The Download: the problem of plastic, and how AI could boost batteries
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Israel’s tech sector is being enlisted in the war
Many of its workers are reservists, and they’re now being called upon to fight. (WP $)
+ The conflict is leading to some fraught and ugly discussions online. (NBC)
+ The EU is pleading with Meta to be more vigilant about misinformation around the conflict. (CNBC)
+ Some Jewish parents are being advised to delete social media apps from their kids’ phones. (BBC)
2 A monkey got a new kidney from a pig—and survived for two years
It’s a promising finding, but we’re still a way off from this technique working in people. (Wired $)
+ The entrepreneur dreaming of a factory of unlimited organs. (MIT Technology Review)
3 The China-US tech cold war is only escalating
A new blockade on AI systems is coming. (The Atlantic $)
+ American and Chinese scientists are collaborating less and less, to the detriment of both countries. (The Economist $)
4 Researchers are testing a ‘treasure trove’ from the asteroid Bennu
Materials like waterlogged clay minerals could help to illuminate the earliest days of the solar system. (NYT $)
5 Things sure aren’t looking good for Sam Bankman-Fried
His ex-girlfriend has masses of evidence that suggests he knew exactly what he was doing. (The Verge)
6 A world-first trial of gene therapy to cure deafness has begun
It’s being tested in up to 18 children from the UK, Spain, and the US. (Ars Technica)
+ Forget designer babies. Here’s how CRISPR is really changing lives. (MIT Technology Review)
7 This man is in a relationship with an AI chatbot ❤️🤖
Try to suspend your judgment and you’ll find this is a surprisingly sad and touching read. (Insider $)
8 TikTok has a big problem in Southeast Asia
Its biggest economy, Indonesia, has banned TikTok shopping. Others are expected to follow. (South China Morning Post)
9 Google’s AI can now force you to smile in photos
Is this what we really want? (WP $)
10 Inside the US community that banned cars
It’s an experiment in Phoenix that’s going surprisingly well so far. (The Guardian)
+ Robotaxis are here. It’s time to decide what to do about them. (MIT Technology Review)
Quote of the day
“The biggest challenge I’m still thinking of: what are LLMs [large language models] truly useful for, in terms of helpfulness?”
—Googler Cathy Pearl, a user experience lead for the company’s AI chatbot, Bard, questions the utility of these sorts of tools in a Discord chat, Bloomberg reports.
