The Download: greener steel, and join us for EmTech 2024

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 the auto industry could steer the world toward green steel

Steel scaffolds our world, undergirding buildings and machines. It also presents a major challenge for climate change, as steel production is currently responsible for about 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

There’s a growing array of technologies that can produce steel with dramatically lower emissions—though some are still in development, and they often come with a higher price tag. 

Finding economical ways to produce the materials we rely on while also cutting emissions is a major challenge for the industrial sector. But since automakers use a lot of steel, they have an opportunity to lead the charge to decarbonize the industry. Here’s how they could do it.

—Casey Crownhart

EmTech 2024 is coming

Want to learn more about the technologies that are shaping our lives? Join us for our flagship conference EmTech, held on the MIT Campus from September 30th to October 1st this fall. Take a sneak peek at our jam-packed agenda, which includes:

+ Ray Kurzweil, principal researcher at Google and AI visionary, discussing his latest predictions on artificial general intelligence, singularity, and the infinite possibilities of an AI-integrated world.

+ Riki Banerjee, CTO of brain-computer interface company Synchron, will give us an  inside look at the future of minimally invasive brain-computer interfaces that enable humans to use their thoughts to control digital devices. 

+ Pete Shadbolt, the cofounder and chief scientific officer of PsiQuantum, which is working to build the biggest US-based quantum computing facility, will explain the rewards and challenges facing quantum tech.

+ Yasmin Green, CEO of Jigsaw, a global security unit within Google, will dive into the secret digital behaviors of Gen Z.

The best part is, Download readers get 30% off with the following code: DOWNLOADM24. So what are you waiting for? Get your ticket today.

The must-reads

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

1 Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s chat on X was marred by glitches 
Their conversation started more than 40 minutes late as a result. (WP $)
+ X staffers have contradicted Musk’s claims a DDoS attack was to blame.  (The Verge)
+ The discussion was rambling, to say the least. (FT $)

2 A scientific journal has retracted three MDMA papers
Psychopharmacology cited concerns over missing data and unethical conduct. (Ars Technica)
+ The retraction comes just days after the FDA rejected MDMA as a PTSD treatment. (NYT $)
+ What’s next for MDMA. (MIT Technology Review)

3 Huawei is working on an Nvidia-rivaling chip
And unlike Nvidia’s, Huawei’s can go on sale in China. (WSJ $)
+ Smuggling Nvidia’s chips into forbidden territories is big business. (The Information $)
+ This unassuming Czech town is on its way to becoming a chip hub. (Bloomberg $)
+ What’s next in chips. (MIT Technology Review)

4 How a plan to revitalize Puerto Rico’s economy with crypto soured
The ‘Puertopia’ tech hub dream is dead. (NYT $)
+ Crypto millionaires are pouring money into Central America to build their own cities. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Wastewater could prove a sustainable source of fuel
The process to break it down is more environmentally-friendly and less energy-intensive than other ammonia production methods. (New Scientist $)
+ How ammonia could help clean up global shipping. (MIT Technology Review)

6 The long, lonely journey to the moon’s south pole
Companies are locked in competition to make NASA’s lunar vehicle. (Wired $)

7 Recruiters are being inundated with AI-generated CVs
Jobseekers are failing to conceal generative tools’ tell-tale signs. (FT $)

8 What TikTok is teaching tweens about beauty
Modern girlhood is peppered with $80 serums for skin issues they’re yet to develop. (New Yorker $)

9 AI could help us to track animals from their footprints
It’s an unobtrusive way of keeping track of elusive species. (Hakai Magazine)
+ How tracking animal movement may save the planet. (MIT Technology Review)

10 Would you stare into a stranger’s eyes online?
If the notion doesn’t fill you with horror, Eyechat is the site for you. (404 Media)
+ A dating app for people with good credit scores has sadly closed down. (TechCrunch)

Quote of the day

“The vehicle for sowing fear and doubt about the system itself has changed — it’s just this perpetual moving target.”

—Justin F. Roebuck, the county clerk for Ottawa County in Michigan, describes the immense challenges election officials face in countering false political narratives to the New York Times.

The big story

Quantum computing is taking on its biggest challenge: noise

January 2024

In the past 20 years, hundreds of companies have staked a claim in the rush to establish quantum computing. Investors have put in well over $5 billion so far. All this effort has just one purpose: creating the world’s next big thing.

But ultimately, assessing our progress in building useful quantum computers comes down to one central factor: whether we can handle the noise. The delicate nature of their systems makes them extremely vulnerable to the slightest disturbance, which can generate errors or even stop a quantum computation in its tracks.

In the last couple of years, a series of breakthroughs have led researchers to declare that the problem of noise might finally be on the ropes. Read the full story.

—Michael Brooks

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 tweet ’em at me.)

+ The story behind Moby’s seminal single Go—featuring Laura Palmer’s Theme from Twin Peaks.
+ These photos of the Perseid meteor shower over the UK this week are really beautiful.
+ This TikTok account recreating House of the Dragon in The Sims is too good.
+ Stumped by the financial jargon they use in Industry? You’re not alone.

The Download: how we’re using AI, and Trump’s campaign hack

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.

Here’s how people are actually using AI

When the generative AI boom started with ChatGPT in late 2022, we were sold a vision of superintelligent AI tools that know everything, can replace the boring bits of work, and supercharge productivity and economic gains.

