The Download: Trump at Davos, and AI scientists
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.
All anyone wants to talk about at Davos is AI and Donald Trump
—Mat Honan, MIT Technology Review’s editor in chief
At Davos this year Trump is dominating all the side conversations. There are lots of little jokes. Nervous laughter. Outright anger. Fear in the eyes. It’s wild. The US president is due to speak here today, amid threats of seizing Greenland and fears that he’s about to permanently fracture the NATO alliance.
But Trump isn’t the only game in town—everyone’s also talking about AI. Read Mat’s story to find out more.
This subscriber-only story appeared first in The Debrief, Mat’s weekly newsletter about the biggest stories in tech. Sign up here to get the next one in your inbox, and subscribe if you haven’t already!
The UK government is backing AI that can run its own lab experiments
A number of startups and university teams that are building “AI scientists” to design and run experiments in the lab, including robot biologists and chemists, have just won extra funding from the UK government agency that funds moonshot R&D.
The competition, set up by ARIA (the Advanced Research and Invention Agency), gives a clear sense of how fast this technology is moving: The agency received 245 proposals from research teams that are already building tools capable of automating increasing amounts of lab work. Read the full story to learn more.
—Will Douglas Heaven
Everyone wants AI sovereignty. No one can truly have it.
—Cathy Li is head of the Centre for AI Excellence at the World Economic Forum
Governments plan to pour $1.3 trillion into AI infrastructure by 2030 to invest in “sovereign AI,” with the premise being that countries should be in control of their own AI capabilities. The funds include financing for domestic data centers, locally trained models, independent supply chains, and national talent pipelines.
This is a response to real shocks: covid-era supply chain breakdowns, rising geopolitical tensions, and the war in Ukraine. But the pursuit of absolute autonomy is running into reality: AI supply chains are irreducibly global. If sovereignty is to remain meaningful, it must shift from defensive self-reliance to a vision that balances national autonomy with strategic partnership. Read the full story.
Here’s how extinct DNA could help us in the present—and the future
Thanks to genetic science, gene editing, and techniques like cloning, it’s now possible to move DNA through time, studying genetic information in ancient remains and then re-creating it in the bodies of modern beings. And that, scientists say, offers new ways to try to help endangered species, engineer new plants that resist climate change, or even create new human medicines.
Read more about why genetic resurrection is one of our 10 Breakthrough Technologies this year, and check out the rest of the list.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 The White House wants Americans to embrace AI
It faces an uphill battle—the US public is mostly pretty gloomy about AI’s impact. (WP $)
+ What’s next for AI in 2026. (MIT Technology Review)
2 The UN says we’re entering an “era of water bankruptcy”
And it’s set to affect the vast majority of us on the planet. (Reuters $)
+ Water shortages are fueling the protests in Iran. (Undark)
+ This Nobel Prize–winning chemist dreams of making water from thin air. (MIT Technology Review)
3 How is US science faring after a year of Trump?
Not that well, after proposed budget cuts amounting to $32 billion. (Nature $)
+ The foundations of America’s prosperity are being dismantled. (MIT Technology Review)
4 We need to talk about the early career AI jobs crisis
Young people are graduating and finding there simply aren’t any roles for them to do. (NY Mag $)
+ AI companies are fighting to win over teachers. (Axios $)
+ Chinese universities want students to use more AI, not less. (MIT Technology Review)
5 The AI boyfriend business is booming in China
And it’s mostly geared towards Gen Z women. (Wired $)
+ It’s surprisingly easy to stumble into a relationship with an AI chatbot. (MIT Technology Review)
6 Snap has settled a social media addiction lawsuit ahead of a trial
However the other defendants, including Meta, TikTok and YouTube, are still fighting it. (BBC)
+ A new study is going to examine the effects of restricting social media for children. (The Guardian)
7 Here are some of the best ideas of this century so far
From smartphones to HIV drugs, the pace of progress has been dizzying. (New Scientist $)
8 Robots may be on the cusp of becoming very capable
Until now, their role in the world of work has been limited. AI could radically change that. (FT $)
+ Why the humanoid workforce is running late. (MIT Technology Review)
9 Scientists are racing to put a radio telescope on the moon
If they succeed, it will be able to ‘hear’ all the way back to over 13 billion years ago, just 380,000 years after the big bang. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ Inside the quest to map the universe with mysterious bursts of radio energy. (MIT Technology Review)
10 It turns out cows can use tools
What will we discover next? Flying pigs?! (Futurism)
Quote of the day
“We’re still staggering along, but I don’t know for how much longer. I don’t have the energy any more.”
—A researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tells Nature they and their colleagues are exhausted by the Trump administration’s attacks on science.
One more thing
Palmer Luckey on the Pentagon’s future of mixed reality
Palmer Luckey has, in some ways, come full circle.
His first experience with virtual-reality headsets was as a teenage lab technician at a defense research center in Southern California, studying their potential to curb PTSD symptoms in veterans. He then built Oculus, sold it to Facebook for $2 billion, left Facebook after a highly public ousting, and founded Anduril, which focuses on drones, cruise missiles, and other AI-enhanced technologies for the US Department of Defense. The company is now valued at $14 billion.
Now Luckey is redirecting his energy again, to headsets for the military. He spoke to MIT Technology Review about his plans. Read the full interview.
—James O’Donnell
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.)
+ I want to skip around every single one of these beautiful gardens.
+ Your friends help you live longer. Isn’t that nice of them?!
+ Brb, just buying a pharaoh headdress for my cat.
+ Consider this your annual reminder that you don’t need a gym membership or fancy equipment to get fitter.
