Technology
Why is Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy supporting Skarper in converting every bicycle into an electric bike?
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How one of the decorated track cyclists of all time, Sir Chris Hoy may not seem to be an obvious candidate to support the growing electric bicycle movement. Common chorusfinally this is it electric bikes will not be real bicycles.
But the six-time Olympic gold medalist has done just that by investing in a fledgling British start-up that has created a click-activated device that makes it easy to convert a walking bike to an electric bike and back again, with minimal effort.
Fraudwhat is the name of the corporate, has lifted up £12.8 million ($16.3 million) since its inception in 2020, with Hoy contributing to the early seed tranche. While the click-on-bike system was originally considered for a 2023 launch, the primary production run only began last week and has reached several hundred people, with remaining pre-orders placed for the approaching months.
TechCrunch spoke with Hoya after receiving Skarper’s first official shipment (actually a win-win for the investor) to seek out out why this could possibly be the following big thing in the world of e-bikes — even if you happen to prefer bikes with pure pedaling power, which someone Hoya’s height actually does .
“I’m probably not the kind of person you’d imagine being an e-bike advocate, but when I tried my first e-bike years ago, I nailed it,” Hoy told TechCrunch. “When you see that you simply’re still riding a motorbike, you are still using your body, but you get this ‘invisible hand’ pushing you, you understand. And you realize that in certain situations you’d somewhat ride a motorbike with pedal assist than a motorbike without pedal assistance.
The benefits of electric bikes are well-known. A commuter may not wish to arrive on the office drenched in sweat, so motorized assistance while climbing will likely be an attractive proposition. Compared to other types of motorized transport, there is also a lower environmental impact because of its zero emissions, while e-bikes can even effortlessly bypass heavy traffic, cutting through rows of cars, winding through parks and other spaces typically inaccessible to motorcars.
Some people simply cannot get around on a self-propelled bicycle, whether as a result of age or health.
However, not everyone desires to buy a dedicated e-bike, especially in the event that they already own one. This is where Skarper comes into play.
“Too good to be true”
Shortly before retiring from competitive cycling in 2013Hoj actually fired own range of bikes in partnership with a British retailer Evans. Hoy says that after the project was placed on hold, he was already fascinated about electric bikes before Skarper got here along.
“I was a big fan of electric bikes and was thinking about creating my own range,” Hoy said. “But I saw this and thought: Why would I build an electric bike if this is the solution you need?”
This took place during a pandemic-long Zoom call with Skarper’s CEO Eon Brown and director of operations Uri Meirowicz that Hoy first encountered this idea. He was presented with the thought of attaching a module to the rear disc brake of a bicycle to make it electric, with an additional kicker allowing it to be quickly removed.
“I’ve been there since the beginning — then I got the photo, the idea, and it seemed too good to be true,” Hoy said. “I was wondering how the hell it would work, how would they handle the heat, vibration and generate enough power to run the bike?”
That was certainly one of Hoya’s primary questions early on – how would it not work from a physical and structural standpoint? An ordinary bicycle is not built the identical as a bike. Most other electric bike conversion kits in the marketplace require some tinkering with the wiring and cabling, although they often also include front-wheel drive, which completely changes the texture and balance of the bike.
The sloper is designed for bikes with disc brakes and a 160 mm rotor, although other kinds of bikes might be adapted for individuals with little technical knowledge. The kit consists of a DiskDrive disc equipped with an integrated gearbox, which replaces the present rear wheel brake disc on the bike. It also serves as a snap-on mounting system for the electric motor.
While anyone can install a Skarper e-bike drivetrain themselves, the corporate has also partnered with a network of installers to do the work totally free.
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While e-bike conversion kits have been around for several years, Skarper’s idea focuses on ease – not only can they be turned on and off, but in addition they cause minimal disruption to the bike itself. Indeed, co-founder and COO Uri Meirovich emphasizes that Skarper is not about “changing” or “rebuilding” the bike.
“We are here to make it better,” Meirovich told TechCrunch. “Traditional conversion kits permanently change your bike, often compromising its original appearance and ride quality by changing critical components such as the bike wheel, cables routed throughout, or adding a battery on the handlebars or elsewhere, compromising the balance and appearance of the bike.”
In a way, it’s about having two bikes in one. This signifies that the owner of a beloved road, mountain, hybrid or gravel bike doesn’t should sacrifice its original design and quality.
“Like all great ideas, it’s very simple once it’s part of the bike – a disc brake that can already handle huge forces, huge torque (rotational force) and huge amounts of heat,” Hoy continued. “So this is a great starting point to drive the rear wheel while taking advantage of the structural stiffness and integrity of the frame. From an engineering point of view, I think it’s a beautiful solution.”
