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.
A new method for extracting lithium could cut costs and emissions from one of the world’s most important materials for EVs and energy storage.
The technique uses a weak acid to dissolve silicate minerals. That frees not only the lithium but also other useful materials, including alumina and silica.
“At scale, we believe this will be the lowest-cost way of sourcing lithium in the world,” says Yet-Ming Chiang, an MIT professor who co-authored a study of the process published yesterday in Science.
Startup Rock Zero is already working to commercialize the research. Read the full story on a new way to unlock the world’s lithium.
The alert was raised on May 5. Four health-care workers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo had died from an unknown illness within four days. Tests in Kinshasa revealed the culprit: the Bundibugyo virus, one of the causes of Ebola.
A couple of weeks ago, an outbreak of hantavirus erupted aboard a cruise ship. Three people died, but the outbreak was kept under control. The picture for Ebola is bleaker for several reasons, including the disease itself, the available treatments, and the local environment.
Find out why the outbreak is causing alarm.
This story is from The Spark, our weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things biotech. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday.
——Father Séamus Finn, a leader in faith-based and socially responsible investing with the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and Sister Susan Francois, assistant congregation leader and treasurer of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace
Pope Leo XIV’s new encyclical on artificial intelligence includes a statement that warrants serious attention from technologists and policymakers: “Technology is never neutral.”
Magnifica Humanitas is a call to act with courage and solidarity as AI transforms human life, framing the choice ahead as one between the Tower of Babel and the rebuilding of our common humanity. It warns that corporations alone cannot set the direction of such a transformation.
With governments slow to regulate AI, institutional investors are stepping into the gap. Here’s how they can build a better future.
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Anthropic is now valued higher than OpenAIIt hit a $965 billion valuation after a new funding round. (AP News)+ Claude demand has driven annualized revenue to $47 billion. (WSJ $)+ The funding round may be Anthropic’s last before an IPO. (TechCrunch)+ What even is the AI bubble? (MIT Technology Review)2 A Blue Origin rocket has exploded in a setback to NASA’s Moon plansNew Glenn burst into flames during testing on a Florida launchpad. (CNBC) + Blue Origin is heavily involved in NASA’s Moon base plans. (The Verge) + It also wants to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. (Reuters $) 3 Adversaries are tracking US troop locations via mobile phone dataThe Pentagon has long ignored warnings of this exact threat. (Reuters $)+ The targeting uses commercially available location data. (Wired $)+ LLMs could supercharge mass surveillance. (MIT Technology Review) 4 Anthropic plans a broad rollout of Mythos AI in the coming weeksDespite concerns over its cybersecurity capabilities. (CNET)+ Claude Opus 4.8 is now out, with a promise to be more honest. (The Verge) 5 Grok oversaw a crime spree in an AI safety testModels were tasked with governing a simulated society. (Fortune)+ Grok committed 180 crimes, while Claude ruled with restraint. (Gizmodo)6 Amazon has scrapped an AI leaderboard after worker gamingEmployees were artificially inflating usage scores. (FT $)+ We can build better AI benchmarks. (MIT Technology Review) 7 Political spending by AI and crypto groups is shifting electionsThey’ve pushed their preferred candidates closer to power. (Axios)8 China’s tech boom is fueling a new wave of industrial tourismVisitors are touring AI labs and EV factories. (Rest of World)9 Alibaba’s MuleRun aims to replicate the OpenClaw crazeThe AI agent platform is positioned as a safer alternative. (SCMP)10 Mysterious changes have emerged in the Sun’s magnetic fieldThey could reshape space weather forecasts. (404 Media)
—Elisa Lilita Carrió, an Argentine politician, writes on X that Peter Thiel’s relocation to her country has angered her even more than his leadership of Palantir.
When the James Webb Space Telescope began full operations in 2022, astronomers were in awe of the flood of data that arrived.
“Every hour we were looking at a galaxy or an exoplanet or star formation,” says NASA scientist Heidi Hammel. “It was like a firehose.”
Since then, JWST has delivered nonstop discoveries, from distant galaxies to new planetary atmospheres. “We’re cracking open an entirely new window on the universe,” says Hammel.
Discover how JWST has transformed astronomy.
A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line.)
+ Kubrick fans will love this Lego recreation of Dr Strangelove.+ Here’s a fascinating explanation of why seven landlocked countries have navies.+ This mesmerizing 4K remaster of a super typhoon turns weather data into cinematic art.+ Go inside the genius of Queen with this track-by-track breakdown of “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Plus: China has blocked Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus.
Plus: An unauthorized group has reportedly accessed Anthropic’s Mythos.
Plus: DeepSeek has unveiled its long-awaited new AI model.
Plus: the Pentagon has struck sweeping AI deals for classified work.
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