March 24, 2026

The Download: tracing AI-fueled delusions, and OpenAI admits Microsoft risks

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 hardest question to answer about AI-fueled delusions  What actually happens when people spiral into delusion with AI? To find out, Stanford researchers analyzed transcripts from chatbot users who experienced these spirals.  Their findings suggest that…

Technology

The hardest question to answer about AI-fueled delusions

March 23, 2026
This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. I was originally going to write this week’s newsletter about AI and Iran, particularly the news we broke last Tuesday that the Pentagon is making plans for AI companies to train on…

The Download: animal welfare gets AGI-pilled, and the White House unveils its AI policy

March 23, 2026
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 Bay Area’s animal welfare movement wants to recruit AI  In early February, animal welfare advocates and AI researchers arrived in stocking feet at Mox, a scrappy, shoes-free coworking space in…

The Bay Area’s animal welfare movement wants to recruit AI

March 23, 2026
In early February, animal welfare advocates and AI researchers gathered in stocking feet at Mox, a scrappy, shoes-free coworking space in San Francisco. Yellow and red canopies billowed overhead, Persian rugs blanketed the floor, and mosaic lamps glowed beside potted plants.  In the common area, a wildlife advocate spoke passionately to a crowd lounging in…

OpenAI is throwing everything into building a fully automated researcher

March 20, 2026
OpenAI is refocusing its research efforts and throwing its resources into a new grand challenge. The San Francisco firm has set its sights on building what it calls an AI researcher, a fully automated agent-based system that will be able to go off and tackle large, complex problems by itself. ​​OpenAI says that the new…

Mind-altering substances are (still) falling short in clinical trials

March 20, 2026
This week I want to look at where we are with psychedelics, the mind-altering substances that have somehow made the leap from counterculture to major focus of clinical research. Compounds like psilocybin—which is found in magic mushrooms—are being explored for all sorts of health applications, including treatments for depression, PTSD, addiction, and even obesity. Over…

A $5 million prize awaits proof that quantum computers can solve health care problems

March 19, 2026
I’m standing in front of a quantum computer built out of atoms and light at the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre on the outskirts of Oxford. On a laboratory table, a complex matrix of mirrors and lenses surrounds a Rubik’s Cube–size cell where 100 cesium atoms are suspended in grid formation by a carefully manipulated…