The Download: the next big thing in LLMs and how AI academic research is shifting

Nvidia has secured $500 billion from Wall Street for AI infrastructure through deals with BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and four other firms, marking AI infrastructure as a new asset class. Meanwhile, MIT Technology Review reports on startups pursuing alternatives to transformers in LLMs and on AI professors negotiating new realities in academic research, as highlighted at the Schmidt Sciences AI2050 program convening.

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. 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. These startups are chasing the next big thing in LLMs Nine years after Google researchers introduced the transformer, this family of neural networks has become the engine inside every major large language model. But transformers are starting to show their age. As LLMs get bigger and better, transformers have become a bottleneck. Their dense attention mechanism becomes increasingly expensive as the amount of text grows, and they’re not great at keeping track of a lot of information at once. Here are four new ideas for how to solve the transformer problem https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/10/1141511/these-startups-are-chasing-the-next-big-thing-in-llms/?utm source=the download&utm medium=email&utm campaign=the download.unpaid.engagement&utm term= %7CSUBCLASS%7C &utm content= %7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C —innovations that could change LLMs for good, making them faster, far more efficient, and maybe even smarter. —Will Douglas Heaven This story is from MIT Technology Review’s What’s Next series, which looks across industries, trends, and technologies to give you a first look at the future. You can read the rest of them here . AI professors are negotiating the new realities of academic research —Grace Huckins Last week, I headed to a hotel in Mountain View, California, to join some of the most accomplished, and some of the most promising, AI researchers in the world. I was hosting roundtable interviews and speaking at a media training for a convening of the Schmidt Sciences AI2050 program, an initiative funded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt that supports academics whose work involves AI. The fellows list is a who’s who of AI luminaries, and though not all of them made it out to the Bay, every time I turned a corner I saw a scientist whom I’d interviewed previously or whose research I admired. It’s a weird time for university AI researchers, who make up most of the AI2050 group. Read Grace’s story to find out why, and what could be coming next https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/10/1141597/ai-professors-are-negotiating-the-new-realities-of-academic-research/?utm source=the download&utm medium=email&utm campaign=the download.unpaid.engagement&utm term= %7CSUBCLASS%7C &utm content= %7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C . 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 Nvidia has secured $500 billion from Wall Street for AI infrastructure It’s struck deals with BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and four others. BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c78gr0jv0mdo + Showing the pull of AI compute for institutional investors. Reuters https://www.reuters.com/technology/wall-street-giants-partner-with-nvidia-500-billion-ai-financing-deal-ft-reports-2026-08-10/ $ + And that AI infrastructure is becoming a new asset class. CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/11/wall-street-endorsed-jensen-huangs-big-concept-for-ai-what-now.html 2 Mark Zuckerberg's new manifesto says open-source AI can save the US It presents a utopian vision of personalized “superintelligence.” Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/10/mark-zuckerberg-superintelligent-ai-essay-meta + And arrived the same day as Meta’s new, open-source model. NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/10/technology/meta-ai-open-source.html $ + Zuckerberg said he plans to launch more of these models. WSJ https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/mark-zuckerberg-lays-out-new-ai-vision-in-6-500-word-essay-966e9a56?mod=rss Technology $ + And pit Meta against Chinese open-weight developers. SCMP https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3363638/meta-challenge-chinas-open-weight-ai-dominance-amid-us-regulatory-fears?utm source=feedly feed 3 Bernie Sanders has called on Silicon Valley to “pause AI development” He noted that AI giants have pledged to do this if necessary for safety. + And warned that lawmakers will step in if no action is taken. Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/10/bernie-sanders-ai-development-pause-letter + House Democrats are already pressing AI leaders over rogue models. WP https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/08/10/lawmakers-ramp-up-pressure-ai-companies-over-rogue-models/ $ + A populist backlash is building against AI. MIT Technology Review https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/04/21/1135665/resistance-ai-artificial-intelligence-backlash-protests/?