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  • Exclusive: How Bill Gates’ fellowship program is adapting to global uncertainty

    Exclusive: How Bill Gates’ fellowship program is adapting to global uncertainty

    There’s plenty of uncertainty to go around this year, including a global trade war, shifting policy priorities, and an economy that’s starting to stumble. Breakthrough Energy, a climate tech organization founded by Bill Gates, has also been shifting in response.

    The group always placed long bets, though it appears to be reappraising some of them. Its policy team was scrapped in March, for example, and it didn’t continue funding a publication that covered the climate tech world. Still, its investments in startups continue, as does its longest bet, a fellowship program for budding entrepreneurs.

    Breakthrough Energy Fellows, as the program is called, is announcing a new cohort today, TechCrunch exclusively learned. It consists of 45 fellows at 22 different startups, and its makeup reveals how the program is evolving both in response to its own data and to global uncertainty.

    “It’s the most global [cohort] that we’ve had to date. Fifty percent of the teams are based outside of the U.S.,” Ashley Grosh, vice president at Breakthrough Energy, told TechCrunch.

    Grosh and her colleagues had to sift through around 1,500 applications and referrals, making the program more selective than the world’s top universities. Eleven teams are based in the U.S., six are in Asia, and the remainder are in Canada, Germany, the U.K., and South Africa.

    Part of the international focus was driven by a new hub for the fellowship program in Singapore, which the organization opened in August 2024 with Temasek, the country’s investment fund, and Enterprise Singapore, a government agency. 

    But it’s also a recognition that climate change, being a global problem, will require solutions from around the world. 

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    “What are local needs, right? What are the local challenges?” Grosh said. By way of example, she points to the fact that several cohort members are working on hydrogen.

    In Asia, “there’s a lot of interest in the hydrogen economy,” Grosh noted. Circularity, or recycling materials back to their original form, or better, is also a priority for the region, given its role as a global factory and all the waste that entails.

    The new cohort also has startups working on critical minerals, agriculture, and grid modernization.

    Beyond its more global focus, the Breakthrough Energy Fellows program has also shifted its curriculum. Based on observations and feedback from previous cohorts, it is encouraging the new group to think early and often about the economics of the technology they’re developing. Using a framework called techno-economic analysis, they work with “business fellows” — often entrepreneurs with relevant experience — to determine whether and where their idea can find product-market fit. If not, they’ll be nudged to pivot.

    “We were seeing a lot of companies come in thinking that they’re going to do one thing, and then they pivot,” Grosh said. “They’re more venture bankable once we’ve helped them through that pivot and validated it.”

    Grosh said that nearly all of the teams from the previous four cohorts have raised follow-on funding, and one, Holocene, has already exited. “That’s a huge measure of success for us,” she said.

  • ICC Demands Probe of Russia’s Wagner Group Over West Africa Atrocity Allegations

    War Crimes, War‑like Tweets, and the Wagner Group: A Legal Showdown

    What’s the Buzz?

    UC‑Berkeley legal eagles have taken the seat at the International Criminal Court (ICC) courtroom and laid out their case: the Wagner Group is not just a private military outfit, but a potential war‑crime perpetrator that’s using social media to throw its tactical advantage into the political arena.

    Why the ICC Should Care

    • “Their alleged complicity in atrocities” – from human rights violations to outright battlefield carnage.
    • “Weaponisation of social media” – turning hashtags into propaganda, livestreams into psychological warfare.
    • “Public muddying” – the Group’s online presence often carries false narratives that influence international perception.
    Legal Speculation & Emotional Overtones

    Imagine a crew of soldiers playing with deadly palettes and then dancing on Twitter for the world to watch. It’s not just a battle; it’s a war on truth. The scientists and lawyers from UC‑Berkeley, with their sharp, academic edge, are shouting: “You can’t legally separate the battlefield from the digital battlefield!” Their argument is as gripping as a thriller: the line between war crimes and online trolling is thinner than you think.

    Key Takeaways
    • The ICC’s role could extend beyond the physical trenches to the keyboard tides.
    • Above all, it’s a reminder: Modern war is not fought only, but also broadcasted.
    • Let’s keep an eye on how legal frameworks evolve in the age where every tweet can be a weapon.

    Between the gripping legal stakes and the sly digital diplomacy, this case will keep on test‑driving the notion that a battle is as much about pixels as it is about gunfire. Stay tuned, because the stories behind the hashtags could reshape the global war‑crime narrative forever.

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    Legal experts have asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the Russia-linked Wagner Group over alleged war crimes, arguing that it may have breached international rules by sharing images of apparent atrocities in West Africa.
    As the US and France have retreated from the region, Russia has increasingly stepped in, with its mercenaries fighting on the sides of military governments against jihadist fighters in countries including Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. 

    Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group have been accused by Human Rights Watch (HRW) of committing serious abuses against civilians in Mali.
    In a confidential brief obtained exclusively by the Associated Press, experts from the University of California, Berkeley, argue that images and videos of apparent atrocities shared on social media could provide evidence of war crimes — but also that the spreading of this content could in itself constitute a war crime.
    The argument was made on the basis that under the Rome Statute which underpins the ICC, the violation of personal dignity is a war crime. 
    Lindsay Freeman, director of the Technology, Law & Policy programme at UC Berkeley School of Law’s Human Rights Centre, said: “Wagner has deftly leveraged information and communications technologies to cultivate and promote its global brand as ruthless mercenaries. Their Telegram network in particular, which depicts their conduct across the Sahel, serves as a proud public display of their brutality.”

    Torture, mutilation and cannibalism

    Unmasking Violent Video Scandals in West Africa

    Just before the U.S. slapped sanctions on the court, an ICC report slipped in that paints a grim picture of violence in Mali and Burkina Faso. It turns out a shady network—think former Wagner troops turned social‑media operators—has been flooding the internet with “intel” that looks more like a horror show than real journalistic evidence.

    What the Report Says

    • Channels run by ex‑Wagner: Analysts flag these groups as likely led by current or former mercenaries, spreading footage that showcases alleged abuses by armed, uniformed men. The captions? “Dehumanizing language” of the victim type.
    • July boom: A Wagner‑linked Telegram channel reposted three clips that show supposed Mali forces and the local Dozo hunters committing brutal acts tinged with cannibalistic vibes. One clip even has a serviceman cooking up human body parts—yes, you read that right.
    • In Burkina Faso: Another video surfaced on X, featuring a soldier in full combat gear holding a severed hand and foot, cheeky enough to grin with the foot dangling from his teeth. Talk about a “hands‑on” approach.

    Platform Response

    Both videos were swiftly removed from X for violating rules and were then locked behind a paywall on Telegram. The armies in each country denied any involvement, labeling the videos as “rare” atrocities and promising to hunt down those responsible—though whether that hunt actually happened remains a mystery.

    Telegram’s Stance
    • Telegram claims content that encourages violence is explicitly forbidden and gets wiped out as soon as it’s discovered.
    • Moderators wield custom AI and machine‑learning tools to scour public spaces, booting millions of harmful pieces daily.
    • They don’t say if the policy applies to the paywalled sections, so we’re left guessing.
    Rise of the Africa Corps

    After W­agner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin met a tragic end in a 2023 plane crash, Moscow quietly assembled the Africa Corps—a fresh paramilitary faction under tighter Kremlin oversight. Many mercenaries come straight out of the Wagner ranks, making this the successor of a known force, but arguably playing by a stricter playbook.

    ‘Psychologically terrorising civilians’

    UC Berkeley Fires the ICC Up—A New Investigation on the Horizon

    UC Berkeley dropped a bombshell: the ICC is now set to pry into alleged crimes in Mali. The spotlight? Wagner, Mali’s own government (and a dash of Russian influence), from December 2021 to July 2024.

    What’s the drama?

    • Extrajudicial killings that leave no justice trail.
    • Torture, mutilation, and, yeah, cannibalism—the stuff of nightmares.
    • Videos spreading the grisly scenes, turning them into a “new dimension of harm.”
    • Unverified claims of “cannibalistic” acts—chiefly fearmongering and intimidation.
    • Potentially, a chain of psychological terror toward civilian populations.

    A fresh legal angle

    Freeman says this is the first time the ICC has nagged the idea of “outrages on personal dignity” as a war crime. But hey, European courts have already bounced on the same line using social‑media evidence. The precedent is there, and the ICC is wading in!

    Sub‑chapter: “Cannibalism: Rare, yet Powerful”

    Danny Hoffman from the University of Washington admits that actual cannibalistic incidents in Sahel warfare are likely scarce—so rare, in fact, that even historians might shrug. Yet the stories’ power lies elsewhere: in the fascination and fear they trigger. One video can send civilians into a whirlpool of terror, aftermath, and angst.

    Why the videos matter—and what they can do

    • Target enemies of Wagner & its local allies (humiliating, threatening).
    • Spawn psychological terror, creating a broader population response.
    • Can ignite retaliation cycles that feed back into warfare.
    • Fuel extremist recruitment—rewarming the “far‑right” furnace.

    Raw take‑away: They’re unwanted yet potent.

    When war becomes a 24/7 streaming event, the stakes get higher. The ICC’s next move could shape how we perceive–and legislate—war crimes in the digital age.