Plus, the UK wants AI to estimate the age of child asylum seekers.
Navigating AI agents
AI Agents is a buzzy phrase that refers to AI algorithms and models that can provide you with information as well as take actions on behalf of the user. Companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and others have developed ‘agenttic’ products which can perform tasks for you, such as bookings, completing forms, or collaborating on coding projects.
Yesterday, our editor-in chief Mat Honan, senior AI editor Will Douglas Heaven, as well as senior AI reporter Grace Huskins, discussed on a LinkedIn Live event what was exciting about agents, where the technology is going next, but also the limitations and risks associated with its adoption. See what they said!
If you’re interested to learn more about AI agents, please read our stories
+ Are we ready for AI agents to be given the keys? We’re beginning to give AI agents real autonomous, and we are not prepared for what might happen next. Read the complete story.
Anthropic’s Chief scientist on four ways agents will become even better. Read the full article.
+ AI agents will soon launch cyberattacks. Agents could make hacking systems easier and cheaper for criminals. We must be prepared.
+ AIs can be expensive. In AI-to AI price negotiations, weaker AI models often lose. This costs users real money and raises concerns about growing digital inequalities. Read the complete story.
– There has been a lot of hype about the new general AI agent called Manus from China. We put it to test.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
The Trump administration wants to protect US tech companies abroad
They’re using their global trade wars to prevent other countries imposing new taxes and regulations on American tech firms. (WSJ $)
+ Tech companies are increasingly trying shape US AI policy. FT ($)
UK border officials will use AI to assess asylum seekers who are children
Pilot scheme to estimate the age of new arrivals in the country. The Guardian (19459035])
+ US Border Patrol is arresting immigrants far from the US-Mexico boundary. WP($)
+ US wants to use face recognition to identify migrant kids as they age. MIT Technology Review
Three AI is affecting web traffic hard
Google AI Overviews are causing a huge drop in clicks on actual websites. (Ars Technica, )
and This is good news for Google but bad news for everyone else. AI is the end of internet searches as we know them. MIT Technology Review
– 4 Dozens Iranians’ iPhones were targeted with government spy software
but the total number of targets may be much higher. (Bloomberg$)
Amazon is closing its AI lab in Shanghai.
This is the latest US tech giant to reduce their research in China. (FT$)
Six Californian billionaires are now focusing on building an industrial complex
after their plans to build a brand-new city failed. Gizmodo ( )
Tesla’s robotaxi launched didn’t go as planned
Prospective clients appear to be a little freaked out. (Wired $)
+ Ride hailing companies aren’t reaching their EV adoption goals. (Rest of World)
8 Why AI slop might finally help us log off
If AI garbage renders much of the internet unusable, that could be our only choice. (The Atlantic $)
+ Fixing the internet. MIT Technology Review
You may be able to regrow your teeth in the near future
Dentures and implants are likely to be a thing of the past. (New Scientist$)
+ Humanlike “teeth” have been grown in miniature pigs. MIT Technology Review
Inside one man’s search for an elusive Chinese Typewriter
This typewriter allowed him to type tens and thousands of characters with just 72 keys. (NYT $)
+ The quest to type Chinese using a QWERTY keypad led to autocomplete. MIT Technology Review
Today’s Quote
The truth is that China’s doing ‘007,’ midnight to midnight, seven nights a week.
Venture capitalist Harry Stebbings explains the Chinese startups’ shift from a 996 work schedule (9am to 9:00pm, six days a weeks) to a more punishing routine, Wired reported.
Another thing
In a new quest for saving the “doomsday ice sheet”
Thwaites Glacier is a fortress bigger than Florida. It’s a wall of glacier that reaches nearly 4,500 feet above West Antarctica’s bedrock, protecting the low-lying glacier behind it.
A strong, warm ocean flow is weakening the glacier’s foundations and speeding up its slide into sea. Scientists are concerned that the water could topple the walls within the next few decades, causing a runaway process to crack the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and start a global climate catastrophe. They are therefore eager to know how likely a collapse like this is, when it might happen, and whether we can stop it.
Scientists from MIT and Dartmouth College created the Arete Glacier Initiative in order to provide clearer answers. MIT Technology Review has exclusive access to the nonprofit research organization’s official unveiling, website launch, and requests for research proposal today. This coincides with the UN World Day for Glaciers. Read the complete story.
– James Temple
You can still enjoy nice things
This is a place to relax, have fun, and distract you from your daily routine. (Do you have any ideas? Drop a line to me or skeet them at me A fun-looking major retrospective of David Bailey’s stellar career opens in Spain.
+ The new horror filmweapons has been receiving rave reviews. This website will take you through the first landing of Apollo 11 on the moon. Rest in power Ozzy Osbourne, the first heavy metal frontman and undisputed Prince of Darkness .
