Amsterdam-based startup Skytree is set to deploy its carbon-sucking machines on a newly announced carbon capture and storage project in Texas, US.  Dubbed “Project Concho,” the $100mn Direct Air Capture (DAC) plant aims to initially vacuum up 30,000 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere annually, eventually scaling to 500,000 tonnes. This carbon will be permanently stored underground, on site.  The facility is set to enter operation in 2028, a Skytree representative told TNW via email.   Project Concho is masterminded by carbon capture developers Return Carbon, from the Netherlands, and Verified Carbon, from Texas. They will generate revenue from the plant…

This story continues at The Next Web

UK startup Surf Security has launched a beta version of what it claims is the world’s first browser with a built-in feature designed to spot AI-generated deepfakes.  The tool, available through Surf’s browser or as an extension, can detect with up to 98% accuracy whether the person you’re interacting with online is a real human or an AI imitation, the company said.  The London-based cybersecurity upstart uses “military-grade” neural network technology to detect deepfakes. The system uses State Space Models, which detect AI-generated clones across languages and accents by analysing audio frames for inconsistencies.   “To maximise its effectiveness, we focused…

This story continues at The Next Web

British scaleup Tokamak Energy has secured $125mn as it looks to harness fusion — the same clean, virtually limitless energy source that powers the Sun and stars.  Tokamak spun out from the UK’s Atomic Energy Authority in 2009. As its name suggests, the company is building a tokamak reactor, the most common kind of fusion design, first pioneered in the 1960s. Tokamaks use giant magnets to keep plasma moving in a loop while running an electrical current through it.  The funding brings the company’s total raised to $335mn, comprising $275mn from private investors and $60mn from the UK and US…

This story continues at The Next Web

For the past few months, Meta has been sending recipes to a Dutch scaleup called VSParticle (VSP). These are not food recipes — they’re AI-generated instructions for how to make new nanoporous materials that could potentially supercharge the green transition.  VSP has so far taken 525 of these recipes and synthesised them into nanomaterials called electrocatalysts. Meta’s algorithms predicted these electrocatalysts would be ideal for breaking down CO2 into useful products like methane or ethanol. VSP brought the AI predictions to life using a nanoprinter, a machine which vaporises materials and then deposits them as thin nanoporous films. Electrocatalysts speed…

This story continues at The Next Web

Dawn Aerospace has flown its rocket-powered aircraft past the speed of sound, the latest milestone on its path to its first commercial flights. During the test, which took place on New Zealand’s South Island, the startup’s Mk-II Aurora aircraft reached Mach 1.1 and an altitude of 25 kilometres. Dawn said this marks the first time a civil aircraft has flown supersonic since Concorde.  The feat comes after Aurora hit Mach 0.92 in August, which, at the time, was three times the speed and five times the height of its previous test conducted in 2023. Dawn’s aircraft just keeps on getting…

This story continues at The Next Web