Plus: the UK wants to use AI to estimate the ages of child asylum seekers
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.
Navigating the rise of AI agents
AI agents is a buzzy term that essentially refers to AI models and algorithms that can not only provide you with information, but take actions on your behalf. Companies like OpenAI and Anthropic have launched ‘agentic’ products that can do things for you like making bookings, filling in forms, and collaborating with you on coding projects.
On a LinkedIn Live event yesterday our editor-in-chief Mat Honan, senior editor for AI Will Douglas Heaven, and senior AI reporter Grace Huckins discussed what’s exciting about agents and where the technology will go next, but also its limitations, and the risks that currently come with adopting it. Check out what they had to say!
And if you’re interested in learning more about AI agents, read our stories:
+ Are we ready to hand AI agents the keys? We’re starting to give AI agents real autonomy, and we’re not prepared for what could happen next. Read the full story.
+ Anthropic’s chief scientist on 4 ways agents will get even better. Read the full story.
+ Cyberattacks by AI agents are coming. Agents could make it easier and cheaper for criminals to hack systems at scale. We need to be ready.
+ When AIs bargain, a less advanced agent could cost you. In AI-to-AI price negotiations, weaker models often lose out—costing users real money and raising concerns about growing digital inequality. Read the full story.
+ There’s been huge hype about a new general AI agent from China called Manus. We put it to the test.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 The Trump administration is seeking to protect US tech firms abroad
It’s using its global trade wars as a way to prevent other countries from imposing new taxes, regulations and tariffs on American tech companies. (WSJ $)
+ Tech firms are increasingly trying to shape US AI policy. (FT $)
2 UK border officials plan to use AI to assess child asylum seekers
A pilot scheme will estimate the age of new arrivals to the country. (The Guardian)
+ US border patrol is arresting immigrants nowhere near the US-Mexico border. (WP $)
+ The US wants to use facial recognition to identify migrant children as they age. (MIT Technology Review)
3 AI is hitting web traffic hard
Google’s AI Overviews are causing a massive drop in clicks to actual websites. (Ars Technica)
+ It’s good news for Google, bad news for everyone else. (The Register)
+ AI means the end of internet search as we’ve known it. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Dozens of Iranians’ iPhones have been targeted with government spyware
But the actual total number of targets is likely to be far higher. (Bloomberg $)
5 Amazon is shutting down its AI lab in Shanghai
It’s the latest in a line of US tech giants to scale back their research in the country. (FT $)
6 Californian billionaires have set their sights on building an industrial park
After their plans to create a brand new city didn’t get off the ground. (Gizmodo)
7 Tesla’s robotaxi launch didn’t quite go to plan
Prospective customers appear to be a bit freaked out. (Wired $)
+ Ride-hailing companies aren’t meeting their EV adoption targets. (Rest of World)
8 Why AI slop could finally help us to log off
If AI garbage renders a lot of the web unusable, it could be our only option. (The Atlantic $)
+ How to fix the internet. (MIT Technology Review)
9 You may regrow your own teeth in the future ????
The age of dentures and implants could be nearly over. (New Scientist $)
+ Humanlike “teeth” have been grown in mini pigs. (MIT Technology Review)
10 Inside one man’s hunt for an elusive Chinese typewriter
It made it possible to type tens of thousands of characters using just 72 keys. (NYT $)
+ How the quest to type Chinese on a QWERTY keyboard created autocomplete. (MIT Technology Review)
Quote of the day
“The truth is, China’s really doing ‘007’ now—midnight to midnight, seven days a week.”
—Venture capitalist Harry Stebbings explains how Chinese startups have moved from ‘996’ work schedules (9am to 9pm, six days a week) to a routine that’s even more punishing, Wired reports.
One more thing
Inside a new quest to save the “doomsday glacier”
The Thwaites glacier is a fortress larger than Florida, a wall of ice that reaches nearly 4,000 feet above the bedrock of West Antarctica, guarding the low-lying ice sheet behind it.
But a strong, warm ocean current is weakening its foundations and accelerating its slide into the sea. Scientists fear the waters could topple the walls in the coming decades, kick-starting a runaway process that would crack up the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, marking the start of a global climate disaster. As a result, they are eager to understand just how likely such a collapse is, when it could happen, and if we have the power to stop it.
Scientists at MIT and Dartmouth College founded the Arête Glacier Initiative last year in the hope of providing clearer answers to these questions. The nonprofit research organization will officially unveil itself, launch its website, and post requests for research proposals today, timed to coincide with the UN’s inaugural World Day for Glaciers, MIT Technology Review can report exclusively. Read the full story.
—James Temple
We can still have nice things
A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)+ A fun-looking major retrospect of David Bailey’s starry career is opening in Spain.
+ Creepy new horror flick Weapons is getting rave reviews.
+ This amazing website takes you through Apollo 11’s first landing on the moon in real time.
+ Rest in power Ozzy Osbourne, the first ever heavy metal frontman, and the undisputed Prince of Darkness.
Read More
Rhiannon Williams