The Download: the risk of falling space debris, and how to debunk a conspiracy theory

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 is the chance your plane will be hit by space debris?

The risk of flights being hit by space junk is still small, but it’s growing.

About three pieces of old space equipment—used rockets and defunct satellites—fall into Earth’s atmosphere every day, according to estimates by the European Space Agency. By the mid-2030s, there may be dozens thanks to the rise of megaconstellations in orbit.

So far, space debris hasn’t injured anybody—in the air or on the ground. But multiple close calls have been reported in recent years.

But some estimates have the risk of a single human death or injury caused by a space debris strike on the ground at around 10% per year by 2035. That would mean a better than even chance that someone on Earth would be hit by space junk about every decade. Find out more.

—Tereza Pultarova

This story 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 the rest of the series here.

Chatbots are surprisingly effective at debunking conspiracy theories

—Thomas Costello, Gordon Pennycook & David Rand

Many people believe that you can’t talk conspiracists out of their beliefs. 

But that’s not necessarily true. Our research shows that many conspiracy believers do respond to evidence and arguments—information that is now easy to deliver in the form of a tailored conversation with an AI chatbot.

This is good news, given the outsize role that unfounded conspiracy theories play in today’s political landscape. So while there are widespread and legitimate concerns that generative AI is a potent tool for spreading disinformation, our work shows that it can also be part of the solution. Read the full story.

This story is part of MIT Technology Review’s series “The New Conspiracy Age,” on how the present boom in conspiracy theories is reshaping science and technology. Check out the rest of the series here. 

The must-reads

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

1 China is quietly expanding its remote nuclear test site
In the wake of Donald Trump announcing America’s intentions to revive similar tests. (WP $)
+ A White House memo has accused Alibaba of supporting Chinese operations. (FT $)

2 Jeff Bezos is becoming co-CEO of a new AI startup
Project Prometheus will focus on AI for building computers, aerospace and vehicles. (NYT $)

3 AI-powered toys are holding inappropriate conversations with children 
Including how to find dangerous objects including pills and knives. (The Register)
+ Chatbots are unreliable and unpredictable, whether embedded in toys or not. (Futurism)
+ AI toys are all the rage in China—and now they’re appearing on shelves in the US too. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Big Tech is warming to the idea of data centers in space
They come with a lot less red tape than their Earth-bound counterparts. (WSJ $)
+ There are a huge number of data centers mired in the planning stage. (WSJ $)
+ Should we be moving data centers to space? (MIT Technology Review)

5 The mafia is recruiting via TikTok
Some bosses are even using the platform to control gangs from behind bars. (Economist $)

6 How to resist AI in your workplace
Like most things in life, there’s power in numbers. (Vox)

7 How China’s EV fleet could become a giant battery network
If economic troubles don’t get in the way, that is. (Rest of World)
+ EV sales are on the rise in South America. (Reuters)
+ China’s energy dominance in three charts. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Inside the unstoppable rise of the domestic internet
Control-hungry nations are following China’s lead in building closed platforms. (NY Mag $)
+ Can we repair the internet? (MIT Technology Review)

9 Search traffic? What search traffic?
These media startups have found a way to thrive without Google. (Insider $)
+ AI means the end of internet search as we’ve known it. (MIT Technology Review)

10 Paul McCartney has released a silent track to protest AI’s creep into music
That’ll show them! (The Guardian)
+ AI is coming for music, too. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“All the parental controls in the world will not protect your kids from themselves.”

—Samantha Broxton, a parenting coach and consultant, tells the Washington Post why educating children around the risks of using technology is the best way to help them protect themselves.

One more thing

Inside the controversial tree farms powering Apple’s carbon neutral goal

Apple (and its peers) are planting vast forests of eucalyptus trees in Brazil to try to offset their climate emissions, striking some of the largest-ever deals for carbon credits in the process.

The tech behemoth is betting that planting millions of eucalyptus trees in Brazil will be the path to a greener future. Some ecologists and local residents are far less sure.

The big question is: Can Latin America’s eucalyptus be a scalable climate solution? Read the full story.

—Gregory Barber

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.)

+ Shepard Fairey’s retrospective show in LA looks very cool.
+ Check out these fascinating scientific breakthroughs that have been making waves over the past 25 years.
+ Good news—sweet little puffins are making a comeback in Ireland.
+ Maybe we should all be getting into Nordic walking.

The Download: how AI really works, and phasing out animal testing

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.

OpenAI’s new LLM exposes the secrets of how AI really works

The news: ChatGPT maker OpenAI has built an experimental large language model that is far easier to understand than typical models.

Why it matters: It’s a big deal, because today’s LLMs are black boxes: Nobody fully understands how they do what they do. Building a model that is more transparent sheds light on how LLMs work in general, helping researchers figure out why models hallucinate, why they go off the rails, and just how far we should trust them with critical tasks. Read the full story.

—Will Douglas Heaven

Google DeepMind is using Gemini to train agents inside Goat Simulator 3

Google DeepMind has built a new video-game-playing agent called SIMA 2 that can navigate and solve problems in 3D virtual worlds. The company claims it’s a big step toward more general-purpose agents and better real-world robots.   

The company first demoed SIMA (which stands for “scalable instructable multiworld agent”) last year. But this new version has been built on top of Gemini, the firm’s flagship large language model, which gives the agent a huge boost in capability. Read the full story.

—Will Douglas Heaven

These technologies could help put a stop to animal testing

Earlier this week, the UK’s science minister announced an ambitious plan: to phase out animal testing.

Testing potential skin irritants on animals will be stopped by the end of next year. By 2027, researchers are “expected to end” tests of the strength of Botox on mice. And drug tests in dogs and nonhuman primates will be reduced by 2030.

It’s good news for activists and scientists who don’t want to test on animals. And it’s timely too: In recent decades, we’ve seen dramatic advances in technologies that offer new ways to model the human body and test the effects of potential therapies, without experimenting on animals. 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.

