Ioanna is a writer at TNW. She covers the full spectrum of the European tech ecosystem, with a particular interest in startups, sustainabili Ioanna is a writer at TNW. She covers the full spectrum of the European tech ecosystem, with a particular interest in startups, sustainability, green tech, AI, and EU policy. With a background in the humanities, she has a soft spot for social impact-enabling technologies.
This article features an interview with Alberto Prado, Head of R&D Digital and Partnerships at Unilever. Prado will be speaking at TNW Conference, which takes place on June 15 & 16 in Amsterdam. If you want to experience the event (and say hi to our editorial team!), we’ve got something special for our loyal readers. Use the promo code READ-TNW-25 and get a 25% discount on your business pass for TNW Conference. See you in Amsterdam!
From microbiome-protecting skincare to a vegan bee-saving lipstick, Unilever is transforming how it innovates its portfolio products by harnessing the power of AI.
Alberto Prado, Head of Unilever’s R&D Digital and Partnerships, is leading this transformation. According to Prado, leveraging digital technologies enables the R&D department to innovate “better, faster, and more effectively.” And that’s where artificial intelligence comes in.
“It starts with helping us understand the external world much better and in a much more predictive way,” Prado tells TNW. Innovating in our fast-paced and rapidly evolving world has become more complex, he adds.
It’s not simply about responding to consumer trends and addressing consumer needs — which are changing faster than ever before. It’s also about embracing sustainability and reacting to supply disruptions caused by the climate crisis and the volatile geopolitical environment. For instance, think of the sunflower oil shortage following Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“The only way to deal with that complexity and the speed at which things change is through the more widespread use of artificial intelligence,” Prado notes. But how exactly does AI help?
First off, artificial intelligence tools accelerate scientific discovery by taking on multiple tasks that previously required laborious work in a physical lab.
Thanks to access to large-scale data, machine learning and high-performance computing, Unilever’s R&D team has been able to make significant discoveries about human biology and new material use that would have otherwise been inconceivable. For example, the company is close to commercialising plant-based, sustainable palm oil alternatives for use in everyday cleaning and personal care products.
“The ability for us to leverage experimental data to create virtual models that can simulate parameters — which would normally have happened in the physical lab — is speeding up a lot of our work, but also solving problems that may have not been solvable,” Prado notes.
This product design method, also known as “in-silico,” can not only shed light on the interaction of molecular compounds faster and more effectively, but also replace animal testing.
The benefits of this technology have already gone into everyday products such as Dove and Vaseline. Through AI-powered analysis of 12 terabytes of data, Unilever has researched the microbiome (the 100 trillion+ microorganisms living in and on our body), and discovered how to combine it with skin ceramides for products that address issues in skin quality and hydration.
Beyond discovery and design, AI is also used to simulate the manufacturing process, Prado tells TNW. “We need to define the best ways of manufacturing a product,” he explains. “That particular formula, for example, that is energy efficient, reduces waste, and carbon emissions, and that is optimised to enter the development process in our manufacturing plants — which may have very different configurations and setups, depending on the market.”
At the same time, artificial intelligence helps improve Unilever’s supply chain and reaction to shortages. It can uncover alternative ingredients, or simplify products by reducing the number of components without impacting their quality or effectiveness.
And by optimising the discovery, design, and manufacturing processes with AI-powered tools, the company is also improving its operational efficiency.
“Think of innovation as a triangle,” Prado says. It needs to be impactful, sustainable, and cost-efficient. But optimising a product across all three vectors is complex, he explains, which is even more challenging when a big firm’s organisational complexity is added to the mix.
This, for Prado, coupled with all the changes happening around us means that to innovate effectively, it’s crucial to deploy AI at a scale that will help companies remain competitive.
Alberto Prado is one of many tech luminaries speaking at TNW Conference on June 15-16. Use the promo code READ-TNW-25 and get a 25% discount on your business pass for TNW Conference.
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Siôn is a reporter at TNW. With a background in environmental science, he loves to write about climate tech, policy, and the built environme Siôn is a reporter at TNW. With a background in environmental science, he loves to write about climate tech, policy, and the built environment.
Dutch architecture firm MVRDV has completed Matrix One — a 6-storey, energy-efficient, office and laboratory block constructed using over 120,000 reusable components.
The building is the largest of seven that make up the Matrix Innovation Center in the Amsterdam Science Park, which serves as a hub for scientists and entrepreneurs developing solutions to some of the world’s toughest challenges.
Matrix One has been designed for disassembly: almost everything from the doors and windows to ceilings and furniture is fully detachable and reusable. Even the floors are made from prefabricated concrete slabs with no fixed connections — they can simply be unscrewed and removed.
MVRDV teamed up with Dutch startup Madaster to create ‘material passports’ for the building. These digital IDs store key information about each component — like weight, dimensions, and material characteristics — which aids efficient reuse further down the line.
