The Download: America’s gun crisis, and how AI video models work

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

We can’t “make American children healthy again” without tackling the gun crisis

This week, the Trump administration released a strategy for improving the health and well-being of American children. The report was titled—you guessed it—Make Our Children Healthy Again. It suggests American children should be eating more healthily. And they should be getting more exercise.

But there’s a glaring omission. The leading cause of death for American children and teenagers isn’t ultraprocessed food or exposure to some chemical. It’s gun violence. 

This week’s news of yet more high-profile shootings at schools in the US throws this disconnect into even sharper relief. Experts believe it is time to treat gun violence in the US as what it is: a public health crisis. Read the full story.

—Jessica Hamzelou

This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here.

How do AI models generate videos?

It’s been a big year for video generation. In the last nine months OpenAI made Sora public, Google DeepMind launched Veo 3, and the video startup Runway launched Gen-4. All can produce video clips that are (almost) impossible to distinguish from actual filmed footage or CGI animation.

The downside is that creators are competing with AI slop, and social media feeds are filling up with faked news footage. Video generation also uses up a huge amount of energy, many times more than text or image generation.

With AI-generated videos everywhere, let’s take a moment to talk about the tech that makes them work. Read the full story.

—Will Douglas Heaven

This article is part of MIT Technology Review Explains, our series untangling the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next. You can read more from the series here.

Meet our 2025 Innovator of the Year: Sneha Goenka

Up to a quarter of children entering intensive care have undiagnosed genetic conditions. To be treated properly, they must first get diagnoses—which means having their genomes sequenced. This process typically takes up to seven weeks. Sadly, that’s often too slow to save a critically ill child.

Hospitals may soon have a faster option, thanks to a groundbreaking system built in part by Sneha Goenka, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Princeton—and MIT Technology Review’s 2025 Innovator of the Year. Read all about Goenka and her work in this profile.

—Helen Thomson

As well as our Innovator of the Year, Goenka is one of the biotech honorees on our 35 Innovators Under 35 list for 2025. Meet the rest of our biotech and materials science innovators, and the full list here. 

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 OpenAI and Microsoft have agreed a revised deal
But haven’t actually revealed any details of said deal. (Axios)
+ The news comes as OpenAI keeps pursuing its for-profit pivot. (Ars Technica)
+ The world’s largest startup is going to need more paying users soon. (WSJ $)

2 A child has died from a measles complication in Los Angeles
They had contracted the virus before they were old enough to be vaccinated. (Ars Technica)
+ Infants are best protected by community immunity. (LA Times $)
+ They’d originally recovered from measles before developing the condition. (CNN)
+ Why childhood vaccines are a public health success story. (MIT Technology Review)

3 Ukrainian drone attacks triggered internet blackouts in Russia
The Kremlin cut internet access in a bid to thwart the mobile-guided drones. (FT $)
+ The UK is poised to mass-produce drones to aid Ukraine. (Sky News)
+ On the ground in Ukraine’s largest Starlink repair shop. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Demis Hasabis says AI may slash drug discovery time to under a year
Or perhaps even faster. (Bloomberg $)
+ But there’s good reason to be skeptical of that claim. (FT $)
+ An AI-driven “factory of drugs” claims to have hit a big milestone. (MIT Technology Review)

5 How chatbots alter how we think
We shouldn’t outsource our critical thinking to them. (Undark)
+ AI companies have stopped warning you that their chatbots aren’t doctors. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Fraudsters are threatening small businesses with one-star reviews
Online reviews can make or break fledgling enterprises, and scammers know it. (NYT $)

7 Why humanoid robots aren’t taking off any time soon
The industry has a major hype problem. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ Chinese tech giant Ant Group showed off its own humanoid machine. (The Verge)
+ Why the humanoid workforce is running late. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster are suing Perplexity
In yet another case of alleged copyright infringement. (Reuters)
+ What comes next for AI copyright lawsuits? (MIT Technology Review)

9 Where we’re most likely to find extraterrestrial life in the next decade
Warning: Hollywood may have given us unrealistic expectations. (BBC)

10 Want to build a trillion-dollar company?
Then kiss your social life goodbye. (WSJ $)

Quote of the day

“Nooooo I’m going to have to use my brain again and write 100% of my code like a caveman from December 2024.”

—A Hacker News commenter jokes about a service outage that left Anthropic users unable to access its AI coding tools, Ars Technica reports.

One more thing

What Africa needs to do to become a major AI player

Africa is still early in the process of adopting AI technologies. But researchers say the continent is uniquely hospitable to it for several reasons, including a relatively young and increasingly well-educated population, a rapidly growing ecosystem of AI startups, and lots of potential consumers.

However, ambitious efforts to develop AI tools that answer the needs of Africans face numerous hurdles. Read our story to learn what they are, and how they could be overcome.

—Abdullahi Tsanni

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)

+ The fascinating, unexpected origins of everyone’s favorite pastime—karaoke.
+ Why the Twilight juggernaut just refuses to die.
+ If you’re among the mass of excited Hollow Knight fans, here’s a few tips to get through the early stages of the new Silksong game.
+ A sloe gin bramble pie sounds like the perfect way to welcome fall.

The Download: Trump’s impact on science, and meet our climate and energy honorees

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

How Trump’s policies are affecting early-career scientists—in their own words

Every year MIT Technology Review celebrates accomplished young scientists, entrepreneurs, and inventors from around the world in our Innovators Under 35 list. We’ve just published the 2025 edition. This year, though, the context is different: The US scientific community is under attack.

Since Donald Trump took office in January, his administration has fired top government scientists, targeted universities and academia, and made substantial funding cuts to the country’s science and technology infrastructure.

We asked our six most recent cohorts about both positive and negative impacts of the administration’s new policies. Their responses provide a glimpse into the complexities of building labs, companies, and careers in today’s political climate. Read the full story.

—Eileen Guo & Amy Nordrum

This story is part of MIT Technology Review’s “America Undone” series, examining how the foundations of US success in science and innovation are currently under threat. You can read the rest here.

This Ethiopian entrepreneur is reinventing ammonia production

In the small town in Ethiopia where he grew up, Iwnetim Abate’s family had electricity, but it was unreliable. So, for several days each week when they were without power, Abate would finish his homework by candlelight.

Growing up without the access to electricity that many people take for granted shaped the way Abate thinks about energy issues. Today, the 32-year old is an assistant professor at MIT in the department of materials science and engineering. 

