The Download: the future of music AI, and climate tech funding
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 The Supreme Court ruled the White House can contact social media firms
It’s a blow for right-wing campaigners who argue their views are being censored online. (WP $)
+ Here’s what it means for the election. (NPR)
+ Russian propagandists are promoting deepfakes of Biden. (Wired $)
2 How AI has revolutionized protein science
And the most exciting part? We’re really only at the beginning of discovering what machine learning could unlock. (Quanta $)
+ Google DeepMind’s new AlphaFold can model a much larger slice of biological life. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Inside California’s green energy revolution
The state is showing how you can run a thriving modern economy on clean energy. (New Yorker $)
4 Toys ‘R’ Us used OpenAI’s video AI system Sora to make a commercial
It’s a milestone for the use of AI in video production—but the response to it was very mixed. (NBC)
+ I tested out a buzzy new text-to-video AI model from China. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Secret Telegram channels are providing refuge for LGBTQ+ people in Russia
Up to and including advice on how to leave the country, which is becoming less and less safe. (Wired $)
6 We really need AI to be able to cite its sources
The trouble is, even if it could, would they be factually accurate? (The Atlantic $)
+ At least 10% of scientific research may already be co-authored by AI. (The Economist $)
7 Consultants are raking it in thanks to the AI boom
But of course they are. (NYT $)
8 It’s become worryingly normalized to snoop on your partner’s online life
Yet it’s still a really, really bad idea. (WP $)
9 Lawn Mowing Simulator is the latest anti-escapist video game
Struggling to see the appeal personally, but hey, each to their own. (The Guardian)
10 McDonalds has rejected plant-based burgers 🍔
After tests of its McPlant burger in San Francisco and Dallas failed. (Quartz $)
+ Here’s what a lab-grown burger tastes like. (MIT Technology Review)
Quote of the day
“There’s no question that this crosses a line that they hadn’t previously crossed. I think that suggests that the lines are becoming meaningless.”
—Darren Linvill, a founder of the Media Forensics Hub at Clemson University, tells the New York Times that aggressively targeting a US-based Chinese dissident’s 16-year-old daughter online represents a new low for the country’s security services.
