The Download: introducing the Creativity issue

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The Download: introducing the Creativity issue

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Introducing: the Creativity issue The university computer lab may seem like an unlikely center for creativity. We tend to think of creativity as happening more in the artist’s studio or writers’ workshop. But throughout history, very often our greatest creative leaps—and I would argue that the web and its descendants represent one such leap—have been due to advances in technology. But the key to artistic achievement has never been the technology itself. It has been the way artists have applied it to express our humanity.This latest issue of our magazine, which was entirely produced by human beings using computers, explores creativity and the tension between the artist and technology. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed putting it together. —Mat Honan, editor in chief Here’s just a taste of what you can expect: + AI is warping our expectations of music. New diffusion AI models that make songs from scratch are complicating our definitions of authorship and human creativity. Read the full story.+ Meet the researchers testing the “Armageddon” approach to asteroid defense. Read the full story. + How the federal government is tracking changes in the supply of street drugs. A new harm reduction initiative is helping prevent needless deaths. Read the full story.+ How AI is ushering in a new era of co-creativity, laying the groundwork for a future in which humans and machines create things together. Read the full story. + South Korea’s graphic artists are divided over whether AI will immortalize their work or threaten their creativity. + A new biosensor can detect bird flu in just five minutes. Read the full story. MIT Technology Review Narrated: Quantum computing is taking on its biggest challenge—noise For a while researchers thought they’d have to make do with noisy, error-prone systems, at least in the near term. That’s starting to change.This is our latest story to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we’re publishing each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released. Join us today to chat about brain-computer interfaces Brain-computer interfaces are electrodes implanted into the brain to send neural commands to computers, primarily to assist paralyzed people, and our readers recently named them as the 11th Breakthrough Technology of 2025 in our annual list. So what are the next steps for companies like Neuralink, Synchron, and Neuracle? And will they be able to help paralyzed people at scale?Join our editor at large David Rotman and senior editor for biomedicine Antonio Regalado today for an exclusive subscriber-only Roundtable discussion exploring the past, present, and future of brain-computer interfaces. Register here to tune in at 1pm ET this afternoon! The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 OpenAI is interested in buying Chrome from Google ChatGPT’s head of product Nick Turley said folding its tech into Chrome would improve it greatly. (Bloomberg $)+ It would be just one of many prospective buyers. (Insider $)+ Turley would also be happy with a distribution deal with Google. (The Information $) 2 Instagram’s founder says Meta starved it of resourcesKevin Systrom believes Mark Zuckerberg saw the app as a threat to Facebook. (NYT $)+ It sounds as if the pair had a strained relationship. (The Verge) 3 Elon Musk will step back from DOGE next month In his absence, Tesla’s profits have plummeted. (WP $)+ But he’ll still spend a day or so a week working on US government matters. (CNBC)+ There’s no denying that his political activities have damaged Tesla’s brand. (WSJ $)+ DOGE’s tech takeover threatens the safety and stability of our critical data. (MIT Technology Review) 4 Chinese scientists and students are under scrutiny in the USIt’s a repeat of the China Initiative program launched under Trump’s first Presidency. (WSJ $)+ US universities are starting to push back against government overreach. (Ars Technica)+ The FBI accused him of spying for China. It ruined his life. (MIT Technology Review) 5 Rare earth elements aren’t so rare after allWhich is bad news for China. (Wired $)+ But China’s export curbs are harming Tesla’s Optimus robot production. (Reuters)+ This rare earth metal shows us the future of our planet’s resources. (MIT Technology Review) 6 How to wean yourself off fossil fuelsMassive home batteries are an intriguing energy alternative. (Vox) 7 A new mission to grow food in space has blasted offScientists are investigating creating food from single cells in orbit. (BBC)+ Future space food could be made from astronaut breath. (MIT Technology Review) 8 It’s time to bid farewell to SkypeRIP to the OG video calling platform. (Rest of World) 9 Analysts are using AI to psychologically profile top soccer players ⚽And also to spot bright young talent. (The Guardian) 10 Saving the world’s seeds is a tricky business 🌱They’re the first line of defense against extinction. (Knowable Magazine)+ The weeds are winning. (MIT Technology Review) Quote of the day “Stuffing Chrome with even more AI crap is one way to spur browser innovation, I guess.” —Tech critic Paris Marx isn’t convinced that OpenAI buying Chrome would improve it, in a post on Bluesky. The big story How gamification took over the worldIt’s a thought that occurs to every video-game player at some point: What if the weird, hyper-focused state I enter when playing in virtual worlds could somehow be applied to the real one?Often pondered during especially challenging or tedious tasks in meatspace (writing essays, say, or doing your taxes), it’s an eminently reasonable question to ask. Life, after all, is hard. And while video games are too, there’s something almost magical about the way they can promote sustained bouts of superhuman concentration and resolve.For some, this phenomenon leads to an interest in flow states and immersion. For others, it’s simply a reason to play more games. For a handful of consultants, startup gurus, and game designers in the late 2000s, it became the key to unlocking our true human potential. But instead of liberating us, gamification turned out to be just another tool for coercion, distraction, and control. Read the full story. —Bryan Gardiner We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.) + Succession creator Jesse Armstrong’s new film Mountainhead looks intriguing.+ Domestic cats have a much more complicated history than we previously realized.+ If you enjoyed the new vampire flick Sinners, you’ll love these Indian folk horrors.+ This hispi cabbage side dish looks incredible.