The must-reads

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

1 Chinese hackers used Anthropic’s AI to conduct an espionage campaign   
It automated a number of attacks on corporations and governments in September. (WSJ $)
+ The AI was able to handle the majority of the hacking workload itself. (NYT $)
+ Cyberattacks by AI agents are coming. (MIT Technology Review)

2 Blue Origin successfully launched and landed its New Glenn rocket
It managed to deploy two NASA satellites into space without a hitch. (CNN)
+ The New Glenn is the company’s largest reusable rocket. (FT $)
+ The launch had been delayed twice before. (WP $)

3 Brace yourself for flu season
It started five weeks earlier than usual in the UK, and the US is next. (Ars Technica)
+ Here’s why we don’t have a cold vaccine. Yet. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Google is hosting a Border Protection facial recognition app    
The app alerts officials whether to contact ICE about identified immigrants. (404 Media)
+ Another effort to track ICE raids was just taken offline. (MIT Technology Review)

5 OpenAI is trialling group chats in ChatGPT
It’d essentially make AI a participant in a conversation of up to 20 people. (Engadget)

6 A TikTok stunt sparked debate over how charitable America’s churches really are
Content creator Nikalie Monroe asked churches for help feeding her baby. Very few stepped up. (WP $)

7 Indian startups are attempting to tackle air pollution
But their solutions are far beyond the means of the average Indian household. (NYT $)
+ OpenAI is huge in India. Its models are steeped in caste bias. (MIT Technology Review)

8 An AI tool could help reduce wasted efforts to transplant organs
It predicts how likely the would-be recipient is to die during the brief transplantation window. (The Guardian)
+ Putin says organ transplants could grant immortality. Not quite. (MIT Technology Review)

9 3D-printing isn’t making prosthetics more affordable
It turns out that plastic prostheses are often really uncomfortable. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ These prosthetics break the mold with third thumbs, spikes, and superhero skins. (MIT Technology Review)

10 What happens when relationships with AI fall apart
Can you really file for divorce from an LLM? (Wired $)
+ It’s surprisingly easy to stumble into a relationship with an AI chatbot. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“It’s a funky time.”

—Aileen Lee, founder and managing partner of Cowboy Ventures, tells TechCrunch the AI boom has torn up the traditional investment rulebook.

One more thing

Restoring an ancient lake from the rubble of an unfinished airport in Mexico City

Weeks after Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office in 2018, he controversially canceled ambitious plans to build an airport on the deserted site of the former Lake Texcoco—despite the fact it was already around a third complete.

Instead, he tasked Iñaki Echeverria, a Mexican architect and landscape designer, with turning it into a vast urban park, an artificial wetland that aims to transform the future of the entire Valley region.

But as López Obrador’s presidential team nears its end, the plans for Lake Texcoco’s rebirth could yet vanish. 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 skeet ’em at me.)

+ Maybe Gen Z is onto something when it comes to vibe dating.
+ Trust AC/DC to give the fans what they want, performing Jailbreak for the first time since 1991.
+ Nieves González, the artist behind Lily Allen’s new album cover, has an eye for detail.
+ Here’s what AI determines is a catchy tune.

The Download: AI to measure pain, and how to deal with conspiracy theorists

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 is changing how we quantify pain

Researchers around the world are racing to turn pain—medicine’s most subjective vital sign—into something a camera or sensor can score as reliably as blood pressure.

The push has already produced PainChek—a smartphone app that scans people’s faces for tiny muscle movements and uses artificial intelligence to output a pain score—which has been cleared by regulators on three continents and has logged more than 10 million pain assessments. Other startups are beginning to make similar inroads.

The way we assess pain may finally be shifting, but when algorithms measure our suffering, does that change the way we treat it? Read the full story.

—Deena Mousa

This story is from the latest print issue of MIT Technology Review magazine, which is full of fascinating stories about our bodies. If you haven’t already, subscribe now to receive future issues once they land.

How to help friends and family dig out of a conspiracy theory black hole

—Niall Firth 

Someone I know became a conspiracy theorist seemingly overnight.

It was during the pandemic. They suddenly started posting daily on Facebook about the dangers of covid vaccines and masks, warning of an attempt to control us.

As a science and technology journalist, I felt that my duty was to respond. I tried, but all I got was derision. Even now I still wonder: Are there things I could have done differently to talk them back down and help them see sense? 

I gave Sander van der Linden, professor of social psychology in society at the University of Cambridge, a call to ask: What would he advise if family members or friends show signs of having fallen down the rabbit hole? Read the full story.

This story is part of MIT Technology Review’s series “The New Conspiracy Age,” on how the present boom in conspiracy theories is reshaping science and technology. Check out the rest of the series here. It’s also part of our How To series, giving you practical advice to help you get things done. 

If you’re interested in hearing more about how to survive in the age of conspiracies, join our features editor Amanda Silverman and executive editor Niall Firth for a subscriber-exclusive Roundtable conversation with conspiracy expert Mike Rothschild. It’s at 1pm ET on Thursday November 20—register now to join us!

Google is still aiming for its “moonshot” 2030 energy goals

—Casey Crownhart

Last week, we hosted EmTech MIT, MIT Technology Review’s annual flagship conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As you might imagine, some of this climate reporter’s favorite moments came in the climate sessions. I was listening especially closely to my colleague James Temple’s discussion with Lucia Tian, head of advanced energy technologies at Google.

They spoke about the tech giant’s growing energy demand and what sort of technologies the company is looking to to help meet it. In case you weren’t able to join us, let’s dig into that session and consider how the company is thinking about energy in the face of AI’s rapid rise. Read the full story.

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 ChatGPT is now “warmer and more conversational”
But it’s also slightly more willing to discuss sexual and violent content. (The Register)
+ ChatGPT has a very specific writing style. (WP $)
+ The looming crackdown on AI companionship. (MIT Technology Review)

2 The US could deny visas to visitors with obesity, cancer or diabetes
As part of its ongoing efforts to stem the flow of people trying to enter the country. (WP $)

3 Microsoft is planning to create its own AI chip
And it’s going to use OpenAI’s internal chip-building plans to do it. (Bloomberg $)
+ The company is working on a colossal data center in Atlanta. (WSJ $)

4 Early AI agent adopters are convinced they’ll see a return on their investment soon 
Mind you, they would say that. (WSJ $)
+ An AI adoption riddle. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Waymo’s robotaxis are hitting American highways
Until now, they’ve typically gone out of their way to avoid them. (The Verge)
+ Its vehicles will now reach speeds of up to 65 miles per hour. (FT $)
+ Waymo is proving long-time detractor Elon Musk wrong. (Insider $)

