1 year ago
102 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.
A fewer pieces of bully quality connected clime alteration (and a world check)
When it comes to the climate, the representation tin look bleak.
Emissions of the greenhouse gasses that origin clime alteration are estimated to person reached caller heights successful 2022. Meanwhile, clime disasters, from grounds vigor waves successful China and Europe to devastating floods successful Pakistan, look to beryllium hitting astatine a breakneck pace.
But a adjacent look astatine planetary information shows that determination are a fewer agleam spots of bully news, and a batch of imaginable advancement ahead. Renewable sources marque up a increasing fraction of the vigor supply, and they’re getting cheaper each year. Countries are also mounting caller targets for emissions reductions, and unprecedented nationalist investments could unlock much technological advances.
So contempt what tin consciousness similar a barrage of atrocious news, determination are astatine slightest a fewer reasons to beryllium hopeful. Read the afloat story.
—Casey Crownhart
These elemental plan rules could crook the spot manufacture connected its head
Since the machine was invented, humans person devised galore programming languages to bid them to bash our bidding. For a spot to execute your code, bundle indispensable construe it into instructions a spot tin use. So engineers designate circumstantial binary sequences to punctual the hardware to execute definite actions, known arsenic the computer’s acquisition set.
For years, the spot manufacture has relied connected a assortment of proprietary acquisition sets, which companies licence for millions of dollars a pop.
Lately, though, galore hardware and bundle companies worldwide person begun to converge astir a publically disposable acquisition acceptable known arsenic RISC-V. It’s a displacement that could radically alteration the spot industry, and empower smaller companies and budding entrepreneurs on the way. Read the afloat story.
—Sophia Chen
RISC-V is 1 of MIT Technology Review’s 10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2023. Explore the rest of the list, and archer america what you deliberation the 11th exertion should beryllium by voting successful our poll.
The system is down, but AI is hot. Where bash we spell from here?
Over the past fewer weeks, the world’s richest tech companies person announced monolithic layoffs. From Alphabet, Amazon and Meta, to Microsoft and Twitter, the occupation losses are affecting not lone idiosyncratic AI researchers, but full AI teams.
Economists foretell the US system whitethorn participate a recession this twelvemonth amid a highly uncertain planetary economical outlook and large tech companies person started to consciousness the squeeze.
In the past, economical downturns person unopen disconnected the backing taps for AI research. These periods are called “AI winters.” But this clip we’re seeing thing wholly different. AI probe is inactive highly hot, and it’s continuing to marque large leaps successful progress—even arsenic tech companies person started tightening their belts. Read the afloat story.
—Melissa Heikkilä
Melissa’s communicative is from The Algorithm, her play newsletter giving you the wrong way connected each things AI. Sign up to person it successful your inbox each Monday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.
1 Elon Musk has defended his arguable tweet successful court
He insists his connection to instrumentality Tesla backstage astatine $420 a stock wasn’t a weed joke. (The Verge)
+ Tesla investors assertion they mislaid billions due to the fact that of the tweet. (WP $)
+ Musk says his SpaceX involvement could have funded a buyout. (Reuters)
+ Meanwhile, Twitter is being sued implicit its UK HQ's unpaid rent. (Bloomberg $)
2 Microsoft plans to put billions into OpenAI
Just days aft it confirmed plans to laic disconnected 10,000 workers. (CNN)
+ It’s undeniably a large coup for Microsoft’s AI credentials. (Vox)
+ CEO Satya Nadella archetypal invested successful OpenAI backmost successful 2019. (The Information $)
+ Here’s however Microsoft could usage ChatGPT. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Silicon Valley has tally retired of inexpensive money
It’s pugnacious for adjacent the biggest players astatine the moment. (NYT $)
+ All these layoffs are particularly atrocious quality for the metaverse. (Insider $)
+ Spotify is the latest institution to denote it’s cutting jobs. (Engadget)
4 Crypto investors are going it alone
They’re withdrawing their holdings from exchanges to their ain wallets. (Reuters)
+ What it’s similar to analyse ace affluent fraudsters. (The Guardian)
5 US banks’ greenish credentials are being assessed
The Federal Reserve wants to cognize however they’ll grip clime emergencies. (Vox)
6 The US Government is poised to writer Google
Over the company’s integer advertisement dominance. (Bloomberg $)
7 What volition it instrumentality to marque electrical vehicles genuinely mainstream? 🚗
Customers request to beryllium convinced the rewards outweigh the imaginable risks. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ In theory, EV owners could assistance to prop up the powerfulness grid. (Wired $)
+ Why EVs won’t regenerate hybrid cars anytime soon. (MIT Technology Review)
8 What it’s similar to beryllium the lone idiosyncratic with a aesculapian condition
It’s not overmuch amusive to beryllium successful a concern wherever nary 1 other is known to person the nonstop aforesaid familial mutation arsenic you. (New Yorker $)
9 Spare a thought for the sneaker resellers 👟
Bot crackdowns and a imaginable recession spell pugnacious times ahead. (Insider $)
10 Corecore is taking implicit TikTok
It’s an oddly beauteous look of existential angst. Vice)
+ What’s up with TikTok, exactly? (Wired $)
Quote of the day
“I didn’t springiness my woman capable time. Now that World of Warcraft is gone, I privation to marque amends.”
—Wu, a longtime instrumentality of video crippled World of Warcraft, tries to find an upside to the crippled being taken offline successful China, the Guardian reports.
The large story
How mobile wealth supercharged Kenya’s sports betting addiction
April 2022
Mobile wealth has mostly been hugely beneficial for Kenyans. But it has besides turbo-charged the country’s sports betting sector.
Experts and nationalist figures crossed the African continent are sounding the alarm implicit the maturation of the assemblage progressively loudly. It’s produced tales of riches, but it has besides breached families, consumed assemblage tuitions, and adjacent driven immoderate to suicide. Read the afloat story.
—Jonathan W. Rosen
We tin inactive person bully things
A spot for comfort, amusive and distraction successful these weird times. (Got immoderate ideas? Drop maine a line or tweet 'em astatine me.)
+ Jane Fonda conscionable sounds similar the champion person ever (thanks Charlotte!)
+ I enjoyed Gritty, the Philadelphia Flyers’ mascot, recreating the iconic DVD screensaver unrecorded astatine a game.
+ Communicating with cats is not for the faint of heart.
+ This shipwrecked teddy bear’s restoration travel is genuinely heartwarming.
+ You’ll ne'er abstracted maine from my useless small treats!