Part of his research focuses on sodium-ion batteries, which could be cheaper than the lithium-based ones that typically power electric vehicles and grid installations. He’s also pursuing a new research path, examining how to harness the heat and pressure under the Earth’s surface to make ammonia, a chemical used in fertilizer and as a green fuel. Read the full story.

—Casey Crownhart

Abate is one of the climate and energy honorees on our 35 Innovators Under 35 list for 2025. Meet the rest of our climate and energy innovators here, and the full list—including our innovator of the year—here. 

Texas banned lab-grown meat. What’s next for the industry?

Last week, a legal battle over lab-grown meat kicked off in Texas. On September 1, a two-year ban on the technology went into effect across the state; the following day, two companies filed a lawsuit against state officials.

The two companies, Wildtype Foods and Upside Foods, are part of a growing industry that aims to bring new types of food to people’s plates. These products, often called cultivated meat by the industry, take live animal cells and grow them in the lab to make food products without the need to slaughter animals.

Texas joins six other US states and the country of Italy in banning these products—adding barriers to an industry that’s still in its infancy, and already faces plenty of challenges before it can reach consumers in a meaningful way. Read the full story.

—Casey Crownhart

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 Videos of Charlie Kirk’s shooting are everywhere on social media
It demonstrates just how poorly equipped platforms are to stop the spread of violent material. (NYT $)
+ Why social media can’t get on top of its graphic video problem. (NY Mag $)
+ Here’s how platforms say they’ll treat the videos. (The Verge)
+ Far-right communities reacted to Kirk’s murder by calling for more violence. (Wired $)

2 NASA has uncovered the clearest sign of life on Mars to date
Some unusual rocks may have been formed by ancient microbes. (WP $)
+ Scientists are very excited by the possibility they were created by living organisms. (New Scientist $)

3 A California bill to regulate AI companion chatbots is close to passing
It would become the first US state to make chatbot operators legally accountable. (TechCrunch)
+ Wall Street is only now starting to worry about “AI psychosis.” (Insider $)
+ AI companions are the final stage of digital addiction, and lawmakers are taking aim. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Larry Ellison briefly overtook Elon Musk as the world’s richest person
His firm Oracle reported far better-than expected results. (The Guardian)
+ Oracle is riding high on a surge of demand for its data centers. (BBC)
+ But its continued success will depend on its ability to deliver promised hardware. (FT $)

5 The ousted CDC director is set to testify before the US Senate
RFK Jr repeatedly called Susan Monarez a liar during a hearing last week. (Ars Technica)
+ The backlash to Kennedy’s actions is intensifying. (NY Mag $)

6 A new system can pinpoint the best spot to hit an asteroid
Making destroying them a whole lot safer, in theory. (New Scientist $)
+ Meet the researchers testing the “Armageddon” approach to asteroid defense. (MIT Technology Review)

7 Saudi Arabia is building some of the world’s biggest solar farms
It needs plenty more electricity for its new resorts and data centers. (WSJ $)
+ AI is changing the grid. Could it help more than it harms? (MIT Technology Review)

8 CRISPR could help to combat diabetes
Scientists successfully implanted insulin-producing edited cells into a man’s pancreas. (Wired $)
+ A US court just put ownership of CRISPR back in play. (MIT Technology Review)

9 How to save oyster reefs
Conservation projects are helping to rebuild destroyed populations. (Knowable Magazine)
+ How the humble sea creature could hold the key to restoring coastal waters. (MIT Technology Review)

10 Bluesky is not as fun as it should be
It fosters a culture of reactionary scolding that’s driving some users back to X. (New Yorker $)

Quote of the day

“For the love of God and Charlie’s family, just stop.”

—A poster on X begs fellow social media users to stop sharing images and videos of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s murder online, the Associated Press reports.

One more thing

This giant microwave may change the future of war

Imagine: China deploys hundreds of thousands of autonomous drones in the air, on the sea, and under the water—all armed with explosive warheads or small missiles. These machines descend in a swarm toward military installations on Taiwan and nearby US bases, and over the course of a few hours, a single robotic blitzkrieg overwhelms the US Pacific force before it can even begin to fight back.

The proliferation of cheap drones means just about any group with the wherewithal to assemble and launch a swarm could wreak havoc, no expensive jets or massive missile installations required.

The US armed forces are now hunting for a solution—and they want it fast. One of these is microwaves: high-powered electronic devices that push out kilowatts of power to zap the circuits of a drone as if it were the tinfoil you forgot to take off your leftovers when you heated them up. Read the full story.

—Sam Dean

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)

+ They’ve finally done it—the Stephen King novel they claimed was impossible to adapt is coming to the big screen.
+ Do you have more zucchinis than you know what to do with? This tasty bread is one solution.
+ How The Penguin’s production designers transformed NYC into spooky, dirty Gotham.
+ This fascinating website shows you what today’s date looks like on dozens of different calendars and clocks.

The Download: AI’s energy future

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

Video: AI and our energy future

In May, MIT Technology Review published an unprecedented and comprehensive look at how much energy the AI industry uses—down to a single query. Our reporters and editors traced where AI’s carbon footprint stands now, and where it’s headed, as AI barrels towards billions of daily users.

We’ve just produced a short video to accompany that investigation. You can read the original full story here, and check out—and share— the full video on YouTube here.

AI is changing the grid. Could it help more than it harms?

The rising popularity of AI is driving an increase in electricity demand so significant it has the potential to reshape the grid. Energy consumption by data centers has gone up by 80% from 2020 to 2025 and is likely to keep growing. Electricity prices are already rising, especially in places where data centers are most concentrated. 

Yet many people, especially in Big Tech, argue that AI will be, on balance, a positive force for the grid. They claim that the technology could help get more clean power online faster, run our power system more efficiently, and predict and prevent failures that cause blackouts. How much merit is there to that argument?

—Casey Crownhart

Three big things we still don’t know about AI’s energy burden

—James O’Donnell

Earlier this year, when my colleague Casey Crownhart and I spent six months researching the climate and energy burden of AI, we came to see one number in particular as our white whale: how much energy the leading AI models, like ChatGPT or Gemini, use up when generating a single response. 

We pestered Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft, but each company refused to provide its figure for our article. But then this summer, after we published, a strange thing started to happen. They finally started to release the numbers we’d been calling for.

So with this newfound transparency, is our job complete? Did we finally harpoon our white whale? I reached out to some of our old sources, and some new ones, to find out. Read the full story.

