—Zeyi Yang
Zeyi’s story is from China Report, his weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things about China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 China is furious at other countries’ covid travel restrictions
Beijing claims the covid testing requirements “lack scientific basis.” (The Guardian)
+ AI isn’t very good at detecting covid. (New Scientist $)
2 Sam Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to all charges
He’ll face trial in October. (CoinDesk)
+ It’s possible he’ll try to strike a plea deal with prosecutors. (Economist $)
3 Microsoft wants to integrate ChatGPT into Bing
It hopes to chip away at Google’s search dominance. (The Information $)
+ How accurate its answers will be is still up for debate. (Bloomberg $)
+ A new app claims to detect whether essays have been written using ChatGPT. (Insider $)
+ How to spot AI-generated text. (MIT Technology Review)
4 US pharmacies can sell abortion pills for the first time
While a prescription is still required, it’ll significantly broaden access to medicated abortions. (BBC)
+ Where to get abortion pills and how to use them. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Political adverts are returning to Twitter
The U-turn comes months after advertisers started leaving in their droves. (Politico)
+ Covid misinformation spiked on Twitter after NFL player Damar Hamlin collapsed. (WP $)
6 Ethereum is getting greener
It won’t solve crypto’s environmental footprint entirely, though. (Motherboard)
+ Taiwan isn’t worried about the crypto crash. (Rest of World)
7 Instagram is paying musicians a fortune to soundtrack its Reels
It’s low-effort, high-reward. (New Yorker $)
+ But it’s mostly getting tougher out there for online creators. (The Information $)
8 Amazon in Pakistan is overrun with scammers
The fraudsters are concocting increasingly elaborate schemes to trick victims. (Rest of World)