Once the building reaches the end of its useful life or gets renovated, these components could be available for purchase on a second-hand marketplace (think eBay for buildings). According to MVRDV, 90% of the building’s materials can be used again.
“In the future, we hope this is how all buildings will work,” said MVRDV partner Frans de Witte.
The interior of Matrix ONE. Credit: MVRDV/Daria Scagliola
Construction and demolition is currently responsible for a third of all waste generated in the EU. Making the sector more circular — that is, to minimise waste to the furthest extent possible — has been identified as a key priority for the Dutch government, in line with its commitment to transition to a fully circular economy by 2050.
Parallel to the push toward circularity is cutting down the carbon footprint of buildings and infrastructure, which account for a whopping 37% global CO₂ emissions. Projects like Matrix ONE act as a testbed for many of the technologies needed to minimise these impacts.
“Matrix ONE offered an excellent opportunity for us to test a number of carbon-reduction strategies we have been investigating for a long time,” said de Witte.
The rooftop of Matrix One is covered with a 1,000 sq.m solar array, with the rest given over to greenery, helping improve insulation. Lighting and heating are controlled by sensors and via a phone app, to reduce energy consumption.
Matrix One also has a restaurant on the ground floor, a bar at the top of the staircase, a 100-seat auditorium, and storage space for bikes.
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Andrea is TNW’s Branded Content Editor and, as a writer, she’s covered a wide range of topics from ClimateTech to AI and gender bias. She’s Andrea is TNW’s Branded Content Editor and, as a writer, she’s covered a wide range of topics from ClimateTech to AI and gender bias. She’s always on the lookout for stories that explore the social and political impact of emerging technology.
No matter who your favourite character was, The Office (both the UK or US versions, let’s not get into a fight here) became an iconic series because it played on one thing we all know to be true: offices are boring.
The tech industry tried to change all that by infusing some ‘fun’ into the office. Their plan was to attract adults to the workplace with bright colours, slides, rock walls, and a relaxed dress code, echoing kid’s jungle gyms. They did away with the cubicles of the 90s and introduced open office plans, assuming that having people from different teams rubbing shoulders would surely boost collaboration, camaraderie, and innovation.
The pandemic proved they were wrong. After getting a taste of the comforts of working from home, many employees haven’t had the inclination to return. Employers have either tried to wrestle employees back to the office, or given in and let them stay home. Those opting for the latter have faced waves of employees turning in their notices in favour of employers who offer flexible work options.
Is the office finally dead?
Why it’s impossible to design the perfect office
One of the main challenges offices face is that they’re filled with people. People who all expect something different from their workplace.
While for analysts on your team, data security is a top priority, for the digital marketing team, broadcasting the cool new innovations the team is coming up with may be more important.
Likewise, it’s a well-known fact that some people need peace and quiet to do their best work, while others need people to bounce ideas off of. A recent study into personalities in the workplace by experts from the University of Arizona and California State found that extroverted workers focus better and are happier in open office plans. Meanwhile, those who are high on neuroticism struggle with open floor plans.
There’s not just a difference in personalities but also circumstances: a father of two young kids may have different needs than his colleague who’s a single dog parent.
Aside from these differences, new workplace and technology trends are continuously cropping up and shifting attitudes. Mental health, diversity and inclusion, and data protection are just a few issues that are top of managers’ minds.
So can you actually build a workplace that’s flexible enough to work for everybody?
I visited Miele X’s new home in Amsterdam’s modern new office building “The Valley” to find out.
Photo: Miele X
A digital approach to office design
When you first step out of the elevator onto Miele X’s floor, you encounter a display case of curiosities: an early prototype of a washer that oddly resembles a butter churner and a 1950s vacuum, all part of the company’s history.
A friendly receptionist met me at the entrance and brought me through to what looked like a large modern kitchen. Some people were chopping up vegetables or clipping herbs from a mini greenhouse, while others were sitting and chatting at cafe-style tables.
Photo: Miele X
As my host Matea Fogec, External Communications Manager, explained, what they aim to build isn’t an office but a home away from home where people can’t just get a coffee but also wash their clothes, do some yoga, and cook a meal together.
But how do you build a work environment that’s suitable for the wide and varied uses of e-commerce, data & analytics, digital marketing, operations, and other departments? They decided to take an agile approach to the problem.
A team of project managers began breaking up the project into dev-style sprints. To ensure everyone’s voice was included, they collected feedback on the must-haves and nice to haves. During an “architect café,” they recruited interested teammates to vote on the final designs.
Of course, not every suggestion could be taken on board. As the Community Space project manager and Head of Agile PMO, Markus Herfert, explained:
“A treadmill meeting room concept was rejected because there wasn’t enough value for money. In the end, it was always a question if a concept fits the overall approach and design, user/employee centricity, and value for money.”
In the final stages of the project, they had a team of volunteer ‘superusers’ come and test out the space for two weeks.
So what features made the final cut?
