The Download: the CDC’s vaccine chaos

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.

A pivotal meeting on vaccine guidance is underway—and former CDC leaders are alarmed

This week has been an eventful one for America’s public health agency. Two former leaders of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explained why they suddenly departed in a Senate hearing. They also described how CDC employees are being instructed to turn their backs on scientific evidence.

They painted a picture of a health agency in turmoil—and at risk of harming the people it is meant to serve. And, just hours afterwards, a panel of CDC advisers voted to stop recommending the MMRV vaccine for children under four. 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.

If you’re interested in reading more about US vaccine policy, check out:

+ Read our profile of Jim O’Neill, the deputy health secretary and current acting CDC director.

+ Why US federal health agencies are abandoning mRNA vaccines. Read the full story.

+ Why childhood vaccines are a public health success story. No vaccine is perfect, but these medicines are still saving millions of lives. Read the full story. 

+ The FDA plans to limit access to covid vaccines. Here’s why that’s not all bad.

Meet Sneha Goenka: our 2025 Innovator of the Year

Every year, MIT Technology Review selects one individual whose work we admire to recognize as Innovator of the Year. For 2025, we chose Sneha Goenka, who designed the computations behind the world’s fastest whole-genome sequencing method. 

Thanks to her work, physicians can now sequence a patient’s genome and diagnose a genetic condition in less than eight hours—an achievement that could transform medical care.

Register here to join an exclusive subscriber-only Roundtable conversation with Goenka, Leilani Battle, assistant professor at the University of Washington, and our editor in chief Mat Honan at 1pm ET next Tuesday September 23.

The must-reads

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

1 The CDC voted against giving some children a combined vaccine 
If accepted, the agency will stop recommending the MMRV vaccine for children under 4. (CNN)
+ Its vote on hepatitis B vaccines for newborns is expected today too. (The Atlantic $)
+ RFK JR’s allies are closing ranks around him. (Politico)

2 Russia is using Charlie Kirk’s murder to sow division in the US
It’s using the momentum to push pro-Kremlin narratives and divide Americans. (WP $)
+ The complicated phenomenon of political violence. (Vox)
+ We don’t know what being ‘terminally online’ means any more. (Wired $)

3 Nvidia will invest $5 billion in Intel
The partnership allows Intel to develop custom CPUs to work with Nvidia’s chips. (WSJ $)
+ It’s a much-needed financial shot in the arm for Intel. (WP $)
+ It’s also great news for Intel’s Asian suppliers. (Bloomberg $)

4 Medical AI tools downplay symptoms in women and ethnic minorities
Experts fear that LLM-powered tools could lead to worse health outcomes. (FT $)
+ Artificial intelligence is infiltrating health care. We shouldn’t let it make all the decisions. (MIT Technology Review)

5 AI browsers have hit the mainstream
Where’s the off switch? (Wired $)
+ AI means the end of internet search as we’ve known it. (MIT Technology Review)

6 China has entered the global brain interface race
Its ambitious government-backed startups are primed to challenge Neuralink. (Bloomberg $)
+ This patient’s Neuralink brain implant gets a boost from generative AI. (MIT Technology Review)

7 What makes humans unique in the age of AI?
Defining the distinctions between us and machines isn’t as easy as it used to be. (New Yorker $)
+ How AI can help supercharge creativity. (MIT Technology Review)

8 This ship helps to reconnect Africa’s internet
AI needs high speed internet, which needs undersea cables. (Rest of World)
+ What Africa needs to do to become a major AI player. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Hundreds of people queued in Beijing to buy Apple’s new iPhone
Desire for Apple products in the country appears to be alive and well. (Reuters)

10 San Francisco’s idea of a great night out? A robot cage fight
It’s certainly one way to have a good time. (NYT $)

Quote of the day

“Get off the iPad!”

—An irate air traffic controller tells the pilots of a Spirit Airlines flight to pay attention to avoid potentially colliding with Donald Trump’s Air Force One aircraft, Ars Technica reports.

One more thing

We used to get excited about technology. What happened?

As a philosopher who studies AI and data, Shannon Vallor’s Twitter feed is always filled with the latest tech news. Increasingly, she’s realized that the constant stream of information is no longer inspiring joy, but a sense of resignation.

Joy is missing from our lives, and from our technology. Its absence is feeding a growing unease being voiced by many who work in tech or study it. Fixing it depends on understanding how and why the priorities in our tech ecosystem have changed. Read the full story.

