Cover Story

How Google’s Assistant Could End up Eating Its Own Lunch

The chatty virtual helper could make search more useful but disrupt the company’s business model.

by Tom Simonite

Top Stories

Your guide to what matters today

09.23

  1. Freeze-Dried Molecules Can Be Used to Whip Up Medicines Anywhere

    The approach could be a tenth the price of earlier methods.

    by Emily Mullin

  2. The Spies Who Loved iPhones

    U.S. intelligence agencies know better than anyone how vulnerable today’s technologies are to being infiltrated—but some spies are getting smartphones and Wi-Fi anyway.

    by Jamie Condliffe

  3. The Paris Climate Accord Just Passed a Crucial Threshold

    The landmark agreement could enter into force before the end of the year.

    by Michael Reilly

  4. Why Apple (Might) Want to Buy a British Supercar Company

    It’s not another ride-hailing business, for one thing.

    by Jamie Condliffe

  5. Amazon’s Algorithms Don’t Find You the Best Deals

    Finding the cheapest products requires paying attention to some subtle wrinkles in how the retailer displays items.

    by Jamie Condliffe

What's important in technology and innovation, delivered to you every day.

The Download

Features

Innovators Under 35

Our 16th annual list of young innovators highlights a mix of inventors, pioneers, entrepreneurs, humanitarians, and visionaries who are poised to be leaders in their fields.
Practical robots

A Robot That Sews Could Take the Sweat Out of Sweatshops

A big part of the garment-making process is still done by hand. Now some clothing makers hope to end that.
Innovation strategies

Tesla’s Next Broken Promise

Automakers from Shanghai to Detroit have responded to Tesla’s remarkable success by accelerating their own electric vehicle ambitions. Now Tesla is promising to upend large-scale car manufacturing, but it faces tough competition.

October 18-20, 2016

Cambridge, MA

Discover the emerging technologies that will change the world.

This is where technology, business, and culture converge, and where you gain access to the most innovative people and companies in the world.

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Tomorrow's machines

Can You Arrest a Robot?

During a political rally in Moscow, police reportedly tried to cuff a very unusual suspect.
Social needs

Even Women’s Periods Are Not Immune to the Widening Tech Gap

More products than ever are giving women options for managing their periods—if they can afford to.
Clean power

The U.K. Finally Commits to Building Its Huge New Nuclear Plant

But it will be incredibly expensive to build and run.
Interfaces

Customer Service Bots Are Getting Better at Detecting Your Agitation

A virtual assistant that can tell you’re frustrated can slow down and help you out.
Sponsored White Paper

Data Analytics & Machine Learning: Driving Speed to Insight

Produced in partnership with Google Analytics 360 Suite

Sponsored White Paper

Problem-Solving Smart Machines Revolutionize Industries

Produced in partnership with National Instruments

Internet access

The Growing Problem of Bots That Fight Online

The way software agents interact on the Web is poorly understood. Now evidence shows that they fight each other for years.
Partner Webcast

The Connected City: Trends and Developments Driving Smart City Innovation

Presented by IEEE Collabratec

Sponsored White Paper

IPO Readiness: Control the Variables Within Your Grasp

Produced in partnership with Deloitte

50 Smartest Companies 2016

Explore the 50 smartest companies in depth, including the full list and stories that examine the opportunities for small companies going big and the challenges facing big companies fending off the newcomers.

See the Collection

The Growing Threats to Cybersecurity

Sponsored by Northrup Grumman

  1. Israeli Hacking Firm Said to Be Behind Groundbreaking iOS Malware

    NSO Group, a firm that trades in spyware, stands accused of peddling an unprecedented attack on iPhones.
    by Jamie Condliffe

  2. Security Experts Agree: The NSA Was Hacked

    Analysis of the software tools made available by the Shadow Brokers suggests that they’re the real deal.
    by Jamie Condliffe

  3. Hackers Claim to Be Selling Secret U.S. Spy Software

    A group called the Shadow Brokers appears to be in possession of NSA code, though it’s unclear exactly how powerful it is.
    by Jamie Condliffe
More in The Growing Threats to Cybersecurity
Business

The Best and Worst Internet Experience in the World

Mobile innovation in China is flourishing, bringing new conveniences to daily life. Is that happening despite or because of the country’s strict controls on online expression?

Christina Larson

Biomedicine

New technologies and biological insights are providing unprecedented ways of improving our health.

All Topics

  1. Freeze-Dried Molecules Can Be Used to Whip Up Medicines Anywhere

    The approach could be a tenth the price of earlier methods.
    by Emily Mullin

  2. It Costs $30 to Make a DIY EpiPen, and Here’s the Proof

    The medical maker collective Four Thieves Vinegar made an “EpiPencil” for a tiny fraction of what the EpiPen manufacturer Mylan charges.
    by Jamie Condliffe

  3. 17 and Going Blind: The High Stakes of Getting into a Gene Therapy Trial

    For patients with some inherited diseases, a chance to test an experimental treatment can offer the only hope.
    by Emily Mullin
More from Biomedicine

09. 2016

Business Reports

Precision Medicine

Purchase & Download

Working Toward Tomorrow’s Healthcare Today

Sponsored by Horizon Pharma

  1. Fetal Cells Offer Promise in Prenatal Testing

    A scientist says a blood test that can discern a fetus’s entire genome is coming.
    by Bonnie Rochman

  2. In Rehab Clinics, a Possible New Role for Brain-Computer Interfaces

    Paralyzed people regained some motion after operating a brain-controlled robotic exoskeleton.
    by Ryan Cross

  3. A Big Step Forward in the Quest for a Better Painkiller

    Scientists have developed a new drug that promises the pain-numbing effects of opioids without the addiction.
    by Adam Piore
More in Working Toward Tomorrow’s Healthcare Today

Features

Tomorrow's machines

Drone Security Guard Scolds Intruders from the Sky

An unarmed, unmanned aircraft that shines bright lights and broadcasts warning messages is intended to be cheaper than human guards.

by Tom Simonite

Genomic medicine

17 and Going Blind: The High Stakes of Getting into a Gene Therapy Trial

For patients with some inherited diseases, a chance to test an experimental treatment can offer the only hope.

Innovator Under 35: Ronaldo Tenório

A mobile app gives deaf people a sign-language interpreter they can take anywhere.

Energy

Can we transform how we power and feed the world in time to head off climate change?

All Topics

  1. The Paris Climate Accord Just Passed a Crucial Threshold

    The landmark agreement could enter into force before the end of the year.
    by Michael Reilly

  2. The U.K. Finally Commits to Building Its Huge New Nuclear Plant

    But it will be incredibly expensive to build and run.
    by Jamie Condliffe

  3. What Do You Do When a Gold Mine Runs Out? Turn It into a Power Plant

    A mine in Australia is being turned into a novel way to store and generate energy.
    by Michael Reilly
More from Energy

Innovations, Ideas, and Insights

Provided by BBVA

  1. The Ethics of Human Enhancement

    Recent scientific advancements increasingly allow humans to improve everything from memory to appearance. But those capabilities come with questions about how they should be used, and who should make those decisions.
    by Andy Miah

  2. A Gender Power Shift in the Making

    We are well into the second decade of the 21st century, but the vexing topic of gender in corporate life is commanding more serious attention than ever before.
    by Alison Maitland

  3. Striving for Innovation Success in the 21st Century

    Open innovation bridges the gap between business and academia. It encourages participation on both sides, through a distributed and decentralized approach.
    by Henry Chesbrough, Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley
More in Innovations, Ideas, and Insights