Tea, an app that allows women to post anonymous comments about men they’ve supposedly dated, announced Friday that it has suffered a data breach, with hackers gaining access to 72,000 images.
Read more “No slides was our first rule,” McNeil told the audience earlier this month at TC All Stage in Boston. “You have to be reviewing real product.”
Read more Exclusive: Allianz Life said the “majority” of its customers and employees had data stolen in the July cyberattack. The company said it has notified the FBI.
Read more There will be an employee in the driver’s seat — a big change from how things have been working in Austin.
Read more India has ordered the blocking of 25 streaming services — many with millions of viewers and even paying subscribers — for allegedly promoting “obscene” content.
Read more Index Ventures partner Jahanvi Sardana has a reminder for all those founders worried about finding TAM for their product or service: many startups have emerged from markets that, at the time, were essentially nonexistent.
Read more Intel will remain an anchor investor in the stand-alone company, which produced $5.8 billion in revenue in 2024.
Read more Shengjia Zhao, a former OpenAI researcher, will round out the leadership team at Meta’s new AI lab.
Read more 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.
How nonprofits and academia are stepping up to salvage US climate programs
Nonprofits are trying to preserve a US effort to modernize greenhouse-gas measurements, amid growing fears that the Trump administration’s dismantling of federal programs will obscure the nation’s contributions to climate change.
The Data Foundation, a Washington, DC, nonprofit, is fundraising for an initiative that will coordinate efforts among nonprofits, technical experts, and companies to improve the accuracy and accessibility of climate emissions information. It will build on an effort to improve the collection of emissions data that former president Joe Biden launched in 2023—and which President Trump nullified on his first day in office.
The new greenhouse-gas coalition is one of a growing number of nonprofit and academic groups that have spun up or shifted focus to keep essential climate monitoring and research efforts going amid the Trump administration’s assault on environmental funding, staffing, and regulations. Read the full story.
—James Temple
America’s AI watchdog is losing its bite
Most Americans encounter the Federal Trade Commission only if they’ve been scammed: It handles identity theft, fraud, and stolen data. During the Biden administration, the agency went after AI companies for scamming customers with deceptive advertising or harming people by selling irresponsible technologies.
With the announcement of President Trump’s AI Action Plan, that era may now be over.
The new plan suggests that the Trump administration believes the agency’s previous actions went too far, and that it would be reviewing all FTC actions taken under the Biden administration.
The move is the latest in its evolving attack on the agency, which provides a significant route of redress for people harmed by AI in the US. It’s likely to result in faster deployment of AI with fewer checks on accuracy, fairness, or consumer harm. Read the full story.
—James O’Donnell
Trump’s AI Action Plan is a distraction
—Asad Ramzanali is the director of artificial intelligence and technology policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator.
On Wednesday, President Trump issued three executive orders, delivered a speech, and released an action plan, all on the topic of continuing American leadership in AI.
This flurry of actions made for glitzy press moments, including an hour-long speech from the president and onstage signings. But while the tech industry cheered these announcements (which will swell their coffers), they obscured the fact that the administration is currently decimating the very policies that enabled America to become the world leader in AI in the first place. Read the full story.
The deadly saga of the controversial gene therapy Elevidys
It has been a grim few months for the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) community. There had been some excitement when, a couple of years ago, a gene therapy for the disorder was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the first time. That drug, Elevidys, has now been implicated in the deaths of two teenage boys.
The drug’s approval was always controversial—there was a lack of evidence that it actually worked, for starters. But the agency that once rubber-stamped the drug has now turned on its manufacturer, Sarepta Therapeutics. In a remarkable chain of events, the FDA asked the company to stop shipping the drug on July 18. Sarepta refused to comply.
