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The Download: saving the US climate programs, and America’s AI protections are under threat
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 nonprofits and academia are stepping up to salvage US climate programs
Nonprofits are trying to preserve a US effort to modernize greenhouse-gas measurements, amid growing fears that the Trump administration’s dismantling of federal programs will obscure the nation’s contributions to climate change.
The Data Foundation, a Washington, DC, nonprofit, is fundraising for an initiative that will coordinate efforts among nonprofits, technical experts, and companies to improve the accuracy and accessibility of climate emissions information. It will build on an effort to improve the collection of emissions data that former president Joe Biden launched in 2023—and which President Trump nullified on his first day in office.
The new greenhouse-gas coalition is one of a growing number of nonprofit and academic groups that have spun up or shifted focus to keep essential climate monitoring and research efforts going amid the Trump administration’s assault on environmental funding, staffing, and regulations. Read the full story.
—James Temple
America’s AI watchdog is losing its bite
Most Americans encounter the Federal Trade Commission only if they’ve been scammed: It handles identity theft, fraud, and stolen data. During the Biden administration, the agency went after AI companies for scamming customers with deceptive advertising or harming people by selling irresponsible technologies.
With the announcement of President Trump’s AI Action Plan, that era may now be over.
The new plan suggests that the Trump administration believes the agency’s previous actions went too far, and that it would be reviewing all FTC actions taken under the Biden administration.
The move is the latest in its evolving attack on the agency, which provides a significant route of redress for people harmed by AI in the US. It’s likely to result in faster deployment of AI with fewer checks on accuracy, fairness, or consumer harm. Read the full story.
—James O’Donnell
Trump’s AI Action Plan is a distraction
—Asad Ramzanali is the director of artificial intelligence and technology policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator.
On Wednesday, President Trump issued three executive orders, delivered a speech, and released an action plan, all on the topic of continuing American leadership in AI.
This flurry of actions made for glitzy press moments, including an hour-long speech from the president and onstage signings. But while the tech industry cheered these announcements (which will swell their coffers), they obscured the fact that the administration is currently decimating the very policies that enabled America to become the world leader in AI in the first place. Read the full story.
The deadly saga of the controversial gene therapy Elevidys
It has been a grim few months for the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) community. There had been some excitement when, a couple of years ago, a gene therapy for the disorder was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the first time. That drug, Elevidys, has now been implicated in the deaths of two teenage boys.
The drug’s approval was always controversial—there was a lack of evidence that it actually worked, for starters. But the agency that once rubber-stamped the drug has now turned on its manufacturer, Sarepta Therapeutics. In a remarkable chain of events, the FDA asked the company to stop shipping the drug on July 18. Sarepta refused to comply.
In the days since, the company has acquiesced. But its reputation has already been hit. And the events have dealt a devastating blow to people desperate for treatments that might help them, their children, or other family members with DMD. Read the full story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
A version of 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.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Corporate America is paying the price for Trump’s tariffs
US businesses are absorbing the costs—for now. (WSJ $)
+ Inflation is likely to hit hard in the fall. (Vox)
+ Sweeping tariffs could threaten the US manufacturing rebound. (MIT Technology Review)
2 GPT-5 is reportedly launching next month
After some unexpected setbacks. (The Verge)
3 Meta is hosting ads crowdfunding for IDF drones
A watchdog has identified more than 100 ads seeking donations for the army. (The Guardian)
4 AI is helping researchers to combat long covid and ME
A new platform spots biological markers of the conditions in patients. (FT $)
+ Scientists are finding signals of long covid in blood. They could lead to new treatments. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Demand is surging for banned chip repair expertise in China
While most of Nvidia’s chips aren’t allowed in the country, there’s a booming industry for fixing them once they break. (Reuters)
+ Nvidia’s chips are being smuggled in through the black market. (FT $)
6 ChatGPT can offer up instructions for self harm and devil worship
It guides users through self-mutilation rituals, despite violating its own policies. (The Atlantic $)
7 We have more steel than we can possibly use
But countries are worried about the optics of ceasing production. (NYT $)
+ This startup just hit a big milestone for green steel production. (MIT Technology Review)
8 Internet age checks are coming
A swath of child protection laws are forcing a profound shift across the web. (Wired $)
+ Child online safety laws will actually hurt kids, critics say. (MIT Technology Review)
9 An Italian rocket maker wants to conduct launches in the US
Avio SpA is keen to launch flights from Wallops Island in Virginia. (Bloomberg $)
+ Rivals are rising to challenge the dominance of SpaceX. (MIT Technology Review)
10 This app allows women to check a potential date’s history
But men say there’s no recourse to address false posts about them. (WP $)
Quote of the day
“If OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini had responded that it was trained to appeal to the left, congressional Republicans would have been outraged and opened an investigation. Instead, they were silent.”
—Senator Ed Markey urges the CEOs of major tech companies to fight Donald Trump’s anti-woke AI order, Ars Technica reports.
One more thing
The great AI consciousness conundrum
AI consciousness isn’t just a devilishly tricky intellectual puzzle; it’s a morally weighty problem with potentially dire consequences that philosophers, cognitive scientists, and engineers alike are currently grappling with.
Fail to identify a conscious AI, and you might unintentionally subjugate a being whose interests ought to matter. Mistake an unconscious AI for a conscious one, and you risk compromising human safety and happiness for the sake of an unthinking, unfeeling hunk of silicon and code.
Over the past few decades, a small research community has doggedly attacked the question of what consciousness is and how it works. The effort has yielded real progress. And now, with the rapid advance of AI technology, these insights could offer our only guide to the untested, morally fraught waters of artificial consciousness. 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.)
+ Crank it up to 11! Spinal Tap is back, baby.
+ The tale of New York’s first real architectural firm.
+ Crazy Train as played by a class of children on the xylophone is a real delight.
+ Here’s how to easily add some cheap and accessible superfoods to zhuzh up your daily diet.
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