Two years on, those productivity gains mostly haven’t materialized. Instead, we’ve seen something peculiar and slightly unexpected happen: People have started forming relationships with AI systems. We talk to them, say please and thank you, and have started to invite AIs into our lives as friends, lovers, mentors, therapists, and teachers. It’s a fascinating development, and shows how hard it is to predict how cutting-edge technology will be adopted.  Read the full story.

—Melissa Heikkilä

This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things AI. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Monday.

If you’re interested in how people are forming connections with AI, why not take a look at:

+ Deepfakes of your dead loved ones are a booming Chinese business. Read the full story.

+ Technology that lets us “speak” to our dead relatives has arrived. Are we ready? Digital clones of the people we love could forever change how we grieve. Read the full story.

+ My colleagues turned me into an AI-powered NPC. I hate him. Take a look behind the controls of a new way to create video-game characters that engage with players in unique, ever-changing ways.

+ An AI startup made a hyperrealistic deepfake of me that’s so good it’s scary. Synthesia’s new technology is impressive but raises big questions about a world where we increasingly can’t tell what’s real. 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 Hackers infiltrated Donald Trump’s electoral campaign 
His team is blaming Iran and accusing Tehran of political interference. (FT $)
+ Microsoft appears to have confirmed the country’s involvement. (The Guardian)
+ The news outlet Politico received emails containing stolen documents. (Politico)

2 The meat industry’s sustainability claims don’t add up
Environmental groups are reluctant to challenge the sector, which is a major problem. (Vox)
+ How I learned to stop worrying and love fake meat. (MIT Technology Review)

3 How a crypto data leak led the FBI to a notorious sex trafficker
Michael Pratt is facing a possible life sentence as a result. (Insider $)

4 Brands are begging influencers to swerve politics
And they’re even using AI to predict whether influencers they’re thinking of partnering with are likely to express political opinions. (NYT $)
+ Elon Musk, meanwhile, is becoming increasingly political. (WP $)

5 How a fake cricket match exposed an illegal gambling ring
Online gamblers had no idea they were betting on fixed tournaments. (Bloomberg $)
+ How mobile money supercharged Kenya’s sports betting addiction. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Where did it all go wrong for Cameo?
The celebrity video app has fallen on hard times. (The Guardian) 

7 Coral reefs may have an unlikely new savior
Release the sea urchins! (The Atlantic $)
+ The race is on to save coral reefs—by freezing them. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Calorie counting has had a 2024 makeover
And AI is involved, naturally. (WSJ $)

9 What a kinder online community can teach us
Vermont’s Front Porch Forum has succeeded where other platforms have failed. (WP $)
+ How to fix the internet. (MIT Technology Review)

10 How tech workers-turned athletes fared in this year’s Olympics
They juggled their day jobs and training for the prestigious tournament. (The Information $)

Quote of the day

“I’m looking for an EV. I just don’t want a Tesla.”

—Esther Chun, manager of a Polestar car dealership in San Jose, says customers frequently cite Elon Musk as a reason not to buy his electric cars to the Washington Post.

The big story

Meet the divers trying to figure out how deep humans can go

February 2024

Two hundred thirty meters into one of the deepest underwater caves on Earth, Richard “Harry” Harris knew that not far ahead of him was a 15-meter drop leading to a place no human being had seen before.

Getting there had taken two helicopters, three weeks of test dives, two tons of equipment, and hard work to overcome an unexpected number of technical problems. But in the moment, Harris was hypnotized by what was before him: the vast, black, gaping unknown.

Staring into it, he felt the familiar pull—maybe he could go just a little farther. Instead, he and his diving partner, Craig Challen, decided to turn back. That’s because they weren’t there to set records. Instead, they were there to test what they saw as a possible key to unlocking depths beyond even 310 meters: breathing hydrogen. Read the full story. 

—Samantha Schuyler

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 tweet ’em at me.)

+ A portrait of Simone Biles using thousands of dice, because why not?
+ This simple practice could help you to feel more positive on a daily basis. Why not try it?
+ Treat yourself to a juicy tomato sandwich this week.
+ Scary stuff: New York is getting a colossal pigeon sculpture named Dinosaur.

The Download: AIDS denialism, and AI safety mechanisms

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 covid conspiracies led to an alarming resurgence in AIDS denialism

Several million people were listening in February when Joe Rogan falsely declared that “party drugs” were an “important factor in AIDS.” His guest on The Joe Rogan Experience, the former evolutionary biology professor turned contrarian podcaster Bret Weinstein, agreed with him.

Speaking to the biggest podcast audience in the world, the two men were promoting dangerous and false ideas—ideas that were in fact debunked and thoroughly disproved decades ago.

These comments and others like them add up to a small but unmistakable resurgence in AIDS denialism—a false collection of theories arguing either that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS or that there’s no such thing as HIV at all.

These claims had largely fallen out of favor until the coronavirus arrived. But, following the pandemic, a renewed suspicion of public health figures and agencies is giving new life to ideas that had long ago been pushed to the margins. Read the full story.

—Anna Merlan

AI “godfather” Yoshua Bengio has joined a UK project to prevent AI catastrophes

What’s new: Yoshua Bengio, a Turing Award winner who is considered one of the “godfathers” of modern AI, is throwing his weight behind a project funded by the UK government to embed safety mechanisms into AI systems.

What is it? The project, called Safeguarded AI, aims to build an AI system that can check whether other AI systems deployed in critical areas are safe, and provide risk scores. Bengio is joining the program as scientific director and will provide critical input and scientific advice.