In the days since, the company has acquiesced. But its reputation has already been hit. And the events have dealt a devastating blow to people desperate for treatments that might help them, their children, or other family members with DMD. Read the full story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
A version of this article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Corporate America is paying the price for Trump’s tariffs
US businesses are absorbing the costs—for now. (WSJ $)
+ Inflation is likely to hit hard in the fall. (Vox)
+ Sweeping tariffs could threaten the US manufacturing rebound. (MIT Technology Review)
2 GPT-5 is reportedly launching next month
After some unexpected setbacks. (The Verge)
3 Meta is hosting ads crowdfunding for IDF drones
A watchdog has identified more than 100 ads seeking donations for the army. (The Guardian)
4 AI is helping researchers to combat long covid and ME
A new platform spots biological markers of the conditions in patients. (FT $)
+ Scientists are finding signals of long covid in blood. They could lead to new treatments. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Demand is surging for banned chip repair expertise in China
While most of Nvidia’s chips aren’t allowed in the country, there’s a booming industry for fixing them once they break. (Reuters)
+ Nvidia’s chips are being smuggled in through the black market. (FT $)
6 ChatGPT can offer up instructions for self harm and devil worship
It guides users through self-mutilation rituals, despite violating its own policies. (The Atlantic $)
7 We have more steel than we can possibly use
But countries are worried about the optics of ceasing production. (NYT $)
+ This startup just hit a big milestone for green steel production. (MIT Technology Review)
8 Internet age checks are coming
A swath of child protection laws are forcing a profound shift across the web. (Wired $)
+ Child online safety laws will actually hurt kids, critics say. (MIT Technology Review)
9 An Italian rocket maker wants to conduct launches in the US
Avio SpA is keen to launch flights from Wallops Island in Virginia. (Bloomberg $)
+ Rivals are rising to challenge the dominance of SpaceX. (MIT Technology Review)
10 This app allows women to check a potential date’s history
But men say there’s no recourse to address false posts about them. (WP $)
Quote of the day
“If OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini had responded that it was trained to appeal to the left, congressional Republicans would have been outraged and opened an investigation. Instead, they were silent.”
—Senator Ed Markey urges the CEOs of major tech companies to fight Donald Trump’s anti-woke AI order, Ars Technica reports.
One more thing
The great AI consciousness conundrum
AI consciousness isn’t just a devilishly tricky intellectual puzzle; it’s a morally weighty problem with potentially dire consequences that philosophers, cognitive scientists, and engineers alike are currently grappling with.
Fail to identify a conscious AI, and you might unintentionally subjugate a being whose interests ought to matter. Mistake an unconscious AI for a conscious one, and you risk compromising human safety and happiness for the sake of an unthinking, unfeeling hunk of silicon and code.
Over the past few decades, a small research community has doggedly attacked the question of what consciousness is and how it works. The effort has yielded real progress. And now, with the rapid advance of AI technology, these insights could offer our only guide to the untested, morally fraught waters of artificial consciousness. Read the full story.
—Grace Huckins
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 skeet ’em at me.)
+ Crank it up to 11! Spinal Tap is back, baby.
+ The tale of New York’s first real architectural firm.
+ Crazy Train as played by a class of children on the xylophone is a real delight.
+ Here’s how to easily add some cheap and accessible superfoods to zhuzh up your daily diet.
It has been a grim few months for the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) community. There had been some excitement when, a couple of years ago, a gene therapy for the disorder was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the first time. That drug, Elevidys, has now been implicated in the deaths of two teenage boys.
The drug’s approval was always controversial—there was a lack of evidence that it actually worked, for starters. But the agency that once rubber-stamped the drug has now turned on its manufacturer, Sarepta Therapeutics. In a remarkable chain of events, the FDA asked the company to stop shipping the drug on July 18. Sarepta refused to comply.
In the days since, the company has acquiesced. But its reputation has already been hit. And the events have dealt a devastating blow to people desperate for treatments that might help them, their children, or other family members with DMD.
DMD is a rare genetic disorder that causes muscles to degenerate over time. It’s caused by a mutation in a gene that codes for a protein called dystrophin. That protein is essential for muscles—without it, muscles weaken and waste away. The disease mostly affects boys, and symptoms usually start in early childhood.
At first, affected children usually start to find it hard to jump or climb stairs. But as the disease progresses, other movements become difficult too. Eventually, the condition might affect the heart and lungs. The life expectancy of a person with DMD has recently improved, but it is still only around 30 or 40 years. There is no cure. It’s a devastating diagnosis.
