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.
The “steroid olympics” were a circus—and a window into our culture
—Amit Katwala
A couple of weeks ago, at a $50 million arena built in a casino parking lot in Las Vegas, I witnessed a libertarian thought experiment come to life. The inaugural Enhanced Games were the first sporting competition where participants were encouraged to take performance-enhancing drugs.
For supporters of the event, the Enhanced Games offered a glimpse of a future in which medical advances push the human race to new heights—and they never have to get old. As I watched the games unfold, two questions bounced around my head: were they right? And what does that mean for the rest of us?
Read the full story to understand the answers.
MIT Technology Review Narrated: a reality check on the AI jobs hysteria
Despite the growing hysteria over AI’s threat to white-collar jobs, there’s still scant evidence that the technology has had a large-scale impact on the labor market.
Analysis of US labor data shows that unemployment in occupations most exposed to AI is actually lower than in less-exposed jobs. There are also no signs that large numbers of workers are shifting from AI-threatened professions into supposedly safer manual-labor jobs.
It’s true that things aren’t great in the job market. But the reason isn’t simply the rise of AI.
—David Rotman
This is our latest story to be turned into an MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we publish each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Anthropic has released a “safe” version of Mythos
It promises it has enough guardrails and user limitations to be safe. (BBC)
+ It has a price tag twice as high as the previous flagship system. (NYT $)
+ Anthropic previously claimed Mythos was too dangerous to release. (CNBC)
+ But critics suspect that was a marketing play. (Guardian)
+ Selective access has become a key strategy for AI labs. (Axios)
2 Seattle has banned new data centers for a year
It’s the largest US city to have passed such a moratorium.(Guardian)
+ Its biggest tech firm, Amazon, has tried to stop the ban. (The Verge)
+ The movement to stop data centers is growing. (NYT $)
3 Democratic senators are pushing for a military AI restriction law
They want a human commander to have the final say. (Gizmodo)
+ But humans in the loop in an AI war is an illusion. (MIT Technology Review)
4 SpaceX plans to launch space data center tests by late 2027
Orbital compute is central to the company’s growth pitch. (Reuters $)
+ It’s also shared new designs for its space data centers. (BI)
+ We’d need these four things to put them in orbit. (MIT Technology Review)
5 China has been accused of escalating AI espionage
A report claims Beijing is hacking tech firms to catch up with the US. (CNBC)
+ There are no winners in a US-China AI arms race. (MIT Technology Review)
6 The Trump family has made about $2.3 billion from crypto
While investors lost about the same amount. (Gizmodo)
+ The Trumps risked next-to-nothing on their crypto ventures. (Reuters $)
7 Apple isn’t launching Siri AI in the European Union
It’s blaming EU interoperability requirements. (The Verge)
+Brussels says Apple didn’t try to find a compliance solution. (Reuters $)
8 China’s new drone rules have spooked its thriving industry
Drone firms face new commercial barriers. (Financial Times $)
+ China’s drone sector leads the world. (NYT $)
9 A judge has cancelled a trial after finding both legal teams used AI
The case descended into GenAI tools arguing against each other. (404 Media)
+ Courts have been flooded with AI-generated lawsuits. (MIT Technology Review)
10 The dinosaur-killing asteroid created a thriving new ecosystem
Microscopic life flourished in the extended heat. (New Scientist $)
Quote of the day
“AI technologies today are designed by and for WEIRD societies—Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic.”
—Aditya Vashistha, an assistant professor at Cornell University, tells Rest of World why AI systems don’t serve global needs.
One More Thing
Why the definition of design might need a change
The word “design” once carried a far wider set of meanings than it does today. They ranged from the literal and material (like tracing) through the tactical (to contrive and achieve a goal) to the organizational and institutional—the “designation” of people and objects.
Over centuries, as designing became increasingly separated from making, that broader understanding faded. But now there is a growing case for reclaiming the word’s original sense: not just the search for a more beautiful shape, but the shaping of a more beautiful and sustainable world.
Find out why we should retool the word “design.”
—Nicholas de Monchaux
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.)
+ This history of humanity’s search for alien life is fascinating.
+ Watch a damaged painting slowly return to life in this art restoration video.
+ Admire young stars across every stage of cosmic formation in this stunning space picture of the month.
+ Daredevil divers have captured the first-ever underwater footage of an adult great white in the Mediterranean Sea.
