The Download: AI video games’ research potential, and US government website redesigns

The must-reads

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

1 Trump-Biden debate conspiracies are already all over the internet
And plenty of them are being pushed by Trump himself. (Wired $)
+ Election misinformation is being repeated by AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot too. (NBC)
+ Spare a thought for pollsters. Their job is only getting harder and harder these days. (Ars Technica)

2 The voices of AI can tell us a lot
It’s new technology, but stereotypes of a compliant, endlessly empathetic female assistant are as old as it gets. (NYT $)

3 An effort is underway to encourage responsible use of AI in music
But of course, it relies on getting enough adoption—and that’s a big ask. (CNET)
+ Especially as there’s a giant legal battle underway over getting AI companies to pay to use records for training data. (MIT Technology Review)
+ Content-licensing sellers have formed the first AI dataset trade body. (Reuters $)
+ Time is the latest publisher to strike a licensing deal with OpenAI. (Axios)

4 We’re getting a better idea of how weight loss drugs work 
Researchers have zeroed in on two groups of neurons in the brain that seem to regulate the feeling of fullness. (Nature)

5 Google says Gemini AI is 20% faster than ChatGPT
And execs say it can now cite its sources, which is arguably even more important.  (Quartz $)
+ It’s not just Nvidia: here’s the AI stocks to watch. (WP $)

6 Amazon is investigating AI search startup Perplexity
Over whether it violated its rules by scraping its websites. (Wired $)
+ Perplexity’s CEO openly admitted to some pretty dodgy data practices when they were getting off the ground. (404 Media)

7 ISS astronauts had to take shelter after a Russian satellite disintegrated
It broke up into over 100 pieces, raising speculation it could’ve been subject to an anti-satellite missile test. (Gizmodo)
+ Why the first-ever space junk fine is such a big deal. (MIT Technology Review)

8 A lot of Gen Zs describe themselves as content creators
Passively lurking online is just not the vibe anymore. (WP $)

9 Would you clone your dog? 
It’d set you back $50,000—and in a way, you have to ask what you’re really getting for that. (New Yorker $)
+ These scientists are working to extend the life span of pet dogs—and their owners. (MIT Technology Review)

10 Why the internet’s going wild for Nerds Gummy Clusters
No joke—people are getting tattoos. (Slate $)

Quote of the day

“Let’s not go overboard on this. Datacentres are, in the most extreme case, a 6% addition [in energy demand] but probably only 2% to 2.5%. The question is, will AI accelerate a more than 6% reduction? And the answer is: certainly.”