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The Download: cybersecurity’s next act, and mass protests in China

In the world of cybersecurity, there is always one certainty: more hacks. That is the unavoidable constant in an industry that will spend an estimated $150 billion worldwide this year without being... Read more »

What’s next in cybersecurity

One of the reasons cyber hasn’t played a bigger role in the war, according to Carhart, is because “in the whole conflict, we saw Russia being underprepared for things and not having... Read more »

The Download: AI conquers Minecraft, and babies after death

+ Scientists have found a way to mature eggs from transgender men in the lab. It could offer them new ways to start a family—without the need for distressing IVF procedures. Read... Read more »

A bot that watched 70,000 hours of Minecraft could unlock AI’s next big thing

The result is a breakthrough for a technique known as imitation learning, in which neural networks are trained how to perform tasks by watching humans do them. Imitation learning can be used... Read more »

We can now use cells from dead people to create new life. But who gets to decide?

His parents told a court that they wanted to keep the possibility of using the sperm to eventually have children that would be genetically related to Peter. The court approved their wishes,... Read more »

The Download: climate responsibility, and AI training data shortages

Podcast: Want a job? The AI will see you now. In the past, hiring decisions were made by people. Today, some key decisions that lead to whether someone gets a job or... Read more »

The US and China are pointing fingers at each other over climate change

Why it matters As I wrote about a couple of weeks ago in the newsletter, one of the major discussions at COP27 was about whether richer countries should help poorer, more vulnerable... Read more »

We could run out of data to train AI language programs 

The trouble is, the types of data typically used for training language models may be used up in the near future—as early as 2026, according to a paper by researchers from Epoch,... Read more »

The Download: Meta’s diplomatic AI, and China’s online comment censorship

China recently published a draft law on its forthcoming social credit system, which will eventually guide how the country builds it. The system is intended to promote trustworthiness in business, education, and... Read more »

Meta’s game-playing AI can make and break alliances like a human

Learning to play Diplomacy is a big deal for several reasons. Not only does it involve multiple players, who make moves at the same time, but each turn is preceded by a... Read more »