Author: Naveed Ahmad

**Who Gets to Inherit the Stars? A Space Ethicist on What We’re Not Talking About** As I sat in the audience at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when Will Bruey, co-founder of space manufacturing startup Varda Space Industries, made a bold prediction: within 15 to 20 years, it will be cheaper to send a “working-class human” to orbit for a month than to develop better machines. The tech-forward crowd barely batted an eye at this provocative assertion, but for me, it raised a host of questions. Who will be working among the stars,…

**Building a Self-Evaluating Agentic AI System with LlamaIndex and OpenAI: A Comprehensive Guide** Hey, developers! As we strive to create more reliable and controllable AI systems, we’re often faced with the challenge of designing a system that can not only retrieve relevant information but also evaluate its own responses. In this tutorial, we’re going to explore how to build a self-evaluating agentic AI system using LlamaIndex and OpenAI, with a focus on retrieval-augmented technology (RAG) agents. **Getting Started** Before we dive into the code, let’s set up our environment. We’ll need to install the required dependencies, including LlamaIndex and OpenAI.…

**Victory for Offshore Wind: Trump Administration’s Halt on East Coast Projects Overturned in Court** A federal judge has dealt a significant blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to block three major offshore wind farms on the East Coast. In a move that’s sure to be welcomed by renewable energy enthusiasts, Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, has ruled in favor of the developers of the Empire Wind project, allowing the project to proceed despite concerns raised by the administration. This is the latest in a series of court battles over the administration’s attempts to slow down offshore wind development. In…

**From Aerospace to Ocean Pioneer: The Unlikely Rise of Oshen** I’ve always been fascinated by the ocean, but it wasn’t until I failed to compete in the Microtransat in 2021 that I realized the true extent of its mysteries. As an aerospace engineer, I had taken on the challenge thinking I was up for it, but I quickly learned that the ocean was a whole different beast. That experience sparked a realization that would change my career path and lead to the creation of Oshen, a company dedicated to building autonomous micro-robots that can survive for 100 days straight in…

I’m loving the drama in the tech world right now! The recent backlash against AI chatbot X has sparked a major surge in interest in a social community called Bluesky, and I’m here for it. Over the past two weeks, the app has seen a whopping 49% increase in daily iOS downloads in the US – that’s no small potatoes! So, what’s behind this sudden uptick in interest? It’s not just the controversy surrounding X and its chatbot, Grok, that’s driving downloads. Bluesky has released some fresh updates to its app, and let me tell you, some of them are…

Here’s a rewritten version of the article in a natural, conversational tone: YouTube is finally loosening up its reigns when it comes to controversial content. The platform has announced that it’s relaxing its advertiser-friendly guidelines, allowing more videos to earn full ad revenue – even if they tackle sensitive topics like self-harm, abortion, and suicide. This change is a direct result of creator feedback. Apparently, the previous guidelines were so restrictive that they were limiting ad revenue for creators who produce dramatized or topical content. YouTube wants to ensure that creators who are sharing important stories or producing non-graphic dramatizations…

**X is Down… Again** Ugh, it’s happening again. For the second time this week, Twitter’s rebranded platform, X, is experiencing a major outage. I’m not talking about a minor glitch – we’re talking full-on non-loading, error message filled, can’t-even-get-to-the-login-screen type issues. According to Down Detector, a website that tracks website outages, nearly 80,000 users have reported issues with X, with problems starting around 10 am JST. As I write this, the platform is still experiencing hiccups. Anyone else trying to get on X is being met with a big fat “fail whale” – aka, a server error. This isn’t the…

**Elon Musk Takes a Billion-Dollar Stab at OpenAI and Microsoft** You’d think that with a bank account fat with a net worth of $700 billion, Elon Musk wouldn’t have to worry about making a dent in his wallet. But, it seems even the richest cat in the world can’t let a perceived slight slide by. Bloomberg just reported that Musk is suing OpenAI and Microsoft for a whack of $79 billion to $134 billion in damages, claiming the AI firm ditched its nonprofit mission without so much as a “sorry, mate”. Apparently, financial economist C. Paul Wazzan thinks Musk is…

**Trump Administration Wants Tech Companies to Spend $15B on Power Plants – Even if They Don’t Need Them** In a move that’s got some industry insiders scratching their heads, the Trump administration is pushing for tech companies to purchase $15 billion worth of new power plants – whether they use them or not. The plan involves holding an auction for 15-year contracts with grid operator PJM, which serves over 65 million people in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest. According to the administration, demand for energy from data centers is expected to skyrocket over the next decade, but PJM is being a…

Hey there, fellow tech junkies! I’m stoked to share some juicy news with you – Apple has finally confirmed its partnership with Google to give Siri a major AI makeover. Yep, you heard that right – the two tech giants are joining forces to create the next generation of Siri. The rumors have been swirling for months, and it’s no surprise given Apple’s struggles to keep up with the AI pace. The deal is reportedly worth a pretty penny – anywhere from $1 to $5 billion annually – which is a significant investment for Apple. So, what does this mean…