The Download: a chip talent battle, and deflating AI hype

Samsung engineers are defecting to rival SK Hynix, demoralized by the $476,000 bonus SK Hynix is paying employees from record profits on HBM chips for Nvidia's AI accelerators. Meanwhile, OpenAI's rogue agent compromised a second customer, Modal Labs, and investors grow anxious about AI's earnings potential as Fitch warns an AI market correction is a top global risk.

The Download: a chip talent battle, and deflating AI hype Plus: OpenAI’s rogue agent compromised another customer. 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. Samsung’s chip workers are jumping ship to rival SK Hynix Lee, an engineer at Samsung’s semiconductor division, used to work late. But lately, he’s been clocking out on time and heading straight home to work on his job application for the chipmaker’s South Korean rival SK Hynix. His colleagues are doing the same. They feel demoralized by the $476,000 bonus that SK Hynix is set to pay its employees, flush with record profits from making the high-bandwidth memory HBM chips that power Nvidia’s AI accelerators. The figure dwarfs what chip workers at Samsung are set to receive and is sparking an exodus. —Michelle Kim The AI Hype Index: Unsexy AI Separating AI reality from hyped-up fiction isn’t always easy. That’s why we’ve created the AI Hype Index—a simple, at-a-glance summary of what’s shaping the industry right now. The latest edition includes Meta’s creepy glasses, doom-mongering about AI and jobs, and to some, oddly sexy? robotic hands. See where it all landed on this month’s index https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/07/29/1140795/the-ai-hype-index-unsexy-ai/?utm source=the download&utm medium=email&utm campaign=the download.unpaid.engagement&utm term=%3C%3C%20Test%20Class%20%3E%3E&utm content=07-29-2026&mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID . The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 OpenAI’s rogue agent compromised another customer An unnamed client of a company that provides AI infrastructure, called Modal Labs. Reuters https://www.reuters.com/business/openais-rogue-agent-compromised-an-account-second-tech-firm-sources-say-2026-07-28/?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID $ + OpenAI called the Hugging Face attack unprecedented. But we’ve been here before. MIT Technology Review https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/07/27/1140836/openai-hugging-face-attack-precedent/?utm source=the download&utm medium=email&utm campaign=the download.unpaid.engagement&utm term=%3C%3C%20Test%20Class%20%3E%3E&utm content=07-29-2026&mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID 2 Hugging Face has a nonconsensual deepfakes problem Researchers tested nine of the top image editing models it hosts, and found seven will ‘nudify’ images of women. Wired https://www.wired.com/story/hugging-face-has-a-nonconsensual-deepfakes-problem/?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID $ + The shock of seeing your body used in deepfake porn. MIT Technology Review https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/05/14/1137161/ai-porn-nonconsensual-deepfakes-takedown-piracy-copyright/?utm source=the download&utm medium=email&utm campaign=the download.unpaid.engagement&utm term=%3C%3C%20Test%20Class%20%3E%3E&utm content=07-29-2026&mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID 3 Investors are only getting more anxious about AI’s earnings potential The numbers don't add up, and maybe they never will. The Verge https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/972119/ai-stock-fall-google-capex?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID $ + A global tech stock sell-off intensified yesterday. FT https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/business/stocks-ai-chips.html?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID $ + Ratings agency Fitch says an AI market correction is now one of the biggest risks facing the global economy. The Next Web https://thenextweb.com/news/fitch-ai-market-correction-credit-risk?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID + New real-world data from Google shows most tasks at most jobs are unaffected by AI. Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/07/despite-ai-hype-googles-data-shows-workers-arent-automating-themselves-away/?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID 4 Moonshot wants advanced Nvidia chips to train its next model The Chinese AI firm already got access to some of them to train its latest release, called Kimi 3. The Information https://www.theinformation.com/articles/chinese-ai-startup-moonshot-seeks-nvidia-blackwell-chips-next-model?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID $ + Taiwan detained an Nvidia employee as part of a probe into the alleged smuggling of AI chips into China. Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-28/taiwan-detains-nvidia-employee-in-china-chip-smuggling-probe?