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Why the for-profit race into solar geoengineering is bad for science and public trust

Last week, an American-Israeli company that claims it’s developed proprietary technology to cool the planet announced it had raised $60 million, by far the largest known venture capital round to date for a solar geoengineering startup. The company, Stardust, says the funding will enable it to develop a system that could be deployed by the…
The Download: the AGI myth, and US/China AI competition

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 AGI became the most consequential conspiracy theory of our time —Will Douglas Heaven, senior AI editor Are you feeling it? I hear it’s close: two years, five years—maybe next year! And I…
The State of AI: Is China about to win the race?

The State of AI is a collaboration between the Financial Times & MIT Technology Review examining the ways in which AI is reshaping global power. Every Monday for the next six weeks, writers from both publications will debate one aspect of the generative AI revolution reshaping global power. In this conversation, the FT’s tech columnist…
The Download: gene-edited babies, and cleaning up copper

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. Here’s the latest company planning for gene-edited babies The news: A West Coast biotech entrepreneur says he’s secured $30 million to form a public-benefit company to study how to safely create genetically edited…
This startup wants to clean up the copper industry

Demand for copper is surging, as is pollution from its dirty production processes. The founders of one startup, Still Bright, think they have a better, cleaner way to generate the copper the world needs. The company uses water-based reactions, based on battery chemistry technology, to purify copper in a process that could be less polluting…
Here’s the latest company planning for gene-edited babies

A West Coast biotech entrepreneur says he’s secured $30 million to form a public-benefit company to study how to safely create genetically edited babies, marking the largest known investment into the taboo technology. The new company, called Preventive, is being formed to research so-called “heritable genome editing,” in which the DNA of embryos would be…
The Download: down the Mandela effect rabbit hole, and the promise of a vaccine for colds

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. Why do so many people think the Fruit of the Loom logo had a cornucopia? Quick question: Does the Fruit of the Loom logo feature a cornucopia? Many of us have been wearing…
Here’s why we don’t have a cold vaccine. Yet.

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s the season of the sniffles. As the weather turns, we’re all spending more time indoors. The kids have been back at school for a couple of months. And cold germs are everywhere. My youngest started school this year, and along with artwork and seedlings, she has…
The Download: Introducing the new conspiracy age

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. Introducing: the new conspiracy age Everything is a conspiracy theory now. Conspiracists are all over the White House, turning fringe ideas into dangerous policy. America’s institutions are crumbling under the weight of deep…
Leveraging the clinician’s expertise with agentic AI