimate goal of your career is feeling proud and accomplished," he said. One reason you might not want to scale the ladder is that a push by some leaders for "flatter" organizational structures — and the elimination of middle management — can mean there aren't as many rungs for ambitious workers to grab hold of. This comes as more companies are wrestling with how AI could change the types of roles they hire for. "Careers today are no longer linear," Warrell said. Instead, workers might opt for a lateral move, a side gig, or a so-called portfolio career, where you take on multiple jobs to earn a living while maintaining flexibility. Warrell said that workers who chart their own paths often find they're more fulfilled than those who try to grind their way up an org chart. Don't change jobs too often Career advice once often included the suggestion that workers avoid changing jobs for at least a year to avoid appearing uncommitted to an organization. While it's true that a string of job changes in a short period could raise concerns among prospective employers, some of the thinking around job-hopping has shifted, Warrell said. She said "smart" job changes — sometimes including those in quick succession — that indicate you're taking on extra responsibility and developing new skills can bolster, not weaken, your résumé. "It can be seen as a sign of ambition, adaptability, not instability," Warrell said. Focus on hard skills Technical mastery — especially in hot areas like AI — can take you far and, in some cases, leave you with your pick of jobs. Yet it's not the only route to career success. AI is already taking on coding work that once kept software engineers busy, for example. In surveys, employers often say they want to attract workers who are good at things like communication and teamwork. Menges said one reason so-called soft skills are important is that humans will still be needed to evaluate what AI produces. To help do that, he said, workers will need to rely in part on emotion for guidance. Menges said that in the 20th century, workers were often told to suppress their feelings at work. "Now, you've got to bring those emotions back, because whatever AI does needs evaluation, and that evaluation comes down to how we feel about what appears on our screens," he said. Bring your whole self While it might have been well-intentioned, critics have long found the idea of showing up at work as the unvarnished version of yourself to be problematic. Ella F. Washington, a professor of practice at Georgetown University, previously told Business Insider that a better way to think about the idea is to bring your whole professional self to work. That might mean working with people you don't like. Or, Warrell said, it could simply mean pushing past a bad mood to get through your day. "If one part of your whole self is that you're short-tempered and grumpy in the morning, don't bring that self to work," she said. An earlier version of this story appeared on March 3, 2025. Read the original article on Business Insider

Orlando Crowcroft / Financial Times: AI and vibe coding fuel a surge in game releases; ATTN Economy says 181K mobile games launched in six months to May, up 118% on iOS and 73% on Android YoY  —  More instinctive technology is accelerating production amid concerns it risks losing gamers' trust