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.)

+ Would you go about your daily business with a soft toy on your shoulder? This intrepid reporter gave it a go.
+ How dying dinosaurs shaped the landscapes around us.
+ I can’t believe I missed Pythagorean Theorem day earlier this week.
+ Inside the rise in popularity of the no-water yard.

The Download: AI-designed viruses, and bad news for the hydrogen industry

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.

AI-designed viruses are here and already killing bacteria

Artificial intelligence can draw cat pictures and write emails. Now the same technology can compose a working genome.

A research team in California says it used AI to propose new genetic codes for viruses—and managed to get several of them to replicate and kill bacteria.

The work, described in a preprint paper, has the potential to create new treatments and accelerate research into artificially engineered cells. But experts believe it is also an “impressive first step” toward AI-designed life forms. Read the full story.

—Antonio Regalado

Clean hydrogen is facing a big reality check

Hydrogen is sometimes held up as a master key for the energy transition. It can be made using several low-emissions methods and could play a role in cleaning up industries ranging from agriculture to aviation to shipping.

This moment is a complicated one for the green fuel, though, as a new report from the International Energy Agency lays out. A number of major projects face cancellations and delays. The US in particular is seeing a slowdown after changes to key tax credits and cuts in support for renewable energy.

Still, there are bright spots for the industry, including in China, and new markets could soon become crucial for growth. Here are three things to know about the state of hydrogen in 2025.

—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 Meta’s new smart glasses have a tiny screen
Welcome back, Google Glass. (NYT $)
+ Mark Zuckerberg says the devices are our best bet at unlocking “superintelligence.” (FT $)
+ He’s also refusing to let his metaverse dream die. (WP $)
+ What’s next for smart glasses. (MIT Technology Review)

2 DeepSeek writes flawed code for groups China disfavors
Researchers found that it produced code with major security weaknesses when told it was for the banned spiritual movement Falun Gong. (WP $)

3 The CDC is a mess
Its advice can no longer be trusted. Here’s where to turn instead. (The Atlantic $)
+ Its ousted director claims RFK Jr pressured her to approve vaccine changes. (Wired $)
+ Why childhood vaccines are a public health success story. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Google’s gen-AI image model Nano Banana is a global smash hit
Particularly in India. (TechCrunch)
+ Nvidia’s Jensen Huang really loves it, too. (Wired $)

5 OpenAI has found a way to reduce its models’ scheming
But they weren’t able to eradicate it completely. (ZDNET)
+ AI systems are getting better at tricking us. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Inside Texas’ efforts to keep vector-borne diseases at bay
The Arbovirus-Entomology Laboratory analyzes mosquitos, but resources are drying up. (Vox)
+ Brazil is fighting dengue with bacteria-infected mosquitos. (MIT Technology Review)

7 Financial AI advisors are coming
But companies are still cautious about rolling them out at scale. (WSJ $)
+ Warning: ChatGPT’s advice may not necessarily be financially sound. (NYT $)
+ Your most important customer may be AI. (MIT Technology Review)

8 China’s flying car market is raring to take off
Hovering taxis above the city of Guangzhou could soon become commonplace. (FT $)
+ Eek—a pair of flying cars collided during an airshow earlier this week. (CNN)
+ These aircraft could change how we fly. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Samsung’s US fridges will soon display ads
Wow, that’s not depressing at all. (The Verge)

10 Online dating is getting even worse
And AI is to blame. (NY Mag $)

Quote of the day

“How do educators have any real choice here about intentional use of AI when it is just being injected into educational environments without warning, without testing and without consultation?”

—Eamon Costello, an associate professor at Dublin City University, tells the Washington Post why he’s against Google adding a ‘homework help’ button to its Chrome browser.

One more thing

Your boss is watching

Working today—whether in an office, a warehouse, or your car—can mean constant electronic surveillance with little transparency, and potentially with livelihood-­ending consequences if your productivity flags.

But what matters even more than the effects of this ubiquitous monitoring on privacy may be how all that data is shifting the relationships between workers and managers, companies and their workforce. It’s a huge power shift that may require new policies and protections. Read the full story.

—Rebecca Ackermann

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.)

+ Find yourself feeling sleepy every afternoon? Here’s how to fight the post-lunch slump.
+ Life lessons from a London graffiti artist.
+ If you’re in need of a laugh, a good comedy is a great place to start.
+ Yellowstone’s famous hot springs are under attack—from tourists’ hats.

