Plus, the Gates Foundation announced that it will shut down in 2045.
The Downloadis our weekly newsletterthat gives you a daily dose on what’s happening in the worlds of technology.
An AI translation system for headphones can clone multiple voices at once
New: Imagine having dinner with friends who speak in different languages. You’d still be able to understand them. This scenario inspired a new AI headset system that can translate the speech of multiple speakers in real-time.
It works: This system tracks the direction of each speaker and their vocal characteristics, helping the person who wears the headphones to identify what is being said in a group. Read the complete story.
–Rhiannon William
Gut microbes could encourage criminal behavior.
Several years ago, a Belgian in his 30s crashed into a lamppost. Twice. Authorities found his blood alcohol level to be four times the legal limit. The man was arrested three times for drunk driving in the span of a few months. On all three occasions he claimed he had not been drinking. He was telling it like it is. A doctor diagnosed auto-brewery, a rare condition where the body produces its own alcohol. The microbes in the man’s body fermented the carbohydrates from his diet to produce ethanol. He was acquitted last year of drunken driving.
This case, along several other scientific studies raises an interesting question for microbiology and neuroscience, as well as the law: how much of our behavior is due to our microbes. Read the complete story. This article was first published in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Thursday and read articles such as this one first or.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
How the Gates Foundation ends
Bill Gates plans to wind down his foundation in 2045 after distributing his remaining fortune. (NYT $)
+ Bill Gates estimates he will give away $200 billion over the next 20 years. Semafor ()
+ He is closing the foundation earlier than he anticipated. BBC
US Customs and Border Protection won’t protect pregnant women anymore
They’ve rolled back policies that were designed to protect vulnerable people including infants. (Wired $)
+ US wants to use face recognition to identify migrant kids as they age. MIT Technology Review
DOGE is preparing software to turbo-charge massive layoffs.
This comes after 260,000 government employees have already been laid off. (Reuters).
+ DOGE’s math doesn’t make sense. The Atlantic ($)
+ Its biggest inspiration is not a fan of the program. (WP $)
+ Can AI help DOGE slash government budgets? It’s complex. MIT Technology Review
4 Scientists use AI to predict cancer outcomes
It’s sometimes outperforming clinicians. (FT $)
+ The difficulty of using AI to diagnose cancer. MIT Technology Review
Apple is reportedly developing new chips for smart glasses
but we’ll still have to wait a couple of years. What’s next in smart glasses? (Bloomberg $)
+ MIT Technology Review
Six Silicon Valley companies have a vision of the future of warfare.
Military technology is no longer the sole domain of governments. (Bloomberg $)
+ Palmer Luckey’s view on the future of mixed reality at the Pentagon. MIT Technology Review
Seven AI companies no longer want regulation
Only a few years after they claimed that regulation was the best method to make AI safe. (WP $)
Eight Forget SEO. GEO is the way to go these days
Marketing professionals are scrambling for the best Generative Engine Optimization techniques now that AI has revolutionized how we search on the web. (WSJ $)
+ AI may be your most important customer. MIT Technology Review
Nine AI-generated recruiters make job hunting worse
The words of avatars can be muddled and glitched. (404 Media)
A Soviet-era satellite is reentering Earth’s atmosphere
After more than 50 years, it misfired during a trip to Venus. (Ars Technica,)
+ Space could be the next big environmental issue. (MIT Technology Review).
Today’s Quote
The picture of the richest man in the world killing the poorest children of the world is not a pretty sight.
Bill Gates lashes at Elon Musk for cutting USAID funding during an interview with Financial Times.
Another thing
The great commercial takeover in low Earth orbit
NASA built the International Space Station for a 20-year lifespan. NASA is studying how to safely destroy this space laboratory by 2030. It has lasted for six years longer, but it is showing signs of age.
Despite what some hoped, the ISS was never able to become a launching pad for a growing human presence in our solar system. It did, however, enable fundamental research in materials and medicine and helped us begin to understand how space effects the human body.
To build upon that work, NASA has partnered up with private companies to create new, commercial spacestations for research, manufacturing and tourism. These companies, if successful, will usher in a new age of space exploration. Private rockets will fly to private destinations. They are already planning to do this around the moon. Mars could be next. Read the complete story.
– David W. Brown
