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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.
Face designation successful the US is astir to conscionable 1 of its biggest tests
Just 4 years ago, the question to prohibition constabulary departments from utilizing look designation successful the US was riding high. By the extremity of 2020, astir 18 cities had enacted restrictive laws, and lawmakers projected a intermission connected the national government’s usage of it.
In the years since, that effort has slowed to a halt. Some section bans person adjacent been partially repealed, and today, fewer earnestly judge that a national prohibition could walk successful the foreseeable future. Right present successful the US, facial designation regulations are trapped successful governmental gridlock.
However, successful Massachusetts determination is anticipation for those who privation to restrict constabulary entree to look recognition, acknowledgment to a bipartisan authorities measure being thrashed retired by its lawmakers which would bash precisely that.
A batch rides connected whether this instrumentality gets passed. It could usher successful a caller property of compromise, and could acceptable the modular for however look designation is regulated elsewhere. On the different hand, if a ballot is delayed oregon fails, it would beryllium yet different motion that the question is waning. Read the afloat story.
—Tate Ryan-Mosley
Want to cognize wherever batteries are going? Look astatine their ingredients.
Batteries are going to beryllium a cardinal portion of however we tackle clime change. They’ll alteration proscription and could besides beryllium important for storing renewables similar upwind oregon star powerfulness for times erstwhile those resources aren’t available.
So successful a way, they’re a cardinal exertion for the 2 sectors liable for the biggest stock of emissions: vigor and transportation.
The International Energy Agency has conscionable released a caller study connected the authorities of captious minerals successful energy, which has immoderate absorbing battery-related tidbits. If you privation to recognize what’s adjacent for batteries, you request to look astatine what's happening close present successful their materials. Read the afloat story.
—Casey Crownhart
Casey’s communicative is from The Spark, her play clime newsletter. Sign up to person it successful your inbox each Wednesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.
1 Apple is plotting its ain reply to ChatGPT
It’s portion of Tim Cook’s plans to clasp AI connected a “very thoughtful basis.” (Bloomberg $)
+ AI mightiness not beryllium each atrocious quality for Hollywood. (Wired $)
+ Google is experimenting with AI for journalists. (NYT $)
+ Researchers deliberation they’ve proved that GPT-4 is getting worse. (Ars Technica)
+ ChatGPT is everywhere. Here’s wherever it came from. (MIT Technology Review)
2 It’s astir to get tougher for tech companies to merge
Courtesy of caller US guidelines designed to forestall monopolies. (NYT $)
3 We each cognize clime alteration is getting worse
But experts are divided implicit whether it’s doing truthful faster than expected, and if truthful why. (Economist $)
+ Do these vigor waves mean clime alteration is happening faster than expected? (MIT Technology Review)
4 A measure that curbs US authorities entree to our information has been greenlit
If passed, it’ll forestall agencies from buying information without a warrant. (Motherboard)
5 EVs person a tyre contamination problem
Making them smaller and slower are a fewer ways to trim it. (The Atlantic $)+ Recycling cars is large concern these days. (Economist $)
6 It looks similar Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown paid off
Almost 6 cardinal subscribers person stumped up for their ain accounts. (WSJ $)
7 The satellite is racing to unlock the powerfulness of geothermal energy
Fracking is simply a contentious mode to bash it, though. (Wired $)
+ This geothermal startup showed its wells tin beryllium utilized similar a elephantine underground battery. (MIT Technology Review)
8 What is simply a caput of AI?
Plenty of companies don’t know, but they’re hiring them anyway. (Vox)
9 Gen Z is freezing their eggs
But adjacent with younker connected their side, occurrence rates are inactive connected the debased side. (Vice)
+ There’s inactive truthful overmuch we don’t recognize astir fertility. (Economist $)
+ I took an planetary travel with my frozen eggs to larn astir the fertility industry. (MIT Technology Review)
10 This escaped euphony streaming app is gaining fans successful Latin America
It’s ad-powered, and crucially, it’s legal. (Rest of World)
Quote of the day
“It’s benignant of similar you’re a therapist. They archer you their beingness stories.”
— Ylonda Sherrod, an AT&T telephone halfway worker, tells the New York Times that replacing employees with AI systems volition permission customers missing the quality touch.
The large story
Why the equilibrium of powerfulness successful tech is shifting toward workers
February 2022
Something has changed for tech giants. Even arsenic they proceed to clasp tremendous power successful our regular lives, a increasing accountability question has begun to cheque their power. Led successful ample portion by tech workers themselves, a question seeking betterment of however these companies bash concern has taken connected unprecedented momentum, peculiarly successful the past year.
Concerns and choler implicit tech companies’ interaction successful the satellite is thing new, of course. What’s changed is that workers are progressively getting organized. Read the afloat story.
—Jane Lytvynenko
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.)
+ The women’s shot World Cup is kicking disconnected today! And England are the favorites to situation the reigning champions.
+ This utmost deep oversea freezer sounds similar the cleanable mode to support your beers icy cold.
+ Wow, the drunken monks of the Middle Ages definite knew however to person a bully time.
+ Hey, hey, hey, what would an full opus of ‘heys’ dependable like?
+ The unbearable brilliance of children’s books.
English (US) ·