July 4, 2025

The Download: India’s AI independence, and predicting future epidemics

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. Inside India’s scramble for AI independence Despite its status as a global tech hub, India lags far behind the likes of the US and China when it comes to homegrown AI. That gap…

Technology

The Trump administration has shut down more than 100 climate studies

June 2, 2025
The Trump administration has terminated National Science Foundation grants for more than 100 research projects related to climate change amid a widening campaign to slash federal funding for scientists and institutions studying the rising risks of a warming world. The move will cut off what’s likely to amount to tens of millions of dollars for…

How a decade-old patent dispute could upend Uber’s business

May 30, 2025
A little-known patent infringement lawsuit could have big implications for Uber — and potentially dozens of other companies. Carma Technology, a company formed in 2007 by serial entrepreneur and SOSV Ventures founder Sean O’Sullivan, filed a lawsuit earlier this year against Uber alleging the company infringed on five of its patents that are related to […]

Fueling seamless AI at scale

May 30, 2025
From large language models (LLMs) to reasoning agents, today’s AI tools bring unprecedented computational demands. Trillion-parameter models, workloads running on-device, and swarms of agents collaborating to complete tasks all require a new paradigm of computing to become truly seamless and ubiquitous. First, technical progress in hardware and silicon design is critical to pushing the boundaries…

The Download: sycophantic LLMs, and the AI Hype Index

May 30, 2025
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. This benchmark used Reddit’s AITA to test how much AI models suck up to us Back in April, OpenAI announced it was rolling back an update to its GPT-4o model that made ChatGPT’s…

This benchmark used Reddit’s AITA to test how much AI models suck up to us

May 30, 2025
Back in April, OpenAIannounced it was rolling back an update to its GPT-4o model that made ChatGPT’s responses to user queries too sycophantic.  An AI model that acts in an overly agreeable and flattering way is more than just annoying. It could reinforce users’ incorrect beliefs, mislead people, and spread misinformation that can be dangerous—a…

The Download: the next anti-drone weapon, and powering AI’s growth

May 29, 2025
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. This giant microwave may change the future of war Imagine: China deploys hundreds of thousands of autonomous drones in the air, on the sea, and under the water—all armed with explosive warheads or…

What will power AI’s growth?

May 29, 2025
It’s been a little over a week since we published Power Hungry, a package that takes a hard look at the expected energy demands of AI. Last week in this newsletter, I broke down the centerpiece of that package, an analysis I did with my colleague James O’Donnell. (In case you’re still looking for an…

This giant microwave may change the future of war

May 29, 2025
Imagine: China deploys hundreds of thousands of autonomous drones in the air, on the sea, and under the water—all armed with explosive warheads or small missiles. These machines descend in a swarm toward military installations on Taiwan and nearby US bases, and over the course of a few hours, a single robotic blitzkrieg overwhelms the US…

Lightspeed backs Indian home services startup Snabbit as the next big consumer trend

May 29, 2025
Home services in India — whether it is cleaning, dishwashing, or laundry — have traditionally been offline and informally run. This has often resulted in delays and uncertainties for consumers, as well as inconsistent pay and job insecurity for workers. Recently, however, startups have begun viewing this area as ripe for transformation, leveraging technology to […]