Top 2 tech, startup and sustainability stories of the week, 6th – 10th Jan, 2025

This week’s stories come from Europe and USA, covering tech and sustainability

1-United Airlines to roll out Starlink internet

United Airlines announced regional flights will begin offering Starlink connectivity this spring.

 The airline now expects to begin testing Starlink next month with the first commercial flight anticipated to take off this spring on a United Embraer E-175 aircraft. United plans to outfit its entire two-cabin regional fleet by the end of this year and have its first mainline Starlink-enabled plane in the air before the end of this year.

According to the company’s announcement, access will be free for all MileagePlus customers and includes inflight entertainment experiences such as streaming services, shopping, gaming and more.

Let me note that JSX, a California-based charter operator, was the first airline to launch Starlink free-satellite connected internet. And that was in April 2022.(By the way I have a story here about Turkish Cargo, a subsidiary of Turkish Airlines, and its chatbot for customers)

United Airlines to roll out Starlink internet (Photo: United Airlines’ website)

2-Google: a bumpy 2025 ahead

Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently addressed employees, emphasizing the critical importance of 2025 as the company faces increasing competition, regulatory scrutiny, and rapid AI advancements.

I read this story Cnbc and considering the intense challenges of 2024, including market competition, internal culture clashes, and regulatory pressures, CEO  Pichai urged employees to avoid distractions. Google continues to dominate the search market but faces antitrust cases in the US and UK and heightened competition from AI-powered platforms like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

A key component of Google’s strategy is the Gemini AI model. Pichai highlighted the app’s momentum and stated that scaling it for consumers will be a top priority in 2025, with the aim of establishing Google as a leader in the generative AI market. He underscored the importance of execution over being first, expressing confidence in the company’s ability to deliver state-of-the-art products, according to the story.

During the meeting, employees raised concerns about competition with ChatGPT, to which DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis responded with plans to “turbocharge” Gemini and evolve its functionality, envisioning a universal assistant capable of seamless operation across domains and devices. Project Astra, Google’s experimental universal assistant, is set to receive updates in 2025.

The event also included a high-energy demonstration of AI projects by Josh Woodward, head of Google Labs. Demos featured a coding assistant called Jules, updates to the AI notetaking tool NotebookLM, and Project Mariner, an AI-powered multitasking Chrome extension, as the story put it.

Sundar Pichai, CEO at Google

3-EU obliges USB-C charging by 2025

EU has a new regulation for charging ports for mobile phones and other portable electronic devices. That means all new devices sold in the EU must now support USB-C charging.

This will reduce the number of chargers you need to buy, help minimise electronic waste and simplify your everyday life. For laptops the regulation will go into effect by 28 April 2026.

EU calculated that discarded and unused chargers account for about 11 000 tonnes of e-waste annually. Let me add that this will help consumers save approximately €250 million a year on unnecessary charger purchases.

EU obliges USB-C charging by 2025 (Photo: Getty Images)

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