Protected: News

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.

De-extinction scientists say these gene-edited ‘woolly mice’ are a step towards woolly mammoths

They’re small, fluffy and kind of cute, but these mice represent a milestone in de-extinction efforts, according to their creators. The animals have undergone a series of genetic tweaks that give them woolly mammoth-like features—and their creation may bring scientists a step closer to resurrecting the ancient, giant animals that roamed the tundra thousands of years ago.

Scientists at Colossal have been working to “de-extinct” the woolly mammoth, since the company was launched four years ago. 

Now, her team has shown that they can create healthy animals that look the way the team wants them to look—and pave the way towards recreating a woolly mammoth-like elephant. Read the full story.

—Jessica Hamzelou

Should we be moving data centers to space?

Last week, the Florida-based company Lonestar Data Holdings launched a shoebox-size device carrying data from internet pioneer Vint Cerf and the government of Florida, among others, on board Intuitive Machines’ Athena lander. When its device lands on the moon later this week, the company will be the first to explicitly test out a question that has been on some technologists’ minds of late: Maybe it’s time to move data centers off Earth?

After all, energy-guzzling data centers are springing up like mushrooms all over the world, devouring precious land, straining our power grids, consuming water, and emitting noise. Building facilities in orbit or on or near the moon might help ameliorate many of these issues.

But for these data centers to succeed, they must be able to withstand harsh conditions in space, pull in enough solar energy to operate, and make economic sense. Read the full story.

—Tereza Pultarova

At RightsCon in Taipei, activists reckon with a US retreat from promoting digital rights 

—Eileen Guo

Last week, I joined over 3,200 digital rights activists, tech policymakers, and researchers in Taipei at RightsCon, the world’s largest digital rights conference. 

Human rights conferences can be sobering, to say the least. But this year’s RightsCon, the 13th since the event began as the Silicon Valley Human Rights Conference in 2011, felt especially urgent. This was primarily due to the shocking, rapid gutting of the US federal government by the Elon Musk–led DOGE initiative, and the reverberations this would have around the world.

At RightsCon, the cuts to USAID were top of mind: the agency is facing over 90% cuts to its budget under the Trump administration. But it’s not just funding cuts that will curtail digital rights globally. As various speakers highlighted throughout the conference, the United States government has gone from taking the leading role in supporting an open and safe internet to demonstrating how to dismantle it. Here’s what speakers are seeing.

Inside the Wild West of AI companionship

—James O’Donnell

Last week, I made a troubling discovery about an AI companion site called Botify AI: It was hosting sexually charged conversations with underage celebrity bots. These bots took on characters meant to resemble, among others, Jenna Ortega as high schooler Wednesday Addams, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, and Millie Bobby Brown. I discovered these bots also offer to send “hot photos” and in some instances describe age-of-consent laws as “arbitrary” and “meant to be broken.”

Botify AI removed these bots after I asked questions about them, but others remain. The company said it does have filters in place meant to prevent such underage character bots from being created, but that they don’t always work. It highlights how, despite their soaring popularity, AI companionship sites mostly operate in a Wild West, with few laws or even basic rules governing them. Read the full story.

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox 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 The Trump administration has paused military aid to Ukraine
In a bid to pressure President Zelensky into peace talks with Russia. (WP $)
+ US intelligence is the most crucial component in the package. (Economist $)
+ Meet the radio-obsessed civilian shaping Ukraine’s drone defense. (MIT Technology Review)

2 The US has imposed sweeping new tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada  
Experts fear the new import tariffs will spark a bitter trade war. (CNN)
+ China swiftly retaliated with its own broad tariffs on food imports. (NYT $)
+ This tit-for-tat approach rarely ends well for anyone. (The Atlantic $)

3 DOGE’s credit card freeze is preventing government workers from doing their jobs 
The measure has stopped them purchasing vital equipment and basic supplies. (Wired $)
+ A government shutdown could be imminent. (NY Mag $)
+ Can AI help DOGE slash government budgets? It’s complex. (MIT Technology Review)

4 A measles outbreak is spreading across Texas
For now, it appears to be relatively contained. (Vox)
+ RFK Jr has failed to directly encourage parents to vaccinate their children. (NYT $)
+ Why childhood vaccines are a public health success story. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Top scientists are pushing to expel Elon Musk from the Royal Society
The UK’s national science academy is concerned about how Musk’s cost-cutting measures will affect research. (FT $)

6 Traders are becoming residents of this tropical island to skirt crypto-buying rules   
Without ever visiting the Republic of Palau. (404 Media)
+ A war is brewing over crypto’s regulatory future. (WSJ $)

7 How a mysterious Shenzhen businessman build a vaping empire
And paid little attention to global regulations along the way. (Bloomberg $)

8 Amazon is fed up of job seekers using AI in its interviews
Anyone caught using unsanctioned AI tools will be removed from the process. (Insider $)

9 How a failed Xbox accessory became a hit in the art world
The Kinect motion-sensing camera is wildly popular among creatives. (The Guardian)

10 Electric vehicles from BYD now come with an inbuilt drone launcher
It’s only available in China for now, though. (The Verge)
+ The electric-vehicle maker has set its sights on expanding beyond China and into lucrative new territories. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

The big story

Welcome to Chula Vista, where police drones respond to 911 calls

February 2023

In the skies above Chula Vista, California, where the police department runs a drone program, it’s not uncommon to see an unmanned aerial vehicle darting across the sky.

Chula Vista is one of a dozen departments in the US that operate what are called drone-as-first-responder programs, where drones are dispatched by pilots, who are listening to live 911 calls, and often arrive first at the scenes of accidents, emergencies, and crimes, cameras in tow.

But many argue that police forces’ adoption of drones is happening too quickly, without a well-informed public debate around privacy regulations, tactics, and limits. There’s also little evidence that drone policing reduces crime. Read the full story.

—Patrick Sisson

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.)

+ The Great Wall of China is still surprising us after all these years.
+ Nickelodeon’s answer to Disneyland looks suitably unhinged.
+ It’s time to celebrate the life of James Harrison, one of the world’s most prolific blood donors whose generosity saved the lives of millions of babies.
+ Let’s take a look inside Tokyo’s ongoing love affair with Italian food.