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Northwestern deal: $75 million to end probe and restore research funding
Northwestern University agreed to pay $75 million to resolve a federal investigation and restore its access to research funding, the institution said in a settlement with the Trump administration....
AI and accreditation... Institutions told to redefine faculty and staff roles
A new policy brief argues that the arrival of generative AI requires colleges and accreditors to reshape faculty and staff roles to protect mission and continuity. The piece—addressing...
MIT report: AI can replace nearly 12% of U.S. workforce
A new MIT study using a large-scale labor simulation found current AI systems can economically and technically perform work equal to roughly 11.7% of U.S. jobs, a finding that has direct...
AlphaFold five years: protein folding prediction joins the lab toolkit
Five years after AlphaFold 2's debut, Google DeepMind’s protein‑structure AI has become a standard research tool in biochemistry and biology training programs, the company’s scientists say....
MacKenzie Scott backs Funding U: philanthropy aimed at last‑gap student loans
Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is backing Funding U, a lending startup that offers merit‑based, last‑gap loans to low‑income students without co‑signers, the company and Scott disclosed. The...
Signal: AI agents are an existential threat to secure messaging
Meredith Whittaker, president of privacy‑focused messenger Signal, warned that operating‑system level AI agents pose an "existential threat" to secure apps by expanding the attack surface for...
MBA roundup: NYU’s Endless Frontier Labs wins Prix Galien — Georgetown secures $10m
NYU Stern’s Endless Frontier Labs received the Prix Galien award for Best Incubator/Accelerator, recognizing its role in moving scientific discoveries toward commercial and clinical impact. The...
OpenAI partners carry $96 billion in debt — compute and funding risks rise
An FT analysis found companies supplying data centers, chips and compute to OpenAI have taken on about $96 billion in debt to build capacity for generative‑AI workloads. The story details loans by...
AI therapy app shutdown: founders halt product over safety risks
Founders of Yara AI, an app marketed as a clinically‑inspired AI therapy platform, discontinued the product and canceled a planned subscription after concluding AI was unsafe for users in crisis....
Asian University Rankings 2026: Eastern Asia list released; Southern Asia entries posted
Quacquarelli Symonds’ regional listings for the 2026 Asian University Rankings were posted, with separate releases covering Eastern and Southern Asia. The Eastern Asia compilation appeared in the...
Education Department seeks 18-month delay: borrower-defense timetable pushed back
The U.S. Department of Education asked a federal judge for an 18-month extension to resolve nearly 200,000 borrower-defense claims tied to a 2022 settlement in Sweet v. McMahon. The request moves...
Generative AI forces retooling: accreditation and faculty roles must adapt
A policy brief argues that generative AI is exposing long-standing misalignments across faculty classification, HR functions, and accreditation frameworks. The author says universities have...
MIT study: AI can already replace 11.7% of U.S. jobs
A new MIT study using Project Iceberg — a labor-market simulation built with Oak Ridge National Laboratory — estimates current AI systems can perform tasks equivalent to 11.7% of U.S. wage value,...
OpenAI partners shoulder $96B in debt — compute suppliers strained
The Financial Times analysis finds companies supplying compute, data-center capacity and chips to OpenAI have accumulated roughly $96 billion in debt to finance rapid build-outs. The breakdown...
Signal president warns: AI agents threaten secure messaging
Meredith Whittaker, president of secure-messaging app Signal, told Fortune that agentic AI features represent an “existential threat” to secure messaging. She warned that agents must access broad,...
AI therapy startup shuts down: founders cite danger for vulnerable users
Yara AI, an early-stage AI therapy app trained by clinicians, was shut down by founders Joe Braidwood and clinical psychologist Richard Stott after safety concerns. The founders said AI can handle...
AlphaFold at five — protein‑folding AI becomes standard lab tool
Five years after AlphaFold 2 debuted, Google DeepMind’s protein-structure AI has shifted from breakthrough to routine: researchers and graduate programs now treat AlphaFold as a standard...
NYU incubator wins global prize — Georgetown donor underwrites real-assets scholarships
NYU Stern’s Endless Frontier Labs received the Prix Galien award for Best Incubator/Accelerator, recognizing its role in advancing science-driven startups without taking equity. The accolade...
Gravis Robotics raises $23M — heavy equipment goes autonomous for infrastructure work
Zurich-based Gravis Robotics raised $23 million to scale AI retrofits that convert excavators and loaders into semi-autonomous machines. Led by IQ Capital and Zacua Ventures, the round will fund...
MacKenzie Scott backs Funding U: donor supports last‑gap loans for low-income students
Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott revealed she supported Funding U, a nonprofit offering last-gap, merit-based loans to low-income students without co-signers — a cause tied to a personal story where...