As more remote jobs pop up, employers are realising they need to give people a real reason to come to the office (other than “upper management is making me”).
Miele X outfitted their space with tech–backed work gadgets that enhance both the way teams work and how they collaborate.
There’s a device wall which gives Miele X teams and guests insights into the variety of content displayed on different device types including smartphones, tablets, and laptops. A user testing area, including a one-sided mirror, allows teams to invite focus groups to test products on-site.
There’s even a strategy meeting room, where the windows can be fogged up to keep upcoming innovations safe from wandering eyes.
Finally, perhaps the most practical feature for all teams is a 360-degree boardroom that makes dial-in meetings a lot less awkward and a lot more inclusive as everyone appears face to face on screen, and mics are automatically turned off and on based on who’s speaking.
Photo: Miele X
This is great for employees like Tiny Nguyen, CRM Marketing Automation Manager B2B/Professional at Miele X, who’s in a team that’s spread between Amsterdam and Germany.
“People dialling in from Germany don’t feel they’re missing out because they can see everyone’s faces and hear everyone perfectly as if they were in the room,” she says.
All these digital marvels are wonderful, but how do they solve the office personality problem?
Rather than choosing between open office plans and the cubicles of yore, Miele X allows employees to choose a workstation that suits the task at hand.
The layout follows a circular design, snaking around an open central atrium. As you walk along this pathway, you’ll come across a combination of meeting rooms and open office spaces. Those wanting more privacy can take refuge in the private nooks built for one or two, or semi-private workspaces in the shape of ski lifts and a rickshaw.
Photo: Miele X
Most important of all, its circular shape means noise doesn’t travel. So while the operations team may be chattering away in an open camper van, the noise dies off as soon as you turn the corner.
The best part is, the layouts aren’t permanent. Walls can be moved to make new rooms of different sizes, for different purposes.
The challenge offices face today is competing against the comforts of home. That’s why Miele X made sure to include creature comforts that employees won’t miss when deciding to go in to work, like:
A laundry room with Miele devices to wash, dry, and steam clothing
A fully equipped family-style Miele kitchen to cook and share meals together
Fully equipped, dedicated rooms for meditation/prayer, maternity, and recreation/yoga
Japanese-style sleeping pods
A dehumidifier room that drys wet clothes in minutes
Photo: Miele X
The perfect work environment…
So is Miele X’s Community Space a land in the clouds where employees hold hands and sing songs around the indoor caravan? No.
There’s no such thing as perfection, but you can always strive for better, as Miele’s motto “Immer Besser” posits.
People’s needs change as social factors, technology, and the way we work change. Just a few years ago, social distancing was a major need when bringing people back together. In the future, emerging work trends like the use of generative AI may present new needs. The point is, you always need to be rethinking, redesigning, and checking in with your team.
That’s why Miele X is already thinking about the next iterations moving forward.
Aside from running regular satisfaction surveys, they’ve placed QR codes to invite feedback in areas where they see potential for improvement, and they collect data on the usage of call cabins, meeting rooms, desks, and general occupancy.
“It’s in our DNA to challenge the status quo, so it will be an ongoing process to change, update, and upgrade,” says Fogec.
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Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on deeptech, startups, and government policy. Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on deeptech, startups, and government policy.
Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, really wants AI regulation. Truly, madly, deeply, he wants it. Because of safety and stuff. Unless, of course, it’s the type of regulation that he doesn’t want. If that’s the case, he’ll threaten to withdraw his services instead.
Altman issued the warning this week during a tour of European regulators. He said OpenAI could “cease operating” in the EU if it can’t comply with the bloc’s impending AI Act.
The 38-year-old is particularly worried about the plans for “high-risk” systems. Under the current proposals, OpenAI’s ChatGPT and GPT-4 models would both be designated high-risk, which would make them subject to extra obligations before entering the market.
Another thorny issue for OpenAI is the new rules for generative models. As it stands, the legislation will require generative AI companies to disclose any copyrighted material used to train their systems. This condition was added after an outcry from artists, who say their work is being scraped and monetised without their consent.
Altman, however, described the proposed AI Act as “over-regulating.”
“If we can comply, we will, and if we can’t, we’ll cease operating… We will try. But there are technical limits to what’s possible,” he said, according to Time.
Altman’s response has been compared to a blackmail attempt by lawmakers. Propitiously, it’s an experience that they’ve withstood before.
OpenAI is far from the first tech firm to threaten regulators with a product withdrawal.
Google has threatened to pull its search engine from Australia. WhatsApp has threatened to block its service in the UK. Meta has threatened to shut down Facebook and Instagram in Europe on multipleoccasions. Microsoft has even threatened to remove Windows from unruly US states. To date, none of the threats has been fulfilled.
In Altman’s case, the U-turn came just a day later.
“We are excited to continue to operate here and of course have no plans to leave,” he tweeted on Friday.
very productive week of conversations in europe about how to best regulate AI! we are excited to continue to operate here and of course have no plans to leave.
