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.
We saw a demo of the new AI system powering Anduril’s vision for war
—James O’Donnell
One afternoon in late November, I visited a weapons test site in the foothills east of San Clemente, California operated by Anduril, a maker of AI-powered drones and missiles that recently announced a partnership with OpenAI.
I went there to witness a new system it’s expanding today, which allows external parties to tap into its software and share data in order to speed up decision-making on the battlefield.
If it works as planned over the course of a new three-year contract with the Pentagon, it could embed AI more deeply than ever before into the theater of war. Read the full story.
How to use Sora, OpenAI’s new video generating tool
OpenAI has just released its video generation model Sora to the public. The announcement yesterday came on the fifth day of the company’s “shipmas” event, a 12-day marathon of tech releases and demos. Here’s what you should know—and how you can use the video model right now.
—James O’Donnell
This story is the latest in MIT Technology Review’s How To series, which helps you get things done.
AI’s hype and antitrust problem is coming under scrutiny
The AI sector is plagued by a lack of competition and a lot of deceit—or at least that’s one way to interpret the latest flurry of actions taken in Washington.
The actions—from antitrust investigations to accusations of straight-up lying—represent an effort to hold the AI industry’s hype to account in the final months before the Federal Trade Commission’s chair, Lina Khan, is replaced when Donald Trump takes office.
But while the FTC looks to have a far smoother transition of leadership ahead than most other federal agencies, at least some of Trump’s frustrations with Big Tech could send antitrust efforts in a distinctly new direction. Read the full story.
—James O’Donnell
This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things happening in the fascinating field of AI. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Monday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Google has built a powerful new quantum computing chip
But it doesn’t have any real-world applications—yet. (Bloomberg $)
+ It takes five minutes to solve a problem that a traditional supercomputer could not master in 10 septillion years. (NYT $)
+ It’s a challenge the quantum field has been trying to crack for decades. (The Guardian)
+ We covered the work when it was a preprint in September. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Nvidia is being investigated by China
It claims the chipmaking giant has violated anti-monopoly laws. (BBC)
+ Nvidia’s biggest customer in the country? That would be ByteDance. (Insider $)
+ What’s next in chips. (MIT Technology Review)
3 TikTok has asked a US appeals court to halt the buy-or-sell law
As it stands, the app faces a ban unless it finds a new owner by January 19. (TechCrunch)
4 AI is still failing to deliver on its economic promises
Is 2025 the year we finally start to see some results? (Quartz)
+ The US AI industry is in desperate need of more sites with power grid access. (FT $)
+ How to fine-tune AI for prosperity. (MIT Technology Review)
5 The EU’s competition rules are on the verge of a big shakeup
A new boss means a new approach. (WSJ $)
+ European regulators want to get to the bottom of a Meta and Google investigation. (FT $)
6 Weight-loss drugs are making basic health truths obsolete
A healthy diet and regular exercise is falling by the wayside. (The Atlantic $)
+ Weight-loss injections have taken over the internet. But what does this mean for people IRL? (MIT Technology Review)
7 This bionic leg is controlled by its wearer’s brain
Prosthetic limbs are becoming much more capable. (New Yorker $)
+ These prosthetics break the mold with third thumbs, spikes, and superhero skins. (MIT Technology Review)
8 An AI can make a pretty decent Tokyo travel companion
Just make sure you take its advice with a pinch of salt. (Wired $)
+ How to use AI to plan your next vacation. (MIT Technology Review)
9 Reddit is testing a new AI search feature
Which the site’s users are unlikely to take kindly to. (Ars Technica)
10 Jeff Bezos has a dinner with Donald Trump in his diary
Sounds cozy. (Insider $)
Quote of the day
“It’s like manna from heaven.”
—Ari Morcos, chief executive of startup DatologyAI, explains to the Wall Street Journal why Reddit’s troves of text are so appealing to AI companies.
The big story
Inside the enigmatic minds of animals
October 2022
More than ever, we feel a duty and desire to extend empathy to our nonhuman neighbors. In the last three years, more than 30 countries have formally recognized other animals—including gorillas, lobsters, crows, and octopuses—as sentient beings.
A trio of books from Ed Yong, Jackie Higgins, and Philip Ball detail creatures’ rich inner worlds and capture what has led to these developments: a booming field of experimental research challenging the long-standing view that animals are neither conscious nor cognitively complex. Read the full story.
—Matthew Ponsford
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.)
+ It seems we have two types of laugh: one caused by tickling, and the other by everything else.
+ 2024 was a strong year for fiction: check out some of the best new books.
+ There’s something totally mesmerizing about this collection of old home videos.
+ Ukrainian artist Oleg Dron specializes in expansive, haunting landscapes.
