MIT Technology Review

MIT Technology Review Explains: Let our writers untangle the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what's coming next. You can read more from the series here. In January, Elon Musk's SpaceX filed an application with the US Federal Communications Commission to launch up to one million data centers into Earth's orbit. The...

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. Fuel prices are soaring. Plastic could be next. As the war in Iran continues, one of the most visible global economic ripple effects has been fossil-fuel prices.But looking ahead, further consequencescould...

As the war in Iran continues to engulf the Middle East and the Strait of Hormuz stays closed, one of the most visible global economic ripple effects has been fossil-fuel prices. In particular, you can't get away from news about the price of gasoline, which just topped an average of $4 a gallon in the...

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. The gig workers who are training humanoid robots at home When Zeus, a medical student in Nigeria, returns to his apartment from a long day at the hospital, he straps his...

When Zeus, a medical student living in a hilltop city in central Nigeria, returns to his studio apartment from a long day at the hospital, he turns on his ring light, straps his iPhone to his forehead, and starts recording himself. He raises his hands in front of him like a sleepwalker and puts a...

In the early days of large language models (LLMs), we grew accustomed to massive 10x jumps in reasoning and coding capability with every new model iteration. Today, those jumps have flattened into incremental gains. The exception is domain-specialized intelligence, where true step-function improvements are still the norm. When a model is fused with an organization's...

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. There are more AI health tools than ever-but how well do they work? In the last few months alone, Microsoft, Amazon, and OpenAI have all launched medical chatbots. There'sa clear demand...

For decades, artificial intelligence has been evaluated through the question of whether machines outperform humans. From chess to advanced math, from coding to essay writing, the performance of AI models and applications is tested against that of individual humans completing tasks. This framing is seductive: An AI vs. human comparison on isolated problems with clear...

Earlier this month, Microsoft launched Copilot Health, a new space within its Copilot app where users will be able to connect their medical records and ask specific questions about their health. A couple of days earlier, Amazon had announced that Health AI, an LLM-based tool previously restricted to members of its One Medical service, would...

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first,sign up here. Last Thursday, a California judge temporarily blocked the Pentagon from labeling Anthropic a supply chain risk and ordering government agencies to stop using its AI. It's the latest development in the month-long...

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. Inside the stealthy startup that pitched brainless human clones Afteroperatingin secrecy for years, R3 Bio, a California-based startup, suddenly revealed last week that it had raised money to createnonsentientmonkey organ sacks"...

After operating in secrecy for years, a startup company called R3 Bio, in Richmond, California, suddenly shared details about its work last week-saying it had raised money to create nonsentient monkey organ sacks" as an alternative to animal testing. In an interview with Wired, R3 listed three investors: billionaire Tim Draper, the Singapore-based fund Immortal...

Think of this as a human body," says Javier Gonzalez. In front of me is essentially a metal box on wheels. Standing at around a meter in height, it reminds me of a stainless-steel counter in a restaurant kitchen. It is covered in flexible plastic tubing-which act as veins and arteries-connecting a series of transparent...

This week I reported on some rather unusual research that focuses on the brain of L. Stephen Coles. Coles was a gerontologist who died from pancreatic cancer in 2014. He had spent the latter part of his career specializing in human longevity. And before he died, he decided to have his brain preserved by a...

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 this battery company is pivoting to AI Qichao Hudoesn'tmince words about the state of the battery industry. Almost everyWestern battery company has either died or is going to die.It'skind of...

The best snow-forecasting app for skiers and snowboarders isn't from any of the federally funded weather services. Nor from any of the big-name brands. It's an independent app startup that leverages government data, its own AI models, and decades of alpine-life experience to offer better snow (and soon avalanche) predictions than anything else out there....

I live in a dense city with plentiful public transportation options and limited parking, so I don't own a car. I'm often utterly clueless about the current price of gasoline. But as the conflict in Iran has escalated, fossil-fuel prices have been on a roller-coaster, and I've started paying attention. In the US, average gas...

Listen to the session or watch below Whether it's the race to find life on Mars, the campaign to outsmart killer asteroids, or the quest to make the moon a permanent home to astronauts, scientists' efforts in space can tell us more about where humanity is headed. This subscriber-only discussion examines the progress and possibilities...

Qichao Hu doesn't mince words about how he sees the state of the battery industry. Almost every Western battery company has either died or is going to die. It's kind of the reality," he says. Hu is the CEO of SES AI, a Massachusetts-based battery company. It once had aims of making huge amounts of...

Axiom Math, a startup based in Palo Alto, California, has released a free new AI tool for mathematicians, designed to discover mathematical patterns that could unlock solutions to long-standing problems. The tool, called Axplorer, is a redesign of an existing one called PatternBoost that Francois Charton, now a research scientist at Axiom, co-developed in 2024...

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. This scientist rewarmed and studied pieces of his friend's cryopreserved brain L. StephenColes'sbrain sits in a vat at a storage facility in Arizona. It has been held there at a temperature...

Imagine telling a digital agent, Use my points and book a family trip to Italy. Keep it within budget, pick hotels we've liked before, and handle the details." Instead of returning a list of links, the agent assembles an itinerary and executes the purchase. That shift, from assistance to execution, is what makes agentic AI...

AI is at war. Anthropic and the Pentagon feuded over how to weaponize Anthropic's AI model Claude; then OpenAI swept the Pentagon off its feet with an opportunistic and sloppy" deal. Users quit ChatGPT in droves. People marched through London in the biggest protest against AI to date. If you're keeping score, Anthropic-the company founded...