6 A new Russian unit is hunting down Ukraine’s drone operators
It’s tasked with killing the pilots behind Ukraine’s successful attacks. (FT $)
+ US startup Anduril wants to build drones in the UAE. (Bloomberg $)
+ Meet the radio-obsessed civilian shaping Ukraine’s drone defense. (MIT Technology Review)

7 Anthropic’s Claude successfully controlled a robot dog
It’s important to know what AI models may do when given access to physical systems. (Wired $)

8 Grok briefly claimed Donald Trump won the 2020 US election
As reliable as ever, I see. (The Guardian)

9 The Northern Lights are playing havoc with satellites
Solar storms may look spectacular, but they make it harder to keep tabs on space. (NYT $)
+ Seriously though, they look amazing. (The Atlantic $)
+ NASA’s new AI model can predict when a solar storm may strike. (MIT Technology Review)

10 Apple users can now use digital versions of their passports
But it’s strictly for internal flights within the US only. (TechCrunch)

Quote of the day

“I hope this mistake will turn into an experience.”

—Vladimir Vitukhin, chief executive of the company behind Russia’s first anthropomorphic robot AIDOL, offers a philosophical response to the machine falling flat on its face during a reveal event, the New York Times reports.

One more thing

Welcome to the oldest part of the metaverse

Headlines treat the metaverse as a hazy dream yet to be built. But if it’s defined as a network of virtual worlds we can inhabit, its oldest corner has been already running for 25 years.

It’s a medieval fantasy kingdom created for the online role-playing game Ultima Online. It was the first to simulate an entire world: a vast, dynamic realm where players could interact with almost anything, from fruit on trees to books on shelves.

Ultima Online has already endured a quarter-century of market competition, economic turmoil, and political strife. So what can this game and its players tell us about creating the virtual worlds of the future? Read the full story. 

—John-Clark Levin

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.)

+ Unlikely duo Sting and Shaggy are starring together in a New York musical.
+ Barry Manilow was almost in Airplane!? That would be an entirely different kind of flying, altogether
+ What makes someone sexy? Well, that depends.
+ Keep an eye on those pink dolphins, they’re notorious thieves.

The Download: how to survive a conspiracy theory, and moldy cities

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 it’s like to be in the middle of a conspiracy theory (according to a conspiracy theory expert)

—Mike Rothschild is a journalist and an expert on the growth and impact of conspiracy theories and disinformation.

It’s something of a familiar cycle by now: Tragedy hits; rampant misinformation and conspiracy theories follow. It’s often even more acute in the case of a natural disaster, when conspiracy theories about what “really” caused the calamity run right into culture-war-driven climate change denialism. Put together, these theories obscure real causes while elevating fake ones.

I’ve studied these ideas extensively, having spent the last 10 years writing about conspiracy theories and disinformation as a journalist and researcher. I’ve covered everything from the rise of QAnon to whether Donald Trump faked his assassination attempt. I’ve written three books, testified to Congress, and even written a report for the January 6th Committee. 

Still, I’d never lived it. Not until my house in Altadena, California, burned down. Read the full story.

This story is part of MIT Technology Review’s series “The New Conspiracy Age,” on how the present boom in conspiracy theories is reshaping science and technology. Check out the rest of the series here. It’s also featured in this week’s MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we publish each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. 

If you’d like to hear more from Mike, he’ll be joining our features editor Amanda Silverman and executive editor Niall Firth for a subscriber-exclusive Roundtable conversation exploring how we can survive in the age of conspiracies. It’s at 1pm ET on Thursday November 20—register now to join us!

This startup thinks slime mold can help us design better cities

It is a yellow blob with no brain, yet some researchers believe a curious organism known as slime mold could help us build more resilient cities.

Humans have been building cities for 6,000 years, but slime mold has been around for 600 million. The team behind a new startup called Mireta wants to translate the organism’s biological superpowers into algorithms that might help improve transit times, alleviate congestion, and minimize climate-related disruptions in cities worldwide. Read the full story.

—Elissaveta M. Brandon

This story is from the latest print issue of MIT Technology Review magazine, which is full of fascinating stories about our bodies. If you haven’t already, subscribe now to receive future issues once they land.

The must-reads

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

1 US government officials are skipping COP30
And American corporate executives are following their lead. (NYT $)
+ Protestors stormed the climate talks in Brazil. (The Guardian)
+ Gavin Newsom took aim at Donald Trump’s climate policies onstage. (FT $)

2 The UK may assess AI models for their ability to generate CSAM
Its government has suggested amending a legal bill to enable the tests. (BBC)
+ US investigators are using AI to detect child abuse images made by AI. (MIT Technology Review)

3 Google is suing a group of Chinese hackers
It claims they’re selling software to enable criminal scams. (FT $)
+ The group allegedly sends colossal text message phishing attacks. (CBS News)

4 A major ‘cryptoqueen’ criminal has been jailed
Qian Zhimin used money stolen from Chinese pensioners to buy cryptocurrency now worth billions. (BBC)
+ She defrauded her victims through an elaborate ponzi scheme. (CNN)

5 Carbon capture’s creators fear it’s being misused
Overreliance on the method could breed overconfidence and cause countries to delay reducing emissions. (Bloomberg $)
+ Big Tech’s big bet on a controversial carbon removal tactic. (MIT Technology Review)

6 The UK will use AI to phase out animal testing
3D bioprinted human tissues could also help to speed up the process. (The Guardian)
+ But the AI boom is looking increasingly precarious. (WSJ $)

7 Louisiana is dealing with a whooping cough outbreak
Two infants have died to date from the wholly preventative disease. (Undark)

8 Here’s how ordinary people use ChatGPT
Emotional support and discussions crop up regularly.(WP $)
+ It’s surprisingly easy to stumble into a relationship with an AI chatbot. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Inside the search for lost continents
A newly-discovered mechanism is shedding light on why they may have vanished. (404 Media)
+ How environmental DNA is giving scientists a new way to understand our world. (MIT Technology Review)

10 AI is taking Gen Z’s entry-level jobs
Especially in traditionally graduate-friendly consultancies. (NY Mag $)
+ What the Industrial Revolution can teach us about how to handle AI. (Knowable Magazine)
+ America’s corporate boards are stumbling in the dark. (WSJ $)

Quote of the day

“We can’t eat money.”

