{"id":855242,"date":"2025-06-13T06:11:49","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T11:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/13\/the-download-ai-agents-autonomy-and-sodium-based-batteries\/"},"modified":"2025-06-13T06:11:49","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T11:11:49","slug":"the-download-ai-agents-autonomy-and-sodium-based-batteries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/13\/the-download-ai-agents-autonomy-and-sodium-based-batteries\/","title":{"rendered":"The Download: AI agents\u2019 autonomy, and sodium-based batteries"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Plus: Midjourney is being sued by major movie studios<\/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

Are we ready to hand AI agents the keys?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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In recent months, a new class of agents has arrived on the scene: ones built using large language models. Any action that can be captured by text\u2014from playing a video game using written commands to running a social media account\u2014is potentially within the purview of this type of system.<\/p>\n

LLM agents don\u2019t have much of a track record yet, but to hear CEOs tell it, they will transform the economy\u2014and soon. Despite that, like chatbot LLMs, agents can be chaotic and unpredictable. Here\u2019s what could happen as we try to integrate them into everything<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2014Grace Huckins<\/em><\/p>\n


<\/strong>This story is from the next print edition of MIT Technology Review, which explores power\u2014who has it, and who wants it. It\u2019s set to go live on Wednesday June 25, so <\/strong>subscribe & save 25%<\/strong><\/a> to read it and get a copy of the issue when it lands!<\/strong><\/p>\n

These new batteries are finding a niche<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Lithium-ion batteries have some emerging competition: Sodium-based alternatives.<\/p>\n

Sodium is more abundant on Earth than lithium, and batteries that use the material could be cheaper in the future. Building a new battery chemistry is difficult, mostly because lithium is so entrenched. But, as I\u2019ve noted before, this new technology has some advantages in nooks and crannies.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been following sodium-ion batteries for a few years, and we\u2019re starting to see the chemistry make progress. Let\u2019s talk about what\u2019s new for sodium batteries, and what it\u2019ll take for them to really break out<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2014Casey Crownhart<\/em><\/p>\n

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review\u2019s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, <\/strong>sign up here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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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

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1 Disney and Universal are suing Midjourney<\/strong>
The movie companies allege that its software \u201cblatantly\u201d copies their characters. (NYT<\/a> $)
+ They argue its tools facilitate personalized AI slop of their IP. <\/em>(Hollywood Reporter<\/a> $)
+ Midjourney\u2019s forthcoming video generator is a particular point of concern. <\/em>(The Verge<\/a>)<\/p>\n

2 Microsoft is reportedly preparing an AI tool for the Pentagon<\/strong>
It\u2019s working on a version of Copilot for more than one million licenses. (Insider<\/a> $)
+ The Pentagon is gutting the team that tests AI and weapons systems. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

3 The US is rolling back emissions standards for power plants<\/strong>
Even though power stations are its second-largest source of CO2 emissions. (Wired<\/a> $)
+ It\u2019s the Trump administration\u2019s biggest reversal of green policies yet. <\/em>(FT<\/a> $)
+ The repeals could affect public health across the nation. <\/em>(CNN<\/a>)
+ Interest in nuclear power is surging. Is it enough to build new reactors? <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

4 A new kind of AI bot is scraping the web<\/strong>
Retrieval bots crawl websites for up-to-date information to supplement AI models. (WP<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

5 Nvidia\u2019s new AI model simulates the world\u2019s climate<\/strong>
Researchers may be able to predict weather conditions decades into the future. (WSJ<\/a> $)
+ AI is changing how we predict the weather. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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6 China is demanding sensitive information to secure rare earths<\/strong>
Companies fear their trade secrets could end up exposed. (FT<\/a> $)
+ This rare earth metal shows us the future of our planet\u2019s resources. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

7 What Vietnam stands to lose in Trump\u2019s trade war
<\/strong>The country, which has transformed into an industrial hub, is waiting for the 46% tariffs to hit. (Bloomberg<\/a> $)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

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8 AI is helping pharmacists to process prescriptions in the remote Amazon
<\/strong>Its success could lead to wider adoption in under-resourced countries. (Rest of World<\/a>)<\/p>\n

9 How to save an age-damaged oil painting ????
<\/strong>With a bit of AI-aided wizardry. (The Guardian<\/a>)
+ This artist collaborates with AI and robots. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

10 Gen Z is enchanted by the BlackBerry<\/strong>
QWERTY keyboards never truly die, apparently. (Fast Company<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

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

\u201cCancel your Chinese New Year holiday. Everybody stay in the company. Sleep in the office.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014Joe Tsai, Alibaba\u2019s chairman, recalls how the company\u2019s engineering leads worked through the Lunar New Year holiday in January to play catch up with rival DeepSeek, Bloomberg reports<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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One more thing<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/figure>\n
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Next slide, please: A brief history of the corporate presentation<\/strong>PowerPoint is everywhere. It\u2019s used in religious sermons; by schoolchildren preparing book reports; at funerals and weddings. In 2010, Microsoft announced that PowerPoint was installed on more than a billion computers worldwide.<\/p>\n

But before PowerPoint, 35-millimeter film slides were king. They were the only medium for the kinds of high-impact presentations given by CEOs and top brass at annual meetings for stockholders, employees, and salespeople.<\/p>\n

Known in the business as \u201cmulti-image\u201d shows, these presentations required a small army of producers, photographers, and live production staff to pull off. Read this story to delve into the fascinating, flashy history of corporate presentations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2014Claire L. Evans<\/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

+ Brian Wilson was a visionary who changed popular music forever. He will be dearly missed<\/a>.
+ Roman-era fast food<\/a> was something else.
+ This fossil skull of Nigersaurus<\/a> was one of the first dinosaur skulls to be digitally reconstructed from CT scans.
+ Parker Posey<\/a>, you will always be cool. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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

Plus: Midjourney is being sued by major movie studios 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. Are we ready to hand AI agents the keys? In recent months, a new class of agents has arrived on the scene: ones<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":855243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1999,24097,46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-855242","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-agents","8":"category-download","9":"category-technology"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855242","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=855242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}