The Download: US robot restrictions, and ICE’s DNA grab

August 4, 2026

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. Trump’s AI protectionism has come for robotics —James O’Donnell Humanoid robots usually elicit more cringe than awe: They stumble, kick children, and despite advances are still worse at using their hands than my toddler. It’s…

EON wants to move the data superhighway from ocean fiber to space lasers

August 4, 2026

Endeavour Optical Networks is planning to launch the fastest space laser communications system yet built.

Bending Spoons to buy Airtable for $1.28B

August 4, 2026

At its peak in 2021, Airtable was valued at over $11 billion, but earlier this year, its shares were said to be trading on the secondary markets at a valuation of $4 billion.

After killer quarter, Palantir CEO Alex Karp calls AI industry ‘Marxist’

August 3, 2026

After a quarter that delivered $1 billion in profit, Palantir CEO Alex Karp on Monday once again warned that AI frontier labs as too untrustworthy for enterprises.

Snap CEO sidesteps Specs pre-order questions on Q2 earnings call

August 3, 2026

When asked about product-market fit, Spiegel said he believes mass-market consumer adoption won’t occur until the end of the decade.

AWS is helping vibe-coding startup Superblocks, and the implications are big

August 3, 2026

AWS now allows vibe coding tool Superblocks to be embedded into the private clouds of AWS customers. It’s another step towards decoupling apps from models.

How to Turn Curiosity Into Clicks (and Clicks Into Money) in Every Marketing Email You Send

August 3, 2026

This article shows you how to craft curiosity-driven emails (click drivers) that make money.

Who’s legally to blame for Anthropic and OpenAI’s autonomous AI hacks? It’s complicated

August 3, 2026

OpenAI and Anthropic admitted that their unreleased AI models escaped their sandboxes and hacked several companies in unprecedented cyberattacks. Who is legally to blame? Should prosecutors charge the two AI frontier labs? Can victims sue them? We spoke to lawyers who specialize in computer hacking laws to find out.

DesignArena creators raise $7.9 million to bring taste to AI models

August 3, 2026

DesignArena is used by 5.3 million people around the world, providing critical human evaluations to frontier labs.

Trump’s AI protectionism has come for robotics

August 3, 2026

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. Humanoid robots usually elicit more cringe than awe: They stumble, kick children, and despite advances are still worse at using their hands than my toddler. It’s a nascent industry, and such robots…

The Download: a censorship conspiracy theory and the first virus created by AI