Altman is unlikely to be the last tech boss to backtrack on a warning to regulators. But the empty rhetoric is starting to sound like boys crying wolf.
If they want to be taken seriously, one of them should follow through on a threat — or just accept that Silicon Valley can’t always get what it wants.
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BMW has partnered with Swiss gaming platform AirConsole to bring in-car gaming to its new all-electric 5 Series.
Drivers and passengers can play the games to kill time while the vehicle is charging, for example. Sadly, but probably for the best, you can’t play while the car is moving.
In addition to the new BMW 5 Series, which debuted this week, the AirConsole app will be rolled out in other BMW vehicles. The service has been available on TVs for some time, but this is the first time it has been available in a car.
To use the gaming app, players need their smartphone, which acts as a controller, and the BMW Curved Display, which acts as a TV. After booting up the AirConsole app in the car, users simply scan a QR code to link their phones to the screen and then get gaming.
Around 15 titles are initially available including Go Kart Go, Golazo, Music Guess, and Overcooked, with the list expected to be continually expanded. While not exactly catering to the hardcore gamer, the console should provide enough entertainment for families or anyone partial to smartphone games.
To celebrate the launch of in-car gaming, BMW is presenting the electric i5 version of the 5 Series with a gaming wrap, featuring large pixels as a homage to the iconic 8-bit era of computer games.
Credit: BMW
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Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on deeptech, startups, and government policy. Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on deeptech, startups, and government policy.
GDPR turned five this week — and celebrated in customary style: by slapping Meta with another eye-watering fine.
At a record-breaking €1.2bn, the punishment was the perfect self-gift for the EU regulation. For Meta, however, it marks another miserable anniversary.
According to research by Privacy Matters, Mark Zuckerberg’s demonic brainchild has accrued over half of the €4bn in total GDPR fines.
After amassing a staggering €2.5bn across seven separate penalties, it’s safe to say that Meta won’t be attending the birthday party. But it wasn’t likely to have got an invite anyway.
The social media behemoth has been feuding with EU lawmakers for years. On multipleoccasions, the company has gone as far as threatening toshut down services in Europe over data rules.
The EU, meanwhile, have been merrily doling out fines for Meta’s data protection breaches. The majority have been delivered by the DataProtection Authority of Ireland, where Meta has its European headquarters. The regulator dished out four fines in 2022 alone.
The Facebook owner is not alone in entering GDPR’s crosshairs — but it’s been by far the most consistent target.
Amazon and Google have combined total fines of around €800 million — a figure dwarfed by Meta’s most recent fine alone. Meanwhile, Microsoft, Apple, Pinterest, and LinkedIn have never been charged.
The penalties have solidified the EU’s reputation as the West’s top tech regulator. For GDPR, that’s another cause for celebration. But for Meta, this birthday party must suck.
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London has been named the world’s most high-tech city, according to Z/Yen Group’s seventh edition of the Smart Centres Index, published today.
The British capital secured the top spot for its world-leading financial services, deep talent pool, quality of its business environment, and international reputation.
Climbing from second place, London was joined in the top five by New York, San Francisco, Zurich, and Lugano. Oxford came in seventh place, putting four European cities in the top 10.
The news that London has taken the top tech title from New York will undoubtedly be welcomed by British PM Rishi Sunak, who has on multiple occasions expressed his desire to make the UK as a whole a tech and innovation superpower.
In a rather humourous speech recently Sunak even labelled the country “Unicorn Kingdom,” in a not-so-subtle nod to the fact that the UK has so far birthed 162 startups valued at $1 billion or more.
While the PM definitely shouldn’t forge a career in comedy, he does have a point. During 2022, UK tech firms raised £24bn in funding, more than France (£11.8bn) and Germany (£9.1 bn) combined, making it the world’s third-largest tech sector.
Leading this investment is London, which is currently home to a number of up-and-coming tech firms including Deliveroo, Revolut, and Wise, as well as emerging startups like AI research lab DeepMind and metaverse developer Improbable.
The top 20 most high-tech cities in the world. Credit: Z/Yen
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Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on deeptech, startups, and government policy. Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on deeptech, startups, and government policy.
Microsoft’s appeal against a veto of its Activision Blizzard takeover offers a chance to “find a third way” in the feud, say legal experts.
The Xbox maker on Wednesday formally appealed a UK regulator’s decision to block the $69bn (€64bn) deal. The shock intervention was a potentially fatal blow to the bid for Activision, which owns the Call of Duty, Candy Crush, and Warcraft franchises.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had concluded that the purchase would give Microsoft an unfair edge in the nascent cloud gaming market.
The decision made the CMA an international outlier among antitrust regulators — and anathema to Microsoft. The tech giant’s president, Brad Smith said the move was “bad for Britain” and Microsoft’s “darkest day” in its four decades of working in the country. He promised to appeal the ruling.
That promise has now been fulfilled. A Microsoft spokesperson has confirmed that a formal appeal was lodged on Wednesday — the deadline for filing one.
