February 7, 2025

These documents are influencing the DOGE-sphere’s agenda

Reports from the US Government Accountability Office on improper federal payments in recent years are circulating on X and elsewhere online, and they seem to be a big influence on Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency and its supporters as the group pursues cost-cutting measures across the federal government.  The payment reports have been…

Technology

The Download: striking actors training AI, and breaking ‘unbreakable’ encryption

October 19, 2023
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 Meta and AI companies recruited striking actors to train AI Between July and September this year, actors in the US were invited to participate in an unusual research project, designed to capture…

Plastic is a climate change problem. There are ways to fix it.

October 19, 2023
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. Plastic is a huge problem. There, I found it: the most uncontroversial thing I could possibly say to start a newsletter.  We’ve all seen the images that illustrate the scale of the…

Inside the quest for unbreakable encryption

October 19, 2023
When we check email, log in to our bank accounts, or exchange messages on Signal, our passwords and credentials are protected through encryption, a locking scheme that uses secrets to disguise our data. It works like a cyber padlock: with the right key someone can unlock the data. Without it, they’ll have to resort to…

How Meta and AI companies recruited striking actors to train AI

October 19, 2023
One evening in early September, T, a 28-year-old actor who asked to be identified by his first initial, took his seat in a rented Hollywood studio space in front of three cameras, a director, and a producer for a somewhat unusual gig. The two-hour shoot produced footage that was not meant to be viewed by…

After 50,000 hours, this AI can play Pokémon Red

October 18, 2023

Almost ten years ago, the online phenomenon “Twitch Plays Pokémon” convened over a million people to play Pokémon Red at the same time, with each player’s keystrokes registering as commands for the one pixelated avatar. Now, like a Magikarp growing into a Gyarados, the evolution of technology begs a new question: can AI play Pokémon? […]

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Exclusive: KKR just closed its third tech growth fund with roughly $3 billion, $400 million of which came from KKR

October 18, 2023

KKR, a global investment powerhouse, tells TechCrunch exclusively that it just held a final close of its third and latest tech growth fund — KKR Next Generation Technology Growth Fund III — with roughly $3 billion in capital commitments, $400 million of which came from KKR’s own employees. The team, which includes more than 35 […]

© 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Decarbonizing your data strategy

October 18, 2023
Posting just a six-second video on social media uses the same amount of power as boiling 22 gallons of water. This staggering statistic encapsulates just how intertwined data management is with sustainability. And as companies look to become data-driven and to gain insights from vast data streams, it’s also crucial to keep an eye on…

The Download: how NYC tackles tough problems, and China’s AI standards

October 18, 2023
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. Why New York City is embracing low-tech solutions to hard problems It’s a reality of politics that is often overlooked: once a law is passed, it needs to evolve from an idea into…

China has a new plan for judging the safety of generative AI—and it’s packed with details

October 18, 2023
This story first appeared in China Report, MIT Technology Review’s newsletter about technology in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. Ever since the Chinese government passed a law on generative AI back in July, I’ve been wondering how exactly China’s censorship machine would adapt for the AI era. The content produced by…