MIT Technology Review Narrated: Google DeepMind has a new way to look inside an AI’s “mind”

We don’t know exactly how AI works, or why it works so well. That’s a problem: It could lead us to deploy an AI system in a highly sensitive field like medicine without understanding its critical flaws.But a team at Google DeepMind that studies something called mechanistic interpretability has been working on new ways to let us peer under the hood. 

This is our latest story to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we’re publishing each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 Meta suppressed research into the harms young users face in VR
Two former employees told a Senate committee the firm did it to avoid regulatory scrutiny. (WP $)

2 The MAGA movement is full of AI skeptics
But the White House is ditching regulatory obstacles and trying to accelerate AI’s adoption. (FT $)

3 Pfizer says its new covid vaccine boosts immune responses fourfold
If you can get one, that is. (Ars Technica)
+ Americans who can’t access a booster are increasingly fearful. (The Guardian)
+ Vaccine guidance is incredibly confusing these days. (Vox)
+ Why limited access to covid vaccines isn’t all bad. (MIT Technology Review)

4 The EU will examine banning social media for under-16s
Following governments across Europe pushing for mandatory age restrictions. (Bloomberg $)

5 RFK Jr is going all-in on ChatGPT
All US health department employees have been given access to the tool. (404 Media)
+ Humans may be more likely to believe disinformation generated by AI. (MIT Technology Review)

6 An “AI-supported” coder won in a man vs machine hackathon 
But AI tools seem to slow down some experienced human developers. (Wired $)
+ The second wave of AI coding is here. (MIT Technology Review)

7 Mark Zuckerberg is suing Meta
No, not that Mark Zuckerberg. (NYT $)
+ The bankruptcy lawyer is fed up with being mistaken for him. (The Guardian)

8 Apple’s new AirPods can translate languages in real time
Via a robotic voice in your ear. (Ars Technica)
+ A new AI translation system for headphones clones multiple voices simultaneously. (MIT Technology Review)

9 AI is threatening Latin America’s diverse music scenes
Fake songs are flooding streaming platforms and depriving artists of an income. (Rest of World)
+ How Pandora fumbled its streaming lead. (Fast Company $)
+ How to break free of Spotify’s algorithm. (MIT Technology Review)

10 Auction house Christie’s is axing its digital art division
But don’t worry—it’ll still sell you NFTs. (Cointelegraph)
+ I tried to buy an Olive Garden NFT. All I got was heartburn. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“If you don’t lay the groundwork culturally for bringing in these stars, you’re going to end up burning a bunch of them out and pissing them off, and a bunch of them are going to quit and you’re going to waste millions of dollars.”

—Laszlo Bock, a tech industry adviser and former head of people operations at Google, points out where Meta’s AI division is going wrong to the Wall Street Journal.

One more thing

The $100 billion bet that a postindustrial US city can reinvent itself as a high-tech hub

On a day in late April 2023, a small drilling rig sits at the edge of the scrubby overgrown fields of Syracuse, New York, taking soil samples. It’s the first sign of construction on what could become the largest semiconductor manufacturing facility in the United States.

The CHIPS and Science Act was widely viewed by industry leaders and politicians as a way to secure supply chains, and make the United States competitive again in semiconductor chip manufacturing. 

Now Syracuse is about to become an economic test of whether, over the next several decades, aggressive government policies—and the massive corporate investments they spur—can both boost the country’s manufacturing prowess and revitalize neglected parts of the country. Read the full story.

—David Rotman

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)

+ This 1981 Sony Trinitron TV is the last word in luxury.
+ It’s not just you—as we age, we really do become less adventurous musically.
+ It appears as though our human ancestors hibernated—but weren’t very good at it.
+ Did renowned painter Vermeer duplicate his own painting? You be the judge.

The Download: meet our AI innovators, and what happens when therapists use AI covertly

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

Meet the AI honorees on our 35 Innovators Under 35 list for 2025

Each year, we select 35 outstanding individuals under the age of 35 who are using technology to tackle tough problems in their respective fields.

Our AI honorees include people who steer model development at Silicon Valley’s biggest tech firms and academic researchers who develop new techniques to improve AI’s performance.

Check out all of our AI innovators here, and the full list—including our innovator of the year—here.

How Yichao “Peak” Ji became a global AI app hitmaker

When Yichao Ji—also known as “Peak”—appeared in a launch video for Manus in March, he didn’t expect it to go viral. Speaking in fluent English, the 32-year-old introduced the AI agent built by Chinese startup Butterfly Effect, where he serves as chief scientist. 

The video was not an elaborate production but something about Ji’s delivery, and the vision behind the product, cut through the noise. The product, then still an early preview available only through invite codes, spread across the Chinese internet to the world in a matter of days. Within a week of its debut, Manus had attracted a waiting list of around 2 million people.

Despite his relative youth, Ji has over a decade of experience building products that merge technical complexity with real-world usability. That earned him credibility—and put him at the forefront of a rising class of Chinese technologists with global ambitions. Read the full story.

—Caiwei Chen

Help! My therapist is secretly using ChatGPT

In Silicon Valley’s imagined future, AI models are so empathetic that we’ll use them as therapists. They’ll provide mental-health care for millions, unimpeded by the pesky requirements for human counselors, like the need for graduate degrees, malpractice insurance, and sleep. Down here on Earth, something very different has been happening. 

Last week, we published a story about people finding out that their therapists were secretly using ChatGPT during sessions. In some cases it wasn’t subtle; one therapist accidentally shared his screen during a virtual appointment, allowing the patient to see his own private thoughts being typed into ChatGPT in real time.

As the writer of the story, Laurie Clarke, points out, it’s not a total pipe dream that AI could be therapeutically useful. But the secretive use by therapists of AI models that are not vetted for mental health is something very different. James O’Donnell, our senior AI reporter, had a conversation with Clarke to hear more about what she found.

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here.

What’s next in tech: the breakthroughs that matter

Some technologies reshape industries, whether we’re ready or not.

Join us for our next LinkedIn Live event on September 10 as our editorial team explores the breakthroughs defining this moment and the ones on the horizon that demand our attention. 

