The Download: Trump’s potential climate impact, and the end of cheap helium
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 The Supreme Court will decide whether states can control social media
It’ll start hearing arguments today about whether laws aimed at controlling online platforms in Texas and Florida are constitutional. (WP $)
+ Here’s what you need to know. (NYT $)
+ Texas’s law is dangerous. Striking it down could be even worse. (The Atlantic $)
2 Celebrities are being ‘deepfaked’ for adverts
AI-generated videos have them endorsing and promoting things they’ve never even heard of. (BBC)
+ These companies show why the next AI wave won’t revolve around chatbots. (Fast Company)
3 Inside TikTok’s live money-making machine
Live streaming can be hugely lucrative—for both the creator and TikTok itself—but there’s a dark side too. (ABC)
+ Influencers are getting younger and younger. (NBC)
4 A vending machine was secretly scanning undergrads’ faces
As privacy violations go, this is a pretty insidious and unnecessary one. (Ars Technica)
+ Computer scientists designing the future can’t agree on what privacy means. (MIT Technology Review)
5 China is set to dominate the future of electric cars
Thanks, at least partly, to years of careful investment and planning by its government. (Insider $)
+ Why the world’s biggest EV maker is getting into shipping. (MIT Technology Review)
6 People are reporting cracks in their Apple Vision Pros
Bad news about these headsets just keeps on coming. (Engadget)
+ Apple is exploring developing even more wearable devices. (Bloomberg $)
7 Digitally resurrecting your loved ones might be bad for you
Researchers claim it could create unhealthy dependence on the technology. (New Scientist $)
+ Technology that lets us “speak” to our dead relatives has arrived. Are we ready? (MIT Technology Review)
8 Could you endure living on Mars? 👨🚀
Physical concerns aside, it’d wreak havoc on most people’s minds. (NYT $)
+ These scientists live like astronauts without leaving Earth. (MIT Technology Review)
9 A man allegedly made $1.8 million eavesdropping on his wife’s calls
US regulators claim he traded on confidential information he overheard during her remote meetings. (The Guardian)
10 Meet the man whose job is to keep an ice cream factory cool 🍦
Engineering challenges don’t come much more delicious than this. (IEEE Spectrum)
Quote of the day
“I understand that SpaceX is possibly withholding broadband internet services in and around Taiwan — possibly in breach of SpaceX’s contractual obligations with the U.S. government.”
—Republican Representative Mike Gallagher makes an explosive claim in a letter to Elon Musk, CNBC reports.
