{"id":839718,"date":"2025-04-08T04:11:58","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T09:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/08\/the-download-how-the-us-is-meeting-chinas-technological-rise-and-trumps-tariff-war-intensifies\/"},"modified":"2025-04-08T04:11:58","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T09:11:58","slug":"the-download-how-the-us-is-meeting-chinas-technological-rise-and-trumps-tariff-war-intensifies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/08\/the-download-how-the-us-is-meeting-chinas-technological-rise-and-trumps-tariff-war-intensifies\/","title":{"rendered":"The Download: how the US is meeting China\u2019s technological rise, and Trump\u2019s tariff war intensifies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Plus: the TikTok deal that wasn’t.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n

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This is today’s edition of\u00a0The Download<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

How the Pentagon is adapting to China\u2019s technological rise<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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It\u2019s been just over two months since Kathleen Hicks stepped down as US deputy secretary of defense. As the highest-ranking woman in Pentagon history, Hicks shaped US military posture through an era defined by renewed competition between powerful countries and a scramble to modernize defense technology.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the past three decades, Hicks has watched the Pentagon transform\u2014politically, strategically, and technologically. In this conversation with MIT Technology Review<\/em>, Hicks reflects on how the Pentagon is adapting\u2014or failing to adapt\u2014to a new era of geopolitical competition. She discusses China\u2019s technological rise, the future of AI in warfare, and her signature initiative, Replicator, a Pentagon initiative to rapidly field thousands of low-cost autonomous systems such as drones. Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Caiwen Chen<\/em><\/p>\n

The must-reads<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve combed the internet to find you today\u2019s most fun\/important\/scary\/fascinating stories about technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

1 Donald Trump\u2019s trade war could trigger a global recession
<\/strong>Investors are sounding the alarm as markets struggle to react to his tariffs. (Economist<\/a> $)
+ Unsurprisingly, the President has doubled down on his tariffs. <\/em>(BBC<\/a>)
+ It\u2019s all part of his plan to \u201creset global trade.\u201d <\/em>(Politico<\/a>)
+ Trump\u2019s tariffs will deliver a big blow to climate tech. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

2 The White House was just hours from announcing a TikTok deal<\/strong>
Until the Chinese government insisted on tariff negotiations first. (WP<\/a> $)
+ The two countries now seem likely to descend into tit-for-tat restrictions. <\/em>(WSJ<\/a> $)
+ The President has extended the sale deadline by another 75 days. <\/em>(NBC News<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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3 DeepSeek is working on self-improving AI models
<\/strong>It\u2019s working with Tsinghua University to reduce its models\u2019 training needs. (Bloomberg<\/a> $)
+ China is narrowing the AI dominance gap between it and the US. <\/em>(Wired<\/a> $)
+ How DeepSeek ripped up the AI playbook\u2014and why everyone\u2019s going to follow its lead. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

4 X is flourishing under the Trump administration<\/strong>
Elon Musk appears to be positioning the platform as a new media outlet. (NYT<\/a> $)
+ X is cracking down on parody accounts. <\/em>(BBC<\/a>)<\/p>\n

5 A shingles vaccine could help lower the risk of developing dementia
<\/strong>We might have to overhaul the way we treat neurodegenerative diseases. (Vox<\/a>)
+ It may help to treat them like viruses. <\/em>(NYT<\/a> $)
+ Dementia content gets billions of views on TikTok. Whose story does it tell? <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

6 San Francisco\u2019s mayor is trying to convince tech leaders to come back<\/strong>
He may be willing to offer tax breaks as an incentive. (TechCrunch<\/a>)
+ Some of his supporters aren\u2019t in favor of his new upzoning plan. <\/em>(SF Standard<\/a>)<\/p>\n

7 TikTok\u2019s algorithm promotes live streams of begging children<\/strong>
While taking fees and commission of up to 70%. (The Guardian<\/a>)<\/p>\n

8 China\u2019s EV makers are locked in intense competition
<\/strong>And consumers are spoilt for choice. (FT<\/a> $)
+ Argentina has lifted tariffs on EVs. <\/em>(Rest of World<\/a>)
+ China\u2019s EV giants are betting big on humanoid robots. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

9 This version of video game Quake was created using AI<\/strong>
Microsoft has opened a demo up to Copilot users. (The Verge<\/a>)
+ How generative AI could reinvent what it means to play. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

10 Tracking celebrity heights is an internet obsession<\/strong>
Is anyone actually<\/em> 5\u201d11? (The Guardian<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Quote of the day<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d like to put this chapter behind us.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014Sean Murphy, executive vice president of policy at trade group the Information Technology Industry Council, tells the Washington Post<\/a> how the tech industry is desperate to see the tariffs that affect it reversed as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

The big story<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/figure>\n

The messy quest to replace drugs with electricity<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the early 2010s, electricity seemed poised for a hostile takeover of your doctor\u2019s office. Research into how the nervous system\u2014the highway that carries electrical messages between the brain and the body\u2014 controls the immune response was gaining traction.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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And that had opened the door to the possibility of hacking into the body\u2019s circuitry and thereby controlling a host of chronic diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and diabetes, as if the immune system were as reprogrammable as a computer.<\/p>\n

To do that you\u2019d need a new class of implant: an \u201celectroceutical.\u201d These devices would replace drugs. No more messy side effects. And no more guessing whether a drug would work differently for you and someone else. In the 10 years or so since, around a billion dollars has accreted around the effort. But electroceuticals have still not taken off as hoped.<\/p>\n

Now, however, a growing number of researchers are starting to look beyond the nervous system, and experimenting with clever ways to electrically manipulate cells elsewhere in the body, such as the skin.<\/p>\n

Their work suggests that this approach could match the early promise of electroceuticals, yielding fast-healing bioelectric bandages, novel approaches to treating autoimmune disorders, new ways of repairing nerve damage, and even better treatments for cancer. Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Sally Adee<\/em><\/p>\n

We can still have nice things<\/strong><\/p>\n

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? <\/em>Drop me a line<\/em><\/a> or <\/em>skeet ’em at me<\/em><\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

+ The internet is hating on the Beatles biopics before they\u2019re even out\u2014but why<\/a>?
+ Do you know the last time all of humanity was on Earth<\/a>?
+ The new Naked Gun film<\/a> looks suitably unhinged.
+ Here\u2019s some simple bits of advice<\/a> to help make each day that little bit happier. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Rhiannon Williams<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plus: the TikTok deal that wasn’t. This is today’s edition of\u00a0The Download ,\u00a0our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. How the Pentagon is adapting to China\u2019s technological rise It\u2019s been just over two months since Kathleen Hicks stepped down as US deputy secretary of defense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":839719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24097,3939,46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-839718","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-download","8":"category-meeting","9":"category-technology"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}