The Download: Chinese LLMs, and transforming heavy-duty trucking

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. How to access Chinese LLM chatbots across the world Hundreds of Chinese large language models have been released since the government started permitting AI companies to open up their models for the general…
The Download: Chinese LLMs, and transforming heavy-duty trucking

When police departments first started buying and deploying bodycams in the wake of the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, a decade ago, activists hoped it would bring about real change.

Years later, despite what’s become a multibillion-dollar market for these devices, the tech is far from a panacea. Most footage they generate goes unwatched.  Officers often don’t use them properly. And if they do finally provide video to the public, it usually doesn’t tell the complete story.

A handful of AI startups see this problem as an opportunity to create what are essentially bodycam-to-text programs for different players in the legal system, mining this footage for misdeeds. But like the bodycams themselves, the technology still faces procedural, legal, and cultural barriers to success. Read the full story.

—Patrick Sisson

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.)

+ These baby prairie dogs are having the time of their lives.
+ Long live electro-house: and its recent revival.
+ Did you know that zombies are actually Haitian in origin? Fascinating stuff.
+ If it’s a vegetable, it can be roasted.