技術

The Download: OpenAI is building a fully automated researcher, and a psychedelic trial blind spot

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. OpenAI is throwing everything into building a fully automated researcher  OpenAI has a new grand challenge: building an AI researcher—a fully automated agent-based system capable of tackling large, complex problems by…

OpenAI is throwing everything into building a fully automated researcher

OpenAI is refocusing its research efforts and throwing its resources into a new grand challenge. The San Francisco firm has set its sights on building what it calls an AI researcher, a fully automated agent-based system that will be able to go off and tackle large, complex problems by itself. ​​OpenAI says that this new…

Mind-altering substances are (still) falling short in clinical trials

This week I want to look at where we are with psychedelics, the mind-altering substances that have somehow made the leap from counterculture to major focus of clinical research. Compounds like psilocybin—which is found in magic mushrooms—are being explored for all sorts of health applications, including treatments for depression, PTSD, addiction, and even obesity. Over…

Cursor’s frontier model 👨‍💻, OpenAI buys Astral ⚡, Perplexity Health 🏥

The Download: Quantum computing for health, and why the world doesn’t recycle more nuclear waste

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. A $5 million prize awaits proof that quantum computers can solve health care problems  In a laboratory on the outskirts of Oxford, a quantum computer built from atoms and light awaits…

Can quantum computers now solve health care problems? We’ll soon find out.

I’m standing in front of a quantum computer built out of atoms and light at the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre on the outskirts of Oxford. On a laboratory table, a complex matrix of mirrors and lenses surrounds a Rubik’s Cube–size cell where 100 cesium atoms are suspended in grid formation by a carefully manipulated…

Why the world doesn’t recycle more nuclear waste

The prospect of making trash useful is always fascinating to me. Whether it’s used batteries, solar panels, or spent nuclear fuel, getting use out of something destined for disposal sounds like a win all around. In nuclear energy, figuring out what to do with waste has always been a challenge, since the material needs to…

Multiverse Computing pushes its compressed AI models into the mainstream

After compressing models from major AI labs, including OpenAI, Meta, DeepSeek, and Mistral AI, Multiverse Computing has launched both an app that showcases the capabilities of its compressed models and an API that makes them more widely available.

Xiaomi & Minimax models 🤖, China’s OpenClaw obsession 🦞, Anthropic 81k study 📊

Patreon CEO calls AI companies’ fair use argument ‘bogus,’ says creators should be paid

Patreon CEO Jack Conte says AI companies should pay creators for training data, arguing their fair use defense falls apart when they license content from major publishers.

The Download: The Pentagon’s new AI plans, and next-gen nuclear reactors

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. The Pentagon is planning for AI companies to train on classified data, defense official says  The Pentagon plans to set up secure environments for generative AI companies to train military-specific versions of their…

What do new nuclear reactors mean for waste?

MIT Technology Review Explains: Let our writers untangle the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next. You can read more from the series here. The way the world currently deals with nuclear waste is as creative as it is varied: Drown it in water pools, encase it in steel, bury…

The Pentagon is planning for AI companies to train on classified data, defense official says

The Pentagon is discussing plans to set up secure environments for generative AI companies to train military-specific versions of their models on classified data, MIT Technology Review has learned.  AI models like Anthropic’s Claude are already used to answer questions in classified settings; applications include analyzing targets in Iran. But allowing models to train on…

The Download: OpenAI’s US military deal, and Grok’s CSAM lawsuit

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. Where OpenAI’s technology could show up in Iran  OpenAI has controversially agreed to give the Pentagon access to its AI. But where exactly could its tech show up, and which applications…

OpenAI sidesteps Nvidia with unusually fast coding model on plate-sized chips

Nous Research's NousCoder-14B is an open-source coding model landing right in the Claude Code moment

Nous Research, the open-source artificial intelligence startup backed by crypto venture firm Paradigm, released a new competitive programming model on Monday that it says matches or exceeds several larger proprietary systems — trained in just four days using 48 of Nvidia's latest B200 graphics processors. The model, called NousCoder-14B, is another entry in a crowded field of AI coding assistants, but arrives at a particularly charged moment: Claude Code, the agentic programming tool from rival