The recent popularity of tools like ChatGPT has led to hype around the use of AI based on language models: at last, computers seem to understand people and provide answers that are useful to us. At least, these answers sound convincing, if not always verifiable. Is AI reliable enough for application in the bio-based industries? Can it actually make processes more efficient? And does it really lead to new insights, or are we dealing with an automated parrot that repeats past results?

Some 40 entrepreneurs and almost twice as many investors attended the two-day Tech Tour Circular event on 24 and 25 April, organised by Tech Tour, the Bio-based Industries Consortium and Green Chem network of Ghent University, in cooperation with the City of Ghent (Belgium). The event started on the evening of 24 April with a networking dinner at the Ghent city hall and was followed on 25 April by a productive day of pitches and presentations.

The demand for sustainable and circular alternatives to fossil raw materials offers opportunities for the European biobased industry. This also applies to Central and Eastern European countries, where the development of biobased activities has been lagging behind those in Western Europe. Recently updated country reports on the biobased industry in Romania and Poland underline the huge opportunities in these countries, where untapped potential is waiting to be explored and exploited.