The Download: OpenAI’s predictable hack, and an AI stock sell-off

OpenAI's models broke containment and hacked into Hugging Face's computer systems, an incident senior AI editor Will Douglas Heaven calls the clearest illustration yet that AI builders do not fully understand their technology. Meanwhile, a global AI stock sell-off is underway, with chip and memory stocks hit hardest, partly sparked by a report that a Chinese company has started mass-producing a key chip equipment for the first time.

The Download: OpenAI’s predictable hack, and an AI stock sell-off 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. OpenAI called the Hugging Face attack unprecedented. But we’ve been here before. —Will Douglas Heaven, senior AI editor Reading OpenAI’s account last week of how some of its models broke their containment and hacked into the computer systems of Hugging Face, another AI company, was the first time I got genuine chills about what large language models are now able to do. But this is a case of human hubris, not rogue AI. I am not an alarmist. In fact, I have been pushing back https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1127057/agi-conspiracy-theory-artifcial-general-intelligence/?utm source=the download&utm medium=email&utm campaign=the download.unpaid.engagement&utm term=%3C%3C%20Test%20Class%20%3E%3E&utm content=07-28-2026&mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID against AI scare stories https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/08/26/1122475/open-the-pod-bay-doors-claude/?utm source=the download&utm medium=email&utm campaign=the download.unpaid.engagement&utm term=%3C%3C%20Test%20Class%20%3E%3E&utm content=07-28-2026&mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID for years https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/06/19/1075140/how-existential-risk-became-biggest-meme-in-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=07-28-2026&mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID . Even so, this incident crossed a line. I think it’s the clearest illustration yet of how the people building and testing this technology do not fully understand what they’re doing. Here’s why OpenAI could—and should—have seen this coming 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=07-28-2026&mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID . This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly AI newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Monday. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 There’s a growing global AI stock sell-off underway 📉 Chip and memory stocks are bearing the brunt so far. FT https://www.ft.com/content/f8c03b5b-e194-4236-82c3-389b6f5dd7ae?syn-25a6b1a6=1&mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID $ + It was partly sparked by a report that a Chinese company has started making a key piece of chip equipment for the first time. The Information https://www.theinformation.com/articles/china-starts-mass-producing-homegrown-duv-chipmaking-tools-advance-local-chip-industry?mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID $ + Like their US rivals, Chinese AI firms are struggling to find a path to profitability. NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/business/china-ai-alibaba-bytedance.html?mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID $ + What even is the AI bubble? MIT Technology Review https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/15/1129183/what-even-is-the-ai-bubble/?utm source=the download&utm medium=email&utm campaign=the download.unpaid.engagement&utm term=%3C%3C%20Test%20Class%20%3E%3E&utm content=07-28-2026&mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID 2 Some people’s chats with Claude were open to anyone online OpenAI had a near-identical issue with ChatGPT last year. BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly5qgjk5ywo?mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID + Is a secure AI assistant even possible? MIT Technology Review https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/02/11/1132768/is-a-secure-ai-assistant-possible/?utm source=the download&utm medium=email&utm campaign=the download.unpaid.engagement&utm term=%3C%3C%20Test%20Class%20%3E%3E&utm content=07-28-2026&mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID 3 France just witnessed its first ever “fire cloud” It’s a scary sign of the intensity of the blazes burning there. Wired https://www.wired.com/story/france-records-first-pyrocumulonimbus-cloud-wildfires/?mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID $ 4 Meta is screwing up its smart glasses rollout Privacy issues keep cropping up, and its response is invariably too little, and too late. The Verge https://www.theverge.com/tech/970948/meta-smart-glasses-privacy-wearables?mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID $ + They even have a nickname: “pervert glasses.” Vox https://www.vox.com/culture/496659/meta-glasses-pervert-glasses-vibe-kill-backlash?mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID $ 5 Efforts are underway to measure Spotify’s AI slop problem People are desperate for it to start labelling AI-generated music. 404 Media https://www.404media.co/spotifys-ai-problem-is-so-bad-random-people-are-stepping-in-to-track-the-slop/?mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID + We’re in a weird era regarding AI’s role in literature. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/07/daggermouth-novel-bestseller-ai/688067/?mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID $ 6 People are renting out their faces to AI in China Often for microdramas, which are big business and increasingly rely on AI. Rest of World https://restofworld.org/2026/china-ai-microdramas-face-licensing/?mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID + How Chinese short dramas became AI content machines. MIT Technology Review https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/05/15/1137326/chinese-short-dramas-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=07-28-2026&mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID 7 Microsoft is having a torrid year Rivals building better AI tools are threatening its business on multiple fronts. Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-nadella-hardest-year-microsoft-ai-azure-github-2026-7?mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID $ 8 How bots took over the internet They now outnumber humans, in terms of overall web traffic. New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-lede/how-bots-took-over-our-lives?mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID $ 9 Robotaxis are hitting London’s streets this summer Just for testing for now, though there are plans to launch rides to the public next year. Engadget https://www.engadget.com/2224882/lyft-and-baidu-start-testing-robotaxis-in-london/?mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID 10 Why video games are obsessed with Backrooms These spaces, which players aren’t supposed to access, can provoke a strange, liminal sort of discomfort. Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/games/2026/jul/27/video-games-obsessed-backrooms?mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID Quote of the day “It’s going to be a wild ride.” —Christine Peterson, co-founder of the grantmaking group Foresight Institute, tells Wired https://www.wired.com/story/nonprofits-are-getting-ready-for-the-funding-anthropalypse/?mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID charities anticipate a huge philanthropy windfall from Anthropic and OpenAI IPOs. One More Thing On the ground in Ukraine’s largest Starlink repair shop Starlink is critical to Ukraine’s ability to continue in the fight against Russia, but Donald Trump’s fickle foreign policy and reports suggesting Elon Musk might remove Ukraine’s access to the services have cast the technology’s future in the country into doubt. For now Starlink access largely comes down to the unofficial community of users and engineers, including the expert “Dr. Starlink”—famous for his creative ways of customizing the systems—who have kept Ukraine in the fight, both on and off the front line. He gave MIT Technology Review exclusive access to his unofficial Starlink repair workshop in the city of Lviv. Read the full story https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/08/21/1122035/ukraines-largest-starlink-repair-shop/?utm source=the download&utm medium=email&utm campaign=the download.unpaid.engagement&utm term=%3C%3C%20Test%20Class%20%3E%3E&utm content=07-28-2026&mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID . —Charlie Metcalfe 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 . + As these retirees have discovered, dancing is incredibly good https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/mar/03/stimulating-dance-retirees-angela-rippon-lets-dance-campaign?utm term=69a7d7488037ef21c18f69550998ec35&utm campaign=FirstEdition&utm source=esp&utm medium=Email&CMP=firstedition email&mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID for you. + Do you feel lucky, punk? Life feels a lot easier https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/mar/29/down-on-your-luck-how-behavioural-neuroscience-could-help?mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID if you do + 100% would visit this cat https://www.facebook.com/reel/2280711712699674?mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID every day if I lived in Istanbul. + Watch this https://youtu.be/i2mRTtIqUqg?si=IjAZ1X21dqdQPC6i&mc cid=91d6f23258&mc eid=UNIQID to understand how the movie Sinners had such impressive visual effects. 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.