Gareth Mills, a partner at law firm Charles Russell Speechlys, said Microsoft’s rhetoric shows the company is taking “an extremely robust approach” to the appeal. He added that the company is willing to use its “considerable resources to test the CMA’s resolve.”
That resolve is already under significant strain. In addition to enduring heavy pressure from Microsoft, Activision, and countless gamers who support the deal, the CMA has become increasingly isolated.
In the last fortnight, both China and the EU have approved the deal. According to Microsoft, the takeover has now been cleared by 37 countries, which collectively represent more than two billion people.”
In the appeal against the CMA veto, the EU’s decision could be particularly influential.
“The EU’s approval of the Activision acquisition (albeit with conditions attached) may give both parties an opportunity to find a third way,” says Mills, “although such would represent a considerable change in tone and attitude from those currently being expressed.”
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Experts estimate around 60% of buildings that will exist in 30 years’ time have yet to be built. This equals constructing a city the size of Stockholm every week until 2050. However, the construction sector currently doesn’t have the people or the skills to deliver the infrastructure and homes we need at the pace required. But what if we could offload some of the work to robots?
Enter 3D concrete printing — an emerging technology that uses 3D printers to create all manner of structures, from bridges and sculptures to houses and even whole neighbourhoods. These huge printers work much like their desktop equivalents, but instead of using ink, they extrude concrete. A giant robotic arm deposits the concrete layer by layer, like a tube of toothpaste, according to plans laid out in a digital blueprint.
This application of 3D printing technology has caused quite a stir in recent years, captivating millions on social media. Just take Aiman Hussein, director of printing at US-based startup Alquist 3D. His TikTok videos of 3D concrete printers building homes have racked up tens of millions of views and scored him over 60K followers.
But while the process of a robot depositing layer after layer of smooth concrete might be mesmerising to some, the real buzz around 3D concrete printing is in its potential to make construction faster, cleaner, and greener.
Building better
Construction is one of the oldest professions on earth and is vital to our everyday lives: it builds the houses we live in, the infrastructure we travel on, and the schools our children learn in. But, the sector is plagued by cost overruns, chronic inefficiencies, and labour shortages. What’s more, it has a gargantuan environmental impact — the built environment is responsible for almost 40% of global CO₂ emissions and accounts for a third of all waste generated in the EU.
“If we are to deliver the homes and infrastructure we so desperately need over the coming decades — in a way that is sustainable and cost-effective — something drastically needs to change,” Rob Wolfs, professor in structural engineering at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), tells TNW.
Wolfs is one of the foremost global experts on 3D concrete printing. “This technology can help tackle some of the greatest challenges facing the construction industry today,” he says, as we zip down the escalator into the basement of TU/e’s built environment department.
Located down a narrow concrete stairwell behind a set of wooden doors is the department’s R&D lab. It smells like sawdust, fresh concrete, and potential. This is where bright ideas go to get tested and validated. It’s also home to the university’s very own 3D concrete printer. For almost a decade, the printer (which sadly doesn’t have a cool nickname) has been used to refine and develop 3D printing technology and has laid the foundation of knowledge for many of the commercial-scale projects we see today.
Rob Wolfs stands in the shadow of TU/e’s 3D concrete printer during TNW’s visit to the university’s built environment lab.
3D printing offers the ability for mass customisation that was previously too challenging or costly to achieve using traditional methods. Want to create a bespoke house design or a unique building component or even an artificial coral reef with complex twists and shapes? 3D printing offers that freedom of design. “You can really make everything unique, everything optimised, tailored to a specific application,” says Wolfs.
But crucially, because 3D printing is an “additive” process, building a product layer by layer, it can build structures using only the exact amount of material required. Numerous studies have shown that 3D printing in construction can reduce waste by 30-60%.
The efficiency of the process also means less concrete is needed overall: Finnish startup Hyperion Robotics claims that its 3D printing micro-factories can reduce concrete use by 75%. If concrete were a country it would be the third largest emitter of CO₂ — so the less we use it the better.
“Robots do the hard work, so you don’t have to.
3D printing automates many of the tough tasks involved in construction, such as bricklaying, reducing the number of people needed on site. Given the chronic lack of workers entering the industry, many consider automation and robotics to be the only solution to delivering the infrastructure we need at the pace and scale required.
“Robots are not going to take people’s jobs,” says Wolfs. “They’re going to do the dirty, hard labour, freeing up people to do safer, more skilled work.”
Automation also increases speed and efficiency, with some 3D printing companies claiming they can print the entire structure of a house in 24 hours.
So 3D printing in construction has the potential to produce complex designs, boost efficiency, reduce waste, improve sustainability, and address workforce challenges. But can it deliver?