From quantum computing to humanoid robotics, AI agents to climate tech, we’ll explore the innovations that excite us, the challenges they may bring, and why they’re worth watching now. It kicks off at 12.30pm ET tomorrow—register here to join us.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 The US is abandoning its international push against disinformation 
The State Department will no longer collaborate with Europe to combat malicious information spread by foreign governments. (FT $)
+ It comes as Russia is increasing its efforts to interfere overseas. (NYT $)

2 The judge overseeing Anthropic’s copyright case isn’t happy
Judge William Alsup says a $1.5 billion out-of-court settlement may not be in the authors’ best interests. (Bloomberg $)

3 WhatsApp’s former head of security is suing Meta
Attaullah Baig is accusing the company of failing to protect user data. (WP $)
+ He claims he uncovered systemic security failures, but was ignored. (Bloomberg $)
+ Meta maintains that Baig was dismissed for poor performance, not whistleblowing. (NYT $)

4 DOGE’s acting head is urging the US government to start hiring again 
Following months of widespread firings and resignations. (Fast Company $)
+ How DOGE wreaked havoc in Social Security. (ProPublica)
+ DOGE’s tech takeover threatens the safety and stability of our critical data. (MIT Technology Review)

5 OpenAI is weighing up leaving California
It’s worried that state regulators could derail its efforts to convert to a for-profit entity. (WSJ $)
+ Rival Anthropic is backing California governor Gavin Newsom’s AI bill. (Politico)

6 ICE spends millions on facial recognition tech
In an effort to pinpoint people it suspects have assaulted officers. (404 Media)
+ The Supreme Court has given ICE the go-ahead to target people based on race. (Vox)
+ ICE directors were told to triple their daily arrests for undocumented immigrants. (NY Mag $)

7 AI researchers are training AI to replace them
They’re recording every detail of their working days to help AI grasp their jobs. (The Information $)
+ People are worried that AI will take everyone’s jobs. We’ve been here before. (MIT Technology Review)

8 What comes after the smartphone?
The rise of AI agents means we may not be staring at glass slabs forever. (NYT $)
+ What’s next for smart glasses. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Social media’s obsession with ‘locking in’ needs to die
Hustle culture and maximizing productivity at all costs are the aims of the game. (Insider $)

10 What it’s like to receive a massage from a robot
While it may not be quite as relaxing, it’s relatively cheap. (The Guardian)
+ Will we ever trust robots? (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“It was hell on Earth.”

—Duncan Okindo, who was enslaved in a Myanmar cyberscam compound and beaten for missing his targets, tells the Guardian about his harrowing experience.

One more thing

AI means the end of internet search as we’ve known it

We all know what it means, colloquially, to google something. You pop a few words in a search box and in return get a list of blue links to the most relevant results. Fundamentally, it’s just fetching information that’s already out there on the internet and showing it to you, in a structured way.

But all that is up for grabs. We are at a new inflection point. The biggest change to the way search engines deliver information to us since the 1990s is happening right now, thanks to generative AI.

Not everyone is excited for the change. Publishers are completely freaked out. And people are also worried about what these new LLM-powered results will mean for our fundamental shared reality. Read the full story.

—Mat Honan

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)

+ Stephen King’s list of favorite movies doesn’t feature a whole lot of horror.
+ Tune into a breathtaking livestream of Earth, beamed live from the International Space Station.
+ Rodent thumbnails are way more important than I gave them credit for
+ Mark our words, actor Wagner Moura is going to be the next big thing.

The Download: introducing our 35 Innovators Under 35 list for 2025

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

Introducing: our 35 Innovators Under 35 list for 2025

The world is full of extraordinary young people brimming with ideas for how to crack tough problems. Every year, we recognize 35 such individuals from around the world—all of whom are under the age of 35.

These scientists, inventors, and entrepreneurs are working to help mitigate climate change, accelerate scientific progress, and alleviate human suffering from disease. Some are launching companies while others are hard at work in academic labs. They were selected from hundreds of nominees by expert judges and our newsroom staff. 

Get to know them all—including our 2025 Innovator of the Year—in these profiles.

Why basic science deserves our boldest investment

—Julia R. Greer is a materials scientist at the California Institute of Technology, a judge for MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35 and a former honoree (in 2008).

A modern chip the size of a human fingernail contains tens of billions of silicon transistors, each measured in nanometers—smaller than many viruses. These tiny switches form the infrastructure behind nearly every digital device in use today.

Much of the fundamental understanding that moved transistor technology forward came from federally funded university research. But that funding is under increasing pressure, thanks to deep budget cuts proposed by the White House.

These losses have forced some universities to freeze graduate student admissions, cancel internships, and scale back summer research opportunities—making it harder for young people to pursue scientific and engineering careers. 

In an age dominated by short-term metrics and rapid returns, it can be difficult to justify research whose applications may not materialize for decades. But those are precisely the kinds of efforts we must support if we want to secure our technological future. Read the full story.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 The US is considering annual chip supply permits in China
For South Korean companies Samsung and SK Hynix, specifically. (Bloomberg $)
+ US lawmakers still hold power over chips in China. (CNN)

2 America has recorded its first case of screwworm in over 50 years
And the warming climate is making it easier for the flies to thrive. (Vox)
+ Experts fear an approaching public health emergency. (The Guardian)

3 Drone warfare is dominating Ukraine’s frontline
Amid relentless assaults, overhead and land drones are being put to work. (The Guardian)
+ How cutting-edge drones forced land-locked tanks to evolve. (NYT $)
+ On the ground in Ukraine’s largest Starlink repair shop. (MIT Technology Review)

4 OpenAI is working out why chatbots hallucinate so much
Examining a model’s incentives provides some clues. (Insider $)
+ Models’ tendency to confidently present falsehoods as fact is a big problem. (TechCrunch)
+ Why does AI hallucinate? (MIT Technology Review)

5 How one man is connecting Silicon Valley to the Middle East’s AI boom
If you want to build a data center, Zachary Cefaratti is your man. (FT $)
+ The data center boom in the desert. (MIT Technology Review)

6 The first OpenAI-backed movie is coming to theaters next year
The animated Critterz is hoping for a Cannes Film Festival debut. (WSJ $)
+ A Disney director tried—and failed—to use an AI Hans Zimmer to create a soundtrack. (MIT Technology Review)

7 Who wants to live forever?
These billionaires are confident their cash will pave the way to longer lives. (WSJ $)
+ Putin says organ transplants could grant immortality. Not quite. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Tesla isn’t focused on selling cars any more
The company’s latest Master Plan is all about humanoid robots. (The Atlantic $)
+ The board is willing to offer Musk a $1 trillion pay package if he delivers. (Wired $)
+ Uber is gearing up to test driverless cars in Germany. (The Verge)
+ China’s EV giants are betting big on humanoid robots. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Do aliens go on holiday?
Scientists wonder whether tourism could be a potential drive for them to visit us. (New Yorker $)
+ How these two UFO hunters became go-to experts on America’s “mystery drone” invasion. (MIT Technology Review)

10 Vodafone’s new TikTok influencer isn’t real
It’s yet another example of AI avatars being used in ads. (The Verge)
+ Synthesia’s AI clones are more expressive than ever. Soon they’ll be able to talk back. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“Silicon Valley totally effed up in overhyping LLMs.”

