That is as we speak’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a every day dose of what’s occurring on the earth of expertise.
Google’s new Challenge Astra may very well be generative AI’s killer app
Google DeepMind has introduced a formidable seize bag of latest merchandise and prototypes which will simply let it seize again its lead within the race to show generative synthetic intelligence right into a mass-market concern.
Prime billing goes to Gemini 2.0—the most recent iteration of Google DeepMind’s household of multimodal giant language fashions, now redesigned across the capability to manage brokers—and a brand new model of Challenge Astra, the experimental all the things app that the corporate teased at Google I/O in Might.
The margins between top-end fashions like Gemini 2.0 and people from rival labs like OpenAI and Anthropic are actually slim. Nowadays, advances in giant language fashions are much less about how good they’re and extra about what you are able to do with them. And that’s the place brokers are available in.
MIT Know-how Overview bought to check out Astra in a closed-door stay demo final week. It gave us a touch at what’s to come back. Discover out extra within the full story.
—Will Douglas Heaven
China banned exports of some uncommon minerals to the US. Issues might get messier.
—Casey Crownhart
I’ve thought extra about gallium and germanium over the past week than I ever have earlier than (and possibly greater than anybody ever ought to).
China banned the export of these supplies to the US final week and positioned restrictions on others. The transfer is simply the most recent drama in escalating commerce tensions between the 2 nations.
Whereas the brand new export bans might have important financial penalties, this is likely to be solely the start. China is a powerhouse, and never simply in these area of interest supplies—it’s additionally a juggernaut in clear power, and significantly in battery provide chains. So what comes subsequent might have important penalties for EVs and local weather motion extra broadly. Learn the complete story.
This story is from The Spark, our weekly local weather and power e-newsletter. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Wednesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you as we speak’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 It’s trying fairly probably 2024 would be the hottest 12 months on file
However common temperatures are only one method of assessing our warming world. (New Scientist $)
+ The primary few months of 2025 are more likely to be hotter than common, too. (Reuters)
+ The US is about to make a pointy activate local weather coverage. (MIT Know-how Overview)
2 Meta has donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund
In an effort to strengthen their beforehand fractious relationship. (WSJ $)
+ Mark Zuckerberg isn’t the one tech determine searching for the President-elect’s ear. (Insider $)
3 How China secretly repatriates Uyghurs
Even the United Nations is seemingly powerless to cease it. (WP $)
+ Uyghurs exterior China are traumatized. Now they’re beginning to speak about it. (MIT Know-how Overview)
4 How Huge Tech decides when to clean a consumer’s digital footprint
Homicide suspect Luigi Mangione’s Instagram has been taken down—however his Goodreads hasn’t. (NYT $)
+ Why it’s harmful to deal with public on-line accounts as the complete story. (NY Magazine $)
5 Russia-backed hackers focused Ukraine’s army utilizing legal instruments
Which makes it even tougher to work out who did it. (TechCrunch)
6 What Cruise’s exit means for the remainder of the robotaxi trade
Automakers have gotten annoyed ready for the expertise to mature. (The Verge)
+ Cruise will give attention to growing absolutely autonomous private automobiles as a substitute. (NYT $)
7 Researching dangerous pathogens is extraordinarily excessive stakes
The potential for abuse has some researchers frightened we shouldn’t undertake it in any respect. (Undark Journal)
+ Meet the scientist on the heart of the covid lab leak controversy. (MIT Know-how Overview)
8 Altermagnetism may very well be computing’s subsequent massive factor
It will result in quicker, extra dependable digital gadgets. (FT $)
9 Why some individuals want so little sleep
Gene mutations seem to carry not less than a few of the solutions. (Knowable Journal)
+ Infants spend most of their time asleep. New applied sciences are starting to disclose why. (MIT Know-how Overview)
10 Contained in the creeping normalization of AI films
The world’s largest TV producer desires to make movies for individuals too lazy to alter the channel. (404 Media)
+ Unsurprisingly, it’ll push focused advertisements, too. (Ars Technica)
+ How AI-generated video is altering movie. (MIT Know-how Overview)
Quote of the day
“They’ve made him a martyr for all of the troubles individuals have had with their very own insurance coverage firms.”
—Felipe Rodriguez, an adjunct professor on the John Jay School of Prison Justice in New York, explains why homicide suspect Luigi Mangione is being lionized on-line to Reuters.
The massive story
Why AI might eat quantum computing’s lunch
Tech firms have been funneling billions of {dollars} into quantum computer systems for years. The hope is that they’ll be a sport changer for fields as numerous as finance, drug discovery, and logistics.
However whereas the sphere struggles with the realities of difficult quantum {hardware}, one other challenger is making headway in a few of these most promising use circumstances. AI is now being utilized to basic physics, chemistry, and supplies science in a method that means quantum computing’s purported dwelling turf won’t be so secure in spite of everything. Learn the complete story.
—Edd Gent
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Acquired any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Working life getting you down? These footage of bygone workplace malaise will make you are feeling an entire lot higher (or worse—thanks Will!)
+ Gen Z are getting actually into documenting their lives through digital cameras, apparently. 
+ If you happen to consider that Alan MacMasters invented the primary electrical bread toaster, I’m sorry to tell you that you simply’ve fallen for an elaborate on-line hoax.
+ The case for a greater Turing take a look at for AI-generated artwork.