Taking shape
In 2021, Dutch couple Elize Lutz and Harrie Dekkers, retired shopkeepers from Amsterdam, became Europe’s first inhabitants of a 3D-printed house in Eindhoven. Their new home, which cost €1,400 per month to rent at the time, is the first of five houses under Project Milestone — a collaborative effort between TU/e, the government, and the construction industry to validate and scale 3D construction printing. Here’s some pics of their new abode:
Construction company Weber Beamix printed the boulder-shaped house, which consists of 24 separate concrete elements, at its facility in Eindhoven. The elements were transported by truck to the building site, bolted together and secured to the foundation, after which the roof and frames were added and the finishing touches applied — the whole process took around 120 hours. The partners aim to construct the next four houses completely onsite using one giant printer.
Weber Beamix has been working closely with TU/e for years, to bring its research to market. So far the company, a subsidiary of French construction giant Saint Gobain, has printed all manner of structures: a 30-metre-long bridge in the Dutch city of Nijmegen, a 9-metre-tall pigeon tower in Qatar, and a skate park in Eindhoven.
But that’s just a drop in the ocean. In the last couple of years, 3D-printed structures have been popping up all over the show, with some seriously ambitious projects in the works.
In 2021, Germany’s first ever 3D-printed house was unveiled in the town of Beckum. In 2022, a two-storey apartment building, also in Germany, was 3D-printed in just 72 hours by a two-person crew and is now occupied by five households. In the same year, French 3D printing startup XtreeE successfully constructed five social homes in the city of Reims.
Germany’s first 3D-printed house. Credit: PERI AG
Perhaps the world’s most ambitious 3D-printed affordable housing project is in the small town of Accrington, England. The £6m Charter Street scheme, developed by Irish architecture firm Harcourt Technologies and local social housing provider Building for Humanity, will house homeless veterans and low-income families in 46 eco-homes that can each be printed in weeks. Full planning permission has already been secured for the site, and construction is set to begin imminently.
At the time of writing, Danish manufacturer of 3D concreteprinters, COBOD, is working with humanitarian foundation Team4UA to 3D-print a school in Ukraine. Over 2,000 schools have been damaged or destroyed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, and it is hoped that 3D concrete printing can expedite reconstruction efforts.
A prototype wind turbine base being printed by GE Renewable Energy using the world’s largest 3D concrete printer developed by Danish startup COBOD. Credit: COBOD/GE
But it’s not just 3D-printed buildings that are making the headlines. The design freedom afforded by 3D concrete printers means they can create just about anything, from staircases and protective sea walls, to septic tanks and even wind turbine foundations.
According to Henrik Lund-Nielsen, CEO at COBOD, the technology can deliver its “biggest bang for the buck” not in housing but in industrial projects where reinforced concrete makes up a much larger part of the project’s total cost.
These applications are not just bound to Earth either. In December 2022, NASA awarded US startup ICON a $57m contract to develop 3D-printing technology to build roads, launchpads, and homes on the moon’s surface, as part of NASA’s Artemis program, which plans for long-term human exploration of the moon. ICON is currently developing a large 3D printer that could be transported to the moon, using lunar materials instead of concrete to print the lunar base.
ICON has been collaborating with NASA on a number of projects. Here they are printing the structure for NASA’s Mars Dune Alpha, where volunteers will spend a year simulating life on the Red Planet. Credit: ICON/NASA
More and more big players are entering the 3D construction printing space, lured by its potential benefits. COBOD, which claims to be the largest provider of 3D printers to the construction industry, is backed by a number of global industrial giants, including General Electric, which recently built the world’s biggest additive construction facility to 3D print concrete bases for wind turbines.
Yet despite the impressive progress to date, according to a recent report, there are currently only 130 completed 3D-printed buildings globally. Clearly then, the 3D printing in construction is making its mark, although its true potential is not so concrete.
Beyond the hype
“When this technology arrived on the scene around 10 years ago, people thought we were going to 3D print everything in the future — but it hasn’t quite turned out that way,” Wolfs told TNW.
Wolfs’ insights on the development of 3D printing nod to Gartner’s Hype Cycle, which outlines the five distinct phases of a technology’s lifecycle.
Gartner’s Hype Cycle offers a view of how a technology or application will evolve over time.
As Wolfs pointed out, around 10 years ago, 3D printing as a whole was in the hype phase, or the ‘peak of inflated expectations’. Startups were popping up all over the place, VC capital was flowing, and 3D printers were expected to be busily cranking out all the tools, human organs, and automobiles anyone could ever want or need.
Then came the inevitable descent into the ‘trough of disillusionment’ somewhere around 2015 — flaws in the technology emerged, early adopters encountered performance issues, and there were low returns on investment.
Fast forward to the present day, and 3D printing as a whole appears to be on the up again, as kinks get ironed out, early adopters start to see returns, and the technology matures. However, there is a great disparity between different applications of 3D printing as to where they sit on the Gartner Hype Cycle.
“Almost all dental implants these days are 3D printed. The technology is now mainstream because it’s proven to be the best way to manufacture that product,” says Wolfs. “However, in construction, we’re not there yet, not even close.”