—Palantir CEO Alex Karp criticizes those who fueled the AI hype around large language models, Semafor reports.

One more thing

Puerto Rico’s power struggles

On the southeastern coast of Puerto Rico lies the country’s only coal-fired power station, flanked by a mountain of toxic ash. The plant, owned by the utility giant AES, has long plagued this part of Puerto Rico with air and water pollution.

Before the coal plant opened Guayama had on average just over 103 cancer cases per year. In 2003, the year after the plant opened, the number of cancer cases in the municipality surged by 50%, to 167. 

In 2022, the most recent year with available data, cases hit a new high of 209. The question is: How did it get this bad? Read the full story.

—Alexander C. Kaufman

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)

+ What’s up with tennis players’ strange serving rituals?
+ If constant scrolling is turning your hands into gnarled claws, this stretch should help.
+ How to land a genuine bargain on Facebook Marketplace.
+ This photographer tracks down people who featured in pictures decades before, and persuades them to recreate their poses. Heartwarming stuff

The Download: longevity myths, and sewer-cleaning robots

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

Putin says organ transplants could grant immortality. Not quite.

—Jessica Hamzelou

Earlier this week, my editor forwarded me a video of the leaders of Russia and China talking about immortality. “These days at 70 years old you are still a child,” China’s Xi Jinping, 72, was translated as saying.

“With the developments of biotechnology, human organs can be continuously transplanted, and people can live younger and younger, and even achieve immortality,” Russia’s Vladimir Putin, also 72, is reported to have replied.

In reality, rounds of organ transplantation surgery aren’t likely to help anyone radically extend their lifespan anytime soon. And it’s a simplistic way to think about aging—a process so complicated that researchers can’t agree on what causes it, why it occurs, or even how to define it, let alone “treat” it. Read the full story.

This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here.

India is using robots to clean sewer pipes so humans no longer have to

When Jitender was a child in New Delhi, both his parents worked as manual scavengers—a job that involved clearing the city’s sewers by hand. Now, he is among almost 200 contractors involved in the Delhi government’s effort to shift from this manual process to safer mechanical methods.

Although it has been outlawed since 1993, manual scavenging—the practice of extracting human excreta from toilets, sewers, or septic tanks—is still practiced widely in India. And not only is the job undignified, but it can be extremely dangerous.

Now, several companies have emerged to offer alternatives at a wide range of technical complexity. Read the full story.

—Hamaad Habibullah

This story is from our new print edition, which is all about the future of security. Subscribe here to catch future copies when they land.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 RFK Jr buried a major study linking alcohol and cancer
Clearly, the alcohol industry’s intense lobbying of the Trump administration is working. (Vox)
+ RFK Jr repeated health untruths during a marathon Senate hearing yesterday. (Mother Jones)
+ His anti-vaccine stance alarmed Democrats and Republicans alike. (The Atlantic $)

2 US tech giants want to embed AI in education
They’re backing a vaguely worded initiative to that effect launched by Melania Trump. (Rolling Stone $)
+ Tech leaders took it in turns to praise Trump during dinner. (WSJ $)
+ Elon Musk was nowhere to be seen. (The Guardian)
+ AI’s giants want to take over the classroom. (MIT Technology Review)

3 The FTC will probe AI companies over their impact on children 
In a bid to evaluate whether chatbots are harming their mental health. (WSJ $)
+ An AI companion site is hosting sexually charged conversations with underage celebrity bots. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Podcasting giant Joe Rogan has been spreading climate misinformation
He’s grossly misinterpreted scientists’ research—and they’re exasperated. (The Guardian)
+ Rogan claims the Earth’s temperature is plummeting. It isn’t.  (Forbes)
+ Why climate researchers are taking the temperature of mountain snow. (MIT Technology Review)

5 DeepSeek is working on its own advanced AI agent
Watch out, OpenAI. (Bloomberg $)

6 OpenAI will start making its own AI chips next year
In a bid to lessen its reliance on Nvidia. (FT $)

7 Warner Bros is suing Midjourney
The AI startup used the likenesses of characters including Superman without permission, it alleges. (Bloomberg $)
+ What comes next for AI copyright lawsuits? (MIT Technology Review)

8 Rivers and lakes are being used to cool down buildings
But networks in Paris, Toronto, the US are facing a looming problem. (Wired $)
+ The future of urban housing is energy-efficient refrigerators. (MIT Technology Review)

9 How high school reunions survive in the age of social media
Curiosity is a powerful driving force, it seems. (The Atlantic $)

10 Facebook’s poke feature is back
If I still used Facebook, I’d be thrilled. (TechCrunch)

Quote of the day

“Even if it doesn’t turn you into the alien if you eat this stuff, I guarantee you’ll grow an extra ear.”

—Senator John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, warns of dire consequences if Americans eat shrimp from countries other than the US, Gizmodo reports.

One more thing

Why one developer won’t quit fighting to connect the US’s grids

Michael Skelly hasn’t learned to take no for an answer. For much of the last 15 years, the energy entrepreneur has worked to develop long-haul transmission lines to carry wind power across the Great Plains, Midwest, and Southwest. But so far, he has little to show for the effort.

Skelly has long argued that building such lines and linking together the nation’s grids would accelerate the shift from coal- and natural-gas-fueled power plants to the renewables needed to cut the pollution driving climate change. But his previous business shut down in 2019, after halting two of its projects and selling off interests in three more.

Skelly contends he was early, not wrong. And he has a point: market and policymakers are increasingly coming around to his perspective. Read the full story.

—James Temple

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)

+ The Paper, the new mockumentary from the makers of the American Office, looks interesting.
+ Giorgio Armani was a true maestro of menswear.
+ The phases of the moon are pretty fascinating
+ The Damien Hirst-directed video for Blur’s classic Country House has been given a 4K makeover.