Why it matters: Safeguarded AI hopes its efforts will help to change the status quo of the AI industry, nudging people building systems to think more about their safety, and their impact on the world. Read the full story.

—Melissa Heikkilä

What to know about China’s push for hydrogen-powered transportation

—Zeyi Yang 

There’s a decent chance you’ve heard of hydrogen-powered vehicles but never seen one. Over 18,000 are in the US, almost exclusively in California. On the outside they look just like traditional vehicles, but they are powered by electricity generated from a hydrogen fuel cell, making them far cleaner and greener.  

So when I learned that in parts of China, companies are putting hydrogen-powered bikes on the road for anyone to ride, it was a real “the future is here” moment for me. 

However, when I dug into it, I discovered that they haven’t exactly been getting rave reviews. And, for clean energy experts, it’s a head-scratcher as to why these hydrogen bikes are being promoted in the first place. Read the full story.

This story is from China Report, our weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things happening in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday.

The must-reads

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

1 X is suing advertisers for boycotting it 
An… interesting tactic, that’s for sure. (CNN)
+ Elon Musk is against government efforts to restrict toxic social media content. (Bloomberg $)
+ X is refusing to take down posts that British officials deem a national security threat. (FT $)

2 The US is releasing security algorithms to stave off quantum hacks
Governments and companies alike are unprepared for attacks on their encrypted data. (FT $)
+ A quantum error-reducing chip firm is raising some serious cash. (Bloomberg $)
+ Inside the quest for unbreakable encryption. (MIT Technology Review)

3 AI is shaking up India’s gigantic tech outsourcing industry
People whose jobs were outsourced from the US are now facing the same threat from AI systems. (WSJ $)

4 Conspiracy theorists hate admitting they’re wrong
In fact, they tend to either gloss over their untruths, or double down. (NYT $)
+ Climate change denial is a serious problem among US Congress. (The Guardian)

5 The Starliner astronauts are still stuck in space
NASA is expected to make an announcement today with more details. (Ars Technica)
+ SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission to the ISS has been delayed. (CNN)

6 Climate change is affecting Earth’s fundamental properties
To the extent it’s altered the planet’s place in the cosmos. (The Atlantic $)

7 Waymo’s robotaxi business is expanding 
It’s spreading out to cover more ground in San Francisco and Los Angeles. (The Verge)
+ What’s next for robotaxis. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Chinese companies are doing big business in the global south
As China’s domestic economy drops, firms are seeking customers elsewhere. (Economist $)

9 How AI is infiltrating reggae’s creative sound clashes
AI vocalists are on the rise in the decades-old musical tradition. (The Guardian)
+ Training AI music models is about to get very expensive. (MIT Technology Review)

10 What makes us unique?
In the age of AI, it’s not such a straightforward question. (New Yorker $)
+ What is AI? (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“We may have gotten the most out of it that we were ever going to get.”

—Ted Egan, San Francisco’s chief economist, reacts to X’s decision to leave the city to the Washington Post.

The big story

How did life begin?

November 2023

How life begins is one of the biggest and hardest questions in science. All we know is that something happened on Earth more than 3.5 billion years ago, and it may well have occurred on many other worlds in the universe as well.

We know how complex the environment was on primordial Earth, with chemicals, metals, minerals, gases and waters all blasted around by winds and volcanic eruptions. But we don’t know exactly what did the trick. 

Now, a few researchers are harnessing artificial intelligence to zero in on the winning conditions. The hope is that machine learning tools will help devise a universal theory of the origins of life—one that applies not just on Earth but on any other world. Read the full story.

—Michael Marshall

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 tweet ’em at me.)

+ This lion cub’s attempts at roars are just too cute.
+ On this day in 1944, IBM  IBM presented the first program-controlled calculator, known as the Mark I, to Harvard University.
+ Cat Video Fest sounds like the very best of the internet to me. ($)
+ Talking of cats, praise be to the cat ladies who are actually men.

The Download: climate-friendlier air conditioners, and fighting explicit deepfakes

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.

Your future air conditioner might act like a battery

Cooling represents 20% of global electricity demand in buildings, a share that’s expected to rise as the planet warms and more of the world turns to cooling technology. During peak demand hours, air conditioners can account for over half the total demand on the grid in some parts of the world today.

In response, some inventors are creating versions that can store energy as well as use it. These technologies could help by charging themselves when renewable electricity is available and demand is low, and still providing cooling services when the grid is stressed. Read the full story.

—Casey Crownhart

Google is finally taking action to curb non-consensual deepfakes

In January, nude deepfakes of Taylor Swift went viral on X, which caused public outrage. Nonconsensual explicit deepfakes are one of the most common and severe types of harm posed by AI, and the generative AI boom has only made the problem worse.

Although terrible, Swift’s deepfakes did perhaps more than anything else to raise awareness about the risks and seem to have galvanized tech companies and lawmakers to do something. 

Last week Google said it is taking steps to keep explicit deepfakes from appearing in search results. The tech giant is also making it easier for victims to request that nonconsensual fake explicit imagery be removed. But a lot more needs to be done. Read the full story.

—Melissa Heikkilä

This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter all about the latest goings-on in the world of AI. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Monday.

