Latest news with #Krieg
USA Today
5 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Falcons provide update on kicker competition ahead of Titans game
Falcons head coach says Younghoe Koo will get the start vs. the Titans on Friday. The Atlanta Falcons have several position battles worth monitoring over the final two preseason games. One competition that has received plenty of attention throughout training camp is the battle for the team's starting kicker job. Former Pro Bowl kicker Younghoe Koo is the favorite, but the Falcons signed Lenny Krieg following his impressive showing at the NFL Scouting Combine. Koo had a rough season in 2024, playing hurt and missing time due to a leg injury. While Koo has the obvious experience advantage, Krieg has the stronger leg. In Atlanta's preseason opener against the Detroit Lions, Krieg converted a 57-yard field goal but missed his second attempt to finish 1-for-2. Head coach Raheem Morris provided an update on the plan for Friday's preseason game against the Tennessee Titans. After Krieg took all of the reps in the opener, Morris said Koo will handle the kicking duties. Aside from Koo, we wouldn't expect to see many starters on Friday night. Morris has consistently taken a cautious approach to the preseason since taking over as head coach in 2024. On the other hand, the Titans are expected to play the majority of their starters against Atlanta. "Everybody is going to play, similar to last week," Titans head coach Brian Callahan told reporters ahead of Wednesday's joint with the Falcons.
Fox Sports
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Meet Lenny Krieg, a German Native Competing for the Falcons' Kicking Job
Lenny Krieg's strong leg could take him all the way from Germany to the NFL. A former soccer player, Krieg took up football in 2021 during COVID at the suggestion of his older brother, a former football player and current coach in Germany. He watched tutorials on social media to hone his technique and, after playing three seasons in his home country, the 22-year-old Berlin native was picked for the NFL's International Pathway Program. As part of that initiative, which aims to give elite athletes around the world a chance to make NFL rosters, Krieg participated in the Scouting Combine showcase in February. He went 14-for-14 in Indianapolis, kicking from 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 and 55 yards. That led to another solid performance at a pro day in South Florida and, in March, Krieg was signed by the Atlanta Falcons. He enters training camp with the opportunity to compete for the starting kicker job against NFL veteran Younghoe Koo. It may sound like a fairy tale, but it's not so farfetched when you consider that Krieg has made a 73-yard kick in practice. Krieg was one of several young specialists who recently participated in former NFL kicker Nick Novak's annual pro week in San Diego. After nine seasons in the NFL, Novak is now a high school coach, a kicking consultant and a mentor to developmental players. "I've watched Nick's social videos for a long time and it's almost like a dream coming true, a full-circle moment for me to be here with these guys," Krieg told me at the camp. "It's beneficial for me to integrate some of the things I've learned here into my process, figure out what works for me and what doesn't. So it's really valuable." Krieg has a legitimate shot to win the starting job over Koo, who is scheduled to make $4.25 million in 2025, making him the fourth-highest-paid kicker in the league. Koo, who turns 31 in August, made just 73.5% of his field-goal attempts last season, his lowest percentage since his rookie season with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2017, when he made just 50% and lost the job after four games. In Week 10 last season, Koo missed three kicks in a 20-17 loss to the New Orleans Saints. He dealt with a hip injury for much of the season, which eventually landed him on IR in Week 16. After the Falcons lost six of their last eight games and missed the playoffs, however, coach Raheem Morris cited kicking as one of the issues. "We missed entirely too many kicks this year," Morris said in January. "The brutal honest truth — that can't happen. So, we got to find ways to make those kicks. That certainly plays into the part of not winning the amount of games you want to win. We got to find ways to create that competition across the board for all of us." The Falcons created that competition by signing Krieg to a three-year deal, which shows that Atlanta is invested in him. Koo is reportedly healthy now, so this could be one of the more interesting camp battles to watch. "There's 32 jobs in the league, and my job is to just perform to my level and improve every day," Krieg said when asked how he'll handle the competition with Koo. "And whatever happens, happens. I try to control what I can control, and whatever is out of my control is just something that's going to happen." What just might be in Krieg's control is that a talented but raw prospect from Berlin, who learned to kick an American football on YouTube, could soon be a starting kicker in the NFL. Photo courtesy of Nicole Noel Photography. Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on X at @eric_d_williams. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account , and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! recommended Item 1 of 3 Get more from the National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
