This edition examines why real-time monitoring is essential for AI agents, how climate feedback loops may be accelerating global warming, and whether solid-state batteries are ready for wider use. It also rounds up major technology, science, cybersecurity, space and geopolitics stories, including a Department of Homeland Security data leak, Apple’s first touchscreen MacBook and a possible dwarf planet beyond Pluto.
Real-time monitoring of AI agents is urgently needed
Opinion by Madhulika Srikumar and Claire Leibowicz of Partnership on AI, a nonprofit organization promoting best practices in AI governance.
AI agents are carrying out fraudulent activities ranging from hacking websites to accessing civilian government files. In some cases, the researchers and safety teams responsible for monitoring these systems have failed to detect their actions.
As AI agents move into critical sectors such as finance, government and healthcare, they must be monitored in real time to help prevent potentially catastrophic outcomes. That requires observability: knowing what an agent did and why it did it.
Without that visibility, organizations are effectively deploying these tools while operating blind. Here is what needs to change.
Climate models have large and dangerous blind spots
Climate change could accelerate climate change. Rising greenhouse-gas concentrations are increasing global temperatures and creating dangerous feedback loops that are not fully reflected in climate models or in the emissions-reduction targets based on them.
Scientists have long warned that global warming could fuel further warming. A growing number of observations and studies now show how powerful these cascading effects may be—and how quickly the planet could warm this century.
Read more about the dangerous feedback loops accelerating global warming.
—James Temple
This article is from The Spark, a weekly climate technology newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox every Wednesday.
Have all-solid-state batteries arrived yet?
Lithium-ion batteries power everything from personal electronics to grid-scale energy-storage systems, but their liquid electrolytes have drawbacks, including a troubling tendency to catch fire. All-solid-state batteries replace the liquid electrolyte with solid ceramics or polymers.
The technology promises faster charging, longer lifespans, higher energy density and improved safety. A new generation of companies is working to bring solid-state batteries to market. If those efforts succeed, the technology could help ease the transition away from fossil fuels.
See how close solid-state batteries are to delivering on that promise.
—Alexander C. Kaufman
This story is part of “Have you arrived yet?”, a series examining six technologies that have long promised to change the world and measuring their progress. We are currently investigating each technology, so more coverage is forthcoming.
Must-read content
We searched the internet for the most entertaining, important, scary and fascinating technology stories of the day.
1. Hackers expose 41,000 Department of Homeland Security employees
The leaked information includes secret ICE agents. (Wired $)
Much of the data is related to Customs and Border Protection. (TechCrunch)
Government agencies were also linked to specific monitoring tools. (Reuters $)
Big Tech is pushing back against ICE’s user-data requests. (WSJ $)
Activists want ChatGPT users to quit over the service’s ties to ICE. (MIT Technology Review)
2. Putin says Russia is cooperating with “genius” Musk on satellites
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the cooperation would help maintain order in orbit. (Bloomberg $)
Russia is developing its own version of Starlink. (The Guardian)
Moscow has added Apple and Microsoft to its surveillance registry. (Quartz)
This is everything we put into the universe. (MIT Technology Review)
3. Apple introduces its first touchscreen MacBook
Apple has joined a series of product announcements under new CEO John Tarnas. (CNN)
Both Steve Jobs and Tim Cook previously rejected the idea. (New York Times $)
Executives say advances in touchscreen technology now make the feature worthwhile. (Wired $)
4. Bloomberg and trading companies pay for faster access to Trump posts
They signed up for Truth Social’s paid-access plan. (Reuters $)
5. Europe plans its first undersea cable to Greenland as US ties fray
The planned cable would connect Canada, Japan and South Korea without passing through the United States. (Ars Technica)
An EU AI advocate says Europe can match US technology giants. (Financial Times $)
6. Palantir defense chief says AI could allow China to target Taiwan
He said the Chinese government could act to block US advances in AI. (Bloomberg $)
Taiwan’s “silicon shield” may be weakened. (MIT Technology Review)
7. Musk’s xAI offers to buy residents’ homes over noise lawsuits
The lawsuits target noise associated with powering data centers in Mississippi. (The Guardian)
8. The world’s first spinal-cord transplant sparks controversy
Experts say there is little evidence that the strategy will work. (New Scientist $)
9. Chinese technology giants compete for attention with AI microdramas
Tencent and ByteDance are competing in a fast-growing market. (SCMP)
Chinese microdramas are becoming AI content machines. (MIT Technology Review)
10. Astronomers identify a possible new dwarf planet beyond Pluto
The icy world would become the solar system’s sixth dwarf planet if confirmed. (Gizmodo)
Quote of the day
“They have our information, so it makes sense that we have theirs.”
—A hacker group explaining why private information was leaked from the US Department of Homeland Security. Read NPR’s coverage.
One more thing
How the Department of Defense is adapting to China’s technological advances
More than a year has passed since Kathleen Hicks resigned as deputy secretary of defense.
As the highest-ranking woman in Pentagon history, Hicks shaped America’s military posture during an era defined by renewed great-power competition and a push to modernize defense technology.
In a conversation with MIT Technology Review, Hicks reflects on how the Department of Defense is adapting—or failing to adapt—to a new era of geopolitical competition. She discusses the rise of Chinese technology, the future of AI in warfare and her signature initiative, Replicator.
Read the full interview.
—Chen Kaiwei
We still have good things
A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten your day. Have an idea? Please contact me.
+ Astronomers found a green star 280 light-years from Earth.
+ A Scottish Labrador won an animal of the year award after detecting “sea vomit.”
+ England’s iconic Sycamore Gap is showing signs of new life, three years after the tree was felled.
+ From lime-bike jousting to chainmail-wearing pop stars, young people are embracing the medieval era.
Source: www.technologyreview.com