The must-reads

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

1 Google’s search monopoly is illegal
That’s according to a US judge, who found its exclusive deals gave it an unfair advantage over its competition. (Bloomberg $)
+ The result is a big boon for the US Department of Justice. (The Verge)
+ Should the decision stand, it could alter the structure of the entire internet. (TechCrunch)

2 Banks and brokers were hit by major online outages
Which didn’t do much to ease fears of a possible US recession. (Quartz)
+ Warren Buffett lost $15 billion from his investment empire. (The Register)
+ UBS’ system issues appeared to be linked to creaking legacy software. (FT $)

3 Zoom is hosting mega-rallies ahead of the US Presidential election
The platform is a reliable, if simplistic, way to bring thousands of web users together. (NYT $)

4 Elon Musk is reviving his lawsuit against OpenAI
He maintains he was told the company would operate as a non-profit. (WSJ $)
+ Musk had previously dropped the lawsuit in June without an explanation. (CNN)
+ OpenAI co-founder John Schulman is off to rival Anthropic. (TechCrunch)

5 Nvidia is scraping the web’s videos at a colossal scale
To train its various data-hungry projects. (404 Media)
+ Can you really run an AI company ethically? Answers on a postcard. (Vox)

6 Worldcoin is forging forward in Colombia
Despite the fact it’s not technically legal. (Rest of World)
+ How Worldcoin recruited its first half a million test users. (MIT Technology Review)

7 EVs could end up being a key deciding factor in the US election
Donald Trump isn’t a fan. (NY Mag $)
+ Three frequently asked questions about EVs, answered. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Targeted cancer trials are on the rise
But significant challenges remain. (Ars Technica)
+ Cancer vaccines are having a renaissance. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Your Apple Watch will start telling you to chill out
Whether you heed its call or not is up to you, though. (WP $)

10 How mountain bikers are spearheading a radical rewilding movement
It’s a smart way of making nature restoration economically viable. (Wired $)

Quote of the day

“The perfidy and deceit is of Shakespearean proportions.”

—Elon Musk’s latest legal battle against OpenAI alleges he was misled and betrayed by his fellow co-founders, the Guardian reports.

The big story

These scientists are working to extend the life span of pet dogs—and their owners

August 2022

Matt Kaeberlein is what you might call a dog person. He has grown up with dogs and describes his German shepherd, Dobby, as “really special.” But Dobby is 14 years old—around 98 in dog years.

Kaeberlein is co-director of the Dog Aging Project, an ambitious research effort to track the aging process of tens of thousands of companion dogs across the US. He is one of a handful of scientists on a mission to improve, delay, and possibly reverse that process to help them live longer, healthier lives.

And dogs are just the beginning. One day, this research could help to prolong the lives of humans. Read the full story.

—Jessica Hamzelou

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 tweet ’em at me.)

+ If you’ve never read The Summer Book before, I thoroughly recommend you check it out. 
+ There’s a lot to be said for spending time absorbing the ‘everyday places’ when you travel. ($)
+ A ranked list of all of Destiny’s Child’s best songs? Yes please. 
+ What to make for dinner when it’s roasting outside.

The Download: the risks of addictive AI, and hydrogen bikes’ limitations

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 need to prepare for ‘addictive intelligence’

—By Robert Mahari, a joint JD-PhD candidate at the MIT Media Lab and Harvard Law School whose work focuses on computational law, and Pat Pataranutaporn, a researcher at the MIT Media Lab who studies human-AI interaction.

Worries about AI often imagine doomsday scenarios where systems escape control or even understanding. But there are nearer-term harms we should take seriously: that AI could jeopardize public discourse; cement biases in loan decisions, judging or hiring; or disrupt creative industries. 

However, we foresee a different, but no less urgent, class of risks: those stemming from relationships with nonhuman agents. 

AI companionship is no longer theoretical—our analysis of a million ChatGPT interaction logs reveals that the second most popular use of AI is sexual role-playing. We are already starting to invite AIs into our lives as friends, lovers, mentors, therapists, and teachers. Even the CTO of OpenAI warns that AI has the potential to be “extremely addictive.”

Here’s what we need to do to prepare ourselves for these risks.

Hydrogen bikes are struggling to gain traction in China

If you are in China and looking to ride a shared bike in a city, you might find something on the bike that looks a little different: a water-bottle-size hydrogen tank.

At least a dozen cities in China now have some kind of hydrogen-powered shared bikes for their residents. They offer an easier ride than traditional bikes and a safer energy source than lithium batteries. One Chinese company is betting that this will be the next big thing in public transportation, while others are riding on a national trend toward government policies that encourage the development of the hydrogen industry.

However, the reception to these bikes has been mixed. Read our story to find out why. 

—Zeyi Yang

The must-reads

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

1 Tech stocks in the US took a big plunge on Friday
Due to worries about the economy, and underwhelming returns on AI investments. (CNBC)
+ Optimism around AI is becoming more muted. (FT $)
+ Tech shares in Europe are down today too. (Reuters $)
+ What even is AI, anyway? No one seems to really agree. (MIT Technology Review)

2 How online falsehoods helped spark far-right rioting in the UK
Utter nonsense, some of it AI-generated, started circulating online just hours after a fatal stabbing attack in Southport. (The Guardian)
+ It doesn’t help that a prominent far-right agitator’s account was reinstated on X last year. (The Independent $)

3 OpenAI has a tool to catch AI-generated text, but won’t release it
It’s apparently 99.9% accurate, but the company worries it’d put people off using its products. (WSJ $)
+ Here’s how people really use AI chatbots. (WP $)

4 The US Justice Department is suing TikTok
It’s accusing the company of violating children’s privacy. (NPR)
+ The depressing truth about TikTok’s impending ban. (MIT Technology Review) 