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First Post
14-06-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Fractured front: Why Iran's key allies Hezbollah and Iraqi militias stayed quiet after Israel's strike
Hezbollah has long been considered Iran's first line of defense in case of a war with Israel. But since Israel launched its massive barrage against Iran this week, the Lebanese militant group has stayed out of the fray. read more When Israel launched a sweeping assault on Iran last week, employing warplanes, drones and covert assets to strike nuclear and military targets, the absence of a robust response from Iran's closest regional allies raised eyebrows across West Asia. Hezbollah in Lebanon, often referred to as Iran's first line of defence in any confrontation with Israel, remained conspicuously silent. So too did powerful Iran-backed militias in Iraq, even as Israel allegedly used Iraqi airspace in part to conduct its attacks. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD According to Andreas Krieg, a military analyst and associate professor at King's College London, Hezbollah has suffered significant strategic degradation. 'Hezbollah has been degraded on the strategic level while cut off from supply chains in Syria,' Krieg told AP. The fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a vital conduit for Iranian arms, during a lightning rebel offensive in December, further weakened Hezbollah's capacity to act. The Iraqi militias, meanwhile, have grown more politically and economically embedded in Baghdad's government. Unlike Hezbollah, whose military arm operates independently despite its political presence in Lebanon's parliament, many Iraqi militias are officially part of the state's defence structure. 'Things in Iraq are good for them right now, they're connected to the state – they're benefitting politically, economically,' Renad Mansour, a senior research fellow at the Chatham House think tank, told AP. 'And also they've seen what's happened to Iran, to Hezbollah and they're concerned that Israel will turn on them as well.' Both Hezbollah and the Iraqi militias have issued condemnations. Hezbollah's leader Naim Kassem criticised Israel's strikes and mourned the deaths of senior Iranian officers. But he did not indicate that the group would retaliate. Similarly, Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah distinct from Lebanon's Hezbollah, called it 'deeply regrettable' that Israeli jets may have used Iraqi airspace, and demanded the removal of 'hostile forces' (i.e., US troops) from Iraq. Yet no threats of force accompanied the statement. The strategic caution may stem from the heavy toll Hezbollah suffered in its recent war with Israel. Following Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli offensive in Gaza, Hezbollah launched rockets in support of its Palestinian ally. This escalated into a full-scale conflict last September in which Israel killed then-leader Hassan Nasrallah, eliminated top Hezbollah commanders, and destroyed much of its arsenal. The fighting only ceased after a US-brokered truce in November, but Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon have persisted. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD At its peak, Hezbollah was estimated to possess some 150,000 rockets and missiles. Nasrallah once claimed it had 100,000 fighters. But the group's recent losses and logistical constraints have made its role in future conflict less assured. Many Hezbollah members, according to Krieg, feel they were 'sacrificed for Iran's greater regional interests' and are now more inclined to pursue 'Lebanon-centric' priorities. The perception that Iranian-backed groups act purely on Tehran's orders has eroded. 'It is not really an axis anymore as (much as) a loose network where everyone largely is occupied with its own survival,' Krieg told AP. Yemen's Houthi rebels, also aligned with Iran, have continued sporadic missile attacks against Israel and shipping vessels in the Red Sea. But Krieg noted they 'lack the strategic deep strike capability against Israel that Hezbollah once had.' Still, Qassem Qassir, a Lebanese analyst close to Hezbollah, said the group's involvement cannot be completely ruled out. 'This depends on political and field developments,' he told AP. 'Anything is possible.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The muted responses come amid growing regional unease after Israel's deadly retaliation for Iran's drone and missile attacks. Israel said its strikes, which killed 78 and injured more than 320 people according to Iran's U.N. ambassador, were necessary to prevent Iran from nearing a nuclear weapons capability, though US intelligence assessments reportedly indicated Iran was not actively building a bomb at the time. Israel has warned of further strikes and continues to occupy parts of southern Lebanon while conducting near-daily airstrikes. The heightened tension has thrown upcoming nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington into uncertainty just days before their scheduled meeting. The long and complex history between Iran and Israel—once friends, then covert allies, now sworn enemies—makes the stakes even higher. But for now, Iran's most dependable partners in the region seem unwilling, or unable, to enter the fray.
