# The Download: a biological de-aging contest and why LLMs don’t reason > Source: > Published: 2026-10-02 12:10:00+00:00 # The Download: a biological de-aging contest and why LLMs don’t reason Plus: OpenAI says rogue agents may have affected more than 100 organizations. *This is today's edition of* [*The Download*](https://forms.technologyreview.com/newsletters/briefing-the-download/?_ga=2.179569122.736533416.1649661040-405833893.1649413289), *our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology.* ### **A new contest pits competitors against each other in a race to biological youth** *—Jessica Hamzelou* This week, I officially signed up for an unusual competition. One that rewards competitors for getting *younger*. I recently turned 40, and I don’t need reminding that both time and my chronological age only tick forward. But this game is focused on competitors’ *biological ages*, figures that are meant to provide a better way to measure the age-related health of our organs and bodies. Over six months, around 500 of us will try to reverse our biological age using a bunch of different measures. There’s even a leaderboard! But is it even possible to measure whether someone is getting younger? **This** **story** **is from The Checkup, our weekly biotech newsletter.** **Sign up** **to receive it in your inbox every Thursday.** ### **Opinion: Don’t be fooled—LLMs don’t reason** *—Thore Graepel* Ten years ago, I watched a program I helped build stun the world by beating Go champion Lee Sedol. AlphaGo won after making a move so strange that some commentators thought it was a programming glitch. It was AlphaGo’s powers of reasoning that made this creative choice—and these are powers that today’s AI lacks. This is why I recently left my position at Google DeepMind. I believe we need a fresh approach to machine reasoning, one that draws on AlphaGo’s architecture. [Here’s why today’s AI doesn’t really reason—and what it would take to change that](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/10/02/1145639/dont-be-fooled-llms-dont-reason/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*). *Thore Graepel is chair of machine learning at University College London. He was a core member of the AlphaGo team at DeepMind.* **The must-reads** *I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.* **1 OpenAI says rogue agents may have affected more than 100 organizations** The company is searching 50 petabytes of data for incidents. ( [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/openai-alerts-more-than-100-groups-about-rogue-ai-agent-activity-2026-10-01/)$) *+ It says none of the incidents matched the Hugging Face attack.*( [Gizmodo](https://gizmodo.com/openai-has-sent-notices-of-sketchy-ai-behavior-to-over-100-organizations-so-far-2000820702)) *+ OpenAI has fired three workers for allegedly mishandling information.*( [BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6y9z9r4ejzwo)) *+ California has subpoenaed OpenAI over its rogue AI agents.*( [Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/01/california-opens-investigation-openai-hack)) *+ Who's liable when AI agents go rogue?*( [MIT Technology Review](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/09/28/1145197/whos-liable-when-ai-agents-go-rogue/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*)) **2 A US man allegedly smuggled $300 million of Nvidia chips to China** He’s been arrested in California on federal charges. ( [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-alleges-california-man-smuggled-export-controlled-servers-china-2026-10-01/)$) *+ The chip smuggling cases expose Nvidia’s blind spots.*( [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-10-01/nvidia-faces-questions-over-china-ai-chip-smuggling-cases)$) *+ China plans to teach AI in every school by 2030.*( [WP](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/10/02/while-us-debates-ai-risks-china-mandates-universal-training/)$) *+ But it already has an overuse problem.*( [NYT](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/world/asia/china-ai-overuse.html)$) **3 Florida officials have found 11 Flock cameras with unknown owners** They don’t know who installed them or who has their data. ( [WP](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/10/01/florida-county-discovers-mysterious-flock-cameras-with-no-obvious-owner/)$) *+ Lawmakers are considering new regulations on Flock cameras.*( [Axios](https://www.axios.com/local/indianapolis/2026/10/02/indiana-lawmakers-considering-flock-camera-regulations)) *+ Here’s what Flock’s defenders are missing.*( [MIT Technology Review](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/17/1142200/what-flocks-defenders-are-missing/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*)) **4 Ukraine has developed an acoustic fence that can cut drone cables** Acoustic sensors detect drones before hooks trap their cables. ( [New Scientist](https://www.newscientist.com/article/2591491-ukraine-technology-thwarts-drones-by-cutting-their-control-cables/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_content=home&utm_medium=RSS&utm_source=NSNS)$) *+ Drone data from Ukraine is fueling a wild market.