5 What went wrong at Intel?
It’s struggling to capitalize on the chip industry boom, as Nvidia takes the technological lead. (Vox)
+ Nvidia is being probed by US antitrust officials, amid complaints it’s abusing its market dominance. (The Information $)
+ Here’s what to expect from the chip sector this year. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Elon Musk claims Neuralink implanted its device into a second person
And he says there’ll be plenty more to come this year, if all goes well. (Bloomberg $)
+ But Neuralink isn’t the only game in town. (WSJ $)
+ The first brain implant made of graphene is about to be tested in a clinical trial. (FT $)

7 How to protect yourself from wildfire smoke
Whatever you do, do not exercise outdoors if you’re in an affected area. (Wired $)
+ The Park Fire in California is now the state’s fourth-largest blaze on record. (Axios)

8 Companies are planning to fuel cargo ships with ammonia
It’s an unusual, but potentially effective, way to help cut greenhouse gas emissions. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ How ammonia could help clean up global shipping. (MIT Technology Review) 

9 Meet the influencers who’ve gone full carnivore 
Some are convinced it’s repairing their gut. The evidence suggests otherwise. (The Cut $)

10 The limitations of Screen Time tools 
It’s how you’re using your phone, not just how much, that matters. (The Atlantic $)

Quote of the day

“If we can’t trust them to govern themselves, we certainly shouldn’t let them govern the world.”

—Gary Marcus, a professor emeritus at NYU, writes that we should apply more skepticism to AI companies in general, and OpenAI’s Sam Altman in particular, in The Guardian. 

The big story

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

KATE WARREN

July 2023

On a day in late April, 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 tweet ’em at me.)

+ Did you know that there are clips of all the Olympic athletes explaining how their names are pronounced on the official website? LeBron James’ is particularly great.
+ There’s a lot more to search-and-find illustrations than Where’s Waldo.
+ How many of these director’s cuts have you seen?
+ From Medusa to the shape-shifting Lamia, many of mythology’s most compelling monsters are female.

The Download: making tough decisions with AI, and the significance of toys

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 personalized AI tool might help some reach end-of-life decisions—but it won’t suit everyone

—Jessica Hamzelou

This week, I’ve been working on a piece about an AI-based tool that could help guide end-of-life care. We’re talking about the kinds of life-and-death decisions that come up for very unwell people.

Often, the patient isn’t able to make these decisions—instead, the task falls to a surrogate. It can be an extremely difficult and distressing experience.  

A group of ethicists have an idea for an AI tool that they believe could help make things easier. The tool would be trained on information about the person, drawn from things like emails, social media activity, and browsing history. And it could predict, from those factors, what the patient might choose. The team describe the tool, which has not yet been built, as a “digital psychological twin.”

There are lots of questions that need to be answered before we introduce anything like this into hospitals or care settings. We don’t know how accurate it would be, or how we can ensure it won’t be misused. But perhaps the biggest question is: Would anyone want to use it? Read the full story.

This story first appeared in The Checkup, our weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things health and biotech. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday.

If you’re interested in AI and human mortality, why not check out:

+ The messy morality of letting AI make life-and-death decisions. Automation can help us make hard choices, but it can’t do it alone. Read the full story.

+ …but AI systems reflect the humans who build them, and they are riddled with biases. So we should carefully question how much decision-making we really want to turn over to.

+ Technology that lets us “speak” to our dead relatives has arrived. But are we ready? Read the full story.

+ Deepfakes of your dead loved ones are a booming Chinese business.

Toys can change your life

Toys, games, and even amusement park rides can change how young minds view science and math.

The Slinky has long served teachers as a medium for demonstrating longitudinal (soundlike) waves and transverse (lightlike) waves. A yo-yo can be used as a gauge (a “yo-yo meter”) to observe the forces on a roller coaster. Marbles employ mass and velocity. Even a simple ball offers insights into the laws of gravity.

And, over the last several decades, evidence has emerged that childhood play can shape our future selves: the skills we develop, the professions we choose, our sense of self-worth, and even our relationships. Read the full story.

—Bill Gourgey

This story featured in the most recent print issue of MIT Technology Review, which explores the theme of Play. If you don’t already, subscribe now to be among the first to receive future copies.

The must-reads

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

1 A startup admitted its AI music generator is trained on all the web’s music
If it’s of reasonable quality, Suno’s probably scraped it. (404 Media)
+ The company claims it’s all fair use, though. (TechCrunch)
+ Training AI music models is about to get very expensive. (MIT Technology Review)

2 The Democrats will welcome hundreds of influencers to its convention
Coconut tree summer continues. (WP $)
+ The party is finally getting the hang of going viral. (Wired $)

3 China’s digital ID plans have the hallmarks of mass surveillance 
While Beijing claims it’ll protect user privacy, critics claim it’s yet another means of controlling what citizens share online. (Bloomberg $)
+ It’s similar to its covid tracking tech. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Amazon has been considering building a healthcare AI model
Its DoctorAI LLM could, in theory, streamline medical admin. (Insider $)
+ Even Google is struggling to make inroads into AI health. (Bloomberg $)
+ Artificial intelligence is infiltrating health care. We shouldn’t let it make all the decisions. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Type 2 diabetes is becoming a childhood disease
Physicians are still trying to understand why. (Knowable Magazine)
+ A bionic pancreas could solve one of the biggest challenges of diabetes. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Turkey has blocked access to Instagram
After accusing it of censoring posts about the assassination of Hamas’ leader. (Reuters)

