Tegan Jones

1 week ago | smartcompany.com.au | Tegan Jones

The first few seconds of my Project Starline demo were surprising. Not because my call partner seemed like they were coming out of the screen at me – 3D technology is something I have enjoyed since Movie World as a kid. No, what really caught me off guard was something I rarely do in my daily video calls: making eye contact. Project Starline is Google’s high-fidelity 3D video chat system. It’s been kicking around in development for around five years and is already used internally at Google.

1 week ago | smartcompany.com.au | Eloise Keating |Tegan Jones

Melbourne-based medtech startup Seer Medical has been revived from voluntary administration thanks to a $40 million investment deal involving former backer Breakthrough Victoria and Cadwell Industries, one of the world’s largest neurodiagnostic equipment manufacturers. Seer will join Cadwell Industries’ portfolio as part of the investment deal, which also includes Singapore-based TrialCap.

1 week ago | smartcompany.com.au | Tegan Jones |David Adams

Chinese e-marketplace Temu and fast-fashion retailer Shein will raise prices next week as US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and crackdown on low-value imports push up costs for the companies known for their budget offerings.

1 week ago | smartcompany.com.au | Tegan Jones

Welcome back to Neural Notes, a weekly column where I look at how AI is affecting Australia. This week: The digital tech industry’s reluctance to talk about tariffs both on the ground in the US and Australia. Last week I was in scorching Las Vegas for Google Cloud Next. The AI hype was enormous, as demonstrated by the 127 pages of briefing material media received ahead of Google Cloud’s fresh announcements.

1 week ago | smartcompany.com.au | Tegan Jones |David Adams

AI-first startups topped Australia’s deal count in Q1 of 2025. This marks the first time the sector has led on that metric, according to new data from Cut Through Venture. Of the 100 announced venture and accelerator deals tracked for the quarter, 62% referenced AI-related product benefits. If that wasn’t high enough, the report also suggests the figure may understate the true scale of activity.