The Download: the AGI myth, and US/China AI competition
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.
How AGI became the most consequential conspiracy theory of our time
—Will Douglas Heaven, senior AI editor
Are you feeling it?
I hear it’s close: two years, five years—maybe next year! And I hear it’s going to solve our biggest problems in ways we cannot yet imagine. I also hear it will bring on the apocalypse and kill us all…
We’re of course talking about artificial general intelligence, or AGI—that hypothetical near-future technology that (I hear) will be able to do pretty much whatever a human brain can do.
Every age has its believers, people with an unshakeable faith that something huge is about to happen—a before and an after that they are privileged (or doomed) to live through. For us, that’s the promised advent of AGI. And here’s what I think: AGI is a lot like a conspiracy theory, and it may be the most consequential one of our time. Read the full story.
This story is part of MIT Technology Review’s series “The New Conspiracy Age,” on how the present boom in conspiracy theories is reshaping science and technology.
The State of AI: Is China about to win the race?
Viewed from abroad, it seems only a matter of time before China emerges as the AI superpower of the 21st century.
In the West, our initial instinct is to focus on America’s significant lead in semiconductor expertise, its cutting-edge AI research, and its vast investments in data centers.
Today, however, China has the means, motive, and opportunity to win. When it comes to mobilizing the whole-of-society resources needed to develop and deploy AI to maximum effect, it may be rash to bet against it. Read the full story.
—John Thornhill & Caiwei Chen
This is the first edition of The State of AI, a collaboration between the Financial Times & MIT Technology Review examining the ways in which AI is reshaping global power. Every Monday for the next six weeks, writers from both publications will debate one aspect of the generative AI revolution reshaping global power. Sign up to receive future editions every Monday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 China is prepared to cut its data centers a sweet deal
If they agree to use native chips over American rivals’, that is. (FT $)
+ What happened when a data center moved into a small American town. (WSJ $)
+ Microsoft and OpenAI want more power—they just don’t know how much more. (TechCrunch)
+ The data center boom in the desert. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Norway’s oil fund has rejected Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package
The Tesla shareholder is concerned about the size of the reward. (WSJ $)
+ It says it will vote against the deal on Thursday. (FT $)
3 OpenAI has signed a massive compute deal with Amazon
It’s the latest in a long string of blockbuster deals for the AI company. (Wired $)
4 Cybersecurity workers moonlighted as criminal hackers
They’re accused of sharing their profits with the creators of the ransomware they deployed. (Bloomberg $)
+ The hackers demanded tens of millions in extortion payments. (The Register)
5 Tech’s elites are funding plans to safeguard MAGA
Entrepreneur Chris Buskirk is using donor money to equip it to outlive Trump. (WP $)
6 These startups supply the labor to train multitasking humanoid robots
Teams of humans are doing the dirty work, including filming themselves folding towels hundreds of times a day. (LA Times $)
+ This new system can teach a robot a simple household task within 20 minutes. (MIT Technology Review)
7 LLMs can’t accurately describe their internal processes
Anthropic is on a mission to measure their so-called introspective awareness. (Ars Technica)
8 Why are people using AI to hack their hobbies?
Talk about the death of fun. (NY Mag $)
+ While we’re at it, don’t use chatbots to answer friends’ dilemmas either. (Wired $)
+ Or to write research papers. (404 Media)
9 Coca-Cola is doubling down on AI in its ads
Undeterred by criticism last year, it’s back with more for the 2025 holidays. (WSJ $)
+ Nothing says festive joy like AI slop. (The Verge)
10 Facebook Dating is a…hit?
But you should still be on the lookout for scammers. (NYT $)
+ It’s not just for boomers—younger people are using it too. (TechCrunch)
+ For better or worse, AI is seeping into all the biggest dating platforms. (Economist $)
Quote of the day
“That was the kick of it, that the AI actually did find compatibility. It was the human part that didn’t work out.”
—Emma Inge, a project manager looking for love in San Francisco, describes the trouble with using an AI matchmaker to the New York Times: it can’t stop you getting ghosted.
One more thing
Inside the most dangerous asteroid hunt ever
If you were told that the odds of something were 3.1%, it might not seem like much. But for the people charged with protecting our planet, it was huge.
On February 18, astronomers determined that a 130- to 300-foot-long asteroid had a 3.1% chance of crashing into Earth in 2032. Never had an asteroid of such dangerous dimensions stood such a high chance of striking the planet. Then, just days later on February 24, experts declared that the danger had passed. Earth would be spared.
How did they do it? What was it like to track the rising danger of this asteroid, and to ultimately determine that it’d miss us?
This is the inside story of how a sprawling network of astronomers found, followed, mapped, planned for, and finally dismissed the most dangerous asteroid ever found—all under the tightest of timelines and, for just a moment, with the highest of stakes. Read the full story.
—Robin George Andrews
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.)
+ People in the Middle Ages chose to depict the devil in very interesting ways, I’ll say that much.
+ We may be inching closer to understanding why the animal kingdom has developed such elaborate markings.
+ The music in the new game Pokémon Legends: Z-A sure is interesting.
+ Slow cooker dinners are beckoning.