The Download: using AI to discover “zero day” vulnerabilities, and Apple’s ICE app removal
Plus: OpenAI’s parental controls aren’t exactly robust
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.
Microsoft says AI can create “zero day” threats in biology
A team at Microsoft says it used artificial intelligence to discover a “zero day” vulnerability in the biosecurity systems used to prevent the misuse of DNA.
These screening systems are designed to stop people from purchasing genetic sequences that could be used to create deadly toxins or pathogens. But now researchers say they have figured out how to bypass the protections in a way previously unknown to defenders. Read the full story.
—Antonio Regalado
If you’re interested in learning more about AI and biology, check out:
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Apple removed an app for reporting ICE officer sightings
The US Attorney General requested it take down ICEBlock—and Apple complied. (Insider $)
+ Apple says the removal was down to the safety risk it posed. (Bloomberg $)
+ The company had a similar explanation for removing a Hong Kong map app back in 2019. (The Verge)
2 OpenAI’s parental controls are easily circumvented
Its alerts about teenagers’ concerning conversations also took hours to deliver. (WP $)
+ The looming crackdown on AI companionship. (MIT Technology Review)
3 VCs have sunk a record amount into AI startups this year
To the tune of $192.7 billion so far. (Bloomberg $)
+ The AI bubble is looking increasingly precarious, though. (FT $)
+ How to fine-tune AI for prosperity. (MIT Technology Review)
4 The US federal vaccination schedule is still waiting for an update
Officials are yet to sign off on recommendations for this year’s updated Covid shots. (Ars Technica)
+ Many people have been left unable to get vaccinated. (NPR)
5 The US Department of Energy has canceled yet more clean energy projects
In mostly blue states. (TechCrunch)
+ More than 300 funding awards have been axed. (CNBC)
+ How to make clean energy progress under Trump in the states. (MIT Technology Review)
6 TikTok recommends pornography to children’s accounts
Despite activating its “restricted mode” to prevent sexualized content. (BBC)
7 China has launched a new skilled worker visa program
In the wake of the US H-1B visa clampdown. (Wired $)
+ The initiative hasn’t gone down well with locals. (BBC)
8 Flights were grounded in Germany after several drone sightings
NATO members are worried about suspected Russian incursions in their skies. (WSJ $)
+ It’s the latest in a string of airspace sightings. (FT $)
9 How YouTube is shaking up Hollywood
Its powerful creators are starting to worry the entertainment establishment—and Netflix. (FT $)
10 Anti-robocall tools are getting better
Call screening features are a useful first line of defense. (NYT $)
Quote of the day
“Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never the right move.”
—Joshua Aaron, the developer of ICEBlock, the app that crowdsources sightings of ICE officials, hits back at Apple’s decision to remove it from the App Store, 404 Media reports.
One more thing
How AI can help supercharge creativityExisting generative tools can automate a striking range of creative tasks and offer near-instant gratification—but at what cost? Some artists and researchers fear that such technology could turn us into passive consumers of yet more AI slop.
And so they are looking for ways to inject human creativity back into the process: working on what’s known as co-creativity or more-than-human creativity. The aim is to develop AI tools that augment our creativity rather than strip it from us. Read the full story.
—Will Douglas Heaven
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.)
+ Congratulations to Fizz, the very handsome UK cat of the year! 🐈
+ What it took to transform actor Jeremy Allan White into the one and only Boss in his new film, Deliver Me from Nowhere.
+ Divers have salvaged more than 1,000 gold and silver coins from a 1715 shipwreck off the east coast of Florida.
+ The internet is obsessed with crabs. But why?
