Why the Chinese government is sparing AI from harsh regulations—for now
The way China regulates its tech industry can seem highly unpredictable. The government can celebrate the achievements of Chinese tech companies one day and then turn against them the next. But there are patterns in how China approaches regulating tech, argues Angela Huyue Zhang, a law professor at Hong Kong University and author of the new book High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy. The way Chinese policies change almost always follow a three-phase progression: a lax approach where companies are given relative flexibility to expand and compete, sudden harsh crackdowns that slash profits, and eventually […]
Tackling AI risks: Your reputation is at stake
Forget Skynet: One of the biggest risks of AI is your organization’s reputation. That means it’s time to put science-fiction catastrophizing to one side and begin thinking seriously about what AI actually means for us in our day-to-day work. This isn’t to advocate for navel-gazing at the expense of the bigger picture: It’s to urge technologists and business leaders to recognize that if we’re to address the risks of AI as an industry—maybe even as a society—we need to closely consider its immediate implications and outcomes. If we fail to do that, taking action will be practically impossible. Risk is […]
The Download: chatting with the politician behind the AI Act, and how to watch the eclipse
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 conversation with Dragoș Tudorache, the politician behind the AI Act Dragoș Tudorache is one of the most important players in European AI policy. He is one of the two lead negotiators of the AI Act in the European Parliament—the first sweeping AI law of its kind in the world, which will enter into force this year. Shepherding the Act into its final form has been a wild ride, with intense negotiations, the rise of ChatGPT, lobbying from […]
A conversation with Dragoș Tudorache, the politician behind the AI Act
Dragoș Tudorache is feeling pretty damn good. We’re sitting in a conference room in a chateau overlooking a lake outside Brussels, sipping glasses of cava. The Romanian liberal member of the European Parliament has spent the day hosting a conference on AI, defense and geopolitics attended by nearly 400 VIP guests. The day is almost over, and Tudorache has promised to squeeze an interview with me in during cocktail hour. A former interior minister, Tudorache is one of the most important players in European AI policy. He is one of the two lead negotiators of the AI Act in the […]
The Download: our eclipse guide, and what you need to know about bird flu
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 to safely watch and photograph the total solar eclipse On April 8, the moon will pass directly between Earth and the sun, creating a total solar eclipse across much of the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Although total solar eclipses occur somewhere in the world every 18 months or so, this one is unusual because tens of millions of people in North America will likely witness it, from Mazatlán in Mexico to Newfoundland in Canada. Here’s how […]
New bird flu infections: Here’s what you need to know
This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here. A dairy worker in Texas tested positive for avian influenza this week. This new human case of bird flu—the second ever reported in the United States—isn’t cause for panic. The individual’s illness was mild—an eye infection—and they are already recovering. There’s still no evidence that the virus is spreading person to person. The person who became infected in Texas likely picked the virus up from infected cows or poultry on […]
How to safely watch and photograph the total solar eclipse
On April 8, the moon will pass directly between Earth and the sun, creating a total solar eclipse across much of the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Although total solar eclipses occur somewhere in the world every 18 months or so, this one is unusual because tens of millions of people in North America will likely witness it, from Mazatlán in Mexico to Newfoundland in Canada. “It’s a huge communal experience,” says Meg Thacher, a senior lab instructor in the astronomy department at Smith College in Massachusetts. “A total solar eclipse is the Super Bowl of astronomy.” Here’s how to […]
The Download: Harvard’s geoengineering failure, and extending nuclear plants’ lifetimes
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 hard lessons of Harvard’s failed geoengineering experiment In March 2017, at a small summit in Washington, DC, two Harvard professors, David Keith and Frank Keutsch, laid out plans to conduct what would have been the first solar geoengineering experiment in the stratosphere. The basic concept behind solar geoengineering is that by spraying certain particles high above the planet, humans could reflect some amount of sunlight back into space as a means of counteracting climate change. But critics […]
Why the lifetime of nuclear plants is getting longer
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. Aging can be scary. As you get older, you might not be able to do everything you used to, and it can be hard to keep up with the changing times. Just ask nuclear reactors. The average age of reactors in nuclear power plants around the world is creeping up. In the US, which has more operating reactors than any other country, the average reactor is 42 years old, as of 2023. Nearly 90% of reactors in […]
The hard lessons of Harvard’s failed geoengineering experiment
In late March of 2017, at a small summit in Washington, DC, two Harvard professors, David Keith and Frank Keutsch, laid out plans to conduct what would have been the first solar geoengineering experiment in the stratosphere. Instead, it became the focal point of a fierce public debate over whether it’s okay to research such a controversial topic at all. The basic concept behind solar geoengineering is that by spraying certain particles high above the planet, humans could reflect some amount of sunlight back into space as a means of counteracting climate change. The Harvard researchers hoped to launch a […]