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.
Meet the early-adopter judges using AI
The propensity for AI systems to make mistakes that humans miss has been on full display in the US legal system as of late. The follies began when lawyers submitted documents citing cases that didn’t exist. Similar mistakes soon spread to other roles in the courts. Last December, a Stanford professor submitted sworn testimony containing hallucinations and errors in a case about deepfakes, despite being an expert on AI and misinformation himself.
Now, judges are experimenting with generative AI too. Some believe that with the right precautions, the technology can expedite legal research, summarize cases, draft routine orders, and overall help speed up the court system, which is badly backlogged in many parts of the US. Are they right to be so confident in it? Read the full story.
—James O’Donnell
What you may have missed about GPT-5
OpenAI’s new GPT-5 model was supposed to give a glimpse of AI’s newest frontier. It was meant to mark a leap toward the “artificial general intelligence” that tech’s evangelists have promised will transform humanity for the better.
Against those expectations, the model has mostly underwhelmed. But there’s one other thing to take from all this. Among other suggestions for potential uses of its models, OpenAI has begun explicitly telling people to use them for health advice. It’s a change in approach that signals the company is wading into dangerous waters. Read the full story.
—James O’Donnell
This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 The US has extended its China tariff truce by another 90 days
It’s yet again another example of Trump’s on-again, off-again policies. (CNBC)
+ China has succeeded in finding other markets to sell to anyway. (CNN)
+ Now we’ve got to wait until November 10 for the next round of tariffs. (BBC)
2 Europe’s arms factories are rapidly expanding
As EU governments debate how to sustain weapons deliveries to Ukraine. (FT $)
+ Trump is due to meet with Vladimir Putin on Friday. (The Guardian)
+ Generative AI is learning to spy for the US military. (MIT Technology Review)
3 China has urged companies to avoid using Nvidia’s H20 chips
Which comes as a blow to the firm after it made a deal with the US government. (Bloomberg $)
+ Chinese officials fear that the US could embed “back doors” into them. (SCMP $)
4 Elon Musk has threatened legal action against Apple
He claims that OpenAI is the only AI firm able to top its App Store charts. (Reuters)
+ Grok is ranked a lowly sixth on its free listings. (FT $)
5 AI is making sharing photos of children even riskier
Nudifying tools are making it easier than ever to manipulate images. (NYT $)
+ You need to talk to your kid about AI. Here are 6 things you should say. (MIT Technology Review)
6 The future of food hinges on our land use
Can factory farming ease the burden? (Vox)
+ Africa fights rising hunger by looking to foods of the past. (MIT Technology Review)
7 What does Palantir really do?
Even former workers don’t seem entirely sure. (Wired $)
8 Interest in AI majors is exploding
Among young students and older workers alike. (WP $)
+ We’re reliving a new dot com bubble updated for the AI age. (New Yorker $)
9 The in-person job interview is staging a comeback
AI has made it too easy to cheat remotely. (WSJ $)
10 This YouTube show attempts to turn internet discourse into live debate
Sounds absolutely terrible. (New Yorker $)
Quote of the day
“It’s not banned but has kind of become a politically incorrect thing to do.”
—An anonymous Chinese data center operator tells the Financial Times why purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips has become so fraught in China.
One more thing
The search for extraterrestrial life is targeting Jupiter’s icy moon Europa
Europa, Jupiter’s fourth-largest moon, is nothing like ours. Its surface is a vast saltwater ocean, encased in a blanket of cracked ice, one that seems to occasionally break open and spew watery plumes into the moon’s thin atmosphere.
For these reasons, Europa captivates planetary scientists. All that water and energy—and hints of elements essential for building organic molecules —point to another extraordinary possibility. Jupiter’s big, bright moon could host life.
They may eventually get some answers thanks to Europa Clipper, scheduled to reach Jupiter in 2030. Read the full story.
—Stephen Ornes
We can still have nice things
A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)
+ There’s still plenty of time to decide on a song of the summer.
+ Why we love to love horrendously bad films—particularly The Room.
+ Lock up your daughters: these medieval bards were dangerously charismatic.
+ How to instantly become better at pretty much anything.
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