This edition examines the growing market for data from failed startups, the challenge of decoding animal communication, and the engineering and political obstacles to building a city on the Moon. It also rounds up major technology, climate, cybersecurity and science stories, from disrupted election systems and rising greenhouse-gas levels to AI agents running businesses and new research into consciousness.
This is today’s edition of The Download, a weekday newsletter bringing you a daily dose of what’s happening in technology.
AI labs are buying data from defunct startups to train models
When Kieran Miskell began winding down his crypto startup, he did not think its data was particularly valuable. But he eventually sold the company’s codebase and workspace data, turning its digital archive into tens of thousands of dollars.
Miskell is part of a growing market in which companies that help startups shut down sell their data to AI labs. Demand is rising as training labs reach the limits of public and synthetic datasets. Buyers are looking for real-world records that can help train AI agents, but the practice raises legal and ethical questions.
Read the full story about the AI Institute’s purchase of data from failed startups.
—Matthew King
How close are we to interspecies communication?
Humans are not the only species with the gift of gab. Our furry, feathered and finned relatives may have a great deal to tell us.
Deciphering how animals communicate could reveal more about the inner lives of other species and offer a window into how humans understand the world. The spread of recording devices and advances in AI have made it easier to study animal howls, squeaks and clicks, but interpreting those signals remains difficult.
Find out how close we are to interspecies communication.
—Cassandra Willard
This story is part of “Have You Arrived Yet?”, a series examining six technologies that have long promised to change the world. We are currently investigating each feature, so please look forward to more. Subscribe to read the rest of our stories, including Among Us and New Impossible Problem.
What will it take to build a city on the Moon?
The United States and China are competing to build bases on the Moon, while NASA hopes to establish a small lunar city by the end of the century. But the Moon is an extremely hostile place to set up a permanent settlement.
A large lunar base would need to protect its inhabitants from falling asteroids, cosmic radiation, razor-sharp lunar dust and extreme temperature fluctuations. It would also need a degree of independence.
That would require autonomous robots, nuclear power and a way to keep the base operating with resources gathered from the Moon. The biggest obstacle, however, may be political will.
MIT Technology Review Narrated is a weekly podcast featuring narrated stories from MIT Technology Review. Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and follow the show on your preferred platform to receive new episodes.
Must-read content
We scoured the internet for entertaining, important, alarming and fascinating stories about technology today.
Hackers disrupted the U.S. Federal Election Commission website
The FEC filing system went offline a week before the midterm elections. (Reuters $)
This attack hides spending data during the most expensive midterm elections ever. (Gizmodo)
Social media platforms are struggling to contain AI-powered election lies. (The Guardian)
Software flaws in U.S. voting machines threaten election security. (Axios)
A blueprint for using AI to strengthen democracy. (MIT Technology Review)
Starlink regulations prompt U.S. allies to reconsider their dependencies
Restrictions in Ukraine have surprised officials across Europe. (Bloomberg $)
European companies were also given new offers for rival services. (Axios)
An Israeli spy firm allegedly targeted Starlink users. (Reuters $)
Stratospheric internet could become popular this year. (MIT Technology Review)
Greenhouse-gas levels continue to set records around the world
Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide levels are all increasing. (New Scientist $)
Trump is making it easier for fossil-fuel companies to leak methane. (The Verge)
The IPCC is fighting for survival. (Nature)
How to study rapidly melting climate disasters. (MIT Technology Review)
Monkey brains reveal new clues about consciousness
Neural activity in monkeys encodes images that do not reach conscious awareness. (Nature)
The possibility that bees have feelings is also changing how we think about consciousness. (New Scientist $)
The debate over AI consciousness is a trap. (MIT Technology Review)
Chinese scientists develop a catalyst to make Mars rocket fuel
Five Chinese scientists developed a catalyst that converts carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere into liquid methanol. (South China Morning Post)
Tech billionaires unite against California’s wealth tax
Sergey Brin, Eric Schmidt and others funded a major campaign opposing the tax. (The New York Times $)
Delaware plans to let AI agents run entire businesses
The proposal could allow owners to avoid liability for harm caused by those businesses. (Ars Technica)
A better web for AI agents could harm humans. (MIT Technology Review)
Palmer Luckey announces plans for U.S.-made military laptops
Anduril plans to use Qualcomm chips to manufacture rugged computers in Ohio. (The Wall Street Journal $)
Generation Z is moving away from the social media it grew up with
Young people are fueling a boom in digital-detox tools. (The Guardian)
President Trump wants to ban the term “artificial intelligence”
He is calling for everyone to use the term “superintelligence” instead. (Gizmodo)
Quote of the day
“For the next two years, on average, every week we will have a significant vulnerability across the Internet.”
—Matthew Prince, CEO, Cloudflare, speaking to The New York Times about how AI is now finding software vulnerabilities faster than patches can be applied.
One more thing
Inside the controversial tree farm behind Apple’s carbon-neutrality goals
In 2020, Apple set a goal of reaching net-zero emissions by the end of the decade. To help achieve it, the company is offsetting its emissions by planting millions of eucalyptus trees in Brazil.
Apple is betting that the strategy will contribute to a greener future, but critics warn that industrial tree farms can do more harm than good.
Here is why the plan has sparked a backlash.
—Gregory Barber
We still have good things
A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten your day. Any ideas? Please contact me.
+ Ugly shoes are becoming mainstream.
+ Scientists created an amazing new simulation of the early universe.
+ Guitarist Kent Nishimura brings “Thriller” back to its original form in a captivating acoustic performance.
+ A photographer who documented punks and mods in 1980 tracked them down for a touching reunion 46 years later.
Source: www.technologyreview.com