—Nato, an Indigenous leader from the Tupinamba community, tells Reuters why they are protesting at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil against any potential sale of their land.

One more thing

How K-pop fans are shaping elections around the globe

Back in the early ‘90s, Korean pop music, known as K-pop, was largely conserved to its native South Korea. It’s since exploded around the globe into an international phenomenon, emphasizing choreography and elaborate performance.

It’s made bands like Girls Generation, EXO, BTS, and Blackpink into household names, and inspired a special brand of particularly fierce devotion in their fans.

Now, those same fandoms have learned how to use their digital skills to advocate for social change and pursue political goals—organizing acts of civil resistance, donating generously to charity, and even foiling white supremacist attempts to spread hate speech. Read the full story.

—Soo Youn

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.)

+ These sucker fish are having the time of their lives hitching a ride on a whale.
+ Next time you fly, ditch the WiFi. I know I will.
+ I love this colossal interactive gif.
+ The hottest scent in perfumery right now? Smelling like a robot, apparently.

The Download: surviving extreme temperatures, and the big whale-wind turbine conspiracy

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 quest to find out how our bodies react to extreme temperatures

Climate change is subjecting vulnerable people to temperatures that push their limits. In 2023, about 47,000 heat-related deaths are believed to have occurred in Europe. Researchers estimate that climate change could add an extra 2.3 million European heat deaths this century. That’s heightened the stakes for solving the mystery of just what happens to bodies in extreme conditions.

While we broadly know how people thermoregulate, the science of keeping warm or cool is mottled with blind spots. Researchers around the world are revising rules about when extremes veer from uncomfortable to deadly. Their findings change how we should think about the limits of hot and cold—and how to survive in a new world. Read the full story.

—Max G.Levy

This story is from the latest print issue of MIT Technology Review magazine, which is full of fascinating stories about the body. If you haven’t already, subscribe now to receive future issues once they land.

Whales are dying. Don’t blame wind turbines.

Whale deaths have become a political flashpoint. There are currently three active mortality events for whales in the Atlantic, meaning clusters of deaths that experts consider unusual. And Republican lawmakers, conservative think tanks, and—most notably—President Donald Trump (a longtime enemy of wind power) are making dubious claims that offshore wind farms are responsible.

But any finger-pointing at wind turbines for whale deaths ignores the fact that whales have been washing up on beaches since long before the giant machines were rooted in the ocean floor. This is something that has always happened. And the scientific consensus is clear: There’s no evidence that wind farms are the cause of recent increases in whale deaths. Read the full story.

—Casey Crownhart

This story is part of MIT Technology Review’s series “The New Conspiracy Age,” on how the present boom in conspiracy theories is reshaping science and technology. Check out the rest of the series here.

The State of AI: Energy is king, and the US is falling behind

In the age of AI, the biggest barrier to progress isn’t money but energy. That should be particularly worrying in the US, where massive data centers are waiting to come online. It doesn’t look as if the country will build the steady power supply or infrastructure needed to serve them all.

It wasn’t always like this. For about a decade before 2020, data centers were able to offset increased demand with efficiency improvements. Now, though, electricity demand is ticking up in the US, with billions of queries to popular AI models each day—and efficiency gains aren’t keeping pace.

If we want AI to have the chance to deliver on big promises without driving electricity prices sky-high for the rest of us, the US needs to learn some lessons from the rest of the world on energy abundance. Just look at China. Read the full story.

—Casey Crownhart & Pilita Clark

This is from The State of AI, our subscriber-only collaboration between the Financial Times & MIT Technology Review examining the ways in which AI is reshaping global power.

Every Monday for the next four weeks, writers from both publications will debate one aspect of the generative AI revolution reshaping global power. While subscribers to The Algorithm, our weekly AI newsletter, get access to an extended excerpt, subscribers to the magazine are able to read the whole thing. Sign up here to receive future editions every Monday.

The must-reads

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

1 How China narrowed its AI divide with the US
America still has a clear lead—but for how long? (WSJ $)
+ The AI boom won’t offset tariffs and America’s immigration crackdown forever. (FT $)
+ How quickly is AI likely to progress really? (Economist $)
+ Is China about to win the AI race? (MIT Technology Review)

2 Anthropic is due to turn a profit much faster than OpenAI
The two companies are taking very different approaches to making money. (WSJ $)
+ OpenAI has lured Intel’s AI chief away. (Bloomberg $)

3 The EU is setting up a new intelligence sharing unit
It’s a bid to shore up intel in the wake of Donald Trump’s plans to reduce security support for Europe. (FT $)

4 Trump officials are poised to suggest oil drilling off the coast of California
That’s likely to rile the state’s politicians and leaders. (WP $)
+ What role should oil and gas companies play in climate tech? (MIT Technology Review)

5 America’s cyber defenses are poor
Repeated cuts and mass layoffs are making it harder to protect the nation. (The Verge)

6 China is on track to hit its peak CO2 emissions target early
Although it’s likely to miss its goal for cutting carbon intensity. (The Guardian)
+ World leaders are heading to COP30 in Brazil this week. (New Yorker $)

7 OpenAI cannot use song lyrics without a license
That’s what a German court has decided, after siding with a music rights society. (Reuters)
+ OpenAI is no stranger to legal proceedings. (The Atlantic $)
+ AI is coming for music. (MIT Technology Review)

8 A small Michigan town is fighting a proposed AI data center
The planned center is part of a collaboration between the University of Michigan and nuclear weapons scientists. (404 Media)
+ Here’s where America’s data centers should be built instead. (Wired $)
+ Communities in Latin America are pushing back, too. (The Guardian)
+ Should we be moving data centers to space? (MIT Technology Review)

9 AI models can’t tell the time
Analog clocks leave them completely stumped. (IEEE Spectrum)

10 ChatGPT is giving daters the ick
These refuseniks don’t want anything to do with AI, or love interests who use it. (The Guardian)

Quote of the day

“I never imagined that making a cup of tea or obtaining water, antibiotics, or painkillers would require such tremendous effort.”

—An anonymous member of startup accelerator Gaza Sky Geeks tells Rest of World about the impact the war has had on them.

One more thing

How Rust went from a side project to the world’s most-loved programming language

Many software projects emerge because—somewhere out there—a programmer had a personal problem to solve.

