The Download: US aid disruptions, and imagining the future
Plus: DOGE has been told to stop dismantling USAID
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.
HIV could infect 1,400 infants every day because of US aid disruptions
Around 1,400 infants are being infected by HIV every day as a result of the new US administration’s cuts to funding to AIDS organizations, new modeling suggests.
In an executive order issued January 20, President Donald Trump paused new foreign aid funding to global health programs. Four days later, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a stop-work order on existing foreign aid assistance. Surveys suggest that these changes forced more than a third of global organizations that provide essential HIV services to close within days of the announcements.
Hundreds of thousands of people are losing access to HIV treatments as a result. Read the full story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
MIT Technology Review Narrated: What the future holds for those born today
Happy birthday, baby.
You have been born into an era of intelligent machines. They have watched over you almost since your conception. They let your parents listen in on your tiny heartbeat, track your gestation on an app, and post your sonogram on social media. Well before you were born, you were known to the algorithm.
How will you and the next generation of machines grow up together? We asked more than a dozen experts to imagine your joint future.
This is our latest story to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which
we’re publishing each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 A judge has ordered DOGE to cease dismantling USAID
It’s been told to reinstate employees’ email access and let them return to their offices. (WP $)
+ The judge believes its efforts probably violated the US Constitution.(Reuters)
+ The department has also targeted workers that prevent tech overspending. (The Intercept)
+ Can AI help DOGE slash government budgets? It’s complex. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Can Oracle save TikTok?
A security proposal from the cloud giant could reportedly allow it to keep operating in the US. (Bloomberg $)
+ The deal would leave the app’s algorithm in the hands of its Chinese parent company. (Politico)
3 NASA’s astronauts have touched down on Earth
They safely landed off the coast of Florida yesterday evening. (FT $)
+ A pod of dolphins dropped by to witness the spectacle. (The Guardian)
4 AI is turning cyber crime into a digital arms race
Europol warns that more criminals than ever are exploiting AI tools for nefarious means. (FT $)
+ Five ways criminals are using AI. (MIT Technology Review)
5 An Italian newspaper has published an edition produced entirely by AI
The technology was responsible for “the irony” too, apparently. (The Guardian)
6 Tesla’s taxi service has been greenlit in California
But the road ahead is still full of obstacles. (Wired $)
+ Chinese EVs are snapping at Tesla’s heels across the world. (Rest of World)
+ It certainly seems as though Asia will birth the next EV superpower. (Economist $)
+ Robotaxis are one of our 10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2025. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Online platforms are fueling ‘facial dysmorphia’
Hours of staring at their own faces made these women anxious and depressed. (NY Mag $)
+ The fight for “Instagram face.” (MIT Technology Review)
8 Inside the hunt for water on Mars
We know that the red planet was once host to it, but we don’t know why. (Knowable Magazine)
9 This robotic spider is shedding light on how real spiders hunt 🕷️
Namely using a form of echolocation. (Ars Technica)
10 We could be dramatically underestimating the Earth’s population 🌍
New data analysis suggests it could be much higher than previously thought. (New Scientist $)
Quote of the day
“In no uncertain terms is this an audit. It’s a heist, stealing a vast amount of government data.”
—An anonymous auditor offers a scathing review of DOGE’s attempts at auditing US government departments to Wired.
The big story
The humble oyster could hold the key to restoring coastal waters. Developers hate it.
October 2023
Carol Friend has taken on a difficult job. She is one of the 10 people in Delaware currently trying to make it as a cultivated oyster farmer.
Her Salty Witch Oyster Company holds a lease to grow the mollusks as part of the state’s new program for aquaculture, launched in 2017. It has sputtered despite its obvious promise.
Five years after the first farmed oysters went into the Inland Bays, the aquaculture industry remains in a larval stage. Oysters themselves are almost mythical in their ability to clean and filter water. But human willpower, investment, and flexibility are all required to allow the oysters to simply do their thing—particularly when developers start to object. Read the full story.
—Anna Kramer
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.)+ If you’re stuck for something to do this weekend, why not host a reading hang?
+ Do baby owls really sleep on their stomachs? Like most things in life, the truth is somewhere in the middle.
+ Keep your eyes peeled the next time you’re in the British countryside, you might just spot a black leopard.
+ I couldn’t agree more—why When Harry Met Sally is a perfect film.
