October 30, 2025

The Download: Introducing: the new conspiracy age

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. Introducing: the new conspiracy age Everything is a conspiracy theory now. Conspiracists are all over the White House, turning fringe ideas into dangerous policy. America’s institutions are crumbling under the weight of deep…

Technology

3 problems with Google’s AI energy use data

August 28, 2025
Google just announced that a typical query to its Gemini app uses about 0.24 watt-hours of electricity. That’s about the same as running a microwave for one second—something that, to me, feels virtually insignificant. I run the microwave for so many more seconds than that on most days. I was excited to see this report…

Pixel 10 Pro review: familiar hardware, filled with Google’s AI

August 27, 2025
Pixel devices have always been a reflection of how Google sees Android, as well as a platform to showcase its own apps and technology advances. In the current era, this vision encompasses Google’s consumer AI suite. Google wants Pixel owners to live and breathe Google AI in all aspects of their lives through the new […]

The AI Hype Index: AI-designed antibiotics show promise

August 27, 2025
Separating AI reality from hyped-up fiction isn’t always easy. That’s why we’ve created the AI Hype Index—a simple, at-a-glance summary of everything you need to know about the state of the industry. Using AI to improve our health and well-being is one of the areas scientists and researchers are most excited about. The last month…

Unlocking enterprise agility in the API economy

August 27, 2025
Across industries, enterprises are increasingly adopting an on-demand approach to compute, storage, and applications. They are favoring digital services that are faster to deploy, easier to scale, and better integrated with partner ecosystems. Yet, one critical pillar has lagged: the network. While software-defined networking has made inroads, many organizations still operate rigid, pre-provisioned networks. As…

The Download: introducing: the Security issue

August 27, 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. Introducing: the Security issue It would be naïve to think we are going back to a world without AI. We’re not. But it’s only one of many urgent problems we need to address…

India is still working on sewer robots

August 27, 2025
When Jitender was a child in New Delhi, both his parents worked as manual scavengers—a job that involved clearing the city’s sewers of solid waste by hand. Now, he is among almost 200 contractors involved in the Delhi government’s effort to shift from this manual process to safer mechanical methods. Although it has been outlawed…

AI comes for the job market, security, and prosperity: The Debrief

August 27, 2025
When I picked up my daughter from summer camp, we settled in for an eight-hour drive through the Appalachian mountains, heading from North Carolina to her grandparents’ home in Kentucky. With little to no cell service for much of the drive, we enjoyed the rare opportunity to have a long, thoughtful conversation, uninterrupted by devices.…

Job titles of the future: Satellite streak astronomer

August 27, 2025
Earlier this year, the $800 million Vera Rubin Observatory commenced its decade-long quest to create an extremely detailed time-lapse movie of the universe. Rubin is capable of capturing many more stars than any other astronomical observatory ever built; it also sees many more satellites. Up to 40% of images captured by the observatory within its…

Reimagining sound and space

August 26, 2025
On a typical afternoon, MIT’s new Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building hums with life. On the fourth floor, a jazz combo works through a set in a rehearsal suite as engineers adjust microphone levels in a nearby control booth. Downstairs, the layered rhythms of Senegalese drumming pulse through a room built to absorb its…