That’s more or less what happened to Graydon Hoare. In 2006, Hoare was a 29-year-old computer programmer working for Mozilla. After a software crash broke the elevator in his building, he set about designing a new computer language; one that he hoped would make it possible to write small, fast code without memory bugs.

That language developed into Rust, one of the hottest new languages on the planet. But while it isn’t unusual for someone to make a new computer language, it’s incredibly rare for one to take hold and become part of the programming pantheon. How did Rust do it? Read the full story. 

—Clive Thompson

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.)

+ Having a bit of a rubbish day so far? Here’s how to make it better.
+ A Hungarian man played Dance Dance Revolution for 144 hours non-stop, because he knows how to have a seriously good time.
+ A new book is celebrating cats, as it should (thanks Jess!)
+ How a poem from a medieval trickster sowed the seed for hundreds of years of bubonic plague misinformation

The Download: busting weather myths, and AI heart attack prediction

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.

Why it’s so hard to bust the weather control conspiracy theory

It was October 2024, and Hurricane Helene had just devastated the US Southeast. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia found an abstract target on which to pin the blame: “Yes they can control the weather,” she posted on X. “It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.”

She was repeating what’s by now a pretty familiar and popular conspiracy theory: that shadowy forces are out there, wielding technology to control the weather and wreak havoc on their enemies. This preposterous claim has grown louder and more common in recent years, especially after extreme weather strikes.

But here’s the thing: While Greene and other believers are not correct, this conspiracy theory—like so many others—holds a kernel of much more modest truth. Read the full story.

—Dave Levitan

This story is part of MIT Technology Review’s series “The New Conspiracy Age,” on how the present boom in conspiracy theories is reshaping science and technology. Check out the rest of the series here.

AI could predict who will have a heart attack 

For all the modern marvels of cardiology, we struggle to predict who will have a heart attack. Many people never get screened at all. Now, startups are applying AI algorithms to screen millions of CT scans for early signs of heart disease.

This technology could be a breakthrough for public health, applying an old tool to uncover patients whose high risk for a heart attack is hiding in plain sight. But it remains unproven at scale, while raising thorny questions about implementation and even how we define disease. Read the full story.

—Vishal Khetpal

This story is from the latest print issue of MIT Technology Review magazine, which is full of fascinating stories about the body. If you haven’t already, subscribe now to receive future issues once they land.

The must-reads

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

1 Spending on AI may be to blame for all those tech layoffs
AI isn’t necessarily replacing jobs, but spending on it is gobbling up budgets. (Fast Company $)
+ Junior roles are likely to be the first on the chopping block. (FT $)
+ Are the crazy sums that businesses are sinking into AI sustainable? (WP $)
+ People are worried that AI will take everyone’s jobs. We’ve been here before. (MIT Technology Review)

2 Anti-vaccine activists gathered in Austin over the weekend
They celebrated RFK Jr’s rise and outlined their goals—including eliminating school vaccine mandates. (WP $)
+ We’re on the verge of stopping the next pandemic. But will we? (Vox)
+ How conspiracy theories infiltrated the doctor’s office. (MIT Technology Review)

3 People who’ve experienced AI-induced delusions are forming a movement
They’re pushing for legal action against chatbot makers. (Bloomberg $)
+ The looming crackdown on AI companionship. (MIT Technology Review)

4 AI-generated clips of women being strangled are flooding social media
Many of them appear to have been created using OpenAI’s Sora 2. (404 Media)

5 Tech leaders are obsessed with bioengineering babies
They’re not allowed to, but they’re not letting a little thing like ethics get in the way. (WSJ $)
+ The race to make the perfect baby is creating an ethical mess. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Apple has removed two popular gay dating apps in China 
The country ordered it to take down Blued and Finka from its app. (Wired $)

7 The UK government is worried China could turn off its buses remotely
It fears hundreds of Chinese-made electric buses on British roads could be at risk. (FT $)

8 How AI is changing the world’s newsrooms
It’s brilliant at analyzing large data sets—but shouldn’t be used to write stories. (NYT $)

9 How to contain an invasive species
Experts argue that too much red tape is getting in the way. (Undark)
+ The weeds are winning. (MIT Technology Review)

10 The world’s largest electric ship is charging up
Once it’s ready to go, it’ll serve as a ferry in 90 minute bursts. (IEEE Spectrum)

Quote of the day

“We would move heaven and Earth, pun intended, to try to get to the Moon sooner.” 

—Dave Limp, CEO of Blue Origin, says the company is raring to work with NASA to get humans back on the Moon, Ars Technica reports.

One more thing

Design thinking was supposed to fix the world. Where did it go wrong?

In the 1990s, a six-step methodology for innovation called design thinking started to grow in popularity. Key to its spread was its replicable aesthetic, represented by the Post-it note: a humble square that anyone can use in infinite ways.

But in recent years, for a number of reasons, the shine of design thinking has been wearing off. Critics have argued that its short-term focus on novel and naive ideas results in unrealistic and ungrounded recommendations.

Today, some groups are working to reform both design thinking’s principles and its methodologies. These new efforts seek a set of design tools capable of equitably serving diverse communities and solving diverse problems well into the future. It’s a much more daunting—and crucial—task than design thinking’s original remit. 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.)

+ These tree-dwelling toads give birth to live young—who knew?!
+ Now’s the time to practice your baking skills ahead of Thanksgiving.
+ Younguk Yi’s glitching paintings are a lot of fun.
+ Place your bets! This fun game follows three balls in a race to the bottom, but who will win?

The Download: a new home under the sea, and cloning pets

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 first new subsea habitat in 40 years is about to launch

Vanguard feels and smells like a new RV. It has long, gray banquettes that convert into bunks, a microwave cleverly hidden under a counter, a functional steel sink with a French press and crockery above. A weird little toilet hides behind a curtain.

But you can’t just fire up Vanguard’s engine and roll off the lot. Once it is sealed and moved to its permanent home beneath the waves of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary early next year, Vanguard will be the world’s first new subsea habitat in nearly four decades.

Teams of four scientists will live and work on the seabed for a week at a time, entering and leaving the habitat as scuba divers. Read our story about some of their potential missions.

