The Download: how China’s regulating robotaxis
1 San Francisco is fighting back against self-driving cars
The city has filed a lawsuit that could force firms to roll back their rapid expansions. (WP $)
+ Meanwhile, Waymo is planning a new fleet in LA. (NBC News)
+ Robotaxis are here. It’s time to decide what to do about them. (MIT Technology Review)
2 The EU is going to force Apple to permit non-App Store downloads
Naturally, Apple has discovered it’s a way for it to introduce new fees. (WSJ $)
3 Amazon has been fined for excessively surveilling its workers
A French data watchdog deemed its system ‘overly intrusive.’ (TechCrunch)
4 AI could help to develop exciting new battery materials
Just like drug discovery, it could halve the length of time it takes to bring them to market. (FT $)
+ Tesla is reportedly starting production of a new EV next year. (Reuters)
+ This abundant material could unlock cheaper batteries for EVs. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Global electricity demand is expected to surge in the next three years
And data centers, crypto, and AI is behind it. (Bloomberg $)
+ Nuclear power is being touted as a potential solution. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ AI could also make the power grid faster and more resilient, though. (MIT Technology Review)
6 This Chinese startup says it’s working on generative AI’s first killer apps
01.AI’s open source model is outperforming its Big Tech rivals’. (Wired $)
+ America’s chip sanctions against China are pretty easy to circumvent. (Economist $)
+ North Korea is throwing everything into AI development right now. (Reuters)
+ These six questions will dictate the future of generative AI. (MIT Technology Review)
7 How China’s fast fashion giants exploit a tax loophole to ship packages
Which has helped them to gain a major foothold in the US. (Insider $)
+ Why my bittersweet relationship with Shein had to end. (MIT Technology Review)
8 Spreading rock dust on farms could help remove atmospheric CO2
The only problem is, it’s really hard to measure how much it captures. (New Scientist $)