The Download: unnerving AI avatars, and Trump’s climate gift to China

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

Synthesia’s AI clones are more expressive than ever. Soon they’ll be able to talk back.

—Rhiannon Williams

Earlier this summer, I visited the AI company Synthesia to give it what it needed to create a hyperrealistic AI-generated avatar of me. The company’s avatars are a decent barometer of just how dizzying progress has been in AI over the past few years, so I was curious just how accurately its latest AI model, introduced last month, could replicate me.

I found my avatar as unnerving as it is technically impressive. It’s slick enough to pass as a high-definition recording of a chirpy corporate speech, and if you didn’t know me, you’d probably think that’s exactly what it was. 

My avatar shows how it’s becoming ever-harder to distinguish the artificial from the real. And before long, these avatars will even be able to talk back to us. But how much better can they get? And what might interacting with AI clones do to us? Read the full story.

How Trump is helping China extend its massive lead in clean energy 

On a spring day in 1954, Bell Labs researchers showed off the first practical solar panels at a press conference in New Jersey, using sunlight to spin a toy Ferris wheel before a stunned crowd.

The solar future looked bright. But in the race to commercialize the technology it invented, the US would lose resoundingly. Last year, China exported $40 billion worth of solar panels and modules, while America shipped just $69 million, according to the New York Times. It was a stunning forfeit of a huge technological lead. 

Now, thanks to its policies propping up aging fossil-fuel industries, the US seems determined to repeat the mistake. Read the full story.

—James Temple

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s newsletter all about the latest in climate and energy tech. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 AI chatbots of celebrities sent risqué messages to teenagers
Virtual versions of Timothée Chalamet and Chappell Roan discussed sex and drugs. (WP $)
+ An AI companion site is hosting sexually charged conversations with underage celebrity bots. (MIT Technology Review)

2 Trump can’t make up his mind about US tech giants
While defending them against EU regulation, he’s also pushing to break them up. (FT $)
+ He’s hosting tech leaders at the White House later today. (Reuters)
+ Elon Musk doesn’t appear to have made the guest list. (CNBC)

3 Trump’s cuts have led to babies born with HIV
Clinics in East Africa are closing, and people are being forced to skip vital drug doses. (The Guardian)
+ Artificial blood could save many lives. Why aren’t we using it? (Slate)

4 Germany has already met its 2028 goal for reducing coal-fired power
For the second year running, it won’t have to shut any more plants as a result. (Bloomberg $)
+ The UK is done with coal. How’s the rest of the world doing? (MIT Technology Review)

5 The risk of all-out nuclear war is growing
But we’ve normalized nuclear competition so much, the risks aren’t always clear. (New Yorker $)
+ Maybe it’s time to start burying nuclear reactors’ cores. (Economist $)

6 xAI is hemorrhaging executives
The CFO has left just months after joining. (WSJ $)

7 India’s chip industry is gaining momentum
Years of investment are starting to pay off. But can it strike deals with overseas chip giants too? (Bloomberg $)
+ Meanwhile, Taiwan’s chip hub is home to a baby boom. (Rest of World)
+ Inside India’s scramble for AI independence. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot only needs one AI model to work
It’s all it requires to master humanlike movements successfully. (Wired $)
+ How ‘robot ballet’ could shake up factory production lines. (FT $)
+ Humanoid robots still aren’t living up to their lofty promises. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ Will we ever trust robots? (MIT Technology Review)

9 How studying astronauts could improve health on Earth
There’s still a huge amount we don’t know about space’s effects on humans. (Vox)
+ Space travel is dangerous. Could genetic testing and gene editing make it safer? (MIT Technology Review)

10 The Caribbean island of Anguilla has hit upon an AI cash cow
By selling its .ai domain. (Semafor)
+ How a tiny Pacific Island became the global capital of cybercrime. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“If you are not being scammed yet, it’s because you haven’t encountered a scam designed just for you and only for you.”

—Jeff Kuo, chief executive of Taiwanese fraud prevention company Gogolook, warns the Financial Times about the endless possibilities generative AI presents to scammers.

One more thing

China built hundreds of AI data centers to catch the AI boom. Now many stand unused.

Last year, China’s boom in data center construction was at its height, fueled by both government and private investors. Renting out GPUs to companies that need them for training AI models was seen as a sure bet.

But with the rise of DeepSeek and a sudden change in the economics around AI, the industry is faltering. Prices for GPUs are falling and many newly built facilities are now sitting empty. Read the full story to find out why.

—Caiwei Chen

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)

+ The trailer for the forthcoming Wuthering Heights film is here and it looks…interesting.
+ This fall’s crop of video games is outstanding.
+ Textured walls are a surefire way to make your home look dated. Here’s some other faux pas to avoid.
+The dogs of this year’s US Open are too cute ($)

The Download: sustainable architecture, and DeepSeek’s success

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

Material Cultures looks to the past to build the future

Despite decades of green certifications, better material sourcing, and the use of more sustainable materials, the built environment is still responsible for a third of global emissions worldwide. According to a 2024 UN report, the building sector has fallen “significantly behind on progress” toward becoming more sustainable. Changing the way we erect and operate buildings remains key to tackling climate change.

London-based design and research nonprofit Material Cultures is exploring how tradition can be harnessed in new ways to repair the contemporary building system. As many other practitioners look to artificial intelligence and other high-tech approaches, Material Cultures is focusing on sustainability, and finding creative ways to turn local materials into new buildings. Read the full story.

—Patrick Sisson

This story is from our new print edition, which is all about the future of security. Subscribe here to catch future copies when they land.

MIT Technology Review Narrated: How a top Chinese AI model overcame US sanctions

Earlier this year, the AI community was abuzz over DeepSeek R1, a new open-source reasoning model. The model was developed by the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which claims that R1 matches or even surpasses OpenAI’s ChatGPT o1 on multiple key benchmarks but operates at a fraction of the cost.

