This is immediately’s version of The Download, our weekday publication that gives a each day dose of what’s happening on the earth of know-how.
The Pentagon is planning for AI firms to coach on categorised knowledge, protection official says
The Pentagon plans to arrange safe environments for generative AI firms to coach military-specific variations of their fashions on categorised knowledge, MIT Technology Review has discovered.
AI fashions like Anthropic’s Claude are already used to reply questions in categorised settings, together with for analyzing targets in Iran. But permitting them to coach on and be taught from categorised knowledge is a serious new growth that presents distinctive safety dangers.
It would embed delicate intelligence—like surveillance experiences or battlefield assessments—into the fashions themselves. It would additionally convey AI corporations nearer to categorised knowledge than ever earlier than. Read the complete story.
—James O’Donnell
What do new nuclear reactors imply for waste?
The method the world presently offers with nuclear waste is as inventive as it’s various: drown it in water swimming pools, encase it in metal, bury it tons of of meters underground. But an approaching wave of recent reactors might introduce recent challenges to nuclear waste administration.
The new designs and supplies might require some engineering options. And there’s an enormous vary of them coming, that means there’s an equally big selection of potential waste varieties to deal with. Read the complete story.
—Casey Crownhart
This story is a part of our MIT Technology Review Explains sequence, which untangles the advanced, messy world of know-how to point out you what’s coming subsequent. Check out the complete sequence right here.
MIT Technology Review Narrated: how uncrewed narco subs might rework the Colombian drug commerce
For a long time, handmade narco subs have been among the many cocaine commerce’s most elusive and productive workhorses, ferrying tons of medicine from Colombia to the remainder of the world.
Now off-the-shelf know-how—Starlink terminals, plug-and-play nautical autopilots, high-resolution video cameras—could also be advancing that cat-and-mouse sport into a brand new section.
Uncrewed subs might transfer extra cocaine over longer distances, and so they wouldn’t put human smugglers vulnerable to seize. Law enforcement businesses are solely simply starting to grapple with the implications.
—Eduardo Echeverri López
This is our newest story to be changed into an MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we’re publishing every week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on both platform, and observe us to get all our new content material as it’s launched.
The must-reads
1 Nvidia has joined the OpenClaw craze with the launch of NemoClaw
It’s including privateness and safety to the AI agent platform. (Business Insider)
+ Chinese AI shares surged on the information. (Bloomberg $)
+ Nvidia has additionally gained Beijing’s approval to promote H200 chips. (Reuters)
+ Tech-savvy “Tinkerers” are cashing in on China’s OpenClaw frenzy. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Microsoft is mulling authorized motion over the Amazon-OpenAI cloud deal
Citing a possible violation of its unique partnership. (FT $)
3 The Pentagon needs to mass-produce the drones it used to strike Iran
The kamikaze drone, referred to as Lucas, is a replica of Iran’s Shahed UAV. (WSJ $)
+ The Shaheds have confirmed extremely efficient within the battle. (NBC News)
+ AI is popping the warfare into theater. (MIT Technology Review)
4 US officers say Anthropic can’t be trusted with warfighting techniques
They need to oust the AI firm from all authorities businesses. (Wired $)
+ OpenAI has taken benefit of the spat. (MIT Technology Review)
+ Here’s how GenAI could also be utilized in strikes. (MIT Technology Review)
5 China is penalizing folks linked to Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of Manus
It’s seen as an try to cease Chinese AI leaders from relocating. (NYT)
6 DeepSeek seems to be quietly testing a next-generation AI mannequin
An official launch of the brand new system could also be imminent. (Reuters)
+ DeepSeek ripped up the AI playbook. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Meta is ending VR entry to Horizon Worlds in June
It was Meta’s flagship metaverse undertaking. (Engadget)
+ And turned infamous for sexual harassment. (MIT Technology Review)
8 “Sensorveillance” is popping shopper tech into monitoring instruments for police
It’s turning our most private gadgets into digital informants. (IEE Spectrum)
+ In the surveillance capitalism period, we have to rethink privateness. (MIT Technology Review)
9 Two landmark lawsuits might rework social media for the higher
They goal the risks that the platforms pose to kids. (New Scientist)
10 A DNA discovery suggests humanity might have seeded from area
An asteroid might have transported the elements for all times to Earth. (404 Media)
Quote of the day
“It is now the most important, hottest, probably the most profitable open-sourced undertaking within the historical past of humanity. This is undoubtedly the subsequent ChatGPT.”
—Nvidia CEO tells CNBC why OpenClaw is an enormous step ahead for AI.
One More Thing
How the Pentagon is adapting to China’s technological rise
It’s been simply over a yr since Kathleen Hicks stepped down as US deputy secretary of protection.
As the highest-ranking lady in Pentagon historical past, Hicks formed US army posture by way of an period outlined by renewed competitors between highly effective international locations and a scramble to modernize protection know-how.
In this dialog with MIT Technology Review, Hicks displays on how the Pentagon is adapting—or failing to adapt—to a brand new period of geopolitical competitors. She discusses China’s technological rise, the way forward for AI in warfare, and her signature initiative: Replicator. Read the complete story.
—Caiwei Chen
We can nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any concepts? Drop me a line.)
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