How much have AI applications learned, and how can one know their capabilities if they are being evaluated with an exam that is far too easy? In 2024, with the publication of the previous benchmark to measure AI performance, the field debated whether existing assessments would keep pace with the rapid progress of AI.

Prenaital ApS has filed a patent for technology that may identify risks of spontaneous pre-term birth. Spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) is usually defined as birth occurring before 37 weeks of gestation. The invention relates to a method for predicting potential preterm birth from medical scan data, which may be used in practice by medical professionals for risk analysis and prognosis of potential pathologies.

Depending on who you ask, AI will take over the world and save it; or ruin it. Certainly, it is changing it. Science magazine dedicated its first editorial of 2026 to AI. Despite its title – “Resisting AI slop“ – editor-in-chief Holden Thorp gave the sort of nuanced review that is typical of him.

Depending on who you ask, AI will take over the world and save it; or ruin it. Certainly, it is changing it. Science magazine dedicated its first editorial of 2026 to AI. Despite its title – “Resisting AI slop“ – editor-in-chief Holden Thorp gave the sort of nuanced review that is typical of him. “Like many tools, AI will allow the scientific community to do more if it picks the right ways to use it,” he wrote. “The community needs to be careful and not be swept up by the hype surrounding every AI product.”

Depending on who you ask, AI will take over the world and save it; or ruin it. Certainly, it is changing it. Science magazine dedicated its first editorial of 2026 to AI. Despite its title – “Resisting AI slop“ – editor-in-chief Holden Thorp gave the sort of nuanced review that is typical of him. “Like many tools, AI will allow the scientific community to do more if it picks the right ways to use it,” he wrote. “The community needs to be careful and not be swept up by the hype surrounding every AI product.”

Securing a second major partnership with Sanofi SA – this time worth a potential $2.56 billion – Earendil Labs will provide its AI-driven discovery platform to find new therapeutics for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

Freenome Holdings Inc. reported it is going public via a special purpose acquisition company. The company said it expects to raise $330 million, which it plans to use for the 2026 launch of its blood-based screening tests for multiple cancers. Backed by an affiliate of Perceptive Advisors - Perceptive Capital Solutions Corp. (PCSP) – and joined by RA Capital, the arrangement includes a commitment of $240 million in equity investments plus about $90 million more held by the SPAC’s trust fund. Other notable investors, including ADAR1 Capital, Bain Capital Life Sciences, and Farallon Capital Management have signed on to participate in the deal.

John Squires, the recently anointed director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, has determined that a machine learning (ML) patent application met the standard for patent subject matter eligibility, an outcome that seems to bode well for ML-based patent applications going forward.