“3D printing won’t solve the housing crisis on its own.
Perhaps the biggest buzz around 3D construction printing lately has been its potential to solve the housing crisis. As countries worldwide face a shortage of homes, proponents believe houses that ‘can be printed in a day’ could be the solution. Wolfs is not so sure.
“3D printing won’t solve the housing crisis on its own — that issue is far too complex and is not just a technological problem,” he says. “It doesn’t make sense to replace all the traditional building methods with 3D printing either, but to find applications where 3D printing really makes sense.”
There are two key areas that could propel 3D construction printing up the ‘slope of enlightenment’, according to Wolfs: standardising the technology and making it more sustainable.
“We have to come up with ways to assess and guarantee the quality of our printed structures and move towards standardisation of this technology. It is moving so quickly it risks getting in its own way,” he said.
Will a 3D-printed home last as long as a traditionally built home? Will it be structurally sound and safe in the event of a fire or natural disaster? Since the development of the technology has outpaced updates to widely used codes and standards, it has left builders with few answers.
At TU/e, researchers are undertaking strength and material testing on a smaller scale in order to validate on a larger scale, with the idea that eventually the results will become enshrined in standards like the Euro code. For now, 3D concrete printing pioneers have to hope that their designs will pass building codes written up for structures built using traditional methods.
In 2021, Italian startup WASP 3D-printed these two homes using local earth instead of concrete. Credit: WASP
Then there’s the sustainability aspect. While 3D construction printing cuts waste, it still relies heavily on cement. The scaling of low-emission cement alternatives — like those infused with graphene or made from local clay — will be key to ensuring 3D printing can meet its environmental credentials.
Key to all of this is trial and error. As research advances, more projects break ground, and big players enter the industry, it seems only a matter of time before 3D construction printing can cement its place in the market.
Printing the future
Despite an apparent decade-long inertia, the digital transformation of construction is now in full swing, with technologies like Building Information Modelling (BIM), digital twins, drones, robotics, and blockchain helping contractors deliver structures more efficiently and sustainably.
Going forward, Wolfs predicts that 3D printing will become part of this ‘toolbox’ of technologies, as construction moves toward increasing levels of automation and digitisation.
As the technology continually develops, opportunities will emerge to print bigger, better, and stronger than ever before. One day, 3D printers might even be able to print multiple materials from the same nozzle, allowing the construction of not just concrete walls but steel frames, windows, and insulation, in one sweeping motion.
There is also the possibility that future structures will be printed by ‘teams’ of 3D printing robots of different sizes — one large printer for the structure, multiple smaller ones for elements like doors and windows, and swarms of flying 3D printing drones for the finishing touches.
3D printing in construction, then, is not so much of a revolution as an evolution. Either way, it seems likely that the buildings of the future will, in some part, be 3D printed.
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Researchers from the University of Cambridge have developed an ‘artificial leaf’ that uses sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into ethanol and propanol.
These so-called ‘drop-in’ fuels can directly power an internal combustion engine without any modifications, potentially offering a low-emissions alternative to gasoline.
Unlike fossil fuels, these solar fuels produce net-zero carbon emissions, said the researchers, and are entirely renewable. What’s more, unlike most bioethanol, they do not divert any agricultural land away from food production.
Researchers made the artificial leaf from multiple layers including copper, glass, silver, and graphite. The leaf contains light absorbers – similar to the molecules in plants that harvest sunlight – which are combined with a catalyst.
This catalyst, which is similar to chlorophyll, the catalyst for photosynthesis in a real leaf, is made from two elements — copper and palladium. In the presence of sunlight, the catalyst converts CO2 to ethanol and propanol, and the water into oxygen.
This artificial leaf doesn’t look much like the real thing, but it gets the job done, apparently (Credit: Motiar Rahaman/University of Cambridge)
For years, the research team has been investigating ways to harness photosynthesis to produce sustainable fuels, but these artificial leaves have only been able to produce simple chemicals like syngas — a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide that is used to produce fuels, pharmaceuticals, plastics, and fertilisers.
But this latest breakthrough has enabled scientists to produce clean ethanol and propanol without producing syngas at all. Eliminating this step makes the technology “more practical and scalable,” said the researchers.
While other scientists have been able to produce similar chemicals using electrical power, this is slated to be the first time that such complex chemicals have been produced with an artificial leaf using only sunlight.
While the technology is still at laboratory scale, the researchers say their artificial leaves are an important step in the transition away from a fossil fuel-based economy.
“Even though there’s still work to be done, we’ve shown what these artificial leaves are capable of doing,” said Professor Erwin Reisner, who led the research. “It’s important to show that we can go beyond the simplest molecules and make things that are directly useful as we transition away from fossil fuels.”
The team is now working to optimise the light absorbers so that they can better absorb sunlight. They are also working on optimising the catalyst so it can convert more sunlight into fuel.