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

Introducing: the Creativity issue

The university computer lab may seem like an unlikely center for creativity. We tend to think of creativity as happening more in the artist’s studio or writers’ workshop. But throughout history, very often our greatest creative leaps—and I would argue that the web and its descendants represent one such leap—have been due to advances in technology.

But the key to artistic achievement has never been the technology itself. It has been the way artists have applied it to express our humanity.

This latest issue of our magazine, which was entirely produced by human beings using computers, explores creativity and the tension between the artist and technology. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed putting it together.

—Mat Honan, editor in chief

Here’s just a taste of what you can expect:

+ AI is warping our expectations of music. New diffusion AI models that make songs from scratch are complicating our definitions of authorship and human creativity. Read the full story.

+ Meet the researchers testing the “Armageddon” approach to asteroid defense. Read the full story.

+ How the federal government is tracking changes in the supply of street drugs. A new harm reduction initiative is helping prevent needless deaths. Read the full story.

+ How AI is ushering in a new era of co-creativity, laying the groundwork for a future in which humans and machines create things together. Read the full story.

+ South Korea’s graphic artists are divided over whether AI will immortalize their work or threaten their creativity.

+ A new biosensor can detect bird flu in just five minutes. Read the full story.

MIT Technology Review Narrated: Quantum computing is taking on its biggest challenge—noise

For a while researchers thought they’d have to make do with noisy, error-prone systems, at least in the near term. That’s starting to change.

This is our latest story to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we’re publishing each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.

Join us today to chat about brain-computer interfaces

Brain-computer interfaces are electrodes implanted into the brain to send neural commands to computers, primarily to assist paralyzed people, and our readers recently named them as the 11th Breakthrough Technology of 2025 in our annual list. So what are the next steps for companies like Neuralink, Synchron, and Neuracle? And will they be able to help paralyzed people at scale?

Join our editor at large David Rotman and senior editor for biomedicine Antonio Regalado today for an exclusive subscriber-only Roundtable discussion exploring the past, present, and future of brain-computer interfaces. Register here to tune in at 1pm ET this afternoon!