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Once installed, the Skarper unit might be removed in seconds, but you may also disable the e-bike’s functionality by turning it off or engaging “pause mode” by backing the pedal thrice if the rider doesn’t need electric assistance for some time. This might also save battery.
The Skarper system takes 2.5 hours to totally charge, providing a variety of as much as 50 km (31 miles) at a maximum speed of 25 km/h (15 mph).
Big project
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Skarper employs roughly 22 employees, including a dozen or so engineers from the economic, mechanical, electronic, software and testing industries. Additionally, the corporate worked closely with Red Bull’s Advanced technologies outfit that is for Red Bull Formula 1 racing team.
However, Hoy himself was involved in the design process from the very starting.
“My contribution was from a cyclist’s perspective – that’s obviously my area of expertise,” Hoy said. “It all trusted the way you drive and what you’re feeling. Does Skarper affect driving? What can we get away with in terms of size, weight and shape? I can be a form of test pilot – I might take this unit and really use it, test it, apply it to different scenarios and situations.
There’s no escaping the worth though – at £1,500 ($1,900) the Skarper is not low-cost by any means. However, this is not presented as a budget measure for purchasing an electric bike and is not intended as a tool that will likely be used once in some time
“Let’s say you have a £1,000 electric bike: the quality of the components, the brakes, the gears, the tires, the materials used in the frame, the saddle – everything about this bike is ‘budget’,” said Hoy. “It’s the cheapest thing they can do to try to keep that price down. The Skarper is basically the highest quality engine you can get, and you include it with your pride and joy. And if you look at how many times you use it in a year, it becomes very profitable.”
There is also the problem of safety. Expensive, self-contained electric bike it is a tempting proposition for thievesand we even see start-ups emerging on the wave of this trend that help victims get better stolen bicycles. With Skarper, a user can after all attach it to their $5,000 road bike, but they might just as easily attach it to a pile of junk to present it just a little extra flair after which remove it once they reach their destination.
“I imagine someone with an old, beat-up bike that they’ve had for years or maybe just bought on eBay and that they’re happy to leave under lock and key at the office,” Hoy said. “No one will hassle stealing it and even look twice at it. But then they’ll strap it on and switch it into a extremely high-quality electric bike.
For now, Skarper only ships orders to customers in the UK, but Meirovich confirmed that it would open orders to continental Europe after which the US in mid-2025. It is value noting that the model that can eventually go on sale in the US can have the next top speed than the highest speed available in the UK and European Union (EU), as in the US the upper speed limit for any such vehicle is 20 miles per hour.
“Skarper has received over 100 distribution orders from around the world, including from major U.S. retailers and key players in most European markets,” Meirovich said, adding that several modifications can be obligatory to meet international orders. “Minor changes will be necessary to comply with EU and US regulations, and we are in the process of obtaining these certifications.”
Technology
Did Xai lie about GROK 3 comparative tests?
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Debates on AI comparative tests – and their reporting by AI Labs – spill at the general public.
This week, Openai worker accused Elon Musk’s Ai Company, XAI, publishing comparative results for his or her latest AI model, Grok 3. One of the co -founders of XAI, Igor Babushkin, he insisted that the corporate had the suitable.
The truth lies somewhere in between.
IN Publish on the XAI blogThe company has published a chart showing the outcomes of GROK 3 on Aime 2025, a set of adverse mathematical questions from the recent Invitational mathematical exam. Some experts have Aime validity as a AI reference point. Nevertheless, AIME 2025 and older versions of the test are widely used to look at the mathematical ability of the model.
The XAI chart showed two variants of GROK 3, Grok 3 Reasoning Beta and GroK 3 mini reasoning, beating the very best available OpenAI, O3-Mini-High, on Aime 2025. But OpenAI employees on X quickly noticed that the XAI chart XAI chart. He didn’t consider the AME 2025 O3-Mini-High lead to “Cons@64”.
What is Cons@64, are you able to ask? Well, that is the abbreviation for “Conszeus@64” and principally gives model 64 tries to reply every problem in relation and accepts answers most frequently generated as final answers. As you may imagine, Cons@64 tends to extend the outcomes of the models, and skipping it from the chart may cause one model to surpass one other when it shouldn’t be in point of fact.
GROK 3 Beta and grok 3 mini reasoning for AIME 2025 at “@1”-what implies that the primary result, which models have achieved at a distance-see below the results of the O3-Mini-High. Grok 3 Reasoning Beta also the trail also behind the O1 Openai model on “Medium” Computing. However, XAI is GROK 3 promoting As “the smartest artificial intelligence of the world.”
