Category: Semafor

Welcome to the era of vibe-coding millionaires and billionaires. A new generation of Silicon Valley garage startups has arrived, but this time it’s the bedroom coders, some of whom are still in their teens. In a popcorn-ceilinged event venue in Flatiron, 19-year-old Armaan Aggarwal told me how he worked on ...

Sycophantic AI might make us meaner, research suggested. A study found that AIs fed interpersonal dilemmas from the subreddit r/amItheasshole were twice as likely as humans to endorse the user’s behavior. They also found that humans who interacted with a sycophantic chatbot were less likely to apologize or take steps ...

The popularity of OpenClaw, the agent platform that OpenAI acquired, has crystallized another big AI race. First it was Nvidia, rushing to announce NemoClaw, which markets itself as the security-enhanced version of OpenClaw. Then, Anthropic rushed to push out new features in Claude Cowork — called Dispatch — which lets ...

The Trump administration on Friday asked lawmakers to boost defense spending by 42% while cutting all other spending by 10% for fiscal year 2027. The request will face strong headwinds on Capitol Hill, where appropriators rejected a similar ask last year. Democrats have already panned it as “morally bankrupt,” while ...

US President Donald Trump is about to get his top Africa official installed at the State Department after a long vacancy. Senate aides told Semafor that the body is expected to vote on Frank Garcia’s confirmation to be Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs soon after the two-week April ...

Nigerian digital payments company Flutterwave was granted its first banking license in the country, the latest sign of a push among Africa’s fintech leaders to diversify and capture more of the value in the continent’s growing digital economy. Flutterwave has mainly operated as a digital payments processor since it was ...

Startup investor Novastar Ventures launched one of the continent’s largest ever funds backing climate-focused tech businesses. The Kenya-based firm, which raised $147 million, has already made six investments from the fund, including in Mexican biodigester producer Sistema.bio that serves farmers in Kenya. African venture capital funds dedicated to climate solutions ...

Nearly half of South Africa’s water infrastructure systems are failing, according to a new government report. The findings raise the stakes for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s policy overhaul aimed at tackling a crisis that resembles the early stages of the country’s national power grid collapse. A national assessment by the water ...

A record 10 African teams have qualified for this year’s expanded FIFA World Cup, marking a major milestone for the continent’s growing football talent. Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, and Ghana are among those due to compete, as are Africa Cup of Nations finalists Morocco and Senegal. Meanwhile, some emerging teams will ...

China is creating life in its “Sea of Death.” After nearly five decades of effort, the fringes of the great Taklamakan Desert are becoming a forest, NASA satellite data confirmed. The Taklamakan is 25 million years old, and was slowly expanding. But since 1978, Beijing has been planting hardy shrubs ...