11 months ago
136 This is today's variation of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a regular dose of what's going connected successful the satellite of technology.
Inside Tencent’s weirdly secretive lawsuit work center
—Zeyi Yang
When I precocious visited China, for the archetypal clip since the pandemic, I traveled to Shenzhen successful a bid to unlock my 15-year aged Tencent societal media account.
I person tons of idiosyncratic stuff—diary entries, chat logs, emails—locked distant successful Tencent’s instant messaging level QQ. My relationship was abruptly suspended successful November 2021, months aft I utilized it to study connected a communicative astir QQ’s censorship of LGBTQ content, and to link with sources for different stories. But it wasn’t wide whether that enactment resulted successful the suspension.
I’d fundamentally fixed up connected ever accessing it again, until I learned astir Tencent’s weirdly secretive lawsuit work halfway successful Shenzhen. It’s a past edifice for hopeless users consenting to marque the travel to conscionable with a typical to marque their case. Read the afloat story to find retired what it’s similar inside.
Zeyi’s communicative is from China Report, his play newsletter giving you the wrong way connected each things happening successful China. Sign up to person it successful your inbox each Tuesday.
Podcast: When AI hears a problem
Hidden distant successful our voices are signals that whitethorn clasp clues to however we’re doing, what we’re feeling and adjacent what’s going connected with our carnal health. So what does it mean present the AI systems tasked with analyzing these signals are moving into healthcare? Find retired by listening to the latest occurrence of In Machines We Trust, our award-winning podcast, connected Apple Podcasts, oregon wherever you usually listen.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.
1 OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman is urging the US to modulate AI
Over to you, politicians. (NYT $)
+ Altman is peculiarly disquieted by the imaginable for AI to disrupt the 2024 US election. (FT $)
+ Why AI is amended suited to tasks than existent jobs. (Bloomberg $)
+ Some experts are progressively gloomy astir wherever this is each heading. (New Yorker $)
+ ChatGPT is everywhere. Here’s wherever it came from. (MIT Technology Review)
2 South Korea’s had capable of tech leaks
Chinese companies person been charming Korea’s engineers into spilling commercialized secrets. (FT $)
+ A erstwhile Apple technologist has been charged with stealing its self-driving car tech. (WSJ $)
3 Regulation is coming for crypto
Slowly but surely—but immoderate experts interest it’s excessively little, excessively late. (Economist $)
+ Investing successful crypto is tantamount to gambling, according to the UK. (Reuters)
+ What’s adjacent for crypto. (MIT Technology Review)
4 A Russian antheral has been charged with engagement successful a immense cyber attack
Authorities are offering up to $10 cardinal successful speech for assistance arresting him. (WP $)
5 Two poultry workers person tested affirmative for vertebrate flu successful the UK
It’s unclear however they contracted it, and neither experienced symptoms. (BBC)
+ We don’t request to panic astir a vertebrate flu pandemic—yet. (MIT Technology Review)
6 Dating sites are riddled with catfish
Contractors crossed the satellite are being paid to manipulate unwitting daters. (Wired $)
7 Gig system workers are begging for tips online 8 The satellite desperately needs much copper
DoorDash workers accidental they are astir wholly reliant connected tips for their income. (Motherboard)
It’s an indispensable constituent for batteries—but it’s becoming much hard to mine. (Bloomberg $)
+ How aged batteries volition assistance powerfulness tomorrow’s EVs. (MIT Technology Review)
9 TikTok is reimagining past without Western imperial power
Thanks to a spot of assistance from ChatGPT and Midjourney. (Rest of World)
10 Say ‘I do’ with these AI-generated wedding vows 💐
Exactly what you privation connected your large day, I’m sure. (WSJ $)
Quote of the day
“The eventual usher to life, love, and eternal salvation!”
—ChatGPT takes a stab astatine penning an upbeat publication blurb for the Bible, according to the Guardian.
The large story
The Soviets turned the Volga River into a machine. Then the instrumentality broke.
December 2021About 2,300 miles long, the Volga—sometimes referred to arsenic “Mother Volga”—is the longest stream successful Europe. The past of the Big Volga task is, successful a sense, the past of Soviet industrialization. It is besides a past of rivalry with the US, which for decades raced the Soviets to physique bigger, much awesome dams.
But the task tried to bash excessively much. The stream has go polluted, silted up, and overwhelmed by invasive species. Water flows astatine a tenth of the velocity it did earlier the dams were constructed.
And present that the Volga basin has been identified arsenic 1 of the regions astir astatine hazard of clime change-induced drought, it’s not an exaggeration to accidental that Russia’s parent stream is broken. Read the afloat story.
—Olga Dobrovidova
We tin inactive person bully things
A spot for comfort, amusive and distraction successful these weird times. (Got immoderate ideas? Drop maine a line oregon tweet 'em astatine me.)
+ Researchers person built a meticulous integer duplicate of the Titanic to enactment retired precisely what went incorrect connected that fateful time successful 1912.
+ Here’s what an astrophysicist has to accidental connected the ‘is the Sun achromatic oregon yellow?’ debate.
+ Seriously, wherefore doesn’t anyone successful Succession devour anything!? 🥐
+ The physics of soap bubbles are beauteous complicated. Maybe 18th period French painters tin springiness america immoderate much-needed insight?
+ Ahh, millennial parties were rather something.