Elevidys was designed to replace missing dystrophin with a shortened, engineered version of the protein. In June 2023, the FDA approved the therapy for eligible four- and five-year-olds. It came with a $3.2 million price tag.
The approval was celebrated by people affected by DMD, says Debra Miller, founder of CureDuchenne, an organization that funds research into the condition and offers support to those affected by it. “We’ve not had much in the way of meaningful therapies,” she says. “The excitement was great.”
But the approval was controversial. It came under an “accelerated approval” program that essentially lowers the bar of evidence for drugs designed to treat “serious or life-threatening diseases where there is an unmet medical need.”
Elevidys was approved because it appeared to increase levels of the engineered protein in patients’ muscles. But it had not been shown to improve patient outcomes: It had failed a randomized clinical trial.
The FDA approval was granted on the condition that Sarepta complete another clinical trial. The topline results of that trial were described in October 2023 and were published in detail a year later. Again, the drug failed to meet its “primary endpoint”—in other words, it didn’t work as well as hoped.
In June 2024, the FDA expanded the approval of Elevidys. It granted traditional approval for the drug to treat people with DMD who are over the age of four and can walk independently, and another accelerated approval for those who can’t.
Some experts were appalled at the FDA’s decision—even some within the FDA disagreed with it. But things weren’t so simple for people living with DMD. I spoke to some parents of such children a couple of years ago. They pointed out that drug approvals can help bring interest and investment to DMD research. And, above all, they were desperate for any drug that might help their children. They were desperate for hope.
Unfortunately, the treatment does not appear to be delivering on that hope. There have always been questions over whether it works. But now there are serious questions over how safe it is.
In March 2025, a 16-year-old boy died after being treated with Elevidys. He had developed acute liver failure (ALF) after having the treatment, Sarepta said in a statement. On June 15, the company announced a second death—a 15-year-old who also developed ALF following Elevidys treatment. The company said it would pause shipments of the drug, but only for patients who are not able to walk.
The following day, Sarepta held an online presentation in which CEO Doug Ingram said that the company was exploring ways to make the treatment safer, perhaps by treating recipients with another drug that dampens their immune systems. But that same day, the company announced that it was laying off 500 employees—36% of its workforce. Sarepta did not respond to a request for comment.
On June 24, the FDA announced that it was investigating the risks of serious outcomes “including hospitalization and death” associated with Elevidys, and “evaluating the need for further regulatory action.”
There was more tragic news on July 18, when there were reports that a third patient had died following a Sarepta treatment. This patient, a 51-year-old, hadn’t been taking Elevidys but was enrolled in a clinical trial for a different Sarepta gene therapy designed to treat limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. The same day, the FDA asked Sarepta to voluntarily pause all shipments of Elevidys. Sarepta refused to do so.
The refusal was surprising, says Michael Kelly, chief scientific officer at CureDuchenne: “It was an unusual step to take.”
After significant media coverage, including reporting that the FDA was “deeply troubled” by the decision and would use its “full regulatory authority,” Sarepta backed down a few days later. On July 21, the company announced its decision to “voluntarily and temporarily” pause all shipments of Elevidys in the US.
Sarepta says it will now work with the FDA to address safety and labeling concerns. But in the meantime, the saga has left the DMD community grappling with “a mix of disappointment and concern,” says Kelly. Many are worried about the risks of taking the treatment. Others are devastated that they are no longer able to access it.
Miller says she knows of families who have been working with their insurance providers to get authorization for the drug. “It’s like the rug has been pulled out from under them,” she says. Many families have no other treatment options. “And we know what happens when you do nothing with Duchenne,” she says. Others, particularly those with teenage children with DMD, are deciding against trying the drug, she adds.
The decision over whether to take Elevidys was already a personal one based on several factors, he says. People with DMD and their families deserve clear and transparent information about the treatment in order to make that decision.
The FDA’s decision to approve Elevidys was made on limited data, says Kelly. But as things stand today, over 900 people have been treated with Elevidys. “That gives the FDA… an opportunity to look at real data and make informed decisions,” he says.
“Families facing Duchenne do not have time to waste,” Kelly says. “They must navigate a landscape where hope is tempered by the realities of medical complexity.”
A version of this article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here.