—Mark Harris

Cloning isn’t just for celebrity pets like Tom Brady’s dog

This week, we heard that Tom Brady had his dog cloned. The former quarterback revealed that his Junie is actually a clone of Lua, a pit bull mix that died in 2023.

Brady’s announcement follows those of celebrities like Paris Hilton and Barbra Streisand, who also famously cloned their pet dogs. But some believe there are better ways to make use of cloning technologies, such as diversifying the genetic pools of inbred species, or potentially bringing other animals back from the brink of extinction. 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.

The must-reads

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

1 OpenAI is facing a wave of new lawsuits 
The cases concern wrongful death complaints, and claims ChatGPT caused mental breakdowns. (NYT $)
+ One family claims ChatGPT “goaded” their son into taking his own life. (CNN)
+ The looming crackdown on AI companionship. (MIT Technology Review)

2 Tesla shareholders approved Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package
More than 75% of voters backed it. (WSJ $)
+ Musk had hinted he’d leave Tesla if the deal wasn’t greenlit. (Axios)
+ Tesla has to hit its ambitious targets before he can get his hands on the cash. (Wired $)

3 The EU is poised to water down the AI act
After pressure from Big Tech and the US government. (FT $)
+ While the legislation was passed last year, many provisions haven’t kicked in yet. (Reuters)

4 Meta is earning a colossal amount of money from scam ads
They accounted for 10% of its revenue last year. (Reuters)
+ Meta claims it “aggressively” addresses scam ads on its platform. (CNBC)

5 The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is pivoting to AI
It’s shifting its philanthropic focus from social justice programs to curing disease. (WP $)
+ To achieve its goals, the charity will need extra computing power. (NYT $)

6 Unesco has adopted global standards on neurotechnology
Experts were increasingly concerned that a lack of guardrails could give rise to unethical practices. (The Guardian)
+ Meet the other companies developing brain-computer interfaces. (MIT Technology Review)

7 Benchmarks hugely oversell AI performance
A new study questions their reliability and the validity of their results. (NBC News)
+ How to build a better AI benchmark. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Kim Kardashian blames ChatGPT for failing her law exams
It’s almost like she shouldn’t have been consulting it for legal expertise in the first place. (Hollywood Reporter)
+ AI and social media is worsening brain rot. (NYT $)
+ How AI is introducing errors into courtrooms. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Hyundai is using robot dogs to inspect its EV production line
And they may soon be joined by a bipedal master. (IEEE Spectrum)

10 Grand Theft Auto VI has been delayed yet again
The highly anticipated video game has big, big shoes to fill. (Bloomberg $)
+ It’ll land a full 13 years after its previous incarnation—or will it? (BBC)

Quote of the day

“This is what oligarchy looks like.”

—Senator Bernie Sanders reacts to Tesla shareholders’ decision to award Elon Musk a $1 trillion pay package in a post on X.

One more thing

Finding forgotten Indigenous landscapes with electromagnetic technology

The fertile river valleys of the American Midwest hide tens of thousands of Indigenous earthworks, according to experts: geometric structures consisting of walls, mounds, ditches, and berms, some dating back nearly 3,000 years.

Archaeologists now believe that the earthworks functioned as religious gathering places, tombs for culturally important clans, and annual calendars, perhaps all at the same time. They can take the form of giant circles and squares, cloverleafs and octagons, complex S-curves and simple mounds.

Until recently, it seemed as if much of the continent’s pre-European archaeological heritage had been carelessly wiped out, uprooted, and lost for good. But traces remain: electromagnetic remnants in the soil that can be detected using specialty surveying equipment. And archaeologists and tribal historians are working together to uncover them. Read the full story.

—Geoff Manaugh

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.)

+ If you’re a wildlife fan, take a look at this compilation of the best places to catch a glimpse of unusual animals.
+ El Salvador’s annual fireball festival is a completely unhinged celebration of all things volcanic.
+ The most influential Bostonians of 2025 have been announced.
+ Get me in a potato bed, stat.

The Download: how doctors fight conspiracy theories, and your AI footprint

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 conspiracy theories infiltrated the doctor’s office

As anyone who has googled their symptoms and convinced themselves that they’ve got a brain tumor will attest, the internet makes it very easy to self-(mis)diagnose your health problems. And although social media and other digital forums can be a lifeline for some people looking for a diagnosis or community, when that information is wrong, it can put their well-being and even lives in danger.

We spoke to a number of health-care professionals who told us how this modern impulse to “do your own research” is changing their profession. Read the full story.

—Rhiannon Williams

This story is part of MIT Technology Review’s series “The New Conspiracy Age,” on how the present boom in conspiracy theories is reshaping science and technology.

Stop worrying about your AI footprint. Look at the big picture instead.

—Casey Crownhart

As a climate technology reporter, I’m often asked by people whether they should be using AI, given how awful it is for the environment. Generally, I tell them not to worry—let a chatbot plan your vacation, suggest recipe ideas, or write you a poem if you want.

That response might surprise some. I promise I’m not living under a rock, and I have seen all the concerning projections about how much electricity AI is using. But I feel strongly about not putting the onus on individuals. Here’s why.

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

A new ion-based quantum computer makes error correction simpler

A company called Quantinuum has just unveiled Helios, its third-generation quantum computer, which includes expanded computing power and error correction capability.

Like all other existing quantum computers, Helios is not powerful enough to execute the industry’s dream money-making algorithms, such as those that would be useful for materials discovery or financial modeling.

But Quantinuum’s machines, which use individual ions as qubits, could be easier to scale up than quantum computers that use superconducting circuits as qubits, such as Google’s and IBM’s. Read the full story.

