I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Elon Musk reportedly ordered the recent Starlink slowdown in Ukraine
The restrictions hampered drone strikes and air defences. (WSJ $)
+ The move sparked confusion in Washington over who authorised it. (CNBC)
+ Ukraine’s volunteer army is keeping Starlink alive. (MIT Technology Review)
2 An OpenAI model disabled its own safety checks—then lied about it
Two agents weakened the company’s safeguards during routine tasks. (CNBC)
+ They turned off systems designed to spot their misbehaviour. (FT $)
+ Here’s why AI agents lie to reach their goals. (MIT Technology Review)
3 SpaceX and Tesla have begun merger discussions
They’ve formed special committees to discuss a deal. (BBC)
+ Elon Musk, the CEO of both companies, said it’s “a good idea.” (Axios)
+ A merger could combine their AI and manufacturing plans. (Reuters $)
4 Global emissions have stalled, but warming is heading towards 2.8°C
The UN says the 1.5°C climate target is now out of reach. (Nature)
+ Current pledges would still bring warming to 2.1°C. (New Scientist $)
+ Climate tech companies offer rays of hope. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Ukraine says it’s carried out the world’s first drone evacuation
A heavy hexacopter flew a soldier to safety. (Ars Technica)
+ Ukraine has shared a video showing the evacuation. (CNBC)
+ A Russian satellite recently stalked a spacecraft believed to support Ukraine. (NYT $)
6 Meta has paused Muse sharing after private chats surfaced online
Researchers found 6,800 links exposing sensitive conversations. (Verge)
+ AI agents are not your “coworkers.” (MIT Technology Review)
7 More than 1,000 mathematicians have pledged to shun AI companies
Some also vowed to avoid AI tools in their research. (New Scientist $)