Plus: the newest twists and turns within the Google antitrust trial
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 planet of expertise.
$8 billion of US local weather tech initiatives have been canceled to date in 2025
This 12 months has been tough for local weather expertise: Corporations have canceled, downsized, or shut down no less than 16 large-scale initiatives value $8 billion in complete within the first quarter of 2025, based on a brand new report.
That’s much more cancellations than have sometimes occurred lately, based on a brand new report from E2, a nonpartisan coverage group. The development is because of a wide range of causes, together with drastically revised federal insurance policies. Right here’s a map of all of the cancellations to date this 12 months.
—Casey Crownhart
Generative AI is reshaping South Korea’s net comics trade
Since comics magazines light on the flip of the century, net comics—serialized comics that learn from prime to backside on digital platforms—have gone from area of interest subculture to international leisure powerhouse, drawing in lots of of thousands and thousands of readers all over the world.
Lee Hyun-se, a legendary South Korean cartoonist, has lengthy been on the forefront of the style. However Lee needs his worldviews and characters to maintain speaking and resonating with the folks of a brand new period after he died, and believes that AI can assist him notice his imaginative and prescient.
This 12 months, Lee is getting ready to publish his first AI-assisted net comedian, because of an AI mannequin educated on 5,000 volumes of comics that he has revealed over 46 years. However whereas seasoned artists like Lee embrace the expertise as a software to develop their legacy, youthful artists see it as a risk. Learn the total story.
—Michelle Kim
This story is from the following version of our print journal, which is all about creativity. Subscribe now to learn it and get a duplicate of the journal when it lands!
Yahoo will give thousands and thousands to a settlement fund for Chinese language dissidents, a long time after exposing person information
A lawsuit to carry Yahoo accountable for “willfully turning a blind eye” to the mismanagement of a human rights fund for Chinese language dissidents was settled for $5.425 million final week, after an eight-year courtroom battle.
This ends a protracted struggle for accountability stemming from selections by Yahoo, beginning within the early 2000s, to show over info on Chinese language web customers to state safety, resulting in their imprisonment and torture. After the actions had been uncovered and the corporate was publicly chastised, Yahoo created the Yahoo Human Rights Fund (YHRF), endowed with $17.3 million, to assist people imprisoned for exercising free speech rights on-line. Learn the total story.
—Eileen Guo
A Google Gemini mannequin now has a “dial” to regulate how a lot it causes
Google DeepMind’s newest replace to a prime Gemini AI mannequin features a dial to manage how a lot the system “thinks” by way of a response. The brand new characteristic is ostensibly designed to economize for builders, nevertheless it additionally concedes an issue: Reasoning fashions, the tech world’s new obsession, are liable to overthinking, burning cash and vitality within the course of. Learn the total story.
—James O’Donnell
Longevity clinics all over the world are promoting unproven remedies
The search for lengthy, wholesome life—and even immortality—might be virtually as previous as people are, nevertheless it’s by no means been hotter than it’s proper now, despite the fact that no medication or dietary supplements have but been confirmed to increase human lifespan.
A survey of longevity clinics all over the world, carried out by a company that publishes updates and analysis on the trade, is revealing a messier image. In actuality, these clinics—most of which cater solely to the very rich—differ wildly of their choices. Learn the total story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
This text first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Know-how Evaluation’s weekly biotech publication. To obtain it in your inbox each Thursday, and skim articles like this primary, enroll right here.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you immediately’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 Google may very well be compelled to promote Chrome
A brand new treatments trial has begun, following final 12 months’s ruling that Google illegally abused its search market energy. (WP $)
+ The DoJ alleges that Google is utilizing AI to strengthen its monopoly. (Axios)+ A number of states additionally need Google to share information with its rivals. (The Data $)+ Microsoft and different rivals will likely be watching the end result carefully. (WSJ $)
2 The FTC is suing Uber
The lawsuit claims the corporate charged its clients with out their consent. (WSJ $)
+ It claimed its clients would save $25 a month because of its Uber One service. (Reuters)
+ The Trump administration is absolutely going after Massive Tech. (FT $)
3 Contained in the struggle to forestall DOGE from eradicating rural well being care
Neighborhood well being facilities are on the mercy of grant funding. (The Atlantic $)
+ Cuts to sexual healthcare have come amid an increase in syphilis circumstances. (The Guardian)
+ Right here’s a who’s-who of DOGE workers. (NYT $)
+ The ACLU goes after DOGE information. (Wired $)
4 Deceptive political content material is flourishing on Fb in Canada
And it’s develop into worse for the reason that nation blocked information from customers’ feeds. (NYT $)
+ The nation is getting ready to vote in a federal election, too. (The Guardian)
+ Meta will begin utilizing AI instruments to detect underage customers. (The Verge)
5 How Massive Tech conceals its hidden workforce in Africa
They’re coaching AI fashions and moderating content material behind the scenes. (Remainder of World)
+ We’re all AI’s free information employees. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
6 A college funded by Pricilla Chan is shutting down
The Main Faculty is closing on the finish of the 2026 educational 12 months. (Bloomberg $)
7 The FBI can’t discover information of its hacking software purchases
Regardless of spending lots of of hundreds of {dollars} on them. (404 Media)
+ Cyberattacks by AI brokers are coming. (MIT Know-how Evaluation)
8 Bluesky is lastly getting blue checkmarks
‘Genuine and notable’ accounts will have the ability to apply. (Engadget)
+ It’s a mix of Twitter’s previous strategy and a extra decentralized possibility. (Wired $)
9 The hidden joys of Google Maps
It’s not only for navigation, y’know. (The Guardian)
10 A brand new recreation lets you take photographs of digital environments
The query is: do you actually need to? (FT $)
Quote of the day
“You assume we’re afraid of America?”
—A employee at womenswear producer Kang Yang Attire in Yiwu, China, reacts to the US’s tariff hikes, the Atlantic studies.
The massive story
Will we ever belief robots?
The world may appear to be getting ready to a humanoid-robot heyday. New breakthroughs in synthetic intelligence promise the kind of succesful, general-purpose robots beforehand seen solely in science fiction—robots that may do issues like assemble vehicles, look after sufferers, or tidy our properties, all with out being given specialised directions.
It’s an concept that has attracted an infinite quantity of consideration, capital, and optimism. But latest progress has arguably been extra about model than substance. Developments in AI have undoubtedly made robots simpler to coach, however they’ve but to allow them to really sense their environment, “assume” of what to do subsequent, and perform these selections in the way in which some viral movies may suggest.
However on the street to serving to humanoid robots win our belief, one query looms bigger than some other: How a lot will they have the ability to do on his personal? And the way a lot will they nonetheless depend on people? Learn the total story.
—James O’Donnell
We will nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Acquired any concepts? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)
+ Effectively accomplished to Buford the rancher’s canine, who led a bit of boy misplaced within the Arizona wilderness to security.
+ How a small indie house movie paved the way in which for immediately’s sci-fi blockbusters.
+ Why we’re in determined want of recession pop.
+ Congratulations to everybody who took half in yesterday’s Boston Marathon—you deserve a medal! 🥇