—Sophia Chen

The must-reads

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

1 A new California law could change how all Americans browse online 
It gives web users the chance to opt out of having their personal information sold or shared. (The Markup)

2 The FDA has fast-tracked a pill to treat pancreatic cancer
The experimental drug appears promising, but experts worry corners may be cut. (WP $)
+ Demand for AstraZeneca’s cancer and diabetes drugs is pushing profits up. (Bloomberg $)
+ A new cancer treatment kills cells using localized heat. (Wired $)

3 AI pioneers claim it is already superior to humans in many tasks
But not all tasks are created equal. (FT $)
+ Are we all wandering into an AGI trap? (Vox)
+ How AGI became the most consequential conspiracy theory of our time. (MIT Technology Review)

4 IBM is planning on cutting thousands of jobs
It’s shifting its focus to software and AI consulting, apparently. (Bloomberg $)
+ It’s keen to grow the number of its customers seeking AI advice. (NYT $)

5 Big Tech’s data centers aren’t the job-generators we were promised
The jobs they do create are largely in security and cleaning. (Rest of World)
+ We did the math on AI’s energy footprint. Here’s the story you haven’t heard. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Microsoft let AI shopping agents loose in a fake marketplace 
They were easily manipulated into buying goods, it found. (TechCrunch)
+ When AIs bargain, a less advanced agent could cost you. (MIT Technology Review)

7 Sony has compiled a dataset to test the fairness of computer vision models
And it’s confident it’s been compiled in a fair and ethical way. (The Register)
+ These new tools could make AI vision systems less biased. (MIT Technology Review)

8 The social network is no more
We’re living in an age of anti-social media. (The Atlantic $)
+ Scam ads are rife across platforms, but these former Meta workers have a plan. (Wired $)
+ The ultimate online flex? Having no followers. (New Yorker $)

9 Vibe coding is Collins dictionary’s word of 2025
Beating stiff competition from “clanker.” (The Guardian)
+ What is vibe coding, exactly? (MIT Technology Review)

10 These people found romance with their chatbot companions
The AI may not be real, but the humans’ feelings certainly are. (NYT $)
+ It’s surprisingly easy to stumble into a relationship with an AI chatbot. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“The opportunistic side of me is realizing that your average accountant won’t be doing this.”

—Sal Abdulla, founder of accounting-software startup NixSheets, tells the Wall Street Journal he’s using AI tools to gain an edge on his competitors.

One more thing

Ethically sourced “spare” human bodies could revolutionize medicine

Many challenges in medicine stem, in large part, from a common root cause: a severe shortage of ethically-sourced human bodies.

There might be a way to get out of this moral and scientific deadlock. Recent advances in biotechnology now provide a pathway to producing living human bodies without the neural components that allow us to think, be aware, or feel pain.

Many will find this possibility disturbing, but if researchers and policymakers can find a way to pull these technologies together, we may one day be able to create “spare” bodies, both human and nonhuman. Read the full story.

—Carsten T. Charlesworth, Henry T. Greely & Hiromitsu Nakauchi

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.)

+ Make sure to look up so you don’t miss November’s supermoon.
+ If you keep finding yourself mindlessly scrolling (and who doesn’t?), maybe this whopping six-pound phone case could solve your addiction.
+ Life lessons from a 101-year old who has no plans to retire.
+ Are you a fan of movement snacking?

The Download: the solar geoengineering race, and future gazing with the The Simpsons

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.

Why the for-profit race into solar geoengineering is bad for science and public trust

—David Keith is the professor of geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago and Daniele Visioni is an assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Cornell University

Last week, an American-Israeli company that claims it’s developed proprietary technology to cool the planet announced it had raised $60 million, by far the largest known venture capital round to date for a solar geoengineering startup.

The company, Stardust, says the funding will enable it to develop a system that could be deployed by the start of the next decade, according to Heatmap, which broke the story.

As scientists who have worked on the science of solar geoengineering for decades, we have grown increasingly concerned about emerging efforts to start and fund private companies to deploy technologies that could alter the climate of the planet. We also strongly dispute some of the technical claims that certain companies have made about their offerings. Read the full story.

This story is part of Heat Exchange, MIT Technology Review’s guest opinion series offering expert commentary on legal, political and regulatory issues related to climate change and clean energy. You can read the rest of the series here.

Can “The Simpsons” really predict the future?

According to internet listicles, the animated sitcom The Simpsons has predicted the future anywhere from 17 to 55 times.

The show foresaw Donald Trump becoming US President a full 17 years before the real estate mogul was inaugurated as the 45th leader of the United States. Earlier, in 1993, an episode of the show featured the “Osaka flu,” which some felt was eerily prescient of the coronavirus pandemic. And—somehow!—Simpsons writers just knew that the US Olympic curling team would beat Sweden eight whole years before they did it.

Al Jean has worked on The Simpsons on and off since 1989; he is the cartoon’s longest-serving showrunner. Here, he reflects on the conspiracy theories that have sprung from these apparent prophecies. Read the full story.

—Amelia Tait

This story is part of MIT Technology Review’s series “The New Conspiracy Age,” about how the present boom in conspiracy theories is reshaping science and technology.

MIT Technology Review Narrated: Therapists are secretly using ChatGPT. Clients are triggered.

Declan would never have found out his therapist was using ChatGPT had it not been for a technical mishap where his therapist began inadvertently sharing his screen.

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

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

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 Amazon is suing Perplexity over its Comet AI agent
It alleges Perplexity is committing computer fraud by not disclosing when Comet is shopping on a human’s behalf. (Bloomberg $)
+ In turn, Perplexity has accused Amazon of bullying. (CNBC)

2 Trump has nominated the billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman to lead NASA
Five months after he withdrew Isaacman’s nomination for the same job. (WP $)
+ It was around the same time Elon Musk left the US government. (WSJ $)

3 Homeland Security has released an app for police forces to scan people’s faces 
Mobile Fortify uses facial recognition to identify whether someone’s been given a deportation order. (404 Media)
+ Another effort to track ICE raids was just taken offline. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Scientific journals are being swamped with AI-written letters
Researchers are sifting through their inbox trying to work out what to believe. (NYT $)
+ ArXiv is no longer accepting certain papers for fear they’ve been written by AI. (404 Media)

5 The AI boom has proved a major windfall for equipment makers 
Makers of small turbines and fuel cells, rejoice. (WSJ $)

6 Chronic kidney disease may be the first chronic illness linked to climate change
Experts have linked a surge in the disease to hotter temperatures. (Undark)
+ The quest to find out how our bodies react to extreme temperatures. (MIT Technology Review)

7 Brazil is proposing a fund to protect tropical forests
It would pay countries not to fell their trees. (NYT $)

8 New York has voted for a citywide digital map
It’ll officially represent the five boroughs for the first time. (Fast Company $)

9 The internet could be at risk of catastrophic collapse
Meet the people preparing for that exact eventuality. (New Scientist $)

10 A Chinese space craft may have been hit by space junk
Three astronauts have been forced to remain on the Tiangong space station while the damage is investigated. (Ars Technica)

Quote of the day

“I am not sure how I earned the trust of so many, but I will do everything I can to live up to those expectations.”

