+ We’re starting to give AI agents real autonomy. But are they really ready for it?
+ What even is AI? Everyone thinks they know, but no one can agree. Here’s why that’s a problem.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 The US is losing its scientific supremacy
Money and talent are starting to leave as a hostile White House ramps up its attacks. (The Atlantic $)
+ The foundations of America’s prosperity are being dismantled. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Global markets are swooning again
New tariffs, weak jobs data, and Trump’s decision to fire a top economic official are not going down well. (Reuters $)
3 Big Tech is turning into Big Infrastructure
Capital expenditure on AI contributed more to US economic growth in the last two quarters than all consumer spending, which is kind of wild. (WSJ $)
+ But are they likely to get a return on their huge investments? (FT $)
4 OpenAI pulled a feature that let you see strangers’ conversations with ChatGPT
They’d opted in to sharing them—but may well have not realized that’d mean their chats would be indexed on Google Search. (TechCrunch)
5 Tesla has to pay $243 million over the role Autopilot played in a fatal crash
The plaintiffs successfully argued that the company’s promises about its tech can lull drivers into a false sense of security. (NBC)
6 Tech workers in China are desperate to learn AI skills
And they’re assuaging their anxiety with online courses, though they say they vary in quality. (Rest of World)
+ Chinese universities want students to use more AI, not less. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Russia is escalating its crackdown on online freedoms
There are growing fears that it’s planning to ban WhatsApp and Telegram. (NYT $)
8 People are using AI to write obituaries
But what do we lose when we outsource expressing our emotions to a machine? (WP $)
+ Deepfakes of your dead loved ones are a booming Chinese business. (MIT Technology Review)
9 Just seeing a sick person triggers your immune response
This is a pretty cool finding —and the study was conducted in virtual reality too. (Nature)