That is at present’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a each day dose of what’s occurring on the earth of expertise.
OpenAI’s new protection contract completes its navy pivot
At the beginning of 2024, OpenAI’s guidelines for the way armed forces would possibly use its AI fashions had been unambiguous: it prohibited anybody from utilizing them for “weapons growth” or “navy and warfare”.
It has slowly softened these restrictions over the course of this 12 months, and now, OpenAI has introduced that its expertise shall be deployed straight on the battlefield.
The corporate is partnering with the defense-tech firm Anduril, a maker of AI-powered drones, radar techniques, and missiles, to assist US and allied forces defend towards drone assaults. Learn our story to know how, and why, this pivot unfolded.
—James O’Donnell
Would you eat dried microbes? This firm hopes so.
What’s new: An organization finest recognized for sucking up industrial waste gases is popping its consideration to meals. LanzaTech, a rising star within the gas and chemical industries, is becoming a member of a rising group of companies producing microbe-based meals as an alternative choice to plant and animal merchandise.
Why it issues: The worldwide meals system is answerable for roughly 25% to 35% of all human-caused greenhouse gasoline emissions at present, and far of that comes from animal agriculture. Various meals sources may assist feed the world whereas reducing local weather air pollution. Learn the complete story.
—Casey Crownhart
To learn extra concerning the potential optimistic results of different meat on the local weather, take a look at the newest version of The Spark, our weekly local weather and vitality e-newsletter. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Wednesday.
Google DeepMind’s new AI mannequin is one of the best but at climate forecasting
Google DeepMind has unveiled an AI mannequin that’s higher at predicting the climate than the present finest techniques.
The brand new mannequin, dubbed GenCast, is the second AI climate mannequin that Google has launched in simply the previous few months. In July, it printed particulars of NeuralGCM, a mannequin that mixed AI with physics-based strategies like these utilized in present forecasting instruments. That mannequin carried out equally to standard strategies however used much less computing energy.
GenCast is completely different, because it depends on AI strategies alone. It really works form of like ChatGPT, however as a substitute of predicting the subsequent probably phrase in a sentence, it produces the subsequent probably climate situation. However whereas its outcomes are spectacular, that doesn’t imply the top of standard meteorology as a subject. Learn the complete story.
—Scott J Mulligan
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you at present’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 Donald Trump has appointed a billionaire astronaut to go up NASA
Jarad Isaacman has been into house twice, and was the primary non-public citizen to hold out a spacewalk. (CBS Information)
+ Unsurprisingly, he’s additionally a detailed affiliate of Elon Musk. (Quick Firm $)
+ Will the appointment make Musk extra amenable to NASA? (Economist $)
2 The value of a single bitcoin has handed $100,000
It’s a exceptional milestone for the famously risky cryptocurrency. (NYT $)
+ The business’s devoted hope Donald Trump will move crypto-friendly legal guidelines. (The Guardian)
+ Congrats, traders. What comes subsequent, although? (FT $)
3 Humane isn’t giving up on its AI pin
Regardless of few gross sales, it needs to embed the gadget in your telephone and automotive. (The Verge)+ The pin made a particular look in our inaugural AI Hype Index. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
4 Amazon deliveries are slower to reach in low-income zip codes
Regardless of the DC residents paying for a similar Prime program as their richer neighbors. (WP $)
+ A lawsuit claims Amazon coated up the true cause for the delays. (Ars Technica)
5 Regulation enforcement has busted two main crypto laundering networks
Criminals swapped large sums of money for crypto throughout crime networks. (Wired $)
+ Over in Dubai, crypto scams are operating rampant. (Bloomberg $)
6 The place all of it went improper for the world’s greatest offshore wind firm
Ørsted was using excessive on the clear vitality wave—till it wasn’t. (FT $)
+ The UK is failing spectacularly to harness wind energy correctly. (Bloomberg $)
+ What’s subsequent for offshore wind. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
7 OnlyFans has quietly launched in China
Though pornography stays unlawful within the nation. (CNN)
+ Chinese language avid gamers are utilizing a Steam wallpaper app to get porn previous the censors. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
8 We’re getting near fixing a significant thriller of the universe
Its greatest galaxies could have been fashioned by ‘cosmic collisions.’ (The Guardian)
+ The galaxy which used to seem like a sombrero…doesn’t any extra. (CNN)
9 This winged drone can hop and leap
Making it look a complete lot like a robotic chicken. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ What’s subsequent for drones. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
10 Why X had a meltdown over a girl’s PhD thesis
Go outdoors and contact some grass, all of you. (Vox)
Quote of the day
“We by no means doubted. We by no means wavered. And we are going to by no means cease constructing.”
—Kris Marszalek, chief government of alternate Crypto.com, celebrates bitcoin’s colossal surge to a $100,000 valuation for a single coin in a put up on X.
The large story
What the long run holds for these born at present
August 2024
Completely happy birthday, child.
You’ve been born into an period of clever machines. They’ve watched over you virtually since your conception. They let your dad and mom pay attention to your tiny heartbeat, observe your gestation on an app, and put up your sonogram on social media. Nicely earlier than you had been born, you had been recognized to the algorithm.
Your arrival coincided with the a hundred and twenty fifth anniversary of this journal. Expectantly and the appropriate genes, you would possibly see the subsequent 125 years. How will you and the subsequent technology of machines develop up collectively? We requested greater than a dozen consultants to think about your future. Learn what they prophesied.
—Kara Platoni
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Bought any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ If you’d like one of the best pizza the world has to supply, it is best to head to Jersey Metropolis (apparently)
+ Considering of gifting one thing that’s been beforehand owned this Christmas? Be sure to conduct these important checks.
+ What science can inform us about the right way to fight bullying.
+ Uhoh—honey fraud is on the rise! 
