Plus: 22 nations have called for a new global body to oversee AI. 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.
Don’t be fooled by this summer of AI hype
—Timnit Gebru, executive director of the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR), and Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics at the University of Washington
It’s been a busy few months for AI hype, with companies making breathless claims about hacking, mathematical breakthroughs, and the prospect of self-improving superintelligence.
In all these cases, massive fanfare from the companies, presented as mea culpas in the hacking incidents, has been accompanied by intense press coverage. But once experts have had time to examine what happened, very different stories emerge.
There’s a strong commercial incentive to overstate AI capabilities. The authors argue that the illusion of speed and urgency promulgated by the tech companies is also a ploy to misdirect policymakers and the public.
Here’s why they say we must remain skeptical about AI hype.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 22 nations have called for a new global body to oversee AI
They want pre-deployment testing and common safety standards. (Politico)+ But neither the US nor China are part of the new declaration. (NBC News)+ Meanwhile, OpenAI has proposed its own global AI safety standards. (Axios)+ The company wants the US to lead the international effort. (Reuters $)+ Could AI really kill us all? (MIT Technology Review)
2 Texas and California have moved to rein in data centers Texas has halted new permits pending a grid audit. (
NBC News) + California has passed new laws covering power and water use.(
LA Times$) + Data centers are amazing. Everyone hates them.(
3 Chipmaker AMD has become the twelfth $1 trillion company
AI chip sales have helped its shares rise more than 180% this year. (CNBC)+ Hyperscalers are making a trillion-dollar bet on AI. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Meta’s AI agent Muse has overtaken ChatGPT to top the US App Store
It’s helped set Meta shares for their best month in 13 years. (Quartz)+ But Muse has a major zero-day vulnerability. (Ars Technica)+ And Amazon has blocked the agent from shopping on its site. (GeekWire)
5 A new edible battery could power medical devices inside the body
It could run sensors, cameras, and drug-delivery capsules. (Economist $)+ It’s been tested in pigs with an RFID tracker and stomach stimulator. (Nature)
6 Trump’s budget chief could gain veto power over NIH grants
The NIH is the world’s largest funder of biomedical research. (Ars Technica)+ Trump’s firings dealt another blow to science. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Epigenetic editing has reached human trials for hepatitis B
The treatment uses chemical tags to shut down viral DNA. (Nature) 8 Tree vaccines and gene-edited butterflies have won UK biotech funding The projects aim to boost nature’s adaptation to climate change.(
Guardian) + Why this summer was so hot—and 2027 could be worse.(
9 A rocket shortage is making it harder to get satellites into space
SpaceX is winding down Falcon 9 as rivals struggle to catch up. (WSJ $) 10 Something has gone badly wrong with Dyson’s $500 toothbrush
A mysterious “component issue” has emerged. (Wired $) Quote of the day
“If AI succeeds, then it may kill all of our jobs. If it fails, then the whole economy falls apart, and your 401(k) blows up, and maybe you still lose your job.” #
—Ben Casselman, the New York Times’s chief economics correspondent, explains why people feel trapped in a lose-lose dynamic with the AI boom.
One more thing
How wind tech could help decarbonize cargo shipping
Cargo shipping is responsible for about 3% of the world’s annual greenhouse-gas emissions, and the industry is under pressure to find alternatives to fossil fuels. Wind power is one option.
In the Marshall Islands, where people have relied on wind-powered vessels for millennia, a new cargo sailboat inspired by traditional vessels made its maiden voyage last year. It could cut emissions by up to 80% compared with a fuel-powered cargo ship.
See how engineers are bringing wind power back to cargo shipping.
—Sofia Quaglia
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*.)*
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An unlikely new garment is helping Chilean penguins to heal.
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Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer’s. Their mental maps may help explain why.
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A 91-year-old nicknamed “Grey Beard” has become the oldest person to hike the entire Appalachian Trail.
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These 10 spectacular images of space were shortlisted for this year’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest.
Deep Dive
The Download
The Download: AI’s self-improvement problem, and what’s driving the heat
Plus: OpenAI has d 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.
The Download: inside OpenAI’s Hugging Face hack, and a new EV takes on the US
Plus: Meta will pay up to $18 billion to settle a landmark child-safety case.
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