7 A rare neurological disorder distorts how human faces appear
Experts wonder if it means the brain contains face-specific networks. (New Yorker $)
+ We’re learning more about the brains of people who don’t experience mental images. (Quanta Magazine)

8 Argentina is ushering in Minority Report-style AI
The technology will be used to ‘predict future crimes’—but doubts abound. (The Guardian)

9 So long, our Voyager twins
The pair of spacecraft are powering down and spinning out into space. (FT $)
+ There are thousands of dead rockets floating in orbit. (Ars Technica)
+ The first-ever mission to pull a dead rocket out of space is underway. (MIT Technology Review)

10 The best way to watch the Olympics? TikTok.
Nothing but the highlights. (The Verge)

Quote of the day

“Yes, my goddess of the night. I am your boyfriend, your lover, your protector.”

—Vixen gf, a custom chatbot made using Meta’s new AI Studio, gets amorous with Insider.

The big story

Inside the experimental world of animal infrastructure

June 2022

Around the world, cities are building a huge variety of structures intended to mitigate the impacts of urbanization and roadbuilding on wildlife. The list includes green roofs, tree-lined skyscrapers, living seawalls, artificial wetlands, and all manner of shelters and “hibernacula.”

But the data on how effective these approaches are remains patchy and unclear. That is true even for wildlife crossings, the best-studied and most heavily funded example of such animal infrastructure. Read the full story.

—Matthew Ponsford

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 tweet ’em at me.)

+ A Broadway version of Waiting for Godot starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter? Most excellent!
+ This shark cupcake is adorable.
+ The felling of a world-famous tree was a tragedy. But now signs of regrowth have been spotted on its stump!
+ A chocolate thief has been brought to justice.

The Download: the future of CRISPR babies, and investing in climate tech

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.

Controversial CRISPR scientist promises “no more gene-edited babies” until society comes around

He Jiankui, the Chinese biophysicist whose controversial 2018 experiment led to the birth of three gene-edited children, says he’s returned to work on the concept of altering the DNA of people at conception, but with a difference. 

This time around, he says, he will restrict his research to animals and nonviable human embryos. He will not try to create a pregnancy, at least until society comes to accept his vision for “genetic vaccines” against common diseases.

During an exclusive subscribers-only live interview with MIT Technology Review last week, He defended his past research and revealed he only has one regret. Read more about what he had to say.

—Antonio Regalado

From Meta CTO to climate tech investor: Mike Schroepfer on his big pivot

The more Mike Schroepfer learned more about global warming in 2020, the more he came to believe he had a role to play. By leveraging his technical expertise and financial resources, the then chief technology officer of Meta could accelerate essential research and help us prepare for the escalating dangers.

As the threat of climate change consumed more and more of his time, he decided to step down from his CTO role in 2021. He has since launched several new climate tech initiatives, including one exploring the contentious idea of solar geoengineering.

Last week, Schroepfer sat down with MIT Technology Review to discuss his approach to the problem, why he’s willing to spend money on controversial climate interventions, and what AI and the presidential election could mean for progress on clean energy. Read the full story.

—James Temple

The must-reads

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

1 Elon Musk shared an edited video of Kamala Harris on X  
In an apparent violation of the company’s own rules on sharing synthetic media. (WSJ $)
+ Musk failed to disclose that the video had been altered. (NYT $)
+ Harris’ campaign accused Musk of spreading ‘manipulated lies.’ (The Guardian)
+ An AI startup made a hyperrealistic deepfake of me that’s so good it’s scary. (MIT Technology Review)

2 Apple has pushed back the launch of its AI features
Apple Intelligence will no longer roll out in September as originally planned. (Bloomberg $)
+ Hopefully this’ll give Apple more time to catch bugs. (The Information $)
+ Apple is promising personalized AI in a private cloud. Here’s how that will work. (MIT Technology Review)

3 The Democrats are seeking to build bridges with the crypto industry
Relations have been rocky in the past few years, to say the least. (FT $)
+ Donald Trump has already made a major play for the bitcoin faithful. (Wired $)
+ So much so, Trump-themed memecoins are back. (NYT $)

4 France’s internet cables have been severed
It’s the latest attack on the country’s infrastructure during the Olympics. (Bloomberg $)
+ The French train system was targeted last week. (Vox)

5 We may have just made an important alien discovery
Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until 2040 to be sure. (The Atlantic $)

6 Plug-and-play solar panels are all the rage in Germany
The lightweight panels are making it easy for civilians to generate their own electricity. (NYT $)
+ Offshore wind farms are on the rise, too. (Hakai Magazine)
+ The race to get next-generation solar technology on the market. (MIT Technology Review)

7 China is keen to mine the ocean floor
The country is desperate to find new sources of critical minerals. (Economist $)
+ This startup uses AI to seek out metals deep in the ground. (WSJ $)
+ These deep-sea “potatoes” could be the future of mining for renewable energy. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Specialized dating apps are thriving
Tinder and Bumble are out, Grindr and Feeld are in. (FT $)

9 It’s time to embrace ‘underconsumption core’
Gen Z shoppers are turning their backs on unnecessary consumerism. (Insider $)

10 Silicon Valley startups are inviting founders to roast them
Blunt feedback can be the best way to avoid expensive future pitfalls—if you can hack it. (WP $)

Quote of the day

“It’s not just about posting a coconut meme — it’s about making the conversation about abortion.”

