Isobel Asher Hamilton

isobel@thedailyupside.com

Isobel Asher Hamilton (she/her) is a senior reporter at The Daily Upside. Previously she worked at Business Insider and Mashable. She specializes in covering Big Tech, social media, and AI. Isobel is based in London.

Big Tech

2023: The Year in Tech

Photo by TechCrunch via CC BY 2.0

2023 saw AI live rent-free in all of our heads, plus in an unexpected twist Mark Zuckerberg became the adult in the room.

6 min read
Healthcare

Big Pharma Uses Subsidies for Rare Diseases to Develop Blockbuster Drugs

Photo by Nappy via Unsplash

The US government designed a program to incentivize the development of treatments for rare tropical diseases. Big Pharma had other plans.

1 min read
Electric Vehicles

Tesla’s Nordic Headache Intensifies

Photo by Vlad Tchompalov via Unsplash

Following a Reuters investigation into parts failing on Tesla vehicles, Norway’s road regulator says it’s looking into Tesla’s suspensions.

2 min read
Industrials

Southwest Is Attracting Pilots, But Not For Long

Photo by Sven Piper via Unsplash

Southwest Airlines executives told Bloomberg that they’ve seen an increase in pilots who apply to the airline.

1 min read
Big Tech

VR Headsets Sales Are Way, Way Down

Photo by Eren Li via Pexels

Sales of virtual-reality headsets, consumers’ conduit to the metaverse, plummeted 40% between November 2022 and November 2023.

2 min read
Industrials

Jeff Bezos Is Ready to Rejoin the Space Race

Photo via Blue Origin

Jeff Bezos’ space exploration company Blue Origin is finally ready to launch rockets again after a 15-month hiatus.

2 min read
Industries

The American Dream of Tiny Nuclear Power Plants Hangs By a Thread

Photo by Kilian Karger via Unsplash

Funding for startups developing small modular nuclear power plants looks like it’s beginning to dry up.

2 min read
Media & Entertainment

Apple Plans to Incentivize Musicians to Upgrade Their Sound

Photo by Screen Post via Unsplash

Apple plans to incentivize artists to use Dolby Atmos spatial-sound technology in their recordings by giving them more platform weight.

2 min read
Media & Entertainment

Game Over: Can the Video Game Industry Pivot to Streaming?

Photo by Mika Baumeister via Unsplash

The gaming industry is headed for a financial crunch, and Microsoft and others have adopted a winner-take-all strategy.

5 min read
Consumer

Online Luxury Shopping Just Isn’t Cool Anymore

Photo by Christian Wiediger via Unsplash

The e-commerce luxury market has taken a big dip, placing the platforms that focus on luxury goods in hot water.

1 min read
Policy & Power

Fossil Fuel Lobbyists Have Flocked to COP28 in Record Numbers

Photo by John Englart via CC BY-SA 2.0

The number of lobbyists for fossil fuel interests who registered for this year’s COP conference totaled at least 2,456.

2 min read
Artificial Intelligence

Consultancy Firms Are Using AI to Fast-Track Partnerships

Photo by Mojahid Mottakin via Unsplash

Large consulting and law firms are trying to get junior staffers on the fast track to partner using tools like ChatGPT.

2 min read
Advisor Upside

Billionaires Inherit More Wealth Than They Make

(Photo by Quan Nguyen via Unsplash)

Newly minted billionaires got more of their money from inheritance than, well, making money, according to UBS.

1 min read
Artificial Intelligence

Stability AI Is Reportedly Shopping Around for a Buyer

(Photo by UK Government via CC BY 2.0)

Stability AI, the startup behind AI-powered image-generator Stable Diffusion, is reportedly shopping itself to potential acquirers.

2 min read
Big Tech

Meta’s Paid Ad-Free Plan Gets Hit With Privacy Lawsuit

Photo by Anthony Quintano via CC BY 2.0

Mark Zuckerberg’s newest nemesis, Max Schrems, says Meta’s new pay-for-privacy subscription doesn’t comply with EU laws.

2 min read
Big Tech

Amazon’s Healthcare Dreams Are Fractured

(Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash)

Amazon, along with its Big Tech brethren, has long been trying to break into the healthcare market. But it’s not going as planned.

2 min read
Electric Vehicles

Northvolt Develops New Lithium-Free Battery To Rival Precious Earth Metal Ones

(Photo by Jannis Lucas on Unsplash)

Swedish battery-maker Northvolt announced proudly on Tuesday that it had developed a new kind of sodium-ion battery.

2 min read
Industrials

Private Jets Belonging to Celebs and Execs Rack Up Years In Flight Time

(Photo by Yaroslav Muzychenko on Unsplash)

Private jets belonging to a group of just 200 celebrities and executives have racked up 11 years’ worth of flight time since 2022.

1 min read
Media & Entertainment

Crypto Exchange Bullish Buys Crypto News Site CoinDesk

(Photo by Kanchanara on Unsplash)

CoinDesk was acquired in an all-cash deal by Bullish, a crypto exchange run by former NYSE president Tom Farley.

2 min read
Artificial Intelligence

Meta Stamps Out its Responsible AI Team

(Photo by Anthony Quintano under CC BY 2.0)

Meta has disbanded a team in charge of making sure the company developed AI in an ethical way, according to The Information.

2 min read

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