The Download: inside the Musk v. Altman trial, and AI for democracy

2 Do we really want AI agents smoothing out all friction in our lives?
They promise convenience, but right now they’re mostly introducing chaos. (The Atlantic $)
+ Here’s what it’s like to outsource your life to them. (Vox $)
+ Websites are starting to close their doors to AI agents. (The Verge $)
+ AI agents bring new headaches for online sellers. (WSJ $)

3 How drones have transformed the front line in Ukraine
They’ve effectively created a “kill zone”, and it’s growing wider and deadlier. (NYT $)
+ Trump has denied ordering Starlink restrictions in Ukraine. (CNBC)

4 China is considering restricting overseas access to its AI models
It’s also looking at curbing the sharing of chip designs, among other measures. (Bloomberg $)
+ Why western open weight models still can’t compete with Chinese ones. (Rest of World)
+ Why Trumpworld still can’t agree on how to respond to Chinese AI. (MIT Technology Review)

5 HTC’s smart glasses are way more private than Meta’s
Guess that’s a benefit of not being shackled to a massive social media platform. (Wired $)
+ A bug caused Meta’s glasses to record conversations without the wearer knowing. (Ars Technica)
+ Smart glasses are already causing havoc in India. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Inside one man’s quest to build California’s biggest AI data center
Sebastian Rucci didn’t bank on meeting huge resistance from local residents. (The Guardian)
+ Americans are packing town halls to stop data centers, and it’s working. (Quartz $)
+ No wonder companies are exploring putting them in space. (MIT Technology Review)

7 Somebody vibe-coded a gun for the first time
And it seems like it works (sometimes.) (The Verge $)

8 AI might reshape how we grieve
It’s never been easier to create realistic AI chatbots of people who’ve passed. (Vox $)
+ Deepfakes of your dead loved ones are a booming business in China. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Japan is about to launch a mission to Mars’ largest moon
If all goes well, it should help us to understand how it formed. (New Scientist $)

10 Amateurs are cracking long-secret codes and ciphers 🕵️
One of the more fun uses for large language models! (Nature)

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