TechCrunch
04-06-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
From $5 to financial empowerment: Why Stash co-founder Brandon Krieg is a must-see at TechCrunch All Stage 2025
Startup life is tough — funding rounds, team building, and managing finances can feel like trying to solve a Rubik's Cube blindfolded. That's exactly why TechCrunch All Stage 2025 exists: to give founders like you the tools, tactics, and real talk from those who've been through it and built something lasting. If there's one session you won't want to miss, it's with Brandon Krieg, co-CEO and co-founder of Stash. He'll join us on July 15 at the SoWa Power Station in Boston to discuss how technology has made it possible for anyone — not just the wealthy — to become an investor. And to make it even easier to attend, we're offering savings of up to $210 on your ticket — plus extra discounts when you bring a group of four or more. Register now before rates increase. Image Credits:TechCrunch Why is Krieg speaking at TC All Stage? Because he didn't just build a fintech company — he built a movement. Krieg and co-founder Ed Robinson launched Stash in 2015 with a bold, inclusive idea: that anyone should be able to start investing with as little as $5. Fast-forward to today, and Stash has helped millions of Americans take control of their financial futures. And he's not done yet. At TC All Stage, Krieg will pull back the curtain on: Launching StashWorks, the company's new community-driven workspace for financial growth. The creation of Stash's AI Money Coach, a tool to help users make more efficient money moves. His founder journey — from building EdgeTrade (acquired by Knight Capital) to heading electronic execution at Macquarie Securities. How to scale a fintech startup without losing your mission-driven core. This isn't theoretical fluff. It's hard-won insight from a founder who's helped change how Americans interact with their money. Techcrunch event Save now through June 4 for TechCrunch Sessions: AI Save $300 on your ticket to TC Sessions: AI—and get 50% off a second. Hear from leaders at OpenAI, Anthropic, Khosla Ventures, and more during a full day of expert insights, hands-on workshops, and high-impact networking. These low-rate deals disappear when the doors open on June 5. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | REGISTER NOW Get your front-row seat to real startup stories TechCrunch All Stage is where founders go to get unstuck. Whether you're wrestling with product-market fit, scaling your team, or figuring out how to pitch your company without sounding like a robot — TC All Stage has a session for you. From deep-dive founder workshops to unfiltered panel discussions, TC All Stage is built for one thing: giving you and your team the unfair advantage of learning directly from founders and experts like Krieg. Image Credits:Halo Creative TechCrunch All Stage tickets are moving swiftly All that said, low ticket rates won't last forever, and the opportunity to hear from leaders like Krieg are limited. So if you're serious about building a startup that learns from the best and brightest, this is your moment. Buy your TC All Stage tickets now and get ready to level up your leadership, your product, and your impact.
