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

Tracking the EV battery factory construction boom across North America

August 16, 2023
The onshoring of battery manufacturing for EVs started as a trickle during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it’s a tsunami. In 2019, just two battery factories were operating in the United States with another two under construction. Today, there are about 30 battery factories either planned, under construction or operational in the country. U.S. President Joe […]

China’s car companies are turning into tech companies

August 16, 2023
This story first appeared in China Report, MIT Technology Review’s newsletter about technology developments in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. This year, car buyers in China are constantly bombarded with claims about how advanced Navigation on Autopilot (NOA) systems are coming to their city. These software systems are not quite fully…

How a half-trillion dollars is transforming climate technology

August 16, 2023
A half-trillion dollars is starting to work its way through the US economy, remaking climate technology along the way.  One year ago, the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law, marking the most significant action on climate change to date from the federal government. The legislation set aside hundreds of billions of dollars to support…

Tech is broken—can collective action fix it?

August 16, 2023
For Silicon Valley venture capitalists and founders, any inconvenience big or small is a problem to be solved—even death itself. And a new genre of products and services known as “death tech,” intended to help the bereaved and comfort the suffering, shows that the tech industry will try to address literally anything with an app. …

Lindus Health, a U.K. clinical trials startup backed by Peter Thiel, raises $18M

August 16, 2023
Clinical trials are the cornerstone of modern medical research, serving the evidence required to prove (or disprove) the safety and efficacy of a new treatment. However, clinical trials are also costly, resource-intensive endeavors that can take many years to reach a stage where a drug or device is deemed ready for a wide-scale rollout. This is […]

Inside the messy ethics of making war with machines

August 16, 2023
In a near-future war—one that might begin tomorrow, for all we know—a soldier takes up a shooting position on an empty rooftop. His unit has been fighting through the city block by block. It feels as if enemies could be lying in silent wait behind every corner, ready to rain fire upon their marks the…

Tesla supplier CATL unveils battery that can add up to 400km of range in 10 minutes

August 16, 2023
CATL, the Chinese battery giant and a major supplier to Tesla, has unveiled its latest product that aims to solve electric vehicles’ charging and range limitations. The battery, dubbed Shenxing or “god-like movement”, is able to refuel up to 400 kilometers (250 miles) of range in 10 minutes, Gao Han, chief technology officer of CATL’s […]

Tesla supplier CATL unveils battery that can charge 400km in 10 minutes

August 16, 2023
CATL, the Chinese battery giant and a major supplier to Tesla, has unveiled its latest product that aims to solve electric vehicles’ charging and range limitations. The battery, dubbed Shenxing or “god-like speed”, is able to refuel to 400 kilometers (250 miles) in 10 minutes, the company said at a launch event on Wednesday. That […]

X, formerly Twitter, slowed down access to Threads, The New York Times, Bluesky and more

August 15, 2023
X, formerly known as Twitter, was throttling traffic to websites that the social network’s owner Elon Musk publicly dislikes. The platform slowed down the speed it takes when accessing links to a handful of websites including The New York Times, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, Reuters and Substack. The platform appears to be reversing the slow […]