The Download: Clear’s identity ambitions, and the climate blame game

But assigning responsibility is complicated. These three visualizations help explain why.

—Casey Crownhart

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The must-reads

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

1 AI can now translate your voice in real-time during meetings
It’s part of Microsoft’s drive to push more AI into its products, but how well it works in the wild remains to be seen. (WP $)
+ Apple is having less success on that front, at least if its AI notification summaries are anything to go by. (The Atlantic $)

2 Anyone can buy data tracking US soldiers in Germany 
And the Pentagon is powerless to stop it.(Wired $)
+ It’s shockingly easy to buy sensitive data about US military personnel. (MIT Technology Review)

3 Bluesky now has over 20 million users 📈
Its user base has tripled in the last three months. (Engadget)
+ Truth Social, on the other hand, is not doing quite so well. (WP $)
+ The rise of Bluesky, and the splintering of social. (MIT Technology Review)

4 How Google created a culture of concealment 
It’s been preparing for antitrust action for over a decade, enforcing a policy where employees delete messages by default. (NYT $)
+ The company reacted angrily to reports it may be forced to sell Chrome. (BBC)

5 Project 2025 is already infiltrating the Trump administration 
Despite repeated denials, it’s clearly a blueprint for his next term. (Vox)
+ A hacker reportedly gained access to damaging testimonies about Matt Gaetz, his pick to be attorney general. (NYT $)

6 Quantum computers hit a major milestone for error-free calculation
This is a crucial part of making them useful for real-world tasks. (New Scientist $)

7 Technology is changing political speech
Slogans are becoming less effective. Now it’s more about saying different things to different audiences. (New Yorker $)

8 Lab-grown foie gras, anyone?
This could be the cultivated meat industry’s future: as a luxury product for the few. (Wired $)

9 Niantic is using Pokémon Go player data to build an AI navigation system
If it works, it could unlock some amazing capabilities in AR, robotics and beyond. (404 Media)