The Download: measuring returns on R&D, and AI’s creative 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.

How to measure the returns on R&D spending

Given the draconian cuts to US federal funding for science, it’s worth asking some hard-nosed money questions: How much should we be spending on R&D? How much value do we get out of such investments, anyway? 

To answer that, in several recent papers, economists have approached this issue in clever new ways.  And, though they ask slightly different questions, their conclusions share a bottom line: R&D is, in fact, one of the better long-term investments that the government can make. Read the full story.

—David Rotman

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.

If you’re interested in reading more about America’s economic situation, check out:

+ Sweeping tariffs could threaten the US manufacturing rebound—and they could stunt its ability to make tomorrow’s breakthroughs. Read the full story.

+ The surprising barrier that keeps us from building the housing we need. Read the full story.

+ How to fine-tune AI for prosperity.

+ People are worried that AI will take everyone’s jobs. We’ve been here before.

MIT Technology Review Narrated: How AI can help supercharge creativity

Forget one-click creativity. Artists and musicians are finding new ways to make art using AI, by injecting friction, challenge, and serendipity into the process.

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 TikTok’s buyers may include Oracle, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz 
They would control around 80% of the business, with Chinese shareholders holding the rest. (WSJ $)
+ We still have plenty of unanswered questions about the deal. (Bloomberg $)
+ It was brokered in Madrid. (The Guardian)

2 OpenAI is working on a version of ChatGPT for teenagers
And it’ll use age-prediction tech to bar them from the standard version. (Axios)
+ The move comes as the US Senate is hearing evidence about chatbot harms. (404 Media)
+ The looming crackdown on AI companionship. (MIT Technology Review)

3 China has banned tech firms from buying Nvidia’s chips
In an effort to boost its own companies. (FT $)
+ Alibaba and ByteDance have been instructed to terminate orders. (Bloomberg $)

4 Anthropic refuses to let US law enforcement use its models
Much to the White House’s chagrin. (Semafor)

5 Tesla’s doors may trap passengers inside its cars
Vehicle safety regulators are investigating after people reported being forced to break windows to retrieve children. (NYT $)  

6 How AI companies train their models to do white-collar jobs  
After hitting a wall, they’re throwing money at the problem. (The Information $)
+ New training ‘environments’ are a hot AI topic right now.  (TechCrunch)
+ How AI is shaking up corporate hierarchies. (WSJ $)

7 Inside Damascus’ bid to become a tech hub
The city’s tech industry has been embraced by its new government. (Rest of World)

8 A supply shipment to the ISS has been delayed
NASA is blaming engine trouble. (Ars Technica)
+ The great commercial takeover of low Earth orbit. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Our darkest nights are getting lighter
Artificial light is ruining our chances of seeing starry skies. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ Bright LEDs could spell the end of dark skies. (MIT Technology Review)

10 You can now book a safari through Uber
Expedition into Nairobi National Park, anyone? (Bloomberg $)

Quote of the day

“What began as a homework helper gradually turned itself into a confidant and then a suicide coach.”

—Matthew Raine, whose 16-year old son Adam died by suicide after repeatedly sharing his intentions with ChatGPT, gives evidence to a Senate Judiciary subcommittee investigating chatbot dangers, the Washington Post reports.

One more thing

AI is coming for music, too

While large language models that generate text have exploded in the last three years, a different type of AI, based on what are called diffusion models, is having an unprecedented impact on creative domains.

By transforming random noise into coherent patterns, diffusion models can generate new images, videos, or speech, guided by text prompts or other input data. The best ones can create outputs indistinguishable from the work of people

Now these models are marching into a creative field that is arguably more vulnerable to disruption than any other: music. Read the full story.

—James O’Donnell

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.)

+ Food, in all shapes and forms, is bigger than ever. So why aren’t we watching cooking shows any more?
+ Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love turns 40 this year, but still sounds as fresh as ever.
+ Here’s how to maximize your chances of booking a bargain flight.
+ Robert Redford, you were one of a kind.

The Download: regulators are coming for AI companions, and meet our Innovator of 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.

The looming crackdown on AI companionship

As long as there has been AI, there have been people sounding alarms about what it might do to us: rogue superintelligence, mass unemployment, or environmental ruin. But another threat entirely—that of kids forming unhealthy bonds with AI—is pulling AI safety out of the academic fringe and into regulators’ crosshairs.