Babushkin Ox was arguing that OpenAI previously published similarly misleading comparative charts – although charts comparing the performance of its own models. A more neutral event in the talk has developed a more “accurate” chart showing almost every model in Cons@64:
Funny, as some people perceive my conspiracy as an attack on Opeli and others as an attack on the groc, while in point of fact it’s deep propaganda
(I actually think the grok looks good there, and chicanery ttc openai for o3-mini-*high*-pass@”” “1 ″” “deserves more control.) https://t.co/djqljpcjh8 pic.twitter.com/3wh8foufic– TERORTAXES
️ (Deepseek Twitter
iron Powder 2023 – ∞) (@teortaxestex) February 20, 2025
But as a researcher AI Nathan Lambert He identified within the postPerhaps crucial metric stays a secret: the calculation (and money) cost he needed for every model to realize his best result. It simply shows how little a lot of the test tests AI communicates about the restrictions of models – and their strengths.
(Toshma of All State) (Enter updates) in Triptaren !!!
Technology
Tiktok has returned to Google and Apple App stores
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Tiktok is obtainable for download.
Tiktok has been restored in each Apple and Google App. Return occurs after weeks of uncertainty for the long run of the appliance.
Users received messages while opening the platform on February 13.
“Tiktok is now available on the App Store and Google Play. Download the most recent version of the appliance to discover and share more what you like at Tiktok – said the message.
According to Bloomberg, the commercial takes place after the newly appointed US prosecutor Pam Bondi sending a letter to corporations rejecting legal proceedings.
All App Store platforms received relief for the host of Byedane real estate by President Donald Trump on January 21, the day after his inauguration. The president gave Bytedance, a Chinese company, 75 days for the sale of half of his American company.
“I instruct the Prosecutor General not to take any action to enforce the Act for a period of 75 days to enable my administration to be able to determine the appropriate course,” we read within the order.
Initial ticket for the corporate Sell your mental property He got here in the beginning of 2024. The Congress voted for Ban Tiktok from US users, claiming that the appliance is a threat to national security.
According to the order, Tiktok closed the appliance, making it useless, on January 18. The application was restored on January 19, and with its return the message got here, thanking President Trump for his help.
In the times preceding the official ban on most of the 170 million users of the appliance emigrated to Xiahongsh or “Little Red Book”. Ignoring congress fears that Chinese corporations had access to American personal data, users downloaded the appliance in Defiance.
Return Tiktok to the App Store restores US users’ access to the Chinese application. There were no reports of a merger between Bytedance and any American company.
Technology
Meta, X approved ads containing violent anti -Muslim, anti -Semitic hate speech before the German election, find research
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Giants of social media, META and X approved ads addressed to users in Germany with a rapid anti-Muslim speech and anti-nutrition in previous federal elections in the country, in accordance with latest research with EcoNon -pro -corporate responsibility campaign campaign.
The group’s researchers checked whether the promoting review systems of two platforms would approve whether or not they reject statements regarding promoting containing hateful and violent messages directed to the minority before the elections by which immigration took a central place in the important political discourse-in this ADS containing anti-Muslim sliding; calls for immigrants in concentration camps or staggers; and burned images of mosques and synagogues generated by AI.
Most test ads were approved inside just a few hours of sending to the review in mid -February. Federal elections in Germany will happen on Sunday, February 23.
Planned hate speech ads
Eko said that X approved all 10 hate speech ads, which scientists made just a few days before the federal election, while the meta approved half (five ads) to launch on Facebook (and potentially also Instagram) – even though it rejected the second five.
The reason why the meta is provided for five repayments indicates that the platform believes that there could also be a risk of political or social sensitivity that may affect voting.
However, five ads, which the finish approved the finish line, included a violent hate speech that Muslim refugees for “virus”, “workers” or “rodents”, recognition of Muslim immigrants as “rapists” and calling them for sterilization, burnt or blurring. The finish also approved an commercial calling for the synagogue to set fire to “stop the globalist program of Jewish rats.”
As Sidenote, Eko claims that none of the paintings generated by AI, which he used for instance hate speech ads, was marked as artificially generated-but half of the 10 ads was still approved by the finish, no matter the company. A policy that requires disclosure of using AI images In the case of promoting regarding social problems, selections or politics.
X at the same time, all five of those hateful ads approved – and one other five, which contained similarly violent hate speech addressed to Muslims and Jews.
These additional approved ads included sending messages to attacking “rodents” of immigrants, which, as a replica of the ads claimed, “flood” the country “steal our democracy” and an anti -Semitic suspension, which suggested that Jews are lying about climate change to destroy the European industry and calculating economic force.