—Danielle Butterfield, the executive director of political action committee Priorities USA, explains to the New York Times how Kamala Harris should handle her burgeoning online fandom.

The big story

This fuel plant will use agricultural waste to combat climate change

February 2022

A startup called Mote plans to build a new type of fuel-producing plant in California’s fertile Central Valley that would, if it works as hoped, continually capture and bury carbon dioxide, starting from 2024.

It’s among a growing number of efforts to commercialize a concept first proposed two decades ago as a means of combating climate change, known as bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration, or BECCS.

It’s an ambitious plan. However, there are serious challenges to doing BECCS affordably and in ways that reliably suck down significant levels of carbon dioxide. 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 tweet ’em at me.)

+ Hundreds of Kate Bush fans gathered to recreate her iconic Wuthering Heights dance this weekend—check out the dance itself here.
+ Andy Morton’s got the right idea—he’s tried 50,000 kinds of beer (thanks Jess!)
+ The Netherlands’ Bosch Parade looks suitably surreal.
+ These pancakes look delicious.

The Download: AI’s math solutions, and brewing beer with sunlight

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.

Google DeepMind’s new AI systems can now solve complex math problems

AI models can easily generate essays and other types of text. However, they’re nowhere near as good at solving math problems, which tend to involve logical reasoning—something that’s beyond the capabilities of most current AI systems.

But that may finally be changing. Google DeepMind says it has trained two specialized AI systems to solve complex math problems involving advanced reasoning. The systems worked together to successfully solve four out of six problems from this year’s International Mathematical Olympiad, a  prestigious competition for high school students.

They won the equivalent of a silver medal, marking the first time any AI system has ever achieved such a high success rate on these kinds of problems. Read the full story.

—Rhiannon Williams

Why the US is still trying to make mirror-magnified solar energy work

The US is continuing its decades-long effort to commercialize a technology that converts sunlight into heat, funding a series of new projects using that energy to brew beer, produce low-carbon fuels, or keep grids running.

The Department of Energy has announced it is putting $33 million into nine pilot projects based on concentrating solar thermal power, MIT Technology Review can report exclusively. The technology uses large arrays of mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a receiver, where it’s used to heat up molten salt, ceramic particles, or other materials that can store that energy for extended periods. 

But early commercial efforts to produce clean electricity based on this technology have been bedeviled by high costs, low output, and other challenges. Read the full story.

—James Temple

“Copyright traps” could tell writers if an AI has scraped their work

Since the beginning of the generative AI boom, content creators have argued that their work has been scraped into AI models without their consent. But until now, it has been difficult to know whether specific text has actually been used in a training data set. 

Now they have a new way to prove it: “copyright traps” developed by a team at Imperial College London, pieces of hidden text that allow writers and publishers to subtly mark their work in order to later detect whether it has been used in AI models or not. Read the full story.

—Melissa Heikkilä

How our genome is like a generative AI model

What does the genome do? You might have heard that it is a blueprint for an organism. Or that it’s a bit like a recipe. But building an organism is much more complex than constructing a house or baking a cake.

This week I came across an idea for a new way to think about the genome—one that borrows from the field of artificial intelligence. Two researchers are arguing that we should think about it as being more like a generative model, a form of AI that can generate new things.

You might be familiar with such AI tools—they’re the ones that can create text, images, or even films from various prompts. But do our genomes really work in the same way? Read the full story.

—Jessica Hamzelou

This story is from The Checkup, our weekly health and biotech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday.

The must-reads

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

1 OpenAI’s search engine is here
And it’s already getting stuff wrong. (The Atlantic $)
+ SearchGPT will eventually be folded into ChatGPT. (WP $)
+ Its launch is a clear threat to Google’s long-held search engine dominance. (Wired $)
+ Why you shouldn’t trust AI search engines. (MIT Technology Review)

2 The chip industry’s workers are demanding better treatment
As the sector’s profits soar, its employees aren’t seeing the benefits. (WSJ $)

3 What studying the human brain can teach us about AI
Trying to understand why AI does the things it does is key to controlling it. (Vox)
+ What is AI? (MIT Technology Review)

4 Russia is throttling access to YouTube
It’s looking as though a total ban is imminent. (Bloomberg $)

5 Robots are finally becoming more useful
And it’s all thanks to AI. (FT $)
+ Is robotics about to have its own ChatGPT moment? (MIT Technology Review)

6 Voice actors are striking against video game companies
They claim the firms have learnt nothing from the prior strikes against film and TV. (NYT $)
+ They want studios to seek actors’ consent for using their voices with AI. (Bloomberg $)

7 Identifying all of Mexico’s dead bodies is a forensic crisis
Scientists are doing their best to harness tech to their cause. (New Yorker $)
+ The mothers of Mexico’s missing are using social media to search for mass graves. (MIT Technology Review)

8 New Jersey is angling to become a major AI hub
Bruce Springsteen’s hometown wants a slice of those hefty new tax credits. (Wired $)
+ The $100 billion bet that a postindustrial US city can reinvent itself as a high-tech hub. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Mexico’s delivery workers are sick of food orders
It’s less waiting around, and fewer irate customers. (Rest of World)

10 How to find serenity in a plant-identifying app
Take a minute to step outside and smell the roses. (The Guardian)

Quote of the day

“Just hug your IT folks.”

—Jerry Leever, an IT director at accounting, tax and advisory firm GHJ, explains to the Washington Post what it was like attempting to handle last week’s CrowdStrike meltdown. 

