The Download: Anthropic’s IPO, smarter power grids, and exercise pills
MIT Technology Review ·
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. Will the real Anthropic please stand up? After weeks of frenzied speculation, Anthropic has filed its IPO prospectus. The 335-page document (100 pages or so are focused on risks) lays out…
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.
After weeks of frenzied speculation, Anthropic has filed its IPO prospectus. The 335-page document (100 pages or so are focused on risks) lays out the company’s unique view of the technology it is building and how it believes it will change the world.
But Anthropic has been honing its storytelling skills for years. Its public messaging is a master class in narrative capture, presenting it as different things to different people: an AI safety organization, a profit-driven megacorp, and a group hell-bent on creating superhuman technology.
These roles come with huge tensions. Will the IPO reveal the company behind the mask, or lean deeper into the myth-making? Take a new glimpse inside Anthropic .
—Will Douglas Heaven
This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly AI newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Monday.
Transformers are a crucial but nearly invisible part of the US grid, helping efficiently move power across long distances. But they’re complicated and in short supply, and their basic design hasn’t changed much in about a century.
As electricity demand rises from EVs, data centers, and more, researchers and companies are looking to modernize these grid staples. Solid-state versions could help ease supply concerns and cut power losses.
The technology is still in development, but it could become a crucial part of our future grid.
Find out how solid-state transformers could help meet rising electricity demand .
—Casey Crownhart
We all know exercise is good for us. It builds muscle, strengthens bones, lowers blood pressure, and boosts mood. By deciphering how movement benefits the body, researchers hope to develop medicines that can offer some of the same perks, without the workout.
The idea isn’t to replace exercise but to bring its upsides to people who struggle with frailty, disability, or chronic illness.
Discover how close researchers are to developing an exercise pill .
—Cassandra Willyard
This story is part of “Are we there yet?” from the new Impossible issue of MIT Technology Review . The series takes stock of six technologies that have long promised to change the world—and scores them on a progress meter. Over the next six days, we’ll explore each one in The Download.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Anthropic has filed for its blockbuster IPO The listing could determine the future of the AI investment boom. ( CNBC ) + The filing warns of catastrophic AI risks and huge compute costs. ( BBC ) + And exposes safety failures and a month-long training pause. ( Reuters $) + The prospectus reveals soaring revenues but also staggering losses. ( NYT $) + Anthropic’s founders will retain voting control after the IPO. ( Verge )
2 Solar is quietly overtaking nuclear as a global power source Cheap panels and batteries are accelerating the shift. ( BBC ) + The balcony solar boom is coming to the US. ( MIT Technology Review )
3 OpenAI has announced three new science discoveries They span mathematics, computer science, and physics. ( Verge ) + It’s enlisted expert “shepherds” to publish its breakthroughs. ( Gizmodo )
4 Microsoft is offering buyouts to a quarter of staff amid rising AI costs Around 60,000 employees are eligible for the buyout program. ( Bloomberg $) + Microsoft plans $190 billion in AI spending this year. ( NYT $)
5 The plastics industry knew microplastics could enter the body decades ago Company documents reveal concerns dating back to 1974. ( LA Times $) + No part of the globe is free of human fingerprints. ( MIT Technology Review )
6 A demonstration of lighting Earth from space has sparked alarm Startup Reflect Orbital used space mirrors for the California test. ( Guardian ) + The tech could jeopardize the night sky. ( MIT Technology Review )
7 The US has designated helium a critical material The move is due to its importance to semiconductor production. ( AP )
8 Hundreds of Boston Dynamics staff have protested its ICE deal They’ve called for a halt to sales of the robot dogs. ( Ars Technica )
9 Treatments for age-related infertility are being developed at last Two startups aim to reduce chromosome errors in eggs. ( Economist $) + Here’s how tech transformed babymaking. ( MIT Technology Review )
10 Grok says its AI-generated Odyssey is “not historically accurate” The bot itself admitted Elon Musk’s filmmaking plan has failed. ( Wired $)
Quote of the day
—Kate Brennan, who leads policy at the AI Now Institute, tells the New York Times that the voluntary safety pledges AI executives recently made are toothless and unenforceable.
One more thing
There’s a theory that many of us have an “inner Neanderthal.” The idea is that Homo sapiens and its cousin species once bred, leaving some people today with a trace of Neanderthal DNA.
This DNA is arguably the 21st century’s most celebrated discovery in human evolution. But in 2024, a pair of French geneticists called into question the theory’s very foundations.
They proposed that what scientists interpret as interbreeding could instead be explained by population structure—the way genes concentrate in smaller, isolated groups.
Find out what it all means for human evolution .
—Ben Crair
We can still have nice things
A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line .)
+ See how fast the planets spin with this dizzying animation that puts faces on each one. + A flask of mercury, a little neon, and some shaking produce this mesmerizing homemade light . + What can the USA’s earliest restaurants teach us about the country? This digital collection explores the answers. + Rick and Morty asked the crucial question: could a lightsaber really drill its way to Earth’s core? Science now has an answer .