The Download: Early adopters cash in on China’s OpenClaw craze, and US batteries slump

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.

Hustlers are cashing in on China'sOpenClawAI craze

In January, Beijing-based software engineer Feng Qingyang started tinkering withOpenClaw, a new AI tool that can take over a device and autonomously complete tasks. Within weeks, he was advertising OpenClawinstallation support" on asecond-handshopping site. Today, his side gig is a fully-fledged business with over 100 employees and 7,000 completed orders.

Feng is among a small cohort of savvy early adopters making serious cash from China'sOpenClawcraze. As users with little technical background want in, a cottage industry of installation services and preconfigured hardware has sprung up. The rise of these tinkerers shows just how eager thegeneral publicin China is to adoptcutting-edgeAI-despite huge security risks.Read the full story.

-CaiweiChen

Brutal times for the US battery industry

Another battery business has fallen: 24M Technologies, once worth over $1 billion, isreportedly shuttingdown.

Just a few years ago, the industry was hot, hot, hot. Countless companies were popping up, with shiny new chemistries and huge funding rounds. But now, the tide has turned. Businesses are failing, investors are pulling back, and batteries, especially for EVs,aren'tlooking so hot anymore.

There are bright spots. China's battery industry is thriving, and US stationary storageremainsresilient. But it feels as if everyone is short on money these days, and as purse strings tighten,there'sless interest in novel ideas.

Thisstoryis from The Spark, our weekly climate newsletter.Sign upto receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.

-Casey Crownhart

The must-reads

I'vecombed the internet to find you today's most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 Iran has put US tech giants on a list of potential targets
The companies include Google, Microsoft, Palantir, IBM, Nvidia, and Oracle. (Al Jazeera)
+ Pro-Iran hackers have launched their first major strike on a US firm during the war.(CNN)
+ AI is warpingperceptionsof the conflict.(MIT Technology Review)

2 Grammarly is being sued for turning real people into AI-generated experts
A journalist has filed a lawsuit over her inclusion as a writing analyst. (Wired$)
+ Grammarly has now disabled the Expert Review' feature. (Engadget)
+Here'swhat'snext for AI copyright lawsuits.(MIT Technology Review)

3 Professors are losing the fight to protect critical thinking from AI
They describe the tech as an existential threat."(The Guardian)
+ Silicon Valley's dream of an AI classroom faces askepticalreality.(MIT Technology Review)

4 Big tech is backing Anthropic in its fight against the Trump administration
Google, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft arepublicly supportingits legal action. (BBC)
+ Is this an Oppenheimer moment for Anthropic?(The Atlantic$)

5 A Cybertruck owner has sued Tesla over a self-driving crash
He called the company negligent" forretainingElon Musk as CEO. (Electrek)
+ Tech has sparked a new wave of theft in the luxury car industry.(MIT Technology Review)

6 Is AI-washing" providing cover for massive corporate layoffs?
The techisn'tready to replace workers, but the layoffs are happening anyway. (The Atlantic)
+ Software giant Atlassian is slashing 10% of its workforce ahead of an AI push.(The Guardian)
+ At least lawyers' jobs look safer than first feared.(MIT Technology Review)

7 Software giants claimthey'renot worried that AI will destroy them
Oracle and Salesforce CEOs have dismissed fears of an SaaS-pocalypse." (Reuters)

8 Lab-grown brains have started solving engineering problems
Scientists trained the organoid to decode an engineering task. (Popular Mechanics)
+ Other organoids are being impregnated with human embryos.(MIT Technology Review)

9 English-language music is losing its grip on Spotify
The variety of languages in its top 50 songs has doubled since 2020. (BBC)

10 AI is redrawing the boundaries of physics
It'sblurring the boundaries between a machine and a researcher. (The Economist$)

Quote of the day

Elon Musk is an aggressive and irresponsible salesman, who has a long history of making dangerous design choices and over-promising the features of his products."

-Alawsuitover Tesla's Full Self-Driving mode takes aim at the company's CEO, Gizmodo reports.

One More Thing

This town's mining battle reveals the contentious path to a cleaner future

ACKERMAN + GRUBER

In a tiny Minnesota town, an exploratory mining company called Talon plans to dig up as much as 725,000 metric tons of raw ore per year.

It says the site will help power a greener future for the US by producing the nickel needed for EV batteries. But many local citizensaren'teager for major mining operations near their towns.

The tensions have created a test case for conflicts between local environmental concerns and global climate goals.Read the full story.

-James Temple

We can still havenice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas?Drop me a line.)

+ Mario is finally getting aLEGO minifigure.
+This new social platformboldly aims to burst filter bubbles.
+ NASA is backingDSLR camerasby taking a trusty old Nikon D5 to the moon.
+ This nuclear escalation simulatorhelped me learn to stop worrying and love the bomb.