The Download: OpenAI’s defense contract, and making food from microbes
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Donald Trump has appointed a billionaire...
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Alternative meat could help the climate. Will anyone eat it?
Meat is often the star on our plates, but our love of animal-based foods is a problem for the climate....
OpenAI’s new defense contract completes its military pivot
“We believe a democratic vision for AI is essential to unlocking its full potential and ensuring its benefits are broadly...
Would you eat dried microbes? This company hopes so.
The global food system is responsible for roughly 25% to 35% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions today (depending on...
Google DeepMind’s new AI model is the best yet at weather forecasting
Google DeepMind isn't the only big tech firm that is applying AI to weather forecasting. Nvidia released FourCastNet in 2022....
The Download: the Russia-Ukraine war’s effect on tech, and shaking up AI search
In the future, CRISPR will get easier and easier to administer, potentially opening up paths for tinkering with human evolution....
How the Ukraine-Russia war is reshaping the tech sector in Eastern Europe
All of this has allowed many companies to bypass the traditionally slow process of testing and demonstrating their products, for...
The startup trying to turn the web into a database
“The web is a collection of data, but it’s a mess," says Exa cofounder and CEO Will Bryk. "There's a...
The Download: nominate an Innovator Under 35, and AI policy
Every year, MIT Technology Review recognizes 35 young innovators who are doing pioneering work across a range of technical fields...
Nominate someone to our 2025 list of Innovators Under 35
Every year, MIT Technology Review recognizes 35 young innovators who are doing pioneering work across a range of technical fields...
How US AI policy might change under Trump
Prabhakar was a key player in passing the president’s executive order on AI in 2023, which sets rules for tech...
Moving generative AI into production
Yet, difficulty successfully deploying generative AI continues to hamper progress. Companies know that generative AI could transform their businesses—and that...
The Download: words of wisdom from the departing White House tech advisor, and controversial AI manga translation
President Biden’s administration will end within two months, and likely to depart with him is Arati Prabhakar, the top mind...
This manga publisher is using Anthropic’s AI to translate Japanese comics into English
Orange distributes its translations via an app called Emaqi (a pun on “emaki,” the ancient Japanese illustrated scrolls that are...
What the departing White House chief tech advisor has to say on AI
If consumers don't have confidence that the AI tools they're interacting with are respecting their privacy, are not embedding bias...
The Download: bird flu, and waterless concrete for the moon
How worried should we be about bird flu? The past few months have seen some potentially worrisome developments in the...
The risk of a bird flu pandemic is rising
Virologists have been especially worried about the virus making its way into pigs, because these animals are notorious viral incubators....
The moon is just the beginning for this waterless concrete
Building a home base on the moon will demand a steep supply of moon-based infrastructure: launch pads, shelter, and radiation...
The Download: uncertainty over NASA’s moon rocket, and what’s next for nuclear
2 The FTC is probing MicrosoftIt’s a wide-ranging antitrust investigation into its cloud computing, AI and security arms. (NYT $)+...
This startup is getting closer to bringing next-generation nuclear to the grid
MIT Technology Review released our list of 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch less than two months ago. Since then,...