The Download: deepfake porn’s stolen bodies and AI sharing private numbers

Deepfake porn is victimizing not only those whose faces are used without consent but also adult content creators whose bodies are cloned by AI systems trained on their work, leaving them with little legal protection. Meanwhile, AI chatbots like Gemini are exposing people's real phone numbers by surfacing personally identifiable information from training data, with victims having no easy way to stop the breaches. Separately, the US has approved Nvidia chip sales to 10 Chinese firms, including Alibaba and Tencent, while Beijing pushes for domestic AI chip independence.

The Download: deepfake porn’s stolen bodies and AI sharing private numbers Plus: the US has approved Nvidia chip sales to 10 Chinese firms. This is today's edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. The shock of seeing your body used in deepfake porn When Jennifer got a research job in 2023, she ran her new professional headshot through a facial recognition program. She wanted to see whether it would pull up the porn videos she’d made more than a decade earlier. It did, but it also surfaced something she’d never seen before: one of her old videos, now featuring someone else’s face on her body. Conversations about sexualized deepfakes usually focus on the people whose faces are inserted into explicit content without consent. But another group often gets ignored: the people whose bodies those faces are attached to. Adult content creators say AI systems are training on their work, cloning their likenesses, and generating explicit content they never agreed to make, all with little legal protection or control. Read the full story on the threat to their rights, livelihoods, and ownership of their own bodies. —Jessica Klein This story is part of our The Big Story series, the home for MIT Technology Review’s most important, ambitious reporting. You can read the rest here. AI chatbots are giving out people’s real phone numbers Generative AI is exposing people’s personal contact information—and there’s no easy way to stop it. A software developer started receiving WhatsApp messages asking for help after Gemini surfaced his number. A university researcher got the chatbot to reveal a colleague’s private cell number. A Reddit user says Gemini sent a stream of callers looking for lawyers to his phone. Experts believe these privacy lapses stem from personally identifiable information in AI training data. Chatbots may now be making that information dramatically easier to find. Find out why these breaches are growing—and why there’s little that victims can do to stop them. —Eileen Guo The Tesla Semi could be a big deal for electric trucking Nearly a decade after Elon Musk first unveiled the Tesla Semi, the electric truck is finally rolling off the production line. It could be a breakout moment for battery-powered freight. Semitrucks produce an outsized share of road transport pollution, while electric alternatives have struggled with high prices, limited range, and charging challenges. Tesla is betting the Semi can overcome those problems. The truck reportedly travels up to 480 miles on a single charge and costs far less than many competing electric models. Here’s how the Tesla Semi could give electric trucking a vital boost. —Casey Crownhart This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The US has approved Nvidia chip sales to 10 Chinese firms Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance are among those cleared to buy H200 chips. Reuters $ + The US will receive 25% of the revenue from the sales. Engadget + But Beijing wants domestic firms to prioritize homegrown chips. Nikkei Asia + Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is in China with a White House delegation. CNBC 2 Beijing’s push for AI independence is weakening US leverage It's allowing China to resist pressure during the Beijing talks. NYT $ + The country has made a big bet on open-source. MIT Technology Review + Here’s what’s at stake for tech at the Trump-Xi meeting. Rest of World 3 AI is “rotting the brains” of developers They’re losing their previous abilities to do their jobs. 404 Media + A populist backlash is building against AI. MIT Technology Review + It’s time to reset our expectations about AI. MIT Technology Review 4 Sam Altman has over $2 billion in companies that have dealt with OpenAI The ties have triggered accusations of conflicts of interest. The Times $ + The GOP is scrutinizing Altman’s business dealings. WSJ $ 5 Andreessen Horowitz has become the top political donor in the US A16z contributed $115.5 million to the midterm elections. NYT + AI lobbying has reached a fever pitch. NYT $ 6 Microsoft feared being too dependent on OpenAI CEO Satya Nadella was worried about OpenAI supplanting his company. CNBC + Microsoft is eyeing startup deals for life after OpenAI. Reuters $ 7 AI systems are forecasting wars and regime collapse One estimates a 20% chance of regime change in Iran by 2026. Economist $ + AI has turned the Iran conflict into theater. MIT Technology Review 8 Anthropic says a model behaved badly due to training on dystopian sci-fi Training on more positive stories could help. Ars Technica 9 Data centers now consume 6% of the electricity in the US and UK AI’s global energy consumption is up 15% globally in two years. Guardian 10 NASA has rescued Curiosity after its drill got stuck on Mars The agency has just revealed how it freed the rover. Wired $ Quote of the day “Musk loves to be glazed, and this person is the doughnut factory.” —Joan Donovan, assistant professor of journalism and emerging media studies at Boston University, tells the Washington Post how Elon Musk has consistently amplified one anonymous X account. One More Thing Inside the messy ethics of making war with machines In a near-future war—one that might begin tomorrow—a sniper’s computer vision system flags a potential target. Just over the horizon, a chatbot advises a commander to order an artillery strike. In both cases, an AI system recommends pulling the trigger while a human still has the final say. But how much of the decision is really theirs? When, if ever, is it ethical for that decision to kill? And who’s to blame when something goes wrong? This is how AI is reshaping decision-making on the battlefield. —Arthur Holland Michel 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. + The secrets behind how Shazam works have been revealed. + For the first time in a decade, a rare "Cloud Jaguar" was caught on camera. + Explore our galaxy from your screen at this year’s Milky Way Photographer of the Year collection. + If you want a game over with style, a funeral company is offering Mario, Luigi, Peach, and even Yoshi-branded coffins. Deep Dive The Download The Download: DeepSeek’s latest AI breakthrough, and the race to build world models Plus: China has blocked Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus. The Download: introducing the 10 Things That Matter in AI Right Now Plus: An unauthorized group has reportedly accessed Anthropic’s Mythos. The Download: supercharged scams and studying AI healthcare Plus: DeepSeek has unveiled its long-awaited new AI model. The Download: Quantum computing for health, and why the world doesn’t recycle more nuclear waste Stay connected Get the latest updates from MIT Technology Review Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.