This is today’s edition of The Download, our daily newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s happening in the world of technology.
Google DeepMind has a new way to look into the “mind” of artificial intelligence
We don’t know exactly how AI works or why it works so well. That’s the problem: It could lead us to deploy an AI system in a highly sensitive field like medicine without understanding that it might have critical flaws in its operation.
Google’s DeepMind team, which studies something called mechanical interpretability, is working on new ways to let us see under the hood. It recently released a tool to help researchers understand what happens when AI generates output.
This is all part of an effort to better understand what exactly is going on inside the AI model. If we do, we will be able to control its outputs more effectively, leading to better AI systems in the future. Read the full story.
—Scott J Mulligan
What’s on the table at this year’s UN climate conference
Negotiations began this week at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The global summit, which takes place every year for several weeks, is the largest annual meeting on climate change.
The topic on the table this time: Countries must agree on a new target for how much money should go to developing countries to help finance the fight against climate change. Complicating things? A US President-elect whose approach to climate is very different from that of the current administration (understatement of the century).
This is a big moment that could set the tone for what the international climate world will look like in the next few years. Here’s what you need to know about COP29 and how Donald Trump’s election is turning things around.
– Casey Crownhart
This story comes from The Spark, our weekly newsletter that gives you the inside scoop on all things energy and climate. Sign up delivered to your inbox every Wednesday.
Required reading
I’ve scoured the internet to find you today’s funniest/most important/scary/fascinating tech stories.
1 FBI Investigates Crypto Prediction Betting Platform Polymarket
It is investigating whether the firm allowed American traders to bet on the election. (Bloomberg$)
+ Such a course of action would be a violation of the agreement with the US government. (NYT$)
+ Polymarket claims to be a “fully transparent market forecast”. (WSJ$)
2 OpenAI calls on the US government to invest in artificial intelligence
Without financial support, the US could lose a crucial position to China, he warns. (WP$)
+ The company raised the idea of building a colossal data center. (Information $)
3 Elon Musk’s AI-generated propaganda abounds on Facebook
Pro-Musk inspirational porn is popular content for spammers. (404 media)
+ Trump surrounds himself with deadly online games. (Atlantic $)
4 The online right has a misogynistic new rallying cry
“Your body, my choice” is spread by young men who try to provoke. (New Yorker $)+ The upcoming presidency could usher in an age of gender regression. (The Guardian)
5 Human factory workers in China are under pressure
Robots are creeping into every level of the manufacturing process. (FT$)
+ Three reasons why robots will become much more useful. (MIT Technology Review)
6 The Future of Chip Manufacturing in America
Efforts to revitalize the original facilities are not exactly in the plan. (Wired $)
+ What’s next in chips? (MIT Technology Review)
Live 7 Blindbox excites shoppers in China
You never know what you’re going to get. (NYT$)
8 What an icy Earth might have looked like
About 700 million years ago, the entire planet was covered in ice. (Ars Technica)
+ Life-seeking ice-melting robots could break through Europa’s ice shell. (MIT Technology Review)
9 How to protect the largest coral colony in the world
The newly discovered colony is the size of two basketball courts. (vox)
+ The race is on to save coral reefs – by freezing them. (MIT Technology Review)
10 These researchers reinvented the wheel
This “morphing” wheel can roll over obstacles up to 1.3 times its radius. (Reuters)
Quote of the day
“Shawty crunk, so fresh, so clean.”
“Meta rapper-turned-CEO Mark Zuckerberg is debuting a reworked version of the 2002 rap hit Get Low as a tribute to his wife, the Wall Street Journal reports.
A great story
Marseille’s fight against the surveillance state
June 2022
All over the world, video cameras have become a recognized feature of urban life. Many cities in China now have a dense network, and London and New Delhi are not far behind. Now France is catching up.
There was concern across the country. However, the introduction of surveillance has met with particular resistance in Marseille, France’s second largest city.
Unsurprisingly, activists are fighting the cameras, highlighting the over- and under-performance of the surveillance system. But do they succeed? Read the full story.
-Fleur Macdonald
We can still have nice things
A place for comfort, entertainment and distraction to brighten your day. (Do you have any ideas? Drop me a line gold tweet them at me.)
+ This year’s winning shots in the gurning championship will not disappoint.
+ What exactly does it mean to have a personal style?
+ Amsterdam’s unofficial police cat is absolutely adorable (and lives on a boat!)
+ Save the worms – this writer definitely does. 