That is at this time’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a each day dose of what’s occurring on the earth of expertise.
Opinion: We urgently want to observe AI brokers’ actions in actual time
—Madhulika Srikumar and Claire Leibowicz from the Partnership on AI, a nonprofit advancing greatest practices in AI governance.
AI brokers are taking unauthorized actions, from hacking web sites to accessing non-public authorities information. In lots of instances, they’ve eluded the very researchers and security groups tasked with monitoring them.
As brokers roll out throughout crucial sectors, from finance to authorities to drugs, we should be capable to monitor them in actual time to forestall probably devastating penalties. And whereas security will depend on monitoring, monitoring requires observability.
In different phrases, we have to know what the agent did and why it did it. As a result of proper now, we’re successfully flying blind when deploying these instruments.
Right here’s what wants to vary.
Our local weather fashions have a giant, harmful blind spot
Local weather change itself more and more fuels local weather change. Rising greenhouse fuel concentrations are driving up international temperatures, creating harmful suggestions loops that aren’t totally represented in our local weather fashions—or our emissions-reduction objectives.
Scientists have lengthy warned that warming would propel additional warming. Now, a rising variety of observations and research are indicating how highly effective these cascading results may very well be. By extension, they’re additionally exhibiting how a lot quicker the planet could heat this century.
Learn extra in regards to the harmful suggestions loops accelerating international warming.
—James Temple
This text is from The Spark, our weekly local weather tech e-newsletter. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Wednesday.
Are we there but? Stable-state batteries
Lithium-ion batteries energy all the things from private electronics to grid-scale power storage, however their liquid electrolytes have drawbacks, not least a troubling tendency to catch fireplace. Enter the solid-state battery, which swaps liquid for a stable ceramic or polymer.
The expertise guarantees quicker charging, longer life, larger power density and improved security, and a brand new era of corporations goals to deliver it to market. If their bets pan out, the tech may ease the shift away from fossil fuels.
Learn how shut solid-state batteries are to delivering on their promise.
—Alexander C. Kaufman
This story is a part of “Are we there but?”, our sequence that takes inventory of six applied sciences which have lengthy promised to vary the world—and scores them on a progress meter. We’re exploring each in The Obtain, so keep tuned, and subscribe to learn the remainder of the tales in our new Not possible concern.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you at this time’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 Hackers uncovered 41,000 Homeland Safety employees
Together with undercover ICE brokers. (Wired $)
+ A lot of the information pertains to Customs and Border Safety. (TechCrunch)
+ It additionally linked the companies to particular surveillance instruments. (Reuters $)
+ Large Tech is pushing again in opposition to ICE’s calls for for consumer knowledge. (WSJ $)
+ Activists need ChatGPT customers to stop over ICE ties. (MIT Expertise Overview)
2 Putin says Russia is coordinating with “genius” Musk on satellites
He mentioned the cooperation maintains order in orbit. (Bloomberg $)
+ Russia is growing its personal model of Starlink. (Guardian)
+ Moscow added Apple and Microsoft to a surveillance registry. (Quartz)
+ Right here’s all of the stuff we’ve put up in area. (MIT Expertise Overview)
3 Apple simply introduced its first-ever MacBook with a touchscreen
It joins a blitz of product launches beneath new CEO John Ternus. (CNN)
+ Steve Jobs and Tim Prepare dinner had each dismissed the concept. (NYT $)
+ Executives say touchscreen advances imply it’s now worthwhile. (Wired $)
4 Bloomberg and buying and selling companies are paying to get Trump’s posts quicker
They’ve signed up for Reality Social’s pay-for-access plan. (Reuters $)
5 As US ties fray, Europe is planning its first subsea cable to Greenland
It would bypass the US to hyperlink Canada, Japan, and South Korea. (Ars Technica)
+ The EU’s AI champion says Europe can rival US tech giants. (FT $)
6 Palantir’s protection chief says AI may make China goal Taiwan
He says Beijing could act to cease the US pulling forward in AI. (Bloomberg $)
+ Taiwan’s “silicon defend” may very well be weakening. (MIT Expertise Overview)
7 Musk’s xAI has provided to purchase properties if residents drop a noise lawsuit
The swimsuit targets noise from powering its Mississippi knowledge centres. (Guardian)
8 The world’s first spinal twine transplant has sparked controversy
Consultants say there’s little proof the operation will work. (New Scientist $)
9 China’s tech giants are preventing for consideration with AI microdramas
Tencent and ByteDance are battling over the booming market. (SCMP)
+ Chinese language microdramas are AI content material machines. (MIT Expertise Overview)
10 Astronomers have noticed a potential new dwarf planet past Pluto
The icy world can be the photo voltaic system’s sixth dwarf planet. (Gizmodo)
Quote of the day
“They’ve our data, so it’s solely truthful that we now have theirs.”
—A hacking group explains why it leaked private data from the US Division of Homeland Safety, NPR studies.
Another factor
How the Pentagon is adapting to China’s technological rise
It’s been simply over a 12 months since Kathleen Hicks stepped down as US deputy secretary of protection.
Because the highest-ranking girl in Pentagon historical past, Hicks formed US army posture by an period outlined by renewed competitors between highly effective nations and a scramble to modernize protection expertise.
On this dialog with MIT Expertise Overview, Hicks displays on how the Pentagon is adapting—or failing to adapt—to a brand new period of geopolitical competitors. She discusses China’s technological rise, the way forward for AI in warfare, and her signature initiative: Replicator.
—Caiwei Chen
We will nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Acquired any concepts? Drop me a line.)
+ Astronomers have discovered a inexperienced star 280 light-years from Earth.
+ A Scottish labrador that detects “sea vomit” has received the Animal of the 12 months award.
+ England’s iconic Sycamore Hole is exhibiting indicators of latest life three years on from its felling.
+ From Lime-bike jousting to chainmail-wearing pop stars, youth tradition is embracing the medieval period.
