Plus: web sleuths are searching the person who killed UnitedHealthcare’s CEO
That is immediately’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a each day dose of what is going on on on the earth of know-how.
What China’s important mineral ban means for the US
This week, China banned exports of a number of important minerals to the US, marking the newest transfer in an escalating sequence of tit-for-tat commerce restrictions between the world’s two largest economies.
In explicitly reducing off, quite than merely limiting, supplies of strategic significance to the semiconductor, protection, and electrical car sectors, China has clearly crossed a brand new line within the long-simmering commerce conflict.
However on the similar time, it chosen minerals that received’t cripple any industries—which leaves China loads of ammunition to inflict higher financial ache in response to any additional commerce restrictions that the incoming Trump administration might impose. Learn extra about what drove China’s choice, the way it impacts local weather tech and what’s prone to occur subsequent.
—James Temple
This story is a part of our MIT Know-how Overview Explains sequence. Let our writers untangle the complicated, messy world of know-how that can assist you perceive what’s coming subsequent. You possibly can learn extra from the sequence right here.
3 issues that didn’t make the ten Breakthrough Applied sciences of 2025 listing
Subsequent month, MIT Know-how Overview will unveil the 2025 listing of 10 Breakthrough Applied sciences. Yearly, our newsroom seems throughout the fields we cowl for applied sciences which can be having a real breakthrough second. This annual package deal highlights the applied sciences that we predict matter most proper now.
Within the meantime, listed here are three applied sciences that we thought-about together with on the 2025 listing however in the end determined to go away off. And though these nominees didn’t make the reduce this yr, they’re nonetheless price keeping track of. Learn the total story.
—Amy Nordrum
The US Division of Protection is investing in deepfake detection
What’s new: The US Division of Protection has invested $2.4 million over two years in deepfake detection know-how from a startup known as Hive AI. It’s the primary contract of its form for the DOD’s Protection Innovation Unit, which accelerates the adoption of recent applied sciences for the US protection sector. Hive AI’s fashions are able to detecting AI-generated video, picture, and audio content material.
Why? Though deepfakes have been round for the higher a part of a decade, generative AI has made them simpler to create and extra realistic-looking than ever earlier than, which makes them ripe for abuse in disinformation campaigns or fraud. Defending in opposition to these types of threats is now essential for nationwide safety. Learn the total story.
—Melissa Heikkilä
Donating embryos for analysis is surprisingly complicated
IVF is successful story for embryo analysis. However immediately, invaluable embryos that could possibly be used for analysis are being wasted, say researchers who gathered at a convention in central London earlier this week.
The embryos studied in labs have normally been created for IVF however are now not wanted by the individuals whose cells created them. And there’s a couple of the reason why embryos aren’t making it into analysis labs. Learn the total story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
This story is from the Checkup, our weekly well being and biotech publication. Join to obtain it in your inbox each Thursday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you immediately’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 Web detectives are racing to establish UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killer
It’s one more instance of on-line sleuths inserting themselves into lively investigations. (WP $)
+ Comparable companies are eradicating their management pages for worry of copycat assaults. (404 Media)
+ On-line response to the killing demonstrates how hated well being insurers are. (NY Magazine $)
2 NASA has delayed its return to the moon—but once more
It’s pushed again its deliberate mission from 2026 to mid-2027. (CNN)
+ The company has security considerations and says its subsequent check flight must be overhauled. (WP $)
+ What’s subsequent for NASA’s large moon rocket? (MIT Know-how Overview)
3 OpenAI is charging $200 a month for a ChatGPT Professional subscription
Entry to its o1 “reasoning” mannequin positive doesn’t come low-cost. (TechCrunch)
+ Right here’s what you get for that hefty payment. (Wired $)
4 Google Search is getting a makeover in 2025
And I’d be ready to wager some huge cash that AI is concerned. (NYT $)
+ AI search may break the net. (MIT Know-how Overview)
5 Spotify Wrapped is a flop
It’s oddly freed from precise information, and comprises weird summaries. (Rolling Stone $)
+ “Pink Pilates Princess Curler Skating Pop,” anybody? (NYT $)
+ Wrapped’s AI-generated podcast makes for a bleak listening expertise. (Vox)
6 What’s subsequent for China’s manufacturing trade
As the specter of tariffs looms, native demand for its items is weakening. (FT $)
+ How Trump’s tariffs may drive up the price of batteries, EVs, and extra. (MIT Know-how Overview)
7 The best way to flip human poo into drugs 💩
The primary microbiome-related product for most cancers care is on the horizon. (Bloomberg $)
+ How bugs and chemical substances in your poo may give away precisely what you’ve eaten. (MIT Know-how Overview)
8 Meet the ultimate devotees of the NFT
After the bubble bursts, solely the true believers stay. (NYT $)
+ I attempted to purchase an Olive Backyard NFT. All I obtained was heartburn. (MIT Know-how Overview)
9 Need to dwell sustainably? Retrofit your own home
It reduces emissions and will prevent cash in the long term. (Knowable Journal)
+ Is that this probably the most energy-efficient option to construct houses? (MIT Know-how Overview)
10 Winter isn’t what it was once ☃️
Water, water in every single place. (The Atlantic $)
Quote of the day
“I feel the leaders of the trade ought to take a look at this and ask: ‘Why does all people hate us a lot that when one among us will get killed in an assassination…we’re not listening to sympathy from most people—we’re listening to scorn?’”
—Matthew Holt, a healthcare commenter, displays on what the web response to the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO reveals in regards to the US public’s angle to medical health insurance companies, the Washington Submit stories.
The massive story
What’s AI?
July 2024
AI is attractive, AI is cool. AI is entrenching inequality, upending the job market, and wrecking training. The AI growth will enhance the economic system, the AI bubble is about to burst. AI will improve abundance and empower humanity to maximally flourish within the universe. AI will kill us all.
What the hell is all people speaking about?
Synthetic intelligence is the most popular know-how of our time. However what’s it? It feels like a silly query, however it’s one which’s by no means been extra pressing.
When you’re prepared to buckle up and are available for a journey, I can inform you why no person actually is aware of, why all people appears to disagree, and why you’re proper to care about it. Learn the total story.
—Will Douglas Heaven
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Bought any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ This yr produced some unimaginable songs. Listed here are only a few of one of the best.
+ Would you contemplate rising your individual bathroom paper? Meet the courageous souls giving it a go. 🧻
+ There’s just one Willem Dafoe—a grasp of the craft.
+ Congratulations are to ensure that Knowledge, the world’s oldest recognized wild hen who has simply laid an egg on the ripe outdated age of 74.