This has been bubbling for a while. Two high-profile lawsuits filed in the last year, against Character.AI and OpenAI, allege that their models contributed to the suicides of two teenagers. A study published in July, found that 72% of teenagers have used AI for companionship. And stories about “AI psychosis” have highlighted how endless conversations with chatbots can lead people down delusional spirals.

It’s hard to overstate the impact of these stories. To the public, they are proof that AI is not merely imperfect, but harmful. If you doubted that this outrage would be taken seriously by regulators and companies, three things happened this week that might change your mind.

—James O’Donnell

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

If you’re interested in reading more about AI companionship, why not check out:

+ AI companions are the final stage of digital addiction—and lawmakers are taking aim. Read the full story.

+ Chatbots are rapidly changing how we connect to each other—and ourselves. We’re never going back. Read the full story.

+ Why GPT-4o’s sudden shutdown last month left people grieving. Read the full story.

+ An AI chatbot told a user how to kill himself—but the company doesn’t want to “censor” it.

+ OpenAI has released its first research into how using ChatGPT affects people’s emotional well-being. But there’s still a lot we don’t know.

Meet the designer of the world’s fastest whole-genome sequencing method

Every year, MIT Technology Review selects one individual whose work we admire to recognize as Innovator of the Year. For 2025, we chose Sneha Goenka, who designed the computations behind the world’s fastest whole-genome sequencing method. Thanks to her work, physicians can now sequence a patient’s genome and diagnose a genetic condition in less than eight hours—an achievement that could transform medical care.

Register here to join an exclusive subscriber-only Roundtable conversation with Goenka, Leilani Battle, assistant professor at the University of Washington, and our editor in chief Mat Honan at 1pm ET on Tuesday September 23.

The must-reads

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

1 Childhood vaccination rates are falling across the US
Much of the country no longer has the means to stop the spread of deadly disease. (NBC News)
+ Take a look at the factors driving vaccine hesitancy. (WP $)
+ RFK Jr is appointing more vaccine skeptics to the CDC advisory panel. (Ars Technica)
+ Why US federal health agencies are abandoning mRNA vaccines. (MIT Technology Review)

2 The US and China have reached a TikTok deal 
Beijing says the spin-off version sold to US investors will still use ByteDance’s algorithm. (FT $)
+ But further details are still pretty scarce. (WP $)
+ The deal may have been fueled by China’s desire for Trump to visit the country. (WSJ $)

3 OpenAI is releasing a version of GPT-5 optimized for agentic coding
It’s a direct rival to Anthropic’s Claude Code and Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot. (TechCrunch)
+ OpenAI says it’s been trained on real-world engineering tasks. (VentureBeat)
+ The second wave of AI coding is here. (MIT Technology Review)

4 The FTC is investigating Ticketmaster’s bot-fighting measures 
It’s probing whether the platform is doing enough to prevent illegal automated reselling. (Bloomberg $)

5 Google has created a new privacy-preserving LLM
VaultGemma uses a technique called differential privacy to reduce the amount of data AI holds onto. (Ars Technica)

6 Space tech firms are fighting it out for NATO contracts
Militaries are willing to branch out and strike deals with commercial vendors. (FT $)
+ Why Trump’s “golden dome” missile defense idea is another ripped straight from the movies. (MIT Technology Review)

7 Facebook users are receiving their Cambridge Analytica payouts
Don’t spend it all at once! (The Verge)

8 The future of supercomputing could hinge on moon mining missions
Companies are rushing to buy the moon’s resources before mining has even begun. (WP $)

9 What it’s like living with an AI toy
Featuring unsettling conversations galore. (The Guardian)

10 Anthropic’s staff are obsessed with an albino alligator
As luck would have it, he just happens to be called Claude. (WSJ $)

Quote of the day

“It’s going to mean more infections, more hospitalizations, more disability and more death.”

—Demetre Daskalakis, former director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, explains the probable outcomes of America’s current vaccine policy jumble, the BBC reports.

One more thing

Robots are bringing new life to extinct species

In the last few years, paleontologists have developed a new trick for turning back time and studying prehistoric animals: building experimental robotic models of them.

In the absence of a living specimen, scientists say, an ambling, flying, swimming, or slithering automaton is the next best thing for studying the behavior of extinct organisms. Here are four examples of robots that are shedding light on creatures of yore.

—Shi En Kim

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.)