DeepSeek’s success is even more remarkable given the constraints facing Chinese AI companies in the form of increasing US export controls on cutting-edge chips. Read the full story.This is our latest story to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we’re publishing each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 Google won’t be forced to sell Chrome after all
A federal judge has instead ruled it has to share search data with its rivals. (Politico)
+ He also barred Google from making deals to make Chrome the default search engine on people’s phones. (The Register)
+ The company’s critics feel the ruling doesn’t go far enough. (The Verge)

2 OpenAI is adding emotional guardrails to ChatGPT
The new rules are designed to better protect teens and vulnerable people. (Axios)
+ Families of dead teenagers say AI companies aren’t doing enough. (FT $)
+ An AI chatbot told a user how to kill himself—but the company doesn’t want to “censor” it. (MIT Technology Review)

3 China’s military has showed off its robotic wolves
Alongside underwater torpedoes and hypersonic cruise missiles. (BBC)
+ Xi Jinping has pushed to modernize the world’s largest standing army. (CNN)
+ Phase two of military AI has arrived. (MIT Technology Review)

4 ICE has resumed working with a previously banned spyware vendor
Paragon Solutions’ software was found on the devices of journalists earlier this year. (WP $)
+ The tool can manipulate a phone’s recorder to become a covert listening device. (The Guardian)

5 An identical twin has been convicted of a crime based on DNA analysis 
It’s the first time the technology has been successfully used in the US, and solves a 38-year old cold case. (The Guardian)

6 People who understand AI the least are the most likely to use it 
Those with a better grasp of how AI works know more about its limitations. (WSJ $)
+ What is AI? (MIT Technology Review)

7 BMW is preparing to unveil a super-smart EV
Its new iX3 sport utility vehicle will have 20 times more computing power. (FT $)

8 Sick and lonely people are turning to AI “doctors”
Physicians are too busy to spend much time with patients. Chatbots are filling the void. (Rest of World)
+ AI companies have stopped warning you that their chatbots aren’t doctors. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Around 90% of life on Earth is still unknown
But shedding light on these mysterious organisms is essential to our future survival. (Vox)

10 Wax worms could help tackle our plastic pollution problem
The plastic-hungry pests can eat a polythene bag in a matter of hours. (Wired $)
+ Think that your plastic is being recycled? Think again. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“It’s a nothingburger.”

—Gabriel Weinberg, chief executive of search engine DuckDuckGo, reacts to the judge’s decision in the Google Chrome monopoly case, the New York Times reports.

 One more thing

Why we can no longer afford to ignore the case for climate adaptation

Back in the 1990s, anyone suggesting that we’d need to adapt to climate change while also cutting emissions was met with suspicion. Most climate change researchers felt adaptation studies would distract from the vital work of keeping pollution out of the atmosphere to begin with.

Despite this hostile environment, a handful of experts were already sowing the seeds for a new field of research called “climate change adaptation”: study and policy on how the world could prepare for and adapt to the new disasters and dangers brought forth on a warming planet. Today, their research is more important than ever. Read the full story. 

—Madeline Ostrander

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me. 

+ How to have a happier life, even when you’re living through bleak times (maybe skip the raisins on ice cream, though.)
+ If you’re loving Alien: Earth right now, why not dive back into the tremendously terrifying Alien: Isolation game?
+ The first freaky images of the second part of zombie flick 28 Years Later have landed.
+ Anthony Gormley, you will always be cool.

The Download: therapists secretly using AI, and Apple AirPods’ hearing aid potential

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

Therapists are secretly using ChatGPT. Clients are triggered.

Declan would never have found out his therapist was using ChatGPT had it not been for a technical mishap. The connection was patchy during one of their online sessions, so Declan suggested they turn off their video feeds. Instead, his therapist began inadvertently sharing his screen.

For the rest of the session, Declan was privy to a real-time stream of ChatGPT analysis rippling across his therapist’s screen, who was taking what Declan was saying, putting it into ChatGPT, and then parroting its answers.

But Declan is not alone. In fact, a growing number of people are reporting receiving AI-generated communiqués from their therapists. Clients’ trust and privacy are being abandoned in the process. Read the full story.

—Laurie Clarke

Apple AirPods: a gateway hearing aid

—Ashley Shew

When the US Food and Drug Administration approved hearing-aid software for Apple’s AirPods Pro in September 2024, with a device price point around $200, I was excited.

I have hearing loss and tinnitus, and my everyday hearing aids cost just over $2,000. Ninety percent of the hearing-aid market is concentrated in the hands of a few companies, and there’s little competitive pricing. So I was thrilled that a major tech company has entered this field with the AirPods Pro 2. Here’s what I made of them.

This story is from our new print edition, which is all about the future of security. Subscribe here to catch future copies when they land.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 MAHA is in chaos
RFK Jr’s movement is tearing itself apart over what it wants to achieve. (WSJ $)
+ Trying to pressure food companies to alter their products is unlikely to work. (The Atlantic $)
+ Ultra-processed food makes up a sizable proportion of the American diet. (Axios)
+ RFK Jr’s plan to improve America’s diet is missing the point. (MIT Technology Review)

2 DOGE is using AI to target SEC rules to ditch
Experts fear its decisions won’t be checked by qualified humans. (The Information $)
+ Can AI help DOGE slash government budgets? It’s complex. (MIT Technology Review)

3 Salesforce has replaced around 4,000 jobs with AI agents
It’s slashed its support staff team nearly in half. (SF Chronicle $)
+ Workers are trying to weather the AI-induced storm. (Vox)
+ AI is coming for the job market, security, and prosperity. (MIT Technology Review)

4 What’s up with China’s EV industry?
Its cutthroat competitive practices are starting to grate on the government. (NYT $)
+ The country’s robotmakers are on the rise. (FT $)
+ China’s EV giants are betting big on humanoid robots. (MIT Technology Review)

5 A “nearly naked” black hole has been spotted
The never-before-seen black hole may have been created moments after the big bang. (The Guardian)

6 How to make quantum computers useful
Researchers have turned their attention towards making software for the machines. (FT $)
+ Why AI could eat quantum computing’s lunch. (MIT Technology Review)

7 OnlyFans has a piracy problem
Adult creators’ content isn’t staying behind the paywall. (404 Media)

8 These humans are paid to fix AI slop
Anyone can prompt AI, but the results aren’t always good. (NBC News)

9 The hottest gadget for kids is a landline phone 
And they’re learning phone etiquette for the first time. (Insider $)

10 Meet iTunes’ diehard fans
They’re eschewing streaming platforms in favor of their digital libraries. (WP $)
+ How to break free of Spotify’s algorithm. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“The calculator doesn’t construct facts about world knowledge and give them to you.”

—Elisha Roberts, assistant director at the nonprofit Colorado Education Initiative, tells Bloomberg she doesn’t buy the idea that AI is comparable to other classroom tools like the calculator.