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 OpenAI is interested in buying Chrome from Google
ChatGPT’s head of product Nick Turley said folding its tech into Chrome would improve it greatly. (Bloomberg $)
+ It would be just one of many prospective buyers. (Insider $)
+ Turley would also be happy with a distribution deal with Google. (The Information $)

2 Instagram’s founder says Meta starved it of resources
Kevin Systrom believes Mark Zuckerberg saw the app as a threat to Facebook. (NYT $)
+ It sounds as if the pair had a strained relationship. (The Verge)

3 Elon Musk will step back from DOGE next month
In his absence, Tesla’s profits have plummeted. (WP $)
+ But he’ll still spend a day or so a week working on US government matters. (CNBC)
+ There’s no denying that his political activities have damaged Tesla’s brand. (WSJ $)
+ DOGE’s tech takeover threatens the safety and stability of our critical data. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Chinese scientists and students are under scrutiny in the US
It’s a repeat of the China Initiative program launched under Trump’s first Presidency. (WSJ $)
+ US universities are starting to push back against government overreach. (Ars Technica)
+ The FBI accused him of spying for China. It ruined his life. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Rare earth elements aren’t so rare after all
Which is bad news for China. (Wired $)
+ But China’s export curbs are harming Tesla’s Optimus robot production. (Reuters)
+ This rare earth metal shows us the future of our planet’s resources. (MIT Technology Review)

6 How to wean yourself off fossil fuels
Massive home batteries are an intriguing energy alternative. (Vox)

7 A new mission to grow food in space has blasted off
Scientists are investigating creating food from single cells in orbit. (BBC)
+ Future space food could be made from astronaut breath. (MIT Technology Review)

8 It’s time to bid farewell to Skype
RIP to the OG video calling platform. (Rest of World)

9 Analysts are using AI to psychologically profile top soccer players ⚽
And also to spot bright young talent. (The Guardian)

10 Saving the world’s seeds is a tricky business 🌱
They’re the first line of defense against extinction. (Knowable Magazine)
+ The weeds are winning. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“Stuffing Chrome with even more AI crap is one way to spur browser innovation, I guess.”

—Tech critic Paris Marx isn’t convinced that OpenAI buying Chrome would improve it, in a post on Bluesky.

The big story

How gamification took over the world

It’s a thought that occurs to every video-game player at some point: What if the weird, hyper-focused state I enter when playing in virtual worlds could somehow be applied to the real one?

Often pondered during especially challenging or tedious tasks in meatspace (writing essays, say, or doing your taxes), it’s an eminently reasonable question to ask. Life, after all, is hard. And while video games are too, there’s something almost magical about the way they can promote sustained bouts of superhuman concentration and resolve.

For some, this phenomenon leads to an interest in flow states and immersion. For others, it’s simply a reason to play more games. For a handful of consultants, startup gurus, and game designers in the late 2000s, it became the key to unlocking our true human potential. But instead of liberating us, gamification turned out to be just another tool for coercion, distraction, and control. Read the full story.

—Bryan Gardiner

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)

+ Succession creator Jesse Armstrong’s new film Mountainhead looks intriguing.
+ Domestic cats have a much more complicated history than we previously realized.
+ If you enjoyed the new vampire flick Sinners, you’ll love these Indian folk horrors.
+ This hispi cabbage side dish looks incredible.

Stay Ahead

Explore More Insights

Stay ahead with more perspectives on cutting-edge power, infrastructure, energy, bitcoin and AI solutions. Explore these articles to uncover strategies and insights shaping the future of industries.

18 essential commands for new Linux users

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CIOs highlight negotiation opportunities as AWS and Google lower cloud costs

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Halliburton Q1 Profit Down 24 Percent YoY

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Energy UK urges Labour government to ‘unleash the potential of nuclear energy’

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How Much Oil is the USA Producing Right Now?

CIOs could improve sustainability with data center purchasing decisions — but don’t

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Copper-to-optics technology eyed for next-gen AI networking gear

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Pennsylvania’s Homer City Energy Campus: A Brownfield Transformed for Data Center Innovation

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John Deere unveils more autonomous farm machines to address skill labor shortage