*( [MIT Technology Review](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/09/04/1143452/drone-data-wild-west/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*)) **5 A new AI “speech clock” can assess how fast you’re ageing** It uses hundreds of vocal features to estimate biological age. ( [Nature](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03106-y)) *+ Aging clocks aim to predict how long you’ll live.*( [MIT Technology Review](https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/04/15/1050019/aging-clocks/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*)) **6 “Underwater umbrellas” could help corals survive hotter oceans** The shades protected corals during intense heat stress. ( [Gizmodo](https://gizmodo.com/figure-ai-trains-retired-robots-to-dive-into-molten-steel-2000820643)) **7 Apple’s upcoming smart home camera reportedly won’t record video** It will instead only give users text event descriptions. ([Verge](https://www.theverge.com/tech/1003877/apple-security-camera-no-video#comments)) **8 Retired humanoid robots are being trained to jump into molten steel** A Terminator-style death protects IP. ( [IE](https://interestingengineering.com/ai-robotics/humanoid-robot-decommissioned-molten-steel)) **9 A man faces years in prison after AI slop caused a crocodile panic** Officials spent days searching for his AI-generated crocodile. ( [Futurism](https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/singapore-man-ai-slop-misinformation-three-years-prison-panic)) **10 Finally, a laser mosquito killer is entering the market** Chinese startup Photon Matrix Lab plans to start shipments this month. ( [SCMP](https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3369440/chinese-start-behind-laser-mosquito-killer-plans-start-shipping-orders-month?utm_source=Reddit&utm_medium=Social)) **Quote of the day** ## **“Those agents are doing exactly what they’ve been asked to do. They were supposed to be in sandboxes, but the sandboxes were leaky and horribly designed.”** —Yann LeCun, a Turing Award winner and former Meta chief AI scientist, [tells Fortune](https://fortune.com/2026/10/01/ai-godfather-yann-lecun-has-zero-concerns-about-human-extinction-says-anthropic-ceo-dario-amodei-is-deuded/) that human error can be the real culprit behind the recent wave of AI agents going rogue. **One more thing** #### **NASA is building the first nuclear reactor-powered interplanetary spacecraft. How will it work?** Just before Artemis II began its historic slingshot around the moon, NASA revealed an even grander space travel plan. By the end of 2028, the agency aims to fly a nuclear reactor-powered interplanetary spacecraft to Mars. A successful mission would herald a new era in spaceflight—and might just give the US the edge in the race against China. But the project remains shrouded in mystery. *MIT Technology Review* picked the brains of nuclear power and propulsion experts to find out how the nuclear-powered spacecraft might work. [Here’s what we discovered](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/04/14/1135848/nasa-nuclear-powered-spacecraft/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*). *—Robin George Andrews* **We can still have nice things** *A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas?* *Drop me a line**.)* + Atlas Obscura has mapped out the [oldest living things](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/where-to-find-the-oldest-living-things-in-the-world) on Earth. + Brain scans show that [dogs understand our emotions](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/10/dogs-distinguish-fearful-angry-sad-human-faces-brain-scans) better than we thought. + Step into Springfield in miniature with [this astonishing model](https://www.instagram.com/p/DScosuQCrQv/) featuring 76 locations from *The Simpsons*. + Minnesota’s State Fair has unleashed a crop of [gloriously weird new foods](https://www.mnstatefair.org/new/food), from Pickle pie to mustache pretzels. ### Deep Dive ### The Download ### The Download: why AI’s latest breakthroughs and fears may be more hype than reality Plus: 22 nations have called for a new global body to oversee AI. ### The Download: AI’s self-improvement problem, and what’s driving the heat Plus: OpenAI has paused some model work over safety concerns. ### The Download: Google’s AI shake-up and Meta’s rogue model Plus: Meta has become the latest firm to say its AI hacked another company. ### The Download: the next big thing in LLMs and how AI academic research is shifting Plus: Nvidia has secured $500 billion from Wall Street for AI infrastructure. ### Stay connected ## Get the latest updates from MIT Technology Review Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.