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.
PsiQuantum plans to build the biggest quantum computing facility in the US
Quantum computing firm PsiQuantum is partnering with universities and a national lab to build the largest US-based quantum computing facility in Chicago, the company has announced. The firm says it will house a quantum computer containing up to one million quantum bits, or qubits, within the next 10 years. At the moment, the largest quantum computers have around 1000 qubits.
But significant hurdles lie ahead. Building the infrastructure for this facility, particularly for the cooling system, will be the slowest and most expensive aspect of the construction. And when the facility is finally constructed, there will need to be improvements in the quantum algorithms run on the computers, as existing ones are too expensive and resource-intensive. Read the full story.
—Sarah Ward
AI trained on AI garbage spits out AI garbage
What’s new: AI models work by training on huge swaths of data from the internet. But as AI is increasingly being used to pump out web pages filled with junk content, that process is in danger of being undermined. New research shows that the quality of the model’s output gradually degrades when AI trains on AI-generated data. As subsequent models produce output that is then used as training data for future models, the effect gets worse.
Why it matters: This research may have serious implications for the largest AI models of today, because they use the internet as their database. And the problem is likely to get worse as an increasing number of AI-generated junk websites start cluttering up the internet. Read the full story.
—Scott J Mulligan
The race to clean up heavy-duty trucks
Truckers have to transport massive loads long distances, every single day, under intense time pressure—and they rely on the semi-trucks they drive to get the job done. Their diesel engines spew not only greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, but also nitrogen oxide, which can be extremely harmful for human health.
Cleaning up trucking presents a massive challenge. That’s why some companies are trying to ease the industry into change. Startup Range Energy is adding batteries to the trailers of semi-trucks. If the electrified trailers are attached to diesel trucks, they can improve the fuel economy. If they’re added to zero-emissions vehicles powered by batteries or hydrogen, they could boost range and efficiency.
Here’s what our climate reporter Casey Crownhart has learned about what’s holding back progress in trucking and how experts are thinking about a few different technologies that could help.
This story is from The Spark, our weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things climate and energy. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.
Introducing: MIT Technology Review Narrated
Every week at MIT Technology Review, we produce deeply reported analysis, breaking news, and beautifully crafted long-form stories that you can read on our website and in our app.
But we know you don’t always have time to sit down and read everything you want to each day—life just gets in the way. That’s why we’re launching MIT Technology Review Narrated: a place for you to download some of our best stories as podcast episodes you can listen to anytime, whatever you’re doing.
In partnership with News Over Audio, we’ll be making a selection of our stories available, each one read by a professional voice actor. You’ll be able to listen to them on the go or download them to listen to offline.
We’ll be publishing a new story each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, including some taken from our most recent print magazine.
Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.
CRISPR Babies: Six years later
Today at 12.30pm ET, subscribers can join our editor in chief Mat Honan and senior editor for biomedicine Antonio Regalado for “CRISPR Babies: Six years later”: a live virtual interview with He Jiankui, the Chinese biophysicist whose team created the first gene-edited humans.
Although he served a prison term, he has not given up on his idea that changing genes in an embryo could create people resistant to common diseases, such as Alzheimer’s. Register to attend here. And, if you’re not a subscriber already but want to join us, sign up for a subscription today.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 The CrowdStrike outage is a foreshadowing of what’s to come
It could have been so much worse. Next time it might be. (Vox)+ The company has sent IT workers $10 gift cards to say sorry. (Bloomberg $)
+ How to fix a Windows PC affected by the global outage. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Threads’ staff are wondering whether to allow political content
Post-Joe Biden stepping down, it’s reconsidering its restrictions on the recommendation of political posts. (The Information $)
3 China is stockpiling materials at a rapid pace
Grain, gas and oil is being collected to ward off future potential sanctions. (Economist $)
4 Pollution is spiking around e-retailers’ warehouses
And it’s nearby residents who are bearing the brunt of it. (The Verge)
5 Google appears to be exclusively surfacing Reddit results
Its links are not showing up on Bing, DuckDuckGo and others. (404 Media)
+ This new search engine roots out privacy violations. (Wired $)
6 Space is full of trash
And it’s making space travel incredibly difficult.(Fast Company $)
+ SpaceX has a stranglehold on commercial space contracts. (Ars Technica)
+ What’s going on with Boeing’s Starliner mission? (The Atlantic $)
+ Why the first-ever space junk fine is such a big deal. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Confessions of a ransomware negotiator
Nick Shah is putting his background as a hostage negotiator to good use.(Economist $)
8 Inside Singapore’s lab-grown meat experiment
The city state is backing cultivated meat at a time when others are retreating. (NYT $)
+ How I learned to stop worrying and love fake meat. (MIT Technology Review)
9 Influencer baby names are out of control
Please don’t call your future child Giraffe. Just saying. (Dazed)
10 This year’s Olympians are TikTok stars too
2024’s crop of influencer-athletes are reshaping the game. (NY Mag $)
Quote of the day
“We worried we’ve hired 10,000 people and we’ve built a smart timer.”
—A former senior Amazon employee reflects on the legacy of the company’s Echo smart home device to the Wall Street Journal.
The big story
California’s coming offshore wind boom faces big engineering hurdles
The state of California has an ambitious goal: building 25 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2045. That’s equivalent to nearly a third of the state’s total generating capacity today, or enough to power 25 million homes.
But the plans are facing a daunting geological challenge: the continental shelf drops steeply just a few miles off the California coast. They also face enormous engineering and regulatory obstacles. Read the full story.
—James Temple
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 tweet ’em at me.)
+ Love Wordle? Give these other word-based puzzles a whirl.
+ How Garfield paved the way for The Sopranos—no, really!
+ Shanghai’s burgeoning punk scene is super cool.
+ This website contains an infinite number of editable boxes, because why not?
