MIT Technology Review

OpenAI has built the best Minecraft-playing bot yet by making it watch 70,000 hours of video of people playing the popular computer game. It showcases a powerful new technique that could be used to train machines to carry out a wide range of tasks by binging on sites like YouTube, a vast and untapped source…

This article is from The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, sign up here. Peter Zhu was just 19 years old when he died following a skiing accident in West Point, New York. His donor card made clear he had wanted to donate his organs. But…

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 US and China are pointing fingers at each other over climate change The UN climate conference wrapped up over the weekend after marathon negotiations that ran way over. The most notable outcome was the…

The UN climate conference just wrapped up over the weekend after a marathon negotiating session that stretched talks nearly 48 hours past their scheduled conclusion. (A question for my editor: the UN isn’t hitting deadlines, so do I still have to?) The most notable outcome from the conference was establishment of a fund to help…

Large language models are one of the hottest areas of AI research right now, with companies racing to release programs like GPT-3 that can write impressively coherent articles and even computer code. But there’s a problem looming on the horizon, according to a team of AI forecasters: we might run out of data to train…

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. Meta’s game-playing AI can make and break alliances like a human Meta has created an AI that can beat humans at an online version of Diplomacy, a popular strategy game in which seven…

Meta has created an AI that can beat humans at an online version of Diplomacy, a popular strategy game in which seven players compete for control of Europe by moving pieces around on a map. Unlike other board games that AI has mastered, such as chess and Go, Diplomacy requires players to talk to each…

China Report is MIT Technology Review’s newsletter about technology developments in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. This morning, I published an explainer on China’s social credit system. The government released a draft law on November 14 that will eventually serve as the top-level guidance on how the country builds the system. …

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 why China’s new social credit law matters It’s easier to talk about what China’s social credit system isn’t than what it is. Ever since 2014, when China announced plans to build it,…

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. When Meta launched Galactica, an open-source large language model designed to help scientists, the company—reeling from criticism of its expensive metaverse investments and its recent massive layoffs—was hoping for a big PR win. Instead,…

It’s easier to talk about what China’s social credit system isn’t than what it is. Ever since 2014, when China announced a six-year plan to build a system to reward actions that build trust in society and penalize the opposite, it has been one of the most misunderstood things about China in Western discourse. Now,…

When Ananye Agarwal took his dog out for a walk up and down the steps in the local park near Carnegie Mellon University, other dogs stopped in their tracks. That’s because Agarwal’s dog was a robot—and a special one at that. Unlike other robots, which tend to rely heavily on an internal map to get…

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 much would you pay to see a woolly mammoth? Sara Ord has one of the most futuristic job titles around—director of species restoration at Colossal Biosciences, the world’s first “de-extinction” company. Her…

In August, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law, the largest US climate bill in more than a decade. The legislation puts the country back on track to meet its commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement. Beyond enacting specific measures to reduce US carbon emissions by more than 40 percent by…

Sara Ord spent her week talking to scientists about skin cells from a mouse-size marsupial called the dunnart. The cells were sent to the “de-extinction” company where she works, Colossal Biosciences, from collaborators in Australia. Ord’s job is to lead a team that’s figuring out how to use gene editing to gradually change the DNA…

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. Former Twitter employees fear the platform might only last weeks Recently-departed Twitter staff have told MIT Technology Review they worry that the platform has weeks to live based on current staffing levels, mass…

On November 15 Meta unveiled a new large language model called Galactica, designed to assist scientists. But instead of landing with the big bang Meta hoped for, Galactica has died with a whimper after three days of intense criticism. Yesterday the company took down the public demo that it had encouraged everyone to try out.…

This article was updated on November 21, 2022 after delegates at COP27 reached an agreement on financing for climate loss and damages. Nearly two days after talks were scheduled to end, leaders at the annual UN climate conference finally reached an agreement that includes a historic climate finance deal. Delegates at COP27 agreed to establish…

This article is from The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, sign up here. You’re only as old as you feel, so they say. Now biological clocks attempt to put a number on it. These tools analyze proteins in your blood, chemical markers on your DNA, or…

Recently departed Twitter staff have told MIT Technology Review they worry that the platform has weeks to live judging from current staffing levels, mass resignations overnight, and the morale of those few who remain. With some within Twitter estimating that 75% of those remaining plan to quit after Elon Musk sent an email informing them…

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 new tick-borne disease is killing cattle in the US In the spring of 2021, Cynthia and John Grano, who own a cattle operation in Culpeper County, Virginia, started noticing some of their…

