The Download: how the US is meeting China’s technological rise, and Trump’s tariff war intensifies

3 DeepSeek is working on self-improving AI models It’s working with Tsinghua University to reduce its models’ training needs. (Bloomberg $) + China is narrowing the AI dominance gap between it and the US. (Wired $) + How DeepSeek ripped up the AI playbook—and why everyone’s going to follow its lead. (MIT Technology Review) 4 X is flourishing under the Trump administration Elon Musk appears to be positioning the platform as a new media outlet. (NYT $) + X is cracking down on parody accounts. (BBC) 5 A shingles vaccine could help lower the risk of developing dementia We might have to overhaul the way we treat neurodegenerative diseases. (Vox) + It may help to treat them like viruses. (NYT $) + Dementia content gets billions of views on TikTok. Whose story does it tell? (MIT Technology Review) 6 San Francisco’s mayor is trying to convince tech leaders to come back He may be willing to offer tax breaks as an incentive. (TechCrunch) + Some of his supporters aren’t in favor of h ... Read full article.