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.

AI coding is now everywhere. But not everyone is convinced.  

Depending who you ask, AI-powered coding is either giving software developers an unprecedented productivity boost or churning out masses of poorly designed code that saps their attention and sets software projects up for serious long term-maintenance problems. 

The problem is right now, it’s not easy to know which is true. 

As tech giants pour billions into large language models (LLMs), coding has been touted as the technology’s killer app. Executives enamored with the potential are pushing engineers to lean into an AI-powered future. But after speaking to more than 30 developers, technology executives, analysts, and researchers, MIT Technology Review found that the picture is not as straightforward as it might seem. Read the full story. 

—Edd Gent

Generative coding is one of our 10 Breakthrough Technologies this year. Learn more about why that is, and check out the rest of the list! 

This story was also part of our Hype Correction package. You can read the rest of the stories here.

The biotech trends to watch for in 2026

Earlier this week, MIT Technology Review published our annual list of Ten Breakthrough Technologies. 

This year’s list includes tech that’s set to transform the energy industry, artificial intelligence, space travel—and of course biotech and health. Our breakthrough biotechnologies for 2026 involve editing a baby’s genes and, separately, resurrecting genes from ancient species. We also included a controversial technology that offers parents the chance to screen their embryos for characteristics like height and intelligence. Here’s the story behind our biotech choices.

—Jessica Hamzelou

This story is from The Checkup, our weekly newsletter all about the latest in health and biotech. Sign upto receive it in your inbox every Thursday.

MIT Technology Review Narrated: What’s next for AI in 2026

Our AI writers have made some big bets for the coming year—read our story about the five hot trends to watch, or listen to it on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 Minnesota shows how governing and content creation have merged
In another era, we’d have just called this propaganda. (NPR)
+ MAGA influencers are just straight up lying about what is happening there. (Vox) 
+ Activists are trying to identify individual ICE officers while protecting their own identities. (WP $)
+ A backlash against ICE is growing in Silicon Valley. (Wired $)
 
2 There’s probably more child abuse material online now than ever before
Of all Big Tech’s failures, this is surely the most appalling. (The Atlantic $)
+ US investigators are using AI to detect child abuse images made by AI. (MIT Technology Review)
+ Grok is still being used to undress images of real people. (Quartz)
 
3 ChatGPT wrote a suicide lullaby for a man who later killed himself
This shows it’s “still an unsafe product,” a lawyer representing a family in a tragically similar case said. (Ars Technica)
+ An AI chatbot told a user how to kill himself—but the company doesn’t want to “censor” it. (MIT Technology Review)
 
4 Videos emerging from Iran show how bloody the crackdown has become
Iranians are finding ways around the internet blackout to show the rest of the world how many of them have been killed. (NBC) 
+ Here’s how they’re getting around the blackout. (NPR) 
 
5 China dominates the global humanoid robot market 🤖
A new report by analysts found its companies account for over 80% of all deployments. (South China Morning Post) 
+ Just how useful are the latest humanoids, though? (Nature)
+ Why humanoid robots need their own safety rules. (MIT Technology Review)
 
6 How is Australia’s social media ban for kids going? 
It’s mixed—some teens welcome it, but others are finding workarounds. (CNBC)
 
7 Scientists are finding more objective ways to spot mental illness 
Biomarkers like voice cadence and heart rate proving pretty reliable for diagnosing conditions like depression. (New Scientist $)
 
8 The Pebble smartwatch be making a comeback
This could be the thing that tempts me back into buying wearables… (Gizmodo)
 
9 A new video game traps you in an online scam center
Can’t see the appeal myself, but… each to their own I guess? (NYT $)
 
10 Smoke detectors are poised to get a high-tech upgrade 
And one of the technologies boosting their capabilities is, of course, AI. (BBC)

Quote of the day

“I am very annoyed. I’m very disappointed. I’m seriously frustrated.” 

—Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla tells attendees at a healthcare conference this week his feelings about the anti-vaccine agenda Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been implementing, Bloomberg reports.

One more thing

How close are we to genuine “mind reading?”

Technically speaking, neuroscientists have been able to read your mind for decades. It’s not easy, mind you. First, you must lie motionless within a fMRI scanner, perhaps for hours, while you watch films or listen to audiobooks. 

If you do elect to endure claustrophobic hours in the scanner, the software will learn to generate a bespoke reconstruction of what you were seeing or listening to, just by analyzing how blood moves through your brain.

More recently, researchers have deployed generative AI tools, like Stable Diffusion and GPT, to create far more realistic, if not entirely accurate, reconstructions of films and podcasts based on neural activity. So how close are we to genuine “mind reading?” Read the full story.

—Grace Huckins

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.)

+ Still keen to do a bit of reflecting on the year behind and the one ahead? This free guide might help!
+ Turns out British comedian Rik Mayall had some pretty solid life advice.
+ I want to stay in this house in São Paolo.  
+ If you want to stop doomscrolling, it’s worth looking at your sleep habits. ($)