This story comes from The Spark, my weekly newsletter on energy. Sign up to get it in your inbox first here. There’s a lot going on in the climate world. Election workers are still counting and recounting votes in the US to determine control of Congress, and at the UN climate conference, delegates are heads-down…

In the spring of 2021, Cynthia and John Grano, who own a cattle operation and sell performance horses in Culpeper County, Virginia, started noticing some of their cows slowing down and acting “spacey.” They figured the animals were suffering from anaplasmosis, a common infectious disease that causes anemia in cattle. But Melinda McCall, their veterinarian,…

Although the world population has continued to steadily increase, farming practices have largely remained the same. Amid this growth, climate change poses great challenges to the agricultural industry and its capacity to feed the world sustainably. According to the World Bank, 70% of the world’s fresh water is used in agriculture and droughts and heat…

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 billion-dollar meeting for the mega-rich who want to live forever Back in September, Jessica Hamzelou, our senior biotech reporter, traveled to Gstaad, a swanky ski-resort town in the Swiss…

China Report is MIT Technology Review’s newsletter about technology developments in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. Honestly, it’s hard to keep up with the news these days. If you aren’t already consumed with the slow-moving implosion of Twitter or the quick collapse of crypto exchange FTX, there are also the flashy…

“Who wants to live forever?” The immortal words of Freddie Mercury blast from the speakers as blue lights swivel around the room and a smoky mist floats up from the stage in front of me. If the audience is anything to go by, the answer to his question is: the mega rich. I’d come 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. Tencent wants you to pay with your palm. What could go wrong? Would you want a bottle of soda for just one cent? Before you say yes, there’s a catch: You have to…

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. Lately I’ve lost a lot of sleep over climate change. It’s just over five weeks until Christmas, and last weekend in London, it was warm enough to have a pint outside without…

Would you want a bottle of soda for just one cent? Before you say yes, there’s a catch: You have to pay by scanning your palm and sharing your information with a Chinese tech giant. This was the proposition Tencent made to a handful of Chinese consumers recently, as seen in a video posted on…

You might ask why MIT Technology Review creates a list of 35 Innovators Under 35 every year. Part of it, of course, is to recognize the good and important work done by people just starting out in their careers—and you can be a part of that process by nominating great candidates right here, starting today…

Large language models (LLMs) have a dirty secret: they require vast amounts of energy to train and run. What’s more, it’s still a bit of a mystery exactly how big these models’ carbon footprints really are. AI startup Hugging Face believes it’s come up with a new, better way to calculate that more precisely, by…

Nearly 75% of the world’s largest companies have already integrated AI and machine learning (ML) into their business strategies. As more and more companies — and their customers — gain increasing value from ML applications, organizations should be considering new security best practices to keep pace with the evolving technology landscape. Companies that utilize dynamic…

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. Twitter’s potential collapse could wipe out vast records of recent human history Almost from the time the first tweet was posted in 2006, Twitter has played an important role in world events. The…

Almost from the time the first tweet was posted in 2006, Twitter has played an important role in world events. The platform has been used to record everything from the Arab Spring to the ongoing war in Ukraine. It’s also captured our public conversations for years. But experts are worried that if Elon Musk tanks…

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. Big Tech could help Iranian protesters by using an old tool After the Iranian government took extreme measures to limit internet use in response to the pro-democracy protests that have filled Iranian streets…

After the Iranian government took extreme measures to limit internet use in response to the pro-democracy protests that have filled Iranian streets since mid-September, Western tech companies scrambled to help restore access to Iranian citizens. Signal asked its users to help run proxy servers with support from the company. Google offered credits to help Iranians…

This article is from The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, sign up here. According to her parents, Ayla Bashir is “a miracle.” The talkative and smiley 15-month-old is also a pioneer—the first person to start receiving medical treatment for her genetic disorder before even being…

It’s been almost a decade since the Chinese-American hydrologist Sherry Chen’s life was turned upside down by an unfounded accusation of spying, and this week, she finally received something like justice. Today, Chen’s lawyers announced that the scientist won a historic $1.75 million settlement from the US Commerce Department for her wrongful prosecution and subsequent…

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 year’s UN climate conference is all about the money This week has seen the start of COP27, the UN’s two-week climate conference, where world leaders have met in Sharm El Sheikh,…

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. I love warm, sunny days like the ones we’ve been having in the Northeast this week. As a climate reporter I’m also a bit concerned, though. It’s way too hot. I’m trying to…

Start exploring in Dark Forest, and you quickly realize just how much you don’t know. The universe is vast, and most of it is shrouded in darkness. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to venture into the unknown, avoid being destroyed by opposing players who may be lurking in the dark, and…