February 10, 2025

The Download: DOGE’s influences, and rescuing federal data from deletion

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. 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…

Technology

What’s next for generative video

March 28, 2024
When OpenAI revealed its new generative video model, Sora, last month, it invited a handful of filmmakers to try it out. This week the company published the results: seven surreal short films that leave no doubt that the future of generative video is coming fast.  The first batch of models that could turn text into…

What to expect if you’re expecting a plug-in hybrid

March 28, 2024
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. If you’ve ever eaten at a fusion restaurant or seen an episode of Glee, you know a mashup can be a wonderful thing.  Plug-in hybrid vehicles should be the mashup that the…

Orchard vision system turns farm equipment into AI-powered data collectors

March 27, 2024

Agricultural robotics are not a new phenomenon. We’ve seen systems that pick apples and berries, kill weeds, plant trees, transport produce and more. But while these functions are understood to be the core features of automated systems, the same thing is true here as it is across technology: It’s all about the data. A huge […]

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The Download: the problem with plug-in hybrids, and China’s AI talent

March 27, 2024
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 problem with plug-in hybrids? Their drivers. Plug-in hybrids are supposed to be the best of both worlds—the convenience of a gas-powered car with the climate benefits of a battery electric vehicle. But…

Four things you need to know about China’s AI talent pool 

March 27, 2024
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. In 2019, MIT Technology Review covered a report that shined a light on how fast China’s AI talent pool was growing. Its main finding was pretty interesting: the number of elite AI…

AI could make better beer. Here’s how.

March 26, 2024
Crafting a good-tasting beer is a difficult task. Big breweries select hundreds of trained tasters from among their employees to test their new products. But running such sensory tasting panels is expensive, and perceptions of what tastes good can be highly subjective.   What if artificial intelligence could help lighten the load? New AI models can…