October 3, 2025

The Download: using AI to discover “zero day” vulnerabilities, and Apple’s ICE app removal

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. Microsoft says AI can create “zero day” threats in biology A team at Microsoft says it used artificial intelligence to discover a “zero day” vulnerability in the biosecurity systems used to prevent the…

December 2024

AI’s emissions are about to skyrocket even further

December 13, 2024
It’s no secret that the current AI boom is using up immense amounts of energy. Now we have a better idea of how much.  A new paper, from a team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, examined 2,132 data centers operating in the United States (78% of all facilities in the country).…

The Download: society’s techlash, and Android XR

December 13, 2024
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. How Silicon Valley is disrupting democracy The internet loves a good neologism, especially if it can capture a purported vibe shift or explain a new trend. In 2013, the columnist Adrian Wooldridge coined…

How Silicon Valley is disrupting democracy

December 13, 2024
The internet loves a good neologism, especially if it can capture a purported vibe shift or explain a new trend. In 2013, the columnist Adrian Wooldridge coined a word that eventually did both. Writing for the Economist, he warned of the coming “techlash,” a revolt against Silicon Valley’s rich and powerful fueled by the public’s…