One more thing

Supershoes are reshaping distance running

Since 2016, when Nike introduced the Vaporfly, a paradigm-­shifting shoe that helped athletes run more efficiently (and therefore faster), the elite running world has muddled through a period of soul-searching over the impact of high-tech footwear on the sport.

“Supershoes” —which combine a lightweight, energy-­returning foam with a carbon-fiber plate for stiffness—have been behind every broken world record in distances from 5,000 meters to the marathon since 2020.

To some, this is a sign of progress. In much of the world, elite running lacks a widespread following. Record-breaking adds a layer of excitement. And the shoes have benefits beyond the clock: most important, they help minimize wear on the body and enable faster recovery from hard workouts and races.

Still, some argue that they’ve changed the sport too quickly. Read the full story. 

—Jonathan W. Rosen

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)

+ Happy birthday to Keanu Reeves, who turns 61 today! Here’s a compilation of his hilariously bad acting in Bram Stroker’s Dracula.
+ Why do some cats hate water, yet others love it?
+ If you fancy setting a Guinness World Record, there’s a few still up for grabs.
+ To mark world coconut day (what do you mean, you forgot?), check out these delicious-looking recipes

The Download: AI doppelgängers in the workplace, and using lidar to measure climate disasters

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

 Can an AI doppelgänger help me do my job?

—James O’Donnell

Digital clones—AI models that replicate a specific person—package together a few technologies that have been around for a while now: hyperrealistic video models to match your appearance, lifelike voices based on just a couple of minutes of speech recordings, and conversational chatbots increasingly capable of holding our attention. 

But they’re also offering something the ChatGPTs of the world cannot: an AI that’s not smart in the general sense, but that ‘thinks’ like you do.

Could well-crafted clones serve as our stand-ins? I certainly feel stretched thin at work sometimes, wishing I could be in two places at once, and I bet you do too. To find out, I tried making a clone of myself. Read the full story to find out how it got on.

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here.

How lidar measures the cost of climate disasters

The wildfires that swept through Los Angeles County this January left an indelible mark on the Southern California landscape. The Eaton and Palisades fires raged for 24 days, killing 29 people and destroying 16,000 structures, with losses estimated at $60 billion. More than 55,000 acres were consumed, and the landscape itself was physically transformed.

Now, researchers are using lidar (light detection and ranging) technology to precisely measure these changes in the landscape’s geometry—helping them understand and track the cascading effects of climate disasters. Read the full story.

—Jon Keegan

This story is from our new print edition, which is all about the future of security. Subscribe here to catch future copies when they land.

Here’s how we picked this year’s Innovators Under 35

Next Monday we’ll publish our 2025 list of Innovators Under 35. The list highlights smart and talented people working across many areas of emerging technology. This new class features 35 accomplished founders, hardware engineers, roboticists, materials scientists, and others who are already tackling tough problems and making big moves in their careers. 

MIT Technology Review first published a list of Innovators Under 35 in 1999. It’s a grand tradition for us, and we often follow the work of various featured innovators for years, even decades, after they appear on the list. So before the big announcement, we’d like to take a moment to explain how we select the people we recognize each year. Read the full story.

—Amy Nordrum

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 Meta created flirty chatbots of celebrities without their permission
To make matters worse, the bots generated risqué pictures on demand. (Reuters)
+ Meta’s relationship with Scale AI appears to be under pressure. (TechCrunch)
+ An AI companion site is hosting sexually charged conversations with underage celebrity bots. (MIT Technology Review)

2 The FTC has warned Big Tech not to comply with EU laws
If they jeopardize the freedom of expression or safety of US citizens, at least. (Wired $)

3 Ukraine is using drones to drop supplies to its troops in trenches
They’re delivering everything from cigarettes to roasted chicken. (WP $)
+ Meet the radio-obsessed civilian shaping Ukraine’s drone defense. (MIT Technology Review)

4 What the collapse of this AI company says about the wider industry
Builder.ai was an early industry darling. Its downfall is a dire warning. (NYT $)

5 US shoppers are racing to land an EV bargain
Federal tax credits on the vehicles expire at the end of the month. (WSJ $)
+ The US could really use an affordable electric truck. (MIT Technology Review)

6 A major new project will use AI to research vaccines
The Oxford Vaccine Group hopes the jabs will protect against deadly pathogens. (FT $)
+ Why US federal health agencies are abandoning mRNA vaccines. (MIT Technology Review)

7 A lot of people stop taking weight-loss drugs within one year
How should doctors encourage the ones who need to stay on them? (Undark)
+ We’re learning more about what weight-loss drugs do to the body. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Chatbots can be manipulated into breaking their own rules
It turns out they’re susceptible to both flattery and peer pressure. (The Verge)
+ Forcing LLMs to be evil during training can make them nicer in the long run. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Tennis is trying to reach a new generation of fans
Through…the metaverse? (The Information $)

10 The age of cheap online shopping is ending
And consumers are the ones paying the price. (The Atlantic $)
+ AI is starting to shake up the digital shopping experience, too. (FT $)
+ Your most important customer may be AI. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“Stop being a clanker!”

—How Jay Pinkert, a marketing manager, scolds ChatGPT when it isn’t fulfilling his requests, he tells the New York Times.

One more thing

The algorithms around us

A metronome ticks. A record spins. And as a feel-good pop track plays, a giant compactor slowly crushes a Jenga tower of material creations. Paint cans burst. Chess pieces topple. Camera lenses shatter. An alarm clock shrills and then goes silent. A guitar neck snaps. But wait! The jaunty tune starts up again, and the jaws open to reveal … an iPad.

Watching Apple’s now-infamous “Crush!” ad, it’s hard not to feel uneasy about the ways in which digitization is remaking human life. Sure, we’re happy for computers to take over tasks we don’t want to do or aren’t particularly good at, like shopping or navigating. But what does it mean when the things we hold dear and thought were uniquely ours—our friendships, our art, even our language and creativity—can be reduced to software? Read the full story.

—Ariel Bleicher

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)

+ Minnesota’s Llama-Alpaca Costume Contest looks an utter delight  (thanks Amy!)
+ In fascinating collab news, David Byrne and Paramore’s Hayley Williams are working on a song for a Netflix adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Twits.
+ Happy birthday to Gloria Estefan, 68 years old today!
+ M. Night Shyamalan’s oeuvre is a decidedly mixed bag. Check out this list of his movies to see where your favorites (and least-favorites) rank.