We're starting to give AI agents real autonomy, but are we prepared for what could happen next? This subscriber-only eBook explores this and angles from experts, such as If we continue on the current path ... we are basically playing Russian roulette with humanity." by Grace Huckins June 12, 2025 Related Stories: Access all subscriber-only...

L. Stephen Coles's brain sits cushioned in a vat at a storage facility in Arizona. It has been held there at a temperature of around -146 degrees C for over a decade, largely undisturbed. That is, apart from the time, a little over a year ago, when scientists slowly lifted the brain to take photos...

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. The hardest question to answer about AI-fueleddelusions Whatactually happenswhen people spiral into delusion with AI? To find out, Stanford researchersanalyzedtranscripts from chatbot users who experienced these spirals. Their findings suggest that...

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first,sign up here. I was originally going to write this week's newsletter about AI and Iran, particularly the news we broke last Tuesday that the Pentagon is making plans for AI companies to train on...

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. The Bay Area's animal welfare movement wants to recruit AI In early February, animal welfare advocates and AI researchers arrived in stocking feet at Mox, a scrappy, shoes-free coworking space in...

In early February, animal welfare advocates and AI researchers gathered in stocking feet at Mox, a scrappy, shoes-free coworking space in San Francisco. Yellow and red canopies billowed overhead, Persian rugs blanketed the floor, and mosaic lamps glowed beside potted plants. In the common area, a wildlife advocate spoke passionately to a crowd lounging in...

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. OpenAI is throwing everything into building a fully automated researcher OpenAI has a new grand challenge: building an AI researcher-a fully automated agent-based system capable of tackling large, complex problems by...

OpenAI is refocusing its research efforts and throwing its resources into a new grand challenge. The San Francisco firm has set its sights on building what it calls an AI researcher, a fully automated agent-based system that will be able to go off and tackle large, complex problems by itself. OpenAI says that this new...

This week I want to look at where we are with psychedelics, the mind-altering substances that have somehow made the leap from counterculture to major focus of clinical research. Compounds like psilocybin-which is found in magic mushrooms-are being explored for all sorts of health applications, including treatments for depression, PTSD, addiction, and even obesity. Over...

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. A $5 million prize awaits proof that quantum computers can solve health care problems In a laboratory on the outskirts of Oxford, a quantum computer built from atoms and light awaits...

I'm standing in front of a quantum computer built out of atoms and light at the UK's National Quantum Computing Centre on the outskirts of Oxford. On a laboratory table, a complex matrix of mirrors and lenses surrounds a Rubik's Cube-size cell where 100 cesium atoms are suspended in grid formation by a carefully manipulated...

The prospect of making trash useful is always fascinating to me. Whether it's used batteries, solar panels, or spent nuclear fuel, getting use out of something destined for disposal sounds like a win all around. In nuclear energy, figuring out what to do with waste has always been a challenge, since the material needs to...

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. The Pentagon is planning for AI companies to train on classified data,defenseofficial says The Pentagon plans to set up secure environments for generative AI companies to train military-specific versions of their...

MIT Technology Review Explains: Let our writers untangle the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what's coming next. You can read more from the series here. The way the world currently deals with nuclear waste is as creative as it is varied: Drown it in water pools, encase it in steel, bury...

The Pentagon is discussing plans to set up secure environments for generative AI companies to train military-specific versions of their models on classified data, MIT Technology Review has learned. AI models like Anthropic's Claude are already used to answer questions in classified settings; applications include analyzing targets in Iran. But allowing models to train on...

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. Where OpenAI's technology could show up in Iran OpenAI has controversially agreed to give the Pentagon access to its AI. But where exactly could its tech show up, and which applications...

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first,sign up here. It's been just over two weeks since OpenAI reached a controversial agreement to allow the Pentagon to use its AI in classified environments. There are still pressing questions about what exactly OpenAI's...

Parents of young children face a lot of fears about developmental milestones, from infancy through adulthood. The number of months it takes a baby to learn to talk or walk is often used as a benchmark for wellness, or an indicator of additional tests needed to properly diagnose a potential health condition. A parent rejoices...

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. Future AI chips could be built on glass Human-made glass is thousands of years old. Butit'snow poised to find its way into the AI chips used in the world's newest and...

For decades, manufacturers have pursued automation to drive efficiency, reduce costs, and stabilize operations. That approach delivered meaningful gains, but it is no longer enough. Today's manufacturing leaders face a different challenge: how to grow amid labor constraints, rising complexity, and increasing pressure to innovate faster without sacrificing safety, quality, or trust. The next phase...

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. Defenseofficial reveals how AI chatbots could be used for targeting decisions The US military might use generative AI systems to rank targets and recommend which to strike first, according to aDefenseDepartment...

Human-made glass is thousands of years old. But it's now poised to find its way into the AI chips used in the world's newest and largest data centers. This year, a South Korean company called Absolics is planning to start commercial production of special glass panels designed to make next-generation computing hardware more powerful and...

The US military might use generative AI systems to rank lists of targets and make recommendations-which would be vetted by humans-about which to strike first, according to a Defense Department official with knowledge of the matter. The disclosure about how the military may use AI chatbots comes as the Pentagon faces scrutiny over a strike...

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....

The impact of artificial intelligence extends far beyond the digital world and into our everyday lives, across the cars we drive, the appliances in our homes, and medical devices that keep people alive. More and more, product engineers are turning to AI to enhance, validate, and streamline the design of the items that furnish our...