1 Google, Microsoft, and Meta track users even when they opt out
According to an independent audit, they may be racking up billions in fines. (404 Media)
+ How our digital devices put our privacy at risk. (Ars Technica)
+ Privacy’s next frontier is AI “memories.” (MIT Technology Review)
2 OpenAI has a new cybersecurity model—and strategy
GPT-5.4-Cyber is designed specifically for defensive cybersecurity work. (Reuters $)
+ OpenAI has joined Anthropic in focusing on cybersecurity recently. (Wired $)
+ Like Anthopic, its latest model is only available to verified testers. (NYT $)
+ AI is already making online crimes easier. It could get much worse. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Amazon is buying satellite firm Globalstar in a bid to rival Starlink
The $11.6 billion deal targets the lucrative satellite internet market. (WSJ $)
+ Apple has chosen Amazon satellites for iPhone. (Ars Technica)
4 What it’s like to live with an experimental brain implant
Early BCI users explain what the technology gives—and takes. (IEEE)
+ A patient with Neuralink got a boost from generative AI. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Dozens of AI disease-prediction models were trained on dubious data
A few might already have been used on patients. (Nature)
6 Uber is breaking from its gig economy model to avoid robotaxi disruption
It’s spending $10 billion to buy thousands of autonomous vehicles. (FT $)
7 xAI is being sued over data center pollution
Musk’s AI venture stands accused by the NAACP of violating the Clean Air Act. (Engadget)
+ No one wants a data center in their backyard. (MIT Technology Review)
8 Apple could win the AI race without running
It may reap the rewards of everyone else’s spending. (Axios)
9 How 4chan set a precedent for AI’s reasoning abilities
The notorious forum tested a feature called “chain of thought.” (The Atlantic $)
10 The surprising emotional toll of wearing Meta’s AI sunglasses
Their shortcomings are making users sad. (NYT $)
Quote of the day
“Everything got a whole lot worse once they rolled out AI.”
—A copywriter tells the Guardian that they’re drowning in “workslop” — AI-generated work that seems polished but has major flaws
One More Thing
GETTY IMAGES
How refrigeration ruined fresh food
Bananas may not be chilled in the grocery store, but they’re the ultimate refrigerated fruit. It’s only thanks to a network of thermal control that they’ve become a global commodity. And that salad bag on the shelf? It’s not just a bag but a highly engineered respiratory apparatus.
According to Nicola Twilley—a contributor to the New Yorker and cohost of the podcast Gastropod—refrigeration has wrecked our food system. Thankfully, there are promising alternative preservation methods.