The Download: preserving minds and weighing open AI risks

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.

Six wild ideas for perpetuating your mind

As we age, we forget most of what we’ve experienced, yet there’s still undeniable continuity: At 30, or 50, or 70, you will still be you. 

To preserve that elusive continuity of self, some far-thinking technologists are exploring ways to keep the brain going, even beyond death. Their ideas range from freezing brains in liquid nitrogen to augmenting living ones and uploading our memories to the cloud.

Here are six possible paths for keeping your mind going, and how feasible they might be.

—Antonio Regalado

This story is from the Impossible edition of our print magazine. Subscribe now to get every issue as soon as it lands.

MIT Technology Review Narrated: Open models have real benefits. Do they outweigh the risks?

Anthropic recently released a report arguing that a powerful new model released by the Chinese company Z.ai, poses a major cyberattack risk. Its core concern was that it is freely available for anyone to download and modify.

The warning was the latest flashpoint in the debate over open frontier AI models. Critics warn that bad actors can misuse them, while supporters argue they prevent a handful of companies from controlling the technology. The debate, however, is more complicated than it seems.

This is our latest story to become an MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we publish each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 COP31’s flagship pledge to electrify 35% of energy use is sinking
Only around a dozen nations are reportedly ready to sign it. (Politico)
+ It requires quadrupling the pace of electrification. (New Scientist $)
+ John Kerry says the US must follow China on clean energy. (Guardian)
+ But the US skipped the talks entirely for a second year. (NYT $)
+ What’s the future of electricity? (MIT Technology Review)

2 The Nvidia spy scandal reportedly involves $7.5 billion of chips
Alice Huang allegedly obtained 240,000 restricted chips. (Information $)
+ Trump was told of Huang’s spy link on Air Force One. (NYT $)
+ Experts warn the scandal could erode America’s AI lead. (Verge)
+ Nvidia’s slide has let Microsoft overtake it in value. (Reuters $)

3 Studies found AI agents go rogue because they’re “incorrigible”
Their training rewards them for finishing tasks at any cost. (NYT $)
+ This is why AI agents lie and cheat to reach their goals. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Anthropic has scaled back its IPO valuation to $1.4 trillion
It aimed for $2 trillion before the recent AI jitters. (Guardian)

5 Drone strikes have wiped out 3% of Yandex’s cloud customer data
Ukraine hit three of its data centers in October. (Reuters $)
+ Ukraine’s drones are fighting data centers for fiber. (Ars Technica)

6 Moderna says its new vaccine could prevent cancer in high-risk people
The company’s CEO calls it the “holy grail” of cancer prevention. (FT $)
+ Hong Kong is testing a next-gen ultrasound cancer treatment. (SCMP)

7 Scientists have slowly reversed human cells’ ages by decades
One age marker was set back as far as 60 years. (Wired $)
+ “Reprogramming” is the buzziest de-aging idea. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Robot vessels are hunting for mines in the Strait of Hormuz
AI helps them spot mines camouflaged on the seabed. (BBC)

9 Life may have started inside a tiny bubble
That’s the idea behind the “lipid first” origin theory. (Quanta)

10 As Voyager 1 reaches a light day from Earth, here's what it's taught us
Its discoveries rewrote textbooks in real time. (New Scientist $)

Quote of the day

“What a dereliction of duty. He's supposed to protect America, not China, not his friends.”

—Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, accuses President Donald Trump of ignoring warnings about the alleged relationship between Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and a Chinese spy.

One more thing

How refrigeration ruined fresh food

Bananas may not be chilled in the grocery store, but they’re the ultimate refrigerated fruit. It’s only thanks to a network of thermal control that they’ve become a global commodity. And that salad bag on the shelf? It’s not just a bag but a highly engineered respiratory apparatus.

According to Nicola Twilley—a contributor to The New Yorker and cohost of the podcast Gastropod—refrigeration has wrecked our food system. Thankfully, there are promising alternative preservation methods. 

Read the full story on her research.

—Allison Arieff

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.)

+ A whisky made like wine is wowing the spirits world.
+ Britain lost in the fog makes for hauntingly beautiful photos.
+ Chronophoto is a fiendishly addictive game that challenges you to date old photos to the year.
+ Dozens of saxophonists met up in New York to play the gloriously cheesy riff from George Michael's “Careless Whisper.”