+ New York City is full of natural life, if you know where to look.
+ This photo of Jim Morrison enjoying a beer for breakfast is the epitome of rock ‘n’ roll.
+ How to age like a champion athlete.
+ Would you dare drive the world’s most narrow car?

The Download: computing’s bright young minds, and cleaning up satellite streaks

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 tomorrow’s rising stars of computing

Each year, MIT Technology Review honors 35 outstanding people under the age of 35 who are driving scientific progress and solving tough problems in their fields.

Today we want to introduce you to the computing innovators on the list who are coming up with new AI chips and specialized datasets—along with smart ideas about how to assess advanced systems for safety.

Check out the full list of honorees—including our innovator of the year—here. 

Job titles of the future: Satellite streak astronomer

Earlier this year, the $800 million Vera Rubin Observatory commenced its decade-long quest to create an extremely detailed time-lapse movie of the universe.

Rubin is capable of capturing many more stars than any other astronomical observatory ever built; it also sees many more satellites. Up to 40% of images captured by the observatory within its first 10 years of operation will be marred by their sunlight-reflecting streaks.

Meredith Rawls, a research scientist at the telescope’s flagship observation project, Vera Rubin’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time, is one of the experts tasked with protecting Rubin’s science mission from the satellite blight. Read the full story.

—Tereza Pultarova

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 China has accused Nvidia of violating anti-monopoly laws
As US and Chinese officials head into a second day of tariff negotiations. (Bloomberg $)
+ The investigation dug into Nvidia’s 2020 acquisition of computing firm Mellanox. (CNBC)
+ But China’s antitrust regulator hasn’t confirmed if it will punish it. (WSJ $)

2 The US is getting closer to making a TikTok deal
But it’s still prepared to go ahead with a ban if an agreement can’t be reached. (Reuters)

3 Grok spread misinformation about a far-right rally in London
It falsely claimed that police misrepresented old footage as being from the protest. (The Guardian)
+ Elon Musk called for a new UK government during a video speech. (Politico)

4 Here’s what people are really using ChatGPT for
Users are more likely to use it for personal, rather than work-related queries. (WP $)
+ Anthropic says businesses are using AI to automate, not collaborate. (Bloomberg $)
+ Therapists are secretly using ChatGPT. Clients are triggered. (MIT Technology Review)

5 How China’s Hangzhou became a global AI hub
Spawning not just Alibaba, but DeepSeek too. (WSJ $)
+ China and the US are completely dominating the global AI race. (Rest of World)
+ How DeepSeek ripped up the AI playbook. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Driverless car fleets could plunge US cities into traffic chaos
Are we really prepared? (Vox $)

7 The shipping industry is harnessing AI to fight cargo fires
The risk of deadly fires is rising due to shipments of batteries and other flammable goods. (FT $)

8 Sales of used EVs are sky-rocketing
Buyers are snapping up previously-owned bargains. (NYT $)
+ EV owners won’t be able to drive in carpool lanes any more. (Wired $)

9 A table-top fusion reactor isn’t as crazy as it sounds
This startup is trying to make compact reactors a reality. (Economist $)
+ Inside a fusion energy facility. (MIT Technology Review)

10 How a magnetic field could help clean up space
If we don’t, we could soon lose access to Earth’s low orbit altogether. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ The world’s next big environmental problem could come from space. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“If we’re going on a journey, they’re absolutely taking travel sickness tablets immediately. They’re not even considering coming in the car without them.”

—Phil Bellamy, an electric car owner, describes the extreme nausea his daughters experience while riding in his vehicle to the Guardian.

One more thing

Google, Amazon and the problem with Big Tech’s climate claims

Last year, Amazon trumpeted that it had purchased enough clean electricity to cover the energy demands of all its global operations, seven years ahead of its sustainability target.

That news closely followed Google’s acknowledgment that the soaring energy demands of its AI operations helped ratchet up its corporate emissions by 13% last year—and that it had backed away from claims that it was already carbon neutral.

If you were to take the announcements at face value, you’d be forgiven for believing that Google is stumbling while Amazon is speeding ahead in the race to clean up climate pollution.

But while both companies are coming up short in their own ways, Google’s approach to driving down greenhouse-gas emissions is now arguably more defensible. To learn why, read our 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.)

+ Steven Spielberg was just 26 when he made Jaws? The more you know.
+ This tiny car’s huge racing track journey is completely hypnotic.
+ Easy dinner recipes? Yes please.
+ This archive of thousands of historical children’s books is a real treasure trove—and completely free to read.

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