National Observer
20-05-2025
- Business
- National Observer
How robots and AI are building the future of construction
The future residents of 230 Royal York Drive will be able to say their home was built by robots. The nine-storey housing development in Toronto's west end is being built by Intelligent City: a BC-based construction design and technology company specializing in prefabricated mass timber buildings. Intelligent City uses AI software to design and optimize its projects, and robotic arms to actually put the pieces together. 'The more standardized things are, the easier they are to mass produce — and the more custom things are, the slower you are in production,' Intelligent City president Oliver David Krieg told Canada's National Observer. 'You have to find a middle ground, and that's where automation comes in; that's where robots come in,' he added. Intelligent City is one of a growing number of Canadian companies harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to make the construction industry more efficient and sustainable — at a time when the sector needs to build 3.5 million new units by 2030 to ease the national housing crisis. Intelligent City's design and manufacturing facility in Delta, BC, is home to a series of AI-powered machines programmed for various tasks, such as applying glue, screws, and nails. 'You can program the robots to basically repeat the same logic, but always with a slightly different variation to it,' Krieg said, explaining that machines programmed to apply glue to specific timber shapes can be reprogrammed for different configurations. 'Robots don't have to do the same thing over and over again. They can change what they do, and they don't care.' The components are then shipped to the construction site to be assembled (by humans, at least for now) into a building's structure. 'We wanted to make it easier and faster and a little bit more standardized for how we design and deliver housing, especially in urban centres, where we saw the most need and the biggest opportunity,' Krieg said. 'A lot faster' Aside from the quirky bragging rights of living in a robot-built apartment, the residents at 230 Royal York Drive — which is slated for completion by the end of the year — will also be able to boast that their home was made sustainably. Using mass timber instead of steel or concrete can reportedly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 13 to 26 per cent. And because it's made from trees, the theory goes, it stores carbon that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. Though it should be noted that the jury's still out on whether or not that last point checks out in practice. Still, mass timber is naturally fire safe: instead of going up in flames, it chars like a thick log, helping the building retain its structural integrity. And it's sturdy in an earthquake, which might explain why the BC government has extended the cap on the earthquake-prone province's mass timber buildings from 12 storeys to 18, opening the door for companies like Intelligent City to scale up. Prefabricated homes cut down on building time by an estimated 30 to 50 per cent, since so many key components can be created offsite in a controlled environment that's not at the mercy of the weather. It's a key plank in Prime Minister Mark Carney's plan to double housing construction to 500,000 units a year. 'If you want to accelerate construction, if you want to make construction more productive, more efficient, and ultimately, higher quality, you take it into a factory,' Krieg said. 'You reduce onsite work and you increase the offsite work, and that makes it go a lot faster.' Data tracking 'AI has seen huge progress; capabilities are going up exponentially, and every day we're seeing new use cases,' said Wyatt Tessari L'Allié, spokesperson for Canada's Coalition for Responsible AI. One advantage is its ability to integrate data from sources like satellites, sensors or drones, he said. 'AI can be used to go through a lot of information and catch issues. And then once products are finished, a lot more efficiencies can be found in terms of energy use.' On the latter point, Montreal's BrainBox AI uses machine learning to monitor and coordinate building heating and cooling systems. Inspired by autonomous technology found in self-driving cars, BrainBox AI's exclusive AI combines a building's HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) data with external factors like weather, utility rate structures, and occupancy to learn its individual patterns and needs. From there it goes into autonomous mode, making decisions — like turning on a fan, a pump, or a heater — in real time. 'That may sound niche, but in terms of energy consumption — especially on a global basis — it's one of the biggest categories out there,' BrainBox AI CEO Sam Ramadori said. 