Further work will also be required to make the device scalable so that it can produce large volumes of fuel. In the future, though, cars could use the technology to produce clean fuel on the go.
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Ioanna is a writer at TNW. She covers the full spectrum of the European tech ecosystem, with a particular interest in startups, sustainabili Ioanna is a writer at TNW. She covers the full spectrum of the European tech ecosystem, with a particular interest in startups, sustainability, green tech, AI, and EU policy. With a background in the humanities, she has a soft spot for social impact-enabling technologies.
The time when Netflix used to profess that “love is sharing a password” is long gone. Now, the streaming giant is expanding its controversial password sharing crackdown across the globe, including nine European countries: France, Germany, Ireland, the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Starting on Tuesday, users who are sharing their Netflix account outside of their household will be receiving a long-dreaded email essentially informing them they can no longer do that.
“Your Netflix account is for you and the people you live with — your household,” the company emphasises in its announcement. And it will use information such as IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity to ensure that signed devices are justly part of the Netflix household.
The streaming service is offering two alternative options for users that fall out of the household category. The first one is transferring a profile into a new paid membership. The second one is buying an extra member to keep on using the same account — with varying prices per country. For example, it costs €3.99 per month in Belgium and the Netherlands, €5.99 in France, and £4.99 in the UK.
Neftlix’s password sharing crackdown expansion — which now goes after over 100 countries worldwide — follows the implementation of the new measures in Portugal, Canada, New Zealand, and Spain.
The company, which has missed its new subscriber targets in the first quarter of 2023, hopes this strategy coupled with ad-based subscriptions will boost growth in the second half of the year.
But trying to turn password sharers into active subscribers might have the opposite effect. A recent study by market research group Kantar has found that Netflix’s new policy has cost it one million users in Spain during the first quarter of 2023. This translates into a decrease of approximately 15% of total users.
It remains to be seen how the password sharing crackdown will be received by the newly-added countries. I, for one, will be checking my mailbox with dread the entire day. If you share my fate, let us know what you think via the usual channels.
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The EU is going head to head with Apple and Ireland once again in a high-stakes courtroom battle which could have a lasting impact on how multinational firms are regulated in the bloc.
EU competition regulators appealed to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg today to override a lower tribunal decision and make Apple pay back Ireland €14.3bn in taxes plus interest.
The case is the most high-profile of EU watchdog chief Margrethe Vestager’s campaign against so-called ‘sweetheart’ deals that offer multinationals favourable tax terms in EU states.
According to the Commission lawyer Paul-John Lowenthal, the outcome of the case “will determine whether member states may continue to grant multinationals substantial tax breaks in return for jobs and investments,” reports Reuters.
A seven year dispute
The case dates back to a European Commission probe in 2016 which found that two tax rulings in 1991 and 2007 issued by the Irish revenue service to Apple had “substantially and artificially lowered the tax paid by Apple in Ireland since 1991”. Apple’s effective tax rate in Ireland was as low as 0.005% in 2014.
The Commission believed that such arrangements constituted illegal state aid, giving Apple an unfair advantage over its competitors. In 2016, the Commission found the tech giant guilty of underpaying taxes totalling €13.1bn between 2003 and 2014 and ordered it to pay the money to Ireland along with €1.2bn worth of interest. The money was subsequently recovered from Apple and placed in an escrow fund.
Apple and Ireland appealed the decision and the case was heard in the EU’s General Court over two days in 2019.
They won the case, and the court overturned the judgement. The EU’s second-highest court said the Commission had not succeeded in “showing to the requisite legal standard” that the tech giant had received an illegal economic advantage in Ireland over its taxes. However, the money remained in the escrow account in case the EU decided to appeal — which they did.
The commission did not accept the decision and in September 2020 announced that it would lodge an appeal, which was heard today.
Broader implications
At the heart of the debate is exactly where value is created and where it should be taxed. Apple argues that key decisions on its products are made at its Silicon Valley headquarters and that profits should be taxed there. Daniel Beard, a lawyer for Apple, told the court today that “the commission just got the facts wrong about what activities went on in Ireland,” Bloomberg reports.
The Commission however believes that the activities of two of Apple’s units — Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe — should be taxable in Ireland due to the fact that the majority of the profits from these units is generated from outside the US.
If the Commission wins, the money, which is roughly equal to Ireland’s entire annual healthcare budget, will be paid over to the Irish State. Although its track record is not looking too peachy so far.
The Commission has failed to persuade EU courts of the merits of its policy in a number of high profile cases before the courts over recent years, including a €30m claim against Starbucks, a €250m demand on Amazon and the €30bn pursuit of back taxes from Fiat Chrysler.
The danger for Vestager and the wider Commission is that defeat before Europe’s highest court would embolden member states in the use of special tax arrangements to encourage foreign direct investment.
CJEU Advocate General Giovanni Pitruzzella will give a non-binding opinion on 9 November, followed by the Court’s ruling.
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