The Download: Microsoft’s quantum chip, and explaining rising energy demand
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 DOGE has ‘god mode’ access to government systems
The risk of harm, abuse, or revenge is clear. But simple, brazen corruption is also a concern. (The Atlantic $)
+ Elon Musk is hunting for social security fraud. It’s not very common. (Business Insider $)
+ DOGE claimed it had saved $8 billion in one contract. It was, at most, $8 million. (NYT $)
+ Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Evil Housekeeper Problem. (MIT Technology Review)
2 The Trump administration is scrambling to rehire people working on bird flu
This exact pattern is being replicated across multiple agencies right now, and it’s straight from Musk’s playbook. (Gizmodo)
+ Trump just issued an executive order giving the President power over independent agencies. (Ars Technica)
3 DeepSeek is considering its first external funding round
It badly needs more chips and more servers to meet exploding demand. (The Information $)
+ Meanwhile, Alibaba is opening up its first data center in Mexico. (South China Morning Post $)
+ How a top Chinese AI model overcame US sanctions. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Electric truck maker Nikola has filed for bankruptcy protection
It was once (on paper) worth more than Ford. But then a fraud scandal hit, and now it’s run out of money. (Business Insider $)
+ The race to clean up heavy-duty trucks. (MIT Technology Review)
5 How a crypto scammer turned a small town against itself
Shan Hanes drained Elkhart in Kansas dry—and turned neighbor against neighbor in the process. (NYT $)
6 Google’s has unveiled a new AI ‘co-scientist’ tool
Researchers are excited, but it’s hard to say what its true impact will be. (New Scientist $)
+ A data bottleneck is holding AI science back, says new Nobel winner. (MIT Technology Review)
7 People are logging off
Eight years ago, social media became a battleground. This time, many don’t see much point in fighting online. (New Yorker $)
8 What America’s first generation chipmakers endured
They had to work in unsafe conditions—and never got answers about why their kids were born with birth defects. (The Verge)
9 Can you use ChatGPT to learn a new language?
Kind of, a bit? But not really. (Wired $)
+ Translators in Turkey are training the AI tools that will replace them. (Rest of World)
10 The latest TikTok trend? Using AI to time travel
And not just to disasters like Pompeii or the Titanic—you could just be an American teen in 1983. (Fast Company)
Quote of the day
“They destroyed everything here, and now we’re supposed to give up? How does that work?”
— Alla Kriuchkova, a resident of Bucha in Ukraine, where Russian soldiers slaughtered hundreds of people in March 2022, tells the New York Times how angry she is at President Trump for suggesting the war is Ukraine’s fault.
