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.
OpenAI’s new defense contract completes its military pivot
At the start of 2024, OpenAI’s rules for how armed forces might use its AI models were unambiguous: it prohibited anyone from using them for “weapons development” or “military and warfare”.
It has slowly softened those restrictions over the course of this year, and now, OpenAI has announced that its technology will be deployed directly on the battlefield.
The company is partnering with the defense-tech company Anduril, a maker of AI-powered drones, radar systems, and missiles, to help US and allied forces defend against drone attacks. Read our story to understand how, and why, this pivot unfolded.
—James O’Donnell
Would you eat dried microbes? This company hopes so.
What’s new: A company best known for sucking up industrial waste gases is turning its attention to food. LanzaTech, a rising star in the fuel and chemical industries, is joining a growing group of businesses producing microbe-based food as an alternative to plant and animal products.
Why it matters: The global food system is responsible for roughly 25% to 35% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions today, and much of that comes from animal agriculture. Alternative food sources could help feed the world while cutting climate pollution. Read the full story.
—Casey Crownhart
To read more about the potential positive effects of alternative meat on the climate, check out the latest edition of The Spark, our weekly climate and energy newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.
Google DeepMind’s new AI model is the best yet at weather forecasting
Google DeepMind has unveiled an AI model that’s better at predicting the weather than the current best systems.
The new model, dubbed GenCast, is the second AI weather model that Google has launched in just the past few months. In July, it published details of NeuralGCM, a model that combined AI with physics-based methods like those used in existing forecasting tools. That model performed similarly to conventional methods but used less computing power.
GenCast is different, as it relies on AI methods alone. It works sort of like ChatGPT, but instead of predicting the next most likely word in a sentence, it produces the next most likely weather condition. But while its results are impressive, that doesn’t mean the end of conventional meteorology as a field. Read the full story.
—Scott J Mulligan
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Donald Trump has appointed a billionaire astronaut to head up NASA
Jarad Isaacman has been into space twice, and was the first private citizen to carry out a spacewalk. (CBS News)
+ Unsurprisingly, he’s also a close associate of Elon Musk. (Fast Company $)
+ Will the appointment make Musk more amenable to NASA? (Economist $)
2 The price of a single bitcoin has passed $100,000
It’s a remarkable milestone for the famously volatile cryptocurrency. (NYT $)
+ The industry’s faithful hope Donald Trump will pass crypto-friendly laws. (The Guardian)
+ Congrats, investors. What comes next, though? (FT $)
3 Humane isn’t giving up on its AI pin
Despite few sales, it wants to embed the device in your phone and car. (The Verge)+ The pin made a special appearance in our inaugural AI Hype Index. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Amazon deliveries are slower to arrive in low-income zip codes
Despite the DC residents paying for the same Prime program as their richer neighbors. (WP $)
+ A lawsuit claims Amazon covered up the real reason for the delays. (Ars Technica)
5 Law enforcement has busted two major crypto laundering networks
Criminals swapped huge sums of cash for crypto across crime networks. (Wired $)
+ Over in Dubai, crypto scams are running rampant. (Bloomberg $)
6 Where it all went wrong for the world’s biggest offshore wind company
Ørsted was riding high on the clean energy wave—until it wasn’t. (FT $)
+ The UK is failing spectacularly to harness wind power properly. (Bloomberg $)
+ What’s next for offshore wind. (MIT Technology Review)
7 OnlyFans has quietly launched in China
Although pornography remains illegal in the country. (CNN)
+ Chinese gamers are using a Steam wallpaper app to get porn past the censors. (MIT Technology Review)
8 We’re getting close to solving a major mystery of the universe
Its biggest galaxies may have been formed by ‘cosmic collisions.’ (The Guardian)
+ The galaxy which used to look like a sombrero…doesn’t any more. (CNN)
9 This winged drone can hop and jump
Making it look a whole lot like a robotic bird. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ What’s next for drones. (MIT Technology Review)
10 Why X had a meltdown over a woman’s PhD thesis
Go outside and touch some grass, all of you. (Vox)
Quote of the day
“We never doubted. We never wavered. And we will never stop building.”
—Kris Marszalek, chief executive of exchange Crypto.com, celebrates bitcoin’s colossal surge to a $100,000 valuation for a single coin in a post on X.
The big story
What the future holds for those born today
August 2024
Happy birthday, baby.
You have been born into an era of intelligent machines. They have watched over you almost since your conception. They let your parents listen in on your tiny heartbeat, track your gestation on an app, and post your sonogram on social media. Well before you were born, you were known to the algorithm.
Your arrival coincided with the 125th anniversary of this magazine. With a bit of luck and the right genes, you might see the next 125 years. How will you and the next generation of machines grow up together? We asked more than a dozen experts to imagine your future. Read what they prophesied.
—Kara Platoni
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 tweet ’em at me.)
+ If you want the best pizza the world has to offer, you should head to Jersey City (apparently)
+ Thinking of gifting something that’s been previously owned this Christmas? Make sure you conduct these essential checks.
+ What science can tell us about how to combat bullying.
+ Uhoh—honey fraud is on the rise!
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