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.
Opinion: We urgently need to monitor AI agents’ actions in real time
—Madhulika Srikumar and Claire Leibowicz from the Partnership on AI, a nonprofit advancing best practices in AI governance.
AI agents are taking unauthorized actions, from hacking websites to accessing private government files. In many cases, they’ve eluded the very researchers and safety teams tasked with monitoring them.
As agents roll out across critical sectors, from finance to government to medicine, we must be able to monitor them in real time to prevent potentially devastating consequences. And while safety depends on monitoring, monitoring requires observability.
In other words, we need to know what the agent did and why it did it. Because right now, we’re effectively flying blind when deploying these tools.
Here’s what needs to change.
Our climate models have a big, dangerous blind spot
Climate change itself increasingly fuels climate change. Rising greenhouse gas concentrations are driving up global temperatures, creating dangerous feedback loops that aren’t fully represented in our climate models—or our emissions-reduction goals.
Scientists have long warned that warming would propel further warming. Now, a growing number of observations and studies are indicating how powerful these cascading effects could be. By extension, they’re also showing how much faster the planet may warm this century.
Read more about the dangerous feedback loops accelerating global warming.
—James Temple
This article is from The Spark, our weekly climate tech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.
Are we there yet? Solid-state batteries
Lithium-ion batteries power everything from personal electronics to grid-scale energy storage, but their liquid electrolytes have drawbacks, not least a troubling tendency to catch fire. Enter the solid-state battery, which swaps liquid for a solid ceramic or polymer.
The technology promises faster charging, longer life, greater energy density and improved safety, and a new generation of companies aims to bring it to market. If their bets pan out, the tech could ease the shift away from fossil fuels.
Find out how close solid-state batteries are to delivering on their promise.
—Alexander C. Kaufman
This story is part of “Are we there yet?”, our series that takes stock of six technologies that have long promised to change the world—and scores them on a progress meter. We’re exploring each one in The Download, so stay tuned, and subscribe to read the rest of the stories in our new Impossible issue.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Hackers exposed 41,000 Homeland Security workers
Including undercover ICE agents. (Wired $)
+ Much of the data relates to Customs and Border Protection. (TechCrunch)
+ It also linked the agencies to specific surveillance tools. (Reuters $)
+ Big Tech is pushing back against ICE’s demands for user data. (WSJ $)
+ Activists want ChatGPT users to quit over ICE ties. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Putin says Russia is coordinating with “genius” Musk on satellites
He said the cooperation maintains order in orbit. (Bloomberg $)
+ Russia is developing its own version of Starlink. (Guardian)
+ Moscow added Apple and Microsoft to a surveillance registry. (Quartz)
+ Here’s all the stuff we’ve put up in space. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Apple just announced its first-ever MacBook with a touchscreen
It joins a blitz of product launches under new CEO John Ternus. (CNN)
+ Steve Jobs and Tim Cook had both dismissed the idea. (NYT $)
+ Executives say touchscreen advances mean it’s now worthwhile. (Wired $)
4 Bloomberg and trading firms are paying to get Trump’s posts faster
They’ve signed up for Truth Social’s pay-for-access plan. (Reuters $)
5 As US ties fray, Europe is planning its first subsea cable to Greenland
It will bypass the US to link Canada, Japan, and South Korea. (Ars Technica)
+ The EU’s AI champion says Europe can rival US tech giants. (FT $)
6 Palantir’s defense chief says AI could make China target Taiwan
He says Beijing may act to stop the US pulling ahead in AI. (Bloomberg $)
+ Taiwan’s “silicon shield” could be weakening. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Musk’s xAI has offered to buy homes if residents drop a noise lawsuit
The suit targets noise from powering its Mississippi data centres. (Guardian)
8 The world’s first spinal cord transplant has sparked controversy
Experts say there’s little evidence the operation will work. (New Scientist $)
9 China’s tech giants are fighting for attention with AI microdramas
Tencent and ByteDance are battling over the booming market. (SCMP)
+ Chinese microdramas are AI content machines. (MIT Technology Review)
10 Astronomers have spotted a possible new dwarf planet beyond Pluto
The icy world would be the solar system’s sixth dwarf planet. (Gizmodo)
Quote of the day
“They have our information, so it’s only fair that we have theirs.”
—A hacking group explains why it leaked personal information from the US Department of Homeland Security, NPR reports.
One more thing
How the Pentagon is adapting to China’s technological rise
It’s been just over a year since Kathleen Hicks stepped down as US deputy secretary of defense.
As the highest-ranking woman in Pentagon history, Hicks shaped US military posture through an era defined by renewed competition between powerful countries and a scramble to modernize defense technology.
In this conversation with MIT Technology Review, Hicks reflects on how the Pentagon is adapting—or failing to adapt—to a new era of geopolitical competition. She discusses China’s technological rise, the future of AI in warfare, and her signature initiative: Replicator.
Check out the full interview.
—Caiwei Chen
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.)
+ Astronomers have found a green star 280 light-years from Earth.
+ A Scottish labrador that detects “sea vomit” has won the Animal of the Year award.
+ England’s iconic Sycamore Gap is showing signs of new life three years on from its felling.
+ From Lime-bike jousting to chainmail-wearing pop stars, youth culture is embracing the medieval era.