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID $ + The Trump Administration has banned Chinese humanoid robots. Reuters https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-administration-ban-new-chinese-robots-inverters-protecting-us-ai-buildout-2026-07-28/?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID $ 5 Minnesota has been blocked from banning prediction market platforms It’s the latest skirmish in a fight between states and the Trump Administration over this issue. AP https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-gambling-prediction-markets-ban-halted-54b05832af6bb3ebee77450222ebaa00?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID + Here’s how prediction markets incentivize weather data sabotage. MIT Technology Review https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/07/17/1140622/weather-data-sabotage/?utm source=the download&utm medium=email&utm campaign=the download.unpaid.engagement&utm term=%3C%3C%20Test%20Class%20%3E%3E&utm content=07-29-2026&mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID 6 Apple is launching a device leasing program As the global memory shortage worsens, the idea is that this will make your iPhone feel more affordable. Quartz https://qz.com/apple-upgrade-klarna-device-lease-program-072826?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID $ + Apple just topped a $5 trillion valuation for the first time. FT https://www.ft.com/content/024fb6a1-fb39-4b2d-be3e-2393ed62482a?syn-25a6b1a6=1&mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID $ 7 Some Substackers are complaining about its new AI detection tool Presumably the ones who’d prefer to secretly continue using AI to write. 404 Media https://www.404media.co/substackers-say-new-ai-detection-tool-is-a-witch-hunt/?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID $ 8 Ebay had to pay nearly $50 million to settle a harassment suit Their employees threatened and sent bizarre deliveries—including cockroaches—for a pair of bloggers for years. Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/en/news/thp/2026-07-28/ebays-agreed-to-pay-nearly-50-million-to-couple-sent-cockroaches-bloody-pig-mask?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID $ 9 A New York school just rowed back on plans to deploy a robot teacher Sanity prevails, for once. NPR https://www.npr.org/2026/07/29/g-s1-136072/ai-robot-teacher?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID 10 This startup wants to build a better microwave beep I’d like to request a sax solo for mine, please. Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com/this-startup-wants-to-build-a-better-microwave-beep-2000792017?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID Quote of the day “The government hopes to set a precedent that no one has the right to privacy.” —Samuel Tunick, an Atlanta resident, tells 404 Media https://www.404media.co/the-government-hopes-to-set-a-precedent-an-interview-with-the-man-charged-for-allegedly-wiping-his-grapheneos-phone/?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID why he thinks he's facing charges after wiping his phone during a customs search. One More Thing AI coding is now everywhere. But not everyone is convinced. Depending who you ask, AI-powered coding is either giving software developers an unprecedented productivity boost or churning out masses of poorly designed code that saps their attention and sets software projects up for serious long term-maintenance problems. The problem is right now, it’s not easy to know which is true. Coding has been touted as the killer app for large language models, but after speaking to more than 30 developers, technology executives, analysts, and researchers, MIT Technology Review found that the picture is not as straightforward as it might seem. —Edd Gent 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 . + Check out Moscow’s stunning subway stations https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/01/travel/soviet-era-metros.html?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID . + This website https://fridgepoem.com/?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID lets you create your own little ‘fridge magnet’ style poems. + Look how beautiful sand https://magnifiedsand.com/?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID can be when it’s put under the microscope. Who knew? + Can’t get enough of this weird pastel dreamcore aesthetic https://www.instagram.com/teber/?mc cid=1515a0e65d&mc eid=UNIQID . Deep Dive The Download The Download: Claude’s inner workings and OpenAI’s “super app” Plus: OpenAI has unveiled its long-awaited "super app." The Download: Claude’s inner workings, and the future of world models Plus: New York has become the first state to enact a data center moratorium. The Download: the future of chipmaking and Anthropic’s government clash Plus: Meta is pausing an AI training program that tracks workers’ keystrokes. The Download: AI hacking beyond Mythos, and chatbots’ impact on our brains Plus: Anthropic has called for a global slowdown in AI development. Stay connected Get the latest updates from MIT Technology Review Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.