This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through January 31)

Every week, we scour the web for important, insightful, and fascinating stories in science and technology.

SingularityHub Staff

Jan 31, 2026

An artist's conception of an alien green planet and a red planet

Image Credit

Michael Mwangi on Unsplash

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

A Yann LeCun–Linked Startup Charts a New Path to AGIJoel Khalili | Wired ($)

"As the world’s largest companies pour hundreds of billions of dollars into large language models, San Francisco-based Logical Intelligence is trying something different in pursuit of AI that can mimic the human brain. ...The road to AGI, Bodnia contends, begins with the layering of these different types of AI: LLMs will interface with humans in natural language, EBMs will take up reasoning tasks, while world models will help robots take action in 3D space."

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Google Project Genie Lets You Create Interactive Worlds From a Photo or PromptRyan Whitwam | Ars Technica

"World models are exactly what they sound like—an AI that generates a dynamic environment on the fly. ...The system first generates a still image, and from that you can generate the world. This is what Google calls 'world sketching.'"

Biotechnology

The First Human Test of a Rejuvenation Method Will Begin 'Shortly'Antonio Regalado | MIT Technology Review ($)

"[Life Biosciences] plans to try to treat eye disease with a radical rejuvenation concept called 'reprogramming' that has recently attracted hundreds of millions in investment for Silicon Valley firms like Altos Labs, New Limit, and Retro Biosciences, backed by many of the biggest names in tech. The technique attempts to restore cells to a healthier state by broadly resetting their epigenetic controls—switches on our genes that determine which are turned on and off."

Future

The Wall Street Star Betting His Reputation on Robots and Flying CarsBecky Peterson | The Wall Street Journal ($)

"Jonas will guide the bank’s clients on what he’s calling the 'Cambrian explosion of bots'—a time in the not-so-distant-future in which fully autonomous vehicles, drones, humanoids and industrial robots grow large enough in population to rival the human race. His theory is deceptive in its simplicity: Anything that can be automated will be automated, he says, even humans."

Space

Mapping 6,000 Worlds: The New Era of Exoplanetary DataEliza Strickland | IEEE Spectrum

"[Astronomers can now] compare planet sizes, masses, and compositions; track how tightly planets orbit their stars; and measure the prevalence of different kinds of planetary systems. Those statistics allow astronomers to estimate how frequently planets form, and to start making informed guesses about how often conditions arise that could support life. The Drake Equation uses such estimates to tackle one of humanity’s most profound questions: Are we alone in the universe?"

Future

Stratospheric Internet Could Finally Start Taking Off This YearTereza Pultarova | MIT Technology Review ($)

"Today, an estimated 2.2 billion people still have either limited or no access to the internet, largely because they live in remote places. But that number could drop this year, thanks to tests of stratospheric airships, uncrewed aircraft, and other high-altitude platforms for internet delivery."

Be Part of the Future

100% Free. No Spam. Unsubscribe any time.

Robotics

Waymo Robotaxi Hits a Child Near a School, Causing Minor InjuriesAndrew J. Hawkins | The Verge

"In a blog post, Waymo said its vehicle was traveling at 17mph when its autonomous system detected the child and then 'braked hard,' reducing its speed to 6mph before 'contact was made.' The child 'stood up immediately, walked to the sidewalk,' and Waymo said it called 911. 'The vehicle moved to the side of the road, and stayed there until law enforcement cleared the vehicle to leave the scene,' it said."

Artificial Intelligence

Ex-OpenAI Researcher’s Startup Targets Up to $1 Billion in Funding to Develop a New Type of AIStephanie Palazzolo and Wayne Ma | The Information ($)

"[Jerry] Tworek represents a small but growing group of AI researchers who believe the field needs an overhaul because today’s most popular model development techniques seem unlikely to be able to develop advanced AI that can achieve major breakthroughs in biology, medicine and other fields while also managing to avoid silly mistakes."

Robotics

Waymo’s Price Premium To Lyft and Uber Is Closing, Report FindsAnita Ramaswamy | The Information ($)

"The average price to ride in Waymo’s robotaxis has dropped by 3.6% since March to $19.69 per ride, according to a new report by ride-hailing analytics firm Obi. Riding in a Waymo is now, on average, 12.7% more expensive than riding in an Uber and 27.4% more expensive than riding in a Lyft, down from a 30% to 40% premium for Waymo rides last April, the month covered by Obi’s previous report."

Curation