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 A US court will allow thousands of social media lawsuits to proceed The suits target addictive mechanisms used by Meta, TikTok, Google, and Snapchat. Axios https://www.axios.com/2026/08/10/social-media-addiction-lawsuits-meta-tiktok + They claim the platforms are designed to hook young users. Reuters https://www.reuters.com/world/us-appeals-court-allows-thousands-lawsuits-against-social-media-companies-over-2026-08-10/ $ + Can we repair the internet? MIT Technology Review https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/14/1125104/internet-improvement-book-review-regulation-user-responsibility/?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 Unitree's IPO is more than 8,000 times oversubscribed by retail The Chinese humanoid firm raised $900 million ahead of its listing. Reuters https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/unitrees-shanghai-ipo-more-than-8000-times-oversubscribed-by-retail-investors-2026-08-10/ $ + Its pricing for the Shanghai IPO values the company at $9 billion. FT https://www.ft.com/content/e49dfb75-f841-4466-a577-f7aaff8779a0?syn-25a6b1a6=1 $ 6 Flock’s car-tracking cameras are facing a bipartisan backlash The surveillance network has spread rapidly across the US. NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/10/us/flock-cameras-can-track-every-car-in-america-police-love-them-citizens-dont.html $ + Flock also plans to chase shoplifters with drones. MIT Technology Review https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/09/25/1124088/shoplifters-could-soon-be-chased-down-by-drones/?utm source=the download&utm medium=email&utm campaign=the download.unpaid.engagement&utm term= %7CSUBCLASS%7C &utm content= %7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C 7 China is breaking up AI relationships Beijing has introduced new rules for emotionally interactive AI. Rest of World https://restofworld.org/2026/china-ai-boyfriend-ban-bytedance-doubao/ + It’s surprisingly easy to fall for a chatbot. MIT Technology Review https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/09/24/1123915/relationship-ai-without-seeking-it/?utm source=the download&utm medium=email&utm campaign=the download.unpaid.engagement&utm term= %7CSUBCLASS%7C &utm content= %7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C 8 An AI tool claims to pick the best 1% of scientific papers But researchers doubt that AI can reliably judge scientific quality. Nature https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02276-z 9 The AI slop backlash is working It’s pushing platforms to restrict AI-generated content. Wired https://www.wired.com/story/the-ai-slop-backlash-is-actually-having-an-impact/ $ 10 An 82-year-old rejected $26 million to turn her farm into a data center She criticised the environmental impacts of data centers. Fortune https://fortune.com/2026/08/07/kentucky-grandma-turned-down-26-million-family-farm-data-center/ Quote of the day “It is not too late to avoid disaster. Stop building machines that humans cannot control.” —Senator Bernie Sanders urges Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, and Mark Zuckerberg to pause all AI development in a letter https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/AI-Pause-Letter-FINAL.pdf . One More Thing The race to make the perfect baby is creating an ethical mess A new field of science is using genetic sequencing to predict what kind of person an embryo might become. Some parents turn to these tests to avoid devastating genetic disorders, while a much smaller group are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars to optimize for intelligence, appearance, and personality. Customers, however, may not be getting what they’re paying for. Genetics experts have highlighted the potential deficiencies of this testing for years, while its underlying assumptions have made these companies a political lightning rod. As this technology edges toward the mainstream, scientists and ethicists are racing to confront the implications—for our social contract, for future generations, and for our very understanding of what it means to be human. Read the full story https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/16/1125159/ethics-embryo-screening-reproduction-baby/?utm source=the download&utm medium=email&utm campaign=the download.unpaid.engagement&utm term= %7CSUBCLASS%7C &utm content= %7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C . —Julia Black 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 . + An eagle-eyed border collie is taking the game of fetch into new waters https://www.instagram.com/reels/DZ04ovnIRyL/ . + musicForprogramming https://musicforprogramming.net/about has made a valiant attempt to produce the perfect tunes for sustained concentration. + When kids design playgrounds https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/27/nyregion/kid-designed-playgrounds.html?unlocked article code=1.t1A.Zt7I.SdHN8SlxrRGW , they create a cheerful mix of giant chess, pink basketball courts—and lava. + This power metal version of the “Back to the Future” music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCZBfqIa7Pg is an epic reinvention of the film’s classic theme. 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: a reality check for geoengineering and the science of interoception Plus: SpaceX is now valued higher than Amazon. Stay connected Get the latest updates from MIT Technology Review Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.