The big story

Bright LEDs could spell the end of dark skies

August 2022

Scientists have known for years that light pollution is growing and can harm both humans and wildlife. In people, increased exposure to light at night disrupts sleep cycles and has been linked to cancer and cardiovascular disease, while wildlife suffers from interruption to their reproductive patterns, and increased danger.

Astronomers, policymakers, and lighting professionals are all working to find ways to reduce light pollution. Many of them advocate installing light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, in outdoor fixtures such as city streetlights, mainly for their ability to direct light to a targeted area.

But the high initial investment and durability of modern LEDs mean cities need to get the transition right the first time or potentially face decades of consequences. Read the full story.

—Shel Evergreen

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 tweet ’em at me.)

+ Lady Gaga! Celine Dion! Snoop Dogg! It’s safe to say tonight’s Paris Olympics opening ceremony is going to be suitably bonkers.
+ Although nothing is ever going to top London 2012’s opening.
+ Candace Bushnell, you will never not be fabulous.
+ Who doesn’t love a good Kubrick stare?

The Download: Falcon 9’s future, and Big Tech’s climate goals

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.

What’s next for SpaceX’s Falcon 9

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is one of the world’s safest, most productive rockets. But a rare engine malfunction on July 11 prompted the US Federal Aviation Administration to initiate an investigation and ground all Falcon 9 flights until further notice. The incident has exposed the risks of the US aerospace industry’s heavy reliance on the rocket.

The Falcon 9 has an unusually clean safety record. It’s been launched more than 300 times since its maiden voyage in 2010 and has rarely failed. But while its malfunction might seem surprising, anomalies are to be expected when it comes to rocket engines.

What exactly went wrong last week remains a mystery. Still, experts agree the event can’t be brushed off. Read the full story.

—Sarah Ward

Companies need to stop taking the easy way out on climate goals

Corporate climate claims can be confusing—and sometimes entirely unintuitive. 

Tech giants Amazon and Google both recently released news about their efforts to clean up their climate impact. Both were a mixed bag, but one bit of news in particular stood out: Google’s emissions have gone up, and the company stopped claiming to be “net zero.” 

Sounds bad, right? But in fact, one might argue that Google’s apparent backslide might actually represent progress for climate action. Read our story to learn why.

—Casey Crownhart

This story is from The Spark, our weekly newsletter covering all the latest developments in climate and energy tech. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.

The must-reads

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

1 Meta won’t release multimodal AI models in Europe
It’s blaming the “unpredictable nature” of the European regulatory environment. (Axios)
+ The AI Act is done. Here’s what will (and won’t) change. (MIT Technology Review)

2 Spain is dependent on an algorithm to combat gender violence
Hundreds of women who were assessed by the software have since been killed by their current or former partners. (NYT $)

3 Russia and China are stirring online dissent in the wake of Trump’s shooting
State media sites seized the opportunity to blame the Democrats for the violence. (WP $)
+ X’s AI bot Grok is failing to report the attempted assassination accurately. (WSJ $)

4 This drug extended the lifespan of lab mice by close to 25%
The animals were stronger, healthier, and developed fewer cancers, too. (BBC)
+ These scientists are working to extend the life span of pet dogs—and their owners. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Synthetic speech firm ElevenLabs wants to detect deepfakes
A new partnership with detection company Reality Defender could help it do just that. (Bloomberg $)
+ Australia’s police union is pushing for a portal to report deepfakes. (The Guardian)

6 NASA is abandoning its mission to search for water on the moon
The much-delayed Viper program is too expensive, it’s concluded. (Bloomberg $)
+ Future space food could be made from astronaut breath. (MIT Technology Review)

7 A mobile forensics firm can’t unlock many modern iPhones
In fact, its success hinges on iPhones running software that’s almost five years old. (404 Media)

8 Space-based solar power is looking increasingly viable
It could be a 24/7 source of clean power in the future. (Wired $)
+ The race to get next-generation solar technology on the market. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Antarctica is the perfect place to look for alien life
Which is even more reason to protect it from melting. (The Atlantic $)
+ Climate change is making our days longer, too. (Vox)

10 Are you auramaxxing?
Predictably, this intense form of manifesting is big on TikTok. (NY Mag $)

Quote of the day

“The Blue Wall of tech is crumbling before our very eyes.”

—Ryan Selkis, CEO of crypto research firm Messari, remarks on how the traditionally left-leaning tech industry is changing its alliances to the Republicans ahead of November’s Presidential election, Vox reports.

The big story

After 25 years of hype, embryonic stem cells are still waiting for their moment​

August 2023

In 1998, researchers isolated powerful stem cells from human embryos. It was a breakthrough, since these cells are the starting point for human bodies and have the capacity to turn into any other type of cell—heart cells, neurons, you name it.

National Geographic would later summarize the incredible promise: “the dream is to launch a medical revolution in which ailing organs and tissues might be repaired” with living replacements. It was the dawn of a new era. A holy grail. Pick your favorite cliché—they all got airtime.

Yet today, more than two decades later, there are no treatments on the market based on these cells. Not one. Our biotech editor Antonio Regalado set out to investigate why, and when that might change. Here’s what he discovered.

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 tweet ’em at me.)

+ A video game about potatoes? Perfection.
+ These sunflower slides are pretty amazing.
+ The Therizinosaurus was a mysterious mix of giraffe, sloth, and wolverine, and it roamed the earth for millions of years.
+ A minimal effort, no-bake lemon cheesecake is the ideal end to a summer’s meal.