'Therefore it's one of the biggest emitters out there. So our focus is optimizing the systems while they're running.' While it varies per building, Ramadori said integrating BrainBox AI's tech usually sees an HVAC energy reduction between 13 and 25 per cent. What sweetens the deal, he added, is that there's no big investment required, either. Instead of the hefty expenses associated with constant system changes or reprogramming — or hiring a team of people to come and evaluate a building's efficiency, which can take weeks — BrainBox AI taps into a building's existing HVAC control system and instantly starts to feed its data to servers. In newer builds, that connectivity happens with no physical installation at all: a software driver is simply downloaded into the building's system. Where that's not possible, an edge device around the size of a laptop is installed to connect the control system to the servers. It's all about scalability. After all, air conditioning alone accounts for nearly four per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. 'A big mission of BrainBox is to solve the emissions that buildings generate,' Ramadori said. 'We wanted to scale fast, and scaling fast means plugging into buildings that are already there.' The company's technology is used in over 15,000 buildings globally, primarily in the US, but also in Canada, Australia, Europe and the Middle East. Its success led to its acquisition by Trane Technologies, a Dublin-based sustainable tech firm, in January. BrainBox will remain headquartered in Montreal, using the city as a base for reaching into new markets. 'Montreal and Toronto are two major AI hubs globally,' Ramadori said. 'There is a lot of interest in the team and how it continues to innovate. So they [Trane] are definitely interested in continuing to invest in the team based in Montreal.' Waste less water BrainBox AI isn't the only Canadian company focused on being easily grafted on to new or existing buildings. Vancouver-based Orca Water produces ultrasonic water meters and AI-driven sensors to track and understand a building's water usage. 'We started with the idea that water should be able to be measured anywhere it is used,' CEO Kerry Chin said. 'We know that's not the case right now. And we wanted to do this in a non-intrusive way, meaning you don't need to cut the pipe to put a measurement device inside.' Orca Water's sensors are attached to the outside of a pipe, and use high-frequency sound to measure water flow. From there, machine learning is used to analyze and understand water usage, identifying trends (such as where the majority of a building's consumption is coming from, be it the shower or the garden) and problems (which can be crucial in helping spot leaks before they turn into floods). This is especially useful when applied to a multi-unit building, allowing individual tenants to better understand their own water waste. 'Typically, buildings are not piped to support individual metering — they are just piped to support whatever is convenient for construction,' Chin said. 'You can't tell which user or which tenant or which business is using what, because everything is connected. That affects conservation, because if you can't measure an individual unit's usage, you can't give people data to help them do better.' Like BrainBox AI, Orca Water is primarily targeting existing multi-tenant buildings, because that's where the team feels they can affect the quickest change. Many of the company's customers are in Canada, though it does have an eco hotel in Austria that's currently using its technology. AI challenges The integration of AI does not come without concerns. The rare elements used to create AI-powering microchips are mined in ways that can take an ugly toll on the environment in the Global South. Even just training an AI model can use thousands of megawatt hours of electricity and generate hundreds of tons of carbon dioxide. Still, Tessari L'Allié said the construction sector doesn't have to worry just yet. 'In terms of the use cases for construction, I would be surprised if they're past energy intensive,' he said. 'That could change. But in the context of the construction industry, I think it's mostly beneficial [to use AI].' Another big fear is that machine learning will replace jobs, rendering humans obsolete. And in some industries, that threat is very real (just look at all of the consumer brands using ChatGPT as their copywriters). But when it comes to the construction sector, the issue isn't a lack of jobs — it's a lack of labour. An RBC report predicted more than 500,000 new construction workers are needed to build millions of new homes by 2030. At the same time, the construction industry could see up to 250,000 workers — particularly labourers and carpenters — retire. That's where AI is not just helpful, but necessary. Javier Glatt, co-founder and CEO at CadMakers, calls himself a 'techno optimist' on that front. CadMakers is a construction technology company that creates digital twins of future building projects, helping designers identify problems and inefficiencies before construction actually starts. The software doesn't utilize AI, but Glatt still believes in its value. 'In the construction industry, generally speaking, over the last few years, we haven't had enough people to do the jobs,' he said. 'We can't get enough people to do all the things we need to do.' Given that, AI can be a powerful tool not just for sustainability, but for economic growth – especially in a housing crisis. 'AI saves people time; it supercharges productivity,' Glatt said. 'So I think it's going to be net positive.'
