TikTok’s podcast boom might be a bust

This is Hot Pod, The Verge’s newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more. The common wisdom goes that video is the key to podcast discovery: you take the juiciest clips from your show, hope one goes viral every now and then on TikTok, and then that wider (and younger) audience becomes your new listeners. … Read more

Janet Yellen says Biden spurred electric vehicle investment boom

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testifies before a House Financial Services Committee hearing on the “Annual Report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council” on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 6, 2024. Amanda Andrade-rhoades | Reuters Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday lauded President Joe Biden’s investment in electric vehicles for accelerating the sector, … Read more

Shadowfax speeds ahead with $100M funding as instant delivery boom fuels growth

Shadowfax, one of the largest logistics service providers to hyper-local and on-demand delivery businesses in India, has raised $100 million in a new funding round as it clocks an yearly growth of over 35%. TPG NewQuest led Shadowfax’s Series E financing round, which includes some secondary transactions, the startup said on Tuesday. TechCrunch reported last … Read more

Tourist Boom Making Seafood Bowls Too Pricey for Many Japanese

Booming numbers of foreign visitors to Japan are driving up prices at restaurants near tourist spots, as a weaker yen makes the country a bargain destination and local wages struggle to keep up with a broader rise in costs. Emblematic of this is the ¥6,980 ($46.52) sashimi-topped rice bowl at Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai, a new retail … Read more

Year of the Dragon might bring Asia an auspicious baby boom

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Governments across East Asia — from China and Taiwan to Japan and South Korea — have been trying to convince women to have more babies. It’s getting existential: China is fast running out of the workers needed to power its manufacturing-focused economy and is forecast to lose as many as 200 million … Read more

India’s clean energy boom slows as new solar projects get delayed. Experts say it can pick back up

BENGALURU, India — For years, renewable projects in India have been growing steadily, from small-town rooftop solar installations to large-scale projects across the desert and long stretches of wind turbines and solar panels on farmland all contributing to the country’s climate goal of transitioning to clean energy. But a mix of policy decisions, politics and … Read more

India’s tourism sector is set for a boom, powered by religious trips

India’s tourism sector is set for a boom as more travelers take trips around the country for religious purposes.  The South Asian country with the world’s largest Hindu population could see an additional 50 million to 100 million tourists a year on account of the new Ram Mandir — a temple in the northern city … Read more

How Guyana’s big oil boom turned it into the world’s fastest-growing economy

Guyana, a tiny South American nation home to more than 800,000 people, made big headlines in December. The reason? Its neighboring country, Venezuela. Venezuela’s autocratic leader Nicolás Maduro called for a referendum in the first week of December 2023 to seek approval to annex Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s land. Venezuelans approved it … Read more

Bill Gates predicts a ‘massive technology boom’ from AI coming soon

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The use of artificial intelligence by the general population in developed countries such as the US to a “significant” degree will start to take place in the next 18 to 24 months, according to Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates in his year-end letter released last week.  The impact on things such … Read more

AI boom fails to propel China’s cloud market growth

An AI sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 6, 2023. Aly Song | Reuters BEIJING — Excitement over artificial intelligence isn’t yet fueling a boom in cloud services spending in mainland China. “The Chinese cloud services market remains conservative, relying heavily on government and state-owned enterprises to drive … Read more