T. Renee Smith is the CEO of iSuccess Consulting, a Georgia-based AI consultancy company. Courtesy of T. Renee Smith In 2007, T. Renee Smith was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison. After being incarcerated, she had to rebuild her career. She's now CEO of an AI consultancy. She has three pieces of advice for bouncing back: grieve, accept, and shift your mindset. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with T. Renee Smith, 51, who is based in Atlanta. She is CEO of iSuccess Consulting. In 2007, she was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for conspiring to use false financial information to obtain bank loans. Business Insider has verified her sentence and employment. This piece has been edited for length and clarity. Everything happened at once. In the space of a year, I got married, pregnant, and started serving my prison sentence. My business partner and I ran communication businesses, made some very bad decisions, and my life spiraled out of control. I was charged with a felony in 2005. In the roughly two years it took to go to court, I met my husband and got married. By the time I was sentenced in 2007, I was four months pregnant. The first night of my 46-month sentence in late 2007 felt like an out-of-body experience where I was looking at my life from the outside, feeling sad for that woman. My son was born in April 2008 and spent the first 11 months with me in prison. Then he went to live with my husband and parents. It was a psychologically challenging time for all of us. Being in prison stripped me of everything I thought was important, and I had an identity crisis. I had no idea who I was outside my role as a business owner. I decided to see my incarceration as an opportunity: I had to come out better on the other side, to make something great out of a bad situation. When I was released, I would rebuild my life and reinvent myself with a felony to my name. I eventually got there, and now I'm the CEO of an AI consultancy. Rebuilding my career after a break wasn't easy When I was released in late 2010, the reality that I likely wasn't going to be hired for any corporate positions with a felony hit me hard. I realized I'd have to start a business for my livelihood. At first, I had tunnel vision about rebuilding myself, and my attitude was: let's go. What I didn't realize was: sweetie, you've been away for years. You have to reintegrate into your family and your life. After such a setback, you need time to acclimatize and reinvent yourself, which I didn't give myself, because I just threw myself back into work. Smith had to rebuild her career after time in a federal prison. Courtesy of T. Renee Smith I started with contract work that didn't require background checks, while setting up a consulting business on the side in 2011. It was a slow build, but over a few years, clients referred me to other clients, and the business grew. I'd rebuilt my life and business from the ground up. Now, as an AI transformation strategist and the CEO of iSuccess Consulting, I help clients assess their AI readiness, develop implementation strategies, and make sure their workforce is prepared for those changes. My 3 pieces of advice: grieve, practice acceptance, and shift your mindset Hopefully, others don't have reasons like mine for a career break, but many people have stories where life turns out differently than they planned. Whether it's becoming a caregiver, going through a divorce, losing a child, or being laid off, many people end up needing to find ways to bounce back. For all these people rebuilding after a setback, I believe my advice applies. The first thing you need to do is grieve the life you thought you'd have. Secondly, replace the belief that your life "should have" turned out a certain way with acceptance of how it is. Instead of wishing my life were something else, I ask myself what lesson I needed to learn from it and how I could grow from that. The most important thing is shifting your mindset. If I'd looked at myself and thought, "I'm a convicted felon. Nobody's going to hire me. I can't build a business," then I would've become my own worst enemy. I had to shift my mindset to my current situation and ask: how did that break help you, what did you learn from it, and what do you need to build your new life afterward? My life has been an absolute journey, but I wouldn't change anything because it made me who I am today. There's no way that I'd be as resilient as I if I wasn't incarcerated. Read the original article on Business Insider

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Jung Yeon-je / AFP via Getty Images Nvidia pays exceptionally well. Just don't expect free lunch. Former employees said Huang's philosophy prioritizes work-life balance and frugality "Being frugal is deeply rooted in Nvidia's DNA," said one former Nvidia employee. Unlike many of its Big Tech peers, there's no free lunch at Nvidia. A recent X thread by software engineer and industry analyst Gergely Orosz, who claimed that snacks and coffee aren't free at the chip giant, drew attention to the chip giant's relatively sparse workplace perks. Two former employees told Business Insider that cafeteria meals aren't free but are subsidized, so some of the food's cost is covered by Nvidia. Some beverages, such as coffee, are complimentary, but select bottled beverages and drinks purchased from on-site cafés were not. The policy reflects a different philosophy from the Silicon Valley perk wars that once defined Big Tech. While rivals used free meals, gyms, and lavish campuses to keep employees in the office, former employees described a culture rooted in frugality, where lavish workplace perks took a back seat to the work itself. Big Tech is now increasingly clamping down on perks in a new era of efficiency. Amazon and Apple also don't offer free food. Nvidia's practice stands in contrast to Google, which continues to offer chef-prepared meals and microkitchens stocked with snacks. Meta is reportedly trying to improve its microkitchens amid morale challenges at the company. As tech companies rethink workplace perks in an era of AI and cost discipline, Nvidia's understated approach has become less of an outlier. The former employees attributed the approach to different facets of Nvidia's culture. "Philosophically, I think Jensen has a general belief about separation of pleasure and work," one said, noting the company didn't have "ping-pong tables, a company gym, massages-on-request, or stuff like that." The second added that Huang — a noted foodie — wants employees to be able to do their "life's work," which requires a healthy balance. "Other workplaces where everything is free are implicitly trying to coax employees into staying in the office as much as possible — Nvidia has the exact opposite philosophy." "Being frugal is deeply rooted in Nvidia's DNA," said a third employee who no longer works at the company. "Traditionally, hardware companies have always been operating at very thin margins, far below what software companies were doing." To this end, Nvidia vice presidents fly economy and don't have executive assistants — a practice that's been attributed to its "one team" culture of equality. The food policy doesn't appear to bother Nvidia employees. "There was so much exciting work going on that these types of things were really not an issue," a fourth former employee said. "Food would be your last concern as long as you could get it ASAP and return to your desk." Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at gweiss@businessinsider.com or Signal at @geoffweiss.25. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely. Read the original article on Business Insider