—Jared Isaacman, Donald Trump’s renomination to lead NASA, doesn’t appear entirely sure in his own abilities to lead the agency, Ars Technica reports.

One more thing

Is the digital dollar dead?

In 2020, digital currencies were one of the hottest topics in town. China was well on its way to launching its own central bank digital currency, or CBDC, and many other countries launched CBDC research projects, including the US.

How things change. Years later, the digital dollar—even though it doesn’t exist—has become political red meat, as some politicians label it a dystopian tool for surveillance. And late last year, the Boston Fed quietly stopped working on its CBDC project. So is the dream of the digital dollar dead? Read the full story.

—Mike Orcutt

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 world’s oldest air has been unleashed, after six million years under ice.
+ How to stop sweating the small stuff and try to be happy in this mad world.
+ Happy Bonfire Night to our British readers!
+ The spirit of Halloween is still with us: the scariest music ever recorded.

The Download: the AGI myth, and US/China AI competition

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 AGI became the most consequential conspiracy theory of our time

—Will Douglas Heaven, senior AI editor 

Are you feeling it?

I hear it’s close: two years, five years—maybe next year! And I hear it’s going to solve our biggest problems in ways we cannot yet imagine. I also hear it will bring on the apocalypse and kill us all…

We’re of course talking about artificial general intelligence, or AGI—that hypothetical near-future technology that (I hear) will be able to do pretty much whatever a human brain can do.

Every age has its believers, people with an unshakeable faith that something huge is about to happen—a before and an after that they are privileged (or doomed) to live through. For us, that’s the promised advent of AGI. And here’s what I think: AGI is a lot like a conspiracy theory, and it may be the most consequential one of our time. Read the full story.

This story is part of MIT Technology Review’s series “The New Conspiracy Age,” on how the present boom in conspiracy theories is reshaping science and technology.

The State of AI: Is China about to win the race? 

Viewed from abroad, it seems only a matter of time before China emerges as the AI superpower of the 21st century. 

In the West, our initial instinct is to focus on America’s significant lead in semiconductor expertise, its cutting-edge AI research, and its vast investments in data centers.

Today, however, China has the means, motive, and opportunity to win. When it comes to mobilizing the whole-of-society resources needed to develop and deploy AI to maximum effect, it may be rash to bet against it. Read the full story.

—John Thornhill & Caiwei Chen

This is the first edition of The State of AI, a collaboration between the Financial Times & MIT Technology Review examining the ways in which AI is reshaping global power. Every Monday for the next six weeks, writers from both publications will debate one aspect of the generative AI revolution reshaping global power. Sign up to receive future editions every Monday.

The must-reads

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

1 China is prepared to cut its data centers a sweet deal
If they agree to use native chips over American rivals’, that is. (FT $)
+ What happened when a data center moved into a small American town. (WSJ $)
+ Microsoft and OpenAI want more power—they just don’t know how much more. (TechCrunch)
+ The data center boom in the desert. (MIT Technology Review)

2 Norway’s oil fund has rejected Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package
The Tesla shareholder is concerned about the size of the reward. (WSJ $)
+ It says it will vote against the deal on Thursday. (FT $)

3 OpenAI has signed a massive compute deal with Amazon
It’s the latest in a long string of blockbuster deals for the AI company. (Wired $)

4 Cybersecurity workers moonlighted as criminal hackers
They’re accused of sharing their profits with the creators of the ransomware they deployed. (Bloomberg $)
+ The hackers demanded tens of millions in extortion payments. (The Register)

5 Tech’s elites are funding plans to safeguard MAGA
Entrepreneur Chris Buskirk is using donor money to equip it to outlive Trump. (WP $)

6 These startups supply the labor to train multitasking humanoid robots
Teams of humans are doing the dirty work, including filming themselves folding towels hundreds of times a day. (LA Times $)
+ This new system can teach a robot a simple household task within 20 minutes. (MIT Technology Review)

7 LLMs can’t accurately describe their internal processes
Anthropic is on a mission to measure their so-called introspective awareness. (Ars Technica)

8 Why are people using AI to hack their hobbies?
Talk about the death of fun. (NY Mag $)
+ While we’re at it, don’t use chatbots to answer friends’ dilemmas either. (Wired $)
+ Or to write research papers. (404 Media)

9 Coca-Cola is doubling down on AI in its ads
Undeterred by criticism last year, it’s back with more for the 2025 holidays. (WSJ $)
+ Nothing says festive joy like AI slop. (The Verge)

10 Facebook Dating is a…hit?
But you should still be on the lookout for scammers. (NYT $)
+ It’s not just for boomers—younger people are using it too. (TechCrunch)
+ For better or worse, AI is seeping into all the biggest dating platforms. (Economist $)

Quote of the day

“That was the kick of it, that the AI actually did find compatibility. It was the human part that didn’t work out.”

—Emma Inge, a project manager looking for love in San Francisco, describes the trouble with using an AI matchmaker to the New York Times: it can’t stop you getting ghosted.

One more thing

Inside the most dangerous asteroid hunt ever

If you were told that the odds of something were 3.1%, it might not seem like much. But for the people charged with protecting our planet, it was huge.

On February 18, astronomers determined that a 130- to 300-foot-long asteroid had a 3.1% chance of crashing into Earth in 2032. Never had an asteroid of such dangerous dimensions stood such a high chance of striking the planet. Then, just days later on February 24, experts declared that the danger had passed. Earth would be spared.

How did they do it? What was it like to track the rising danger of this asteroid, and to ultimately determine that it’d miss us?

This is the inside story of how a sprawling network of astronomers found, followed, mapped, planned for, and finally dismissed the most dangerous asteroid ever found—all under the tightest of timelines and, for just a moment, with the highest of stakes. Read the full story.

—Robin George Andrews

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.)

+ People in the Middle Ages chose to depict the devil in very interesting ways, I’ll say that much.
+ We may be inching closer to understanding why the animal kingdom has developed such elaborate markings.
+ The music in the new game Pokémon Legends: Z-A sure is interesting.
+ Slow cooker dinners are beckoning.