{"id":863282,"date":"2025-07-18T07:11:53","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T12:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/18\/the-download-three-person-babies-and-tracking-ai-readiness-in-the-us\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T07:11:53","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T12:11:53","slug":"the-download-three-person-babies-and-tracking-ai-readiness-in-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/18\/the-download-three-person-babies-and-tracking-ai-readiness-in-the-us\/","title":{"rendered":"The Download: three-person babies, and tracking \u201cAI readiness\u201d in the US"},"content":{"rendered":"
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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

Researchers announce babies born from a trial of three-person IVF<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Eight babies have been born in the UK thanks to a technology that uses DNA from three people: the two biological parents plus a third person who supplies healthy mitochondrial DNA. The babies were born to mothers who carry genes for mitochondrial diseases and risked passing on severe disorders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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In the team\u2019s approach, patients\u2019 eggs are fertilized with sperm, and the DNA-containing nuclei of those cells are transferred into donated fertilized eggs that have had their own nuclei removed. The new embryos contain the DNA of the intended parents along with a tiny fraction of mitochondrial DNA from the donor, floating in the embryos\u2019 cytoplasm.<\/p>\n

The study, which makes use of a technology called mitochondrial donation, has been described as a \u201ctour de force\u201d and \u201ca remarkable accomplishment\u201d by others in the field. But not everyone sees the trial as a resounding success. Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2014Jessica Hamzelou<\/em><\/p>\n

These four charts show where AI companies could go next in the US<\/strong><\/p>\n

No one knows exactly how AI will transform our communities, workplaces, and society as a whole. Because it\u2019s hard to predict the impact AI will have on jobs, many workers and local governments are left trying to read the tea leaves to understand how to prepare and adapt.<\/p>\n

A new interactive report released by the Brookings Institution attempts to map how embedded AI companies and jobs are in different regions of the United States in order to prescribe policy treatments to those struggling to keep up. Here are four charts to help understand the issues<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Peter Hall<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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In defense of air-conditioning<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

I\u2019ll admit that I\u2019ve rarely hesitated to point an accusing finger at air-conditioning. I\u2019ve outlined in many stories and newsletters that AC is a significant contributor to global electricity demand, and it\u2019s only going to suck up more power as temperatures rise.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ll also be the first to admit that it can be a life-saving technology, one that may become even more necessary as climate change intensifies. And in the wake of Europe\u2019s recent deadly heat wave, it\u2019s been oddly villainized. Read our story to learn more<\/a>.<\/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

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

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

1 Donald Trump is cracking down on \u201cdangerous science\u201d
<\/strong>But the scientists affected argue their work is essential to developing new treatments. (WP<\/a> $)
+ How MAHA is infiltrating states across the US. <\/em>(The Atlantic<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

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2 The US Senate has approved Trump\u2019s request to cancel foreign aid\u00a0<\/strong>
The White House is determined to reclaim around $8 billion worth of overseas aid. (NYT<\/a> $)
+ The bill also allocates around $1.1 billion to public broadcasting. <\/em>(WP<\/a> $)
+ HIV could infect 1,400 infants every day because of US aid disruptions. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

3 American air strikes only destroyed one Iranian nuclear site\u00a0<\/strong>
The remaining two sites weren\u2019t damaged that badly, and could resume operation within months. (NBC News<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

4 The US is poised to ban Chinese technology in submarine cables<\/strong>
The cables are critical to internet connectivity across the world. (FT<\/a> $)
+ The cables are at increasing risk of sabotage. <\/em>(Bloomberg<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

5 The US measles outbreak is worsening
<\/strong>Health officials\u2019 tactics for attempting to contain it aren\u2019t working. (Wired<\/a> $)
+ Vaccine hesitancy is growing, too. <\/em>(The Atlantic<\/a> $)
+ Why childhood vaccines are a public health success story. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

6 A new supercomputer is coming<\/strong>
The Nexus machine will search for new cures for diseases. (Semafor<\/a>)<\/p>\n

7 Elon Musk has teased a Grok AI companion inspired by Twilight<\/p>\n

<\/strong>
No really, you shouldn\u2019t have\u2026 (The Verge<\/a>)
+ Inside the Wild West of AI companionship. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

8 Future farms could be fully autonomous ????<\/strong>
Featuring AI-powered tractors and drone surveillance. (WSJ<\/a> $)
+ African farmers are using private satellite data to improve crop yields. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

9 Granola is Silicon Valley\u2019s favorite new tool
<\/strong>No, not the tasty breakfast treat. (The Information<\/a> $)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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10 WeTransfer isn\u2019t going to train its AI on our files after all<\/strong>
After customers reacted angrily on social media. (BBC<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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

\u201cHe\u2019s doing the exact opposite of everything I voted for.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014Andrew Schulz, a comedian and podcaster who interviewed Donald Trump last year, explains why he\u2019s starting to lose faith in the President to Wired<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

<\/a><\/figure>\n
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The open-source AI boom is built on Big Tech\u2019s handouts. How long will it last?<\/strong>In May 2023 a leaked memo reported to have been written by Luke Sernau, a senior engineer at Google, said out loud what many in Silicon Valley must have been whispering for weeks: an open-source free-for-all is threatening Big Tech\u2019s grip on AI.<\/p>\n

In many ways, that\u2019s a good thing. AI won’t thrive if just a few mega-rich companies get to gatekeep this technology or decide how it is used. But this open-source boom is precarious, and if Big Tech decides to shut up shop, a boomtown could become a backwater. Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Deep Dive<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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The Download<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Stay connected<\/h3>\n
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Illustration by Rose Wong<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review<\/h2>\n

Discover special offers, top stories,
\n upcoming events, and more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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

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. Researchers announce babies born from a trial of three-person IVF Eight babies have been born in the UK thanks to a technology that uses DNA from three people: the two biological parents<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":863283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24097,46,145360],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-863282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-download","category-technology","category-three-person"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863282","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=863282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}