Major News Developments in AgriTech (June–July 2025) Innovations and Technology Deployments (AI, Drones, IoT, Robotics) In mid-2025, numerous precision agriculture technologies moved from concept to field deployment. Automation and robotics saw significant strides: major manufacturers and startups alike introduced autonomous farm machinery to tackle labor shortages and improve accuracy. Kubota’s partnership with Agtonomy will outfit…
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Eeki, the Indian agtech startup, secured $7 million in funding led by Sixth Sense Ventures to expand its IoT-powered aeroponic network across India. The investment supports scaling after Eeki already built 100 acres of climate‑controlled farms in arid Rajasthan and rolling out third-generation growing chambers and R&D. Planet Farms (Italy) is investing £25+ million to…
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Leonardo AI launched in 2022 as a Sydney-based platform for image, art, and video generation. By mid-2024 it had over 19 million users who had generated more than a billion images. Canva acquired Leonardo.ai in 2024, with all 120 Leonardo team members joining Canva. Core models include XL variants like Anime XL, Lightning XL, and…
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AI video generators use neural networks, including GANs and diffusion models, trained on large datasets to turn text, images, or clips into realistic videos. They storyboard from a text prompt, breaking a script into scenes and automatically assembling visuals and audio with automated edits and transitions. Text-to-video generation is available on platforms like Runway Gen-2…
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Google unveiled AI Mode as an experiment in March 2025 and began rolling it out to all U.S. English-speaking users by May 2025 during Google I/O. AI Mode runs on Google’s Gemini AI family, initially using Gemini 2.0 before being upgraded to Gemini 2.5 at I/O 2025. The feature uses a query fan-out technique that…
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In mid-June 2025, Waymo applied for a New York City permit to begin autonomous car tests with safety drivers, potentially making NYC’s first AV pilot if approved. As of June 2025, Waymo operates about 1,500 self-driving vehicles and handles over 250,000 rides per week across San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin. In late June…
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In the UK, drone operations are regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) under the Air Navigation Order 2016, with the Drone and Model Aircraft Code acting as the ‘Highway Code’ for pilots. Most drones over 250 g or with a camera must be registered, requiring an Operator ID (about £10–£12 for 1 year) and…
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Janitor AI was founded by Australian software developer Jan Zoltkowski and launched in June 2023. In its first weeks, Janitor AI attracted over 1 million users within a week or two of launch. By September 2023, the platform had amassed around 3 million users, having hit the 1-million mark in 17 days. As of early…
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Since a 2015 amendment to the Air Code, Russia classifies all drones as aircraft under civil aviation law, with oversight by the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia). Drones are regulated by use category: hobbyist, commercial, and government, with separate licensing and registration for each. Drones over 150 grams and up to 30 kg must be…
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Apple is negotiating with Anthropic and OpenAI to license their large-language models to power a major Siri upgrade, signaling a shift away from Apple’s traditional in-house AI development. The talks include training versions of these models to run on Apple-owned private cloud infrastructure for internal testing. If finalized, the plan would replace Apple’s own Foundation…
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