The latter commercial was combined with paintings generated by AI depicting a gaggle of dark men sitting at a table surrounded by piles of golden rods, with a star of David on the wall above them-visualizations also based on anti-Semitic clues.
Another approved commercial X contained a direct attack on the SPD, the party on the left, which currently runs the German coalition government, with a false claim that the party desires to take 60 million Muslim refugees from the Middle East before attempting to attempt to make a brutal answer. X also properly plan an commercial suggesting “leftists” want “open borders” and calling for the extermination of Muslims ‘rapists’.
Elon Musk, the owner of X, used the social media platform, by which he has nearly 220 million observing intervention in German elections. IN Tweet in DecemberHe called on German voters to support the extreme right -wing AfD party to “save Germany.” He was also hosted by live broadcast with the AfD leader, Alice Weidel, on X.
EKO scientists turned off all test ads before each approved were launched to be sure that that no platform user was exposed to a speech attributable to brutal hatred.
He says that tests emphasize the gross defects with the approach of promoting platforms to the moderation of content. Indeed, in the case of X, it will not be clear whether the platform performs the promoting module, considering that each one 10 ads from violence attributable to violence attributable to brutal were quickly approved for display.
Discoveries also suggest that promoting platforms can earn revenues consequently of distribution of violence attributable to brutal hatred.
EU digital shares in the frame
EKO tests suggest that no platform enforces hate speech prohibitions, which they each provide to the content of promoting in their very own terms. In addition, in the case of Meta, EKO got here to the same application after conducting Similar test In 2023, latest EU online management rules will appear before – suggesting that the system has no influence on the way its operation.
“Our findings suggest that AD META moderation systems remain fundamentally broken, despite the fact that the Act on Digital Services (DSA) is fully fully,” said Eco TechCrunch spokesman.
“Instead of strengthening the process of reviewing advertising or hate speech policy, the finish seems to go back all over the board,” they added, pointing to the recent announcement of the company about the policy policy policy and checking facts as an indication of “active regression”. They suggested that he placed it at a direct collision course with DSA principles when it comes to system risk.
EKO has submitted its latest findings of the European Commission, which supervises the enforcement of key elements of DSA in giants in social media. He also said that he shared the results of each corporations, but none of them answered.
The EU has opened DSA investigations on Meta I X, which include concerns about the security of elections and illegal content, but the Commission must still end this proceeding. Although in April he said that he suspected a finish with inappropriate moderation of political promoting.
The initial decision on a part of the DSA investigation in case X, which was announced in July, included suspicions that the platform didn’t meet the provisions regarding the transparency of the regulation. However, the full investigation, which began in December 2023, also applies to the illegal risk of content, and the EU has not yet achieved any arrangements regarding most of the probe over a yr later.
Confirmed DSA violations may attract penalties as much as 6% of world annual turnover, while systemic incompatibility may even result in temporary regional access to violation of platforms.
But for now, the EU still devotes time to come to a decision on meta and x, so – expecting final decisions – all DSA sanctions remain in the air.
Meanwhile, it’s now only just a few hours before the German voters go to the polls-a growing collection of civil society research suggests that the flagship regulation on online EU management didn’t cover the democratic technique of the important technique of the EU economy before a series of covered technologies. threats.
At the starting of this week, the Global witness published the results of tests of X and Tiktoka “for you” in Germany, which suggest that the platforms are biased in favor of promoting AfD content in comparison with the content of other political parties. Civil society researchers also accused X of blocking access to data to forestall them from examining the threats of election security in the period preceding the German polls-DSA to DSA is to enable.
“The European Commission has taken important steps, opening DSA investigations to both the finish line and X, now we have to see how the Commission took strong action to solve the problems raised as part of these investigations,” also told us EKO spokesman.
“Our discoveries, along with the growing evidence of other groups of civil society, show that Big Tech will not clean their platforms voluntarily. Meta I X still allow illegal hate speech, inciting violence and large -scale electoral disinformation, despite their legal obligations arising from DSA ” – added the spokesman. (We suspended the spokesperson’s name to forestall harassment.)
“The regulatory authorities must take strong activities-aim in order to enforce DSA, as well as, for example, the implementation of the pre-balance relieving. This may include the exclusion of recommending systems based on profiling immediately before the election and the implementation of other relevant “glass breaking” in order to prevent algorithmic strengthening of border content, such as hateful content in the final elections. “
The campaign group also warns that the EU is currently under pressure from Trump’s administration to alleviate their approach to regulation of enormous technology. “In the current political climate, there is a real danger that the Commission does not fully enforce these new regulations as concessions for the US,” they suggest.
(tagstotransate) eco hate adheets of ads
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