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Self-driving tractors might be the path to self-driving cars. John Deere has revealed a new line of autonomous machines and tech across agriculture, construction and commercial landscaping. The Moline, Illinois-based John Deere has been in business for 187 years, yet it’s been a regular as a non-tech company showing off technology at the big tech trade show in Las Vegas and is back at CES 2025 with more autonomous tractors and other vehicles. This is not something we usually cover, but John Deere has a lot of data that is interesting in the big picture of tech. The message from the company is that there aren’t enough skilled farm laborers to do the work that its customers need. It’s been a challenge for most of the last two decades, said Jahmy Hindman, CTO at John Deere, in a briefing. Much of the tech will come this fall and after that. He noted that the average farmer in the U.S. is over 58 and works 12 to 18 hours a day to grow food for us. And he said the American Farm Bureau Federation estimates there are roughly 2.4 million farm jobs that need to be filled annually; and the agricultural work force continues to shrink. (This is my hint to the anti-immigration crowd). John Deere’s autonomous 9RX Tractor. Farmers can oversee it using an app. While each of these industries experiences their own set of challenges, a commonality across all is skilled labor availability. In construction, about 80% percent of contractors struggle to find skilled labor. And in commercial landscaping, 86% of landscaping business owners can’t find labor to fill open positions, he said. “They have to figure out how to do

2025 playbook for enterprise AI success, from agents to evals

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More 2025 is poised to be a pivotal year for enterprise AI. The past year has seen rapid innovation, and this year will see the same. This has made it more critical than ever to revisit your AI strategy to stay competitive and create value for your customers. From scaling AI agents to optimizing costs, here are the five critical areas enterprises should prioritize for their AI strategy this year. 1. Agents: the next generation of automation AI agents are no longer theoretical. In 2025, they’re indispensable tools for enterprises looking to streamline operations and enhance customer interactions. Unlike traditional software, agents powered by large language models (LLMs) can make nuanced decisions, navigate complex multi-step tasks, and integrate seamlessly with tools and APIs. At the start of 2024, agents were not ready for prime time, making frustrating mistakes like hallucinating URLs. They started getting better as frontier large language models themselves improved. “Let me put it this way,” said Sam Witteveen, cofounder of Red Dragon, a company that develops agents for companies, and that recently reviewed the 48 agents it built last year. “Interestingly, the ones that we built at the start of the year, a lot of those worked way better at the end of the year just because the models got better.” Witteveen shared this in the video podcast we filmed to discuss these five big trends in detail. Models are getting better and hallucinating less, and they’re also being trained to do agentic tasks. Another feature that the model providers are researching is a way to use the LLM as a judge, and as models get cheaper (something we’ll cover below), companies can use three or more models to

OpenAI’s red teaming innovations define new essentials for security leaders in the AI era

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More OpenAI has taken a more aggressive approach to red teaming than its AI competitors, demonstrating its security teams’ advanced capabilities in two areas: multi-step reinforcement and external red teaming. OpenAI recently released two papers that set a new competitive standard for improving the quality, reliability and safety of AI models in these two techniques and more. The first paper, “OpenAI’s Approach to External Red Teaming for AI Models and Systems,” reports that specialized teams outside the company have proven effective in uncovering vulnerabilities that might otherwise have made it into a released model because in-house testing techniques may have missed them. In the second paper, “Diverse and Effective Red Teaming with Auto-Generated Rewards and Multi-Step Reinforcement Learning,” OpenAI introduces an automated framework that relies on iterative reinforcement learning to generate a broad spectrum of novel, wide-ranging attacks. Going all-in on red teaming pays practical, competitive dividends It’s encouraging to see competitive intensity in red teaming growing among AI companies. When Anthropic released its AI red team guidelines in June of last year, it joined AI providers including Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, and even the U.S.’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which all had released red teaming frameworks. Investing heavily in red teaming yields tangible benefits for security leaders in any organization. OpenAI’s paper on external red teaming provides a detailed analysis of how the company strives to create specialized external teams that include cybersecurity and subject matter experts. The goal is to see if knowledgeable external teams can defeat models’ security perimeters and find gaps in their security, biases and controls that prompt-based testing couldn’t find. What makes OpenAI’s recent papers noteworthy is how well they define using human-in-the-middle

$42.1 million poured into startup offering energy-efficient solutions for costly and unwieldy operational data and AI workloads

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Hyperscale data warehouse vendor Ocient announced

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