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The Download: tracking the evolution of street drugs, and the next wave of military AI
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 the federal government is tracking changes in the supply of street drugs
In 2021, the Maryland Department of Health and the state police were confronting a crisis: Fatal drug overdoses in the state were at an all-time high, and authorities didn’t know why.
Seeking answers, Maryland officials turned to scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the national metrology institute for the United States, which defines and maintains standards of measurement essential to a wide range of industrial sectors and health and security applications.
There, a research chemist named Ed Sisco and his team had developed methods for detecting trace amounts of drugs, explosives, and other dangerous materials—techniques that could protect law enforcement officials and others who had to collect these samples. And a pilot uncovered new, critical information almost immediately. Read the full story.
—Adam Bluestein
This story is from the next edition of our print magazine. Subscribe now to read it and get a copy of the magazine when it lands!
Phase two of military AI has arrived
—James O’Donnell
Last week, I spoke with two US Marines who spent much of last year deployed in the Pacific, conducting training exercises from South Korea to the Philippines. Both were responsible for analyzing surveillance to warn their superiors about possible threats to the unit. But this deployment was unique: For the first time, they were using generative AI to scour intelligence, through a chatbot interface similar to ChatGPT.
As I wrote in my new story, this experiment is the latest evidence of the Pentagon’s push to use generative AI—tools that can engage in humanlike conversation—throughout its ranks, for tasks including surveillance. This push raises alarms from some AI safety experts about whether large language models are fit to analyze subtle pieces of intelligence in situations with high geopolitical stakes.
Here are three open questions to keep your eye on as the US military, and others around the world, bring generative AI to more parts of the so-called “kill chain.” Read the full story.
This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox 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 The FCC wants Europe to choose between US and Chinese technology
Trump official Brendan Carr has urged Western allies to pick Elon Musk’s Starlink over rival Chinese satellite firms. (FT $)
+ China may look like a less erratic choice right now. (NY Mag $)
2 Nvidia wants to build its AI supercomputers entirely in the US
It’s a decision the Trump administration has claimed credit for. (WP $)
+ That said, Nvidia hasn’t said how much gear it plans to make in America. (WSJ $)
+ Production of its latest chip has already begun in Arizona. (Bloomberg $)
3 Mark Zuckerberg defended Meta in the first day of its antitrust trial
He downplayed the company’s decision to purchase Instagram and WhatsApp. (Politico)
+ The government claims he bought the firms to stifle competition. (The Verge)
+ Zuckerberg has previously denied that his purchases had hurt competition. (NYT $)
4 OpenAI’s new models are designed to excel at coding
The three models have been optimized to follow complex instructions. (Wired $)
+ We’re still waiting for confirmation of GPT-5. (The Verge)
+ The second wave of AI coding is here. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Apple has increased its iPhone shipments by 10%
It’s part of a pre-emptive plan to mitigate tariff disruptions. (Bloomberg $)
+ The tariff chaos has played havoc with Apple stocks. (Insider $)
6 We’re learning more about the link between long covid and cognitive impairment
Studies suggest that a patient’s age when they contracted covid may be a key factor. (WSJ $)
7 Can’t be bothered to call your elderly parents? Get AI to do it 📞
How thoroughly depressing. (404 Media)
8 This video app hopes to capitalize on TikTok’s uncertain future
But unlike TikTok, Neptune allows creators to hide their likes. (TechCrunch)
9 Meet the tech bros who want to live underwater
Colonizing the sea is one of the final frontiers. (NYT $)
+ Meet the divers trying to figure out how deep humans can go. (MIT Technology Review)
10 Google’s new AI model can decipher dolphin sounds🐬
If they’re squawking, back away. (Ars Technica)
+ The way whales communicate is closer to human language than we realized. (MIT Technology Review)
Quote of the day
“If you don’t like an ad, you scroll past it. It takes about a second.”
—Mark Hansen, Meta’s lead lawyer, makes light of the Federal Trade Commission’s assertion that users of its platforms are inundated with ads during the first day of Meta’s monopoly trial, Ars Technica reports.
The big story
Recapturing early internet whimsy with HTML
Websites weren’t always slick digital experiences.
There was a time when surfing the web involved opening tabs that played music against your will and sifting through walls of text on a colored background. In the 2000s, before Squarespace and social media, websites were manifestations of individuality—built from scratch using HTML, by users who had some knowledge of code.
Scattered across the web are communities of programmers working to revive this seemingly outdated approach. And the movement is anything but a superficial appeal to retro aesthetics—it’s about celebrating the human touch in digital experiences. Read the full story.
—Tiffany Ng
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