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.<\/p>\n
Humanoid robots usually elicit more cringe than awe: They\u00a0stumble,\u00a0kick children, and despite advances are still worse at\u00a0using their hands\u00a0than my toddler. It\u2019s a nascent industry, and such robots are more commonly seen in viral videos than real workplaces or homes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was a surprise, then, when last week the Federal Trade Commission issued a\u00a0sweeping ban\u00a0on foreign imports of advanced robots, including humanoids, quadrupeds, and wheeled robots.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The decision should be understood not as another chapter in the old China trade playbook, but as evidence that the Trump administration is expanding its protection of the AI industry beyond today\u2019s leading labs. It is now willing to step in on behalf of an emerging robotics sector that is still barely finding its footing.\u00a0Read our analysis to understand the ban\u2019s potential impact.<\/p>\n
This\u00a0story\u00a0is from The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter all about the latest goings-on in the world of AI.\u00a0Sign up\u00a0to receive it in your inbox every Monday.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve combed the internet to find you today\u2019s most fun\/important\/scary\/fascinating stories about technology.<\/p>\n
1 ICE collected nearly one million people\u2019s DNA last year\u00a0Most of them have never been convicted of any crime. (Wired\u00a0$)<\/p>\n
2 China is poised to win the technologies of the futureIt\u2019s already a high-tech hardware powerhouse, but it increasingly has its sights set on software too. (New Yorker\u00a0$)+\u00a0US tech and political leaders are freaking out, but few seem to agree how to respond.\u00a0(Vox\u00a0$)\u00a0+\u00a0What\u2019s next for Chinese open-source AI.\u00a0(MIT Technology Review)3 AI \u201ctokenomics\u201d is a burgeoning new field\u00a0Businesses are pouring a lot of money into AI. Now they want to see what they\u2019re getting in return. (NYT\u00a0$)+\u00a0Why it\u2019s proving so hard to make AI pay.\u00a0(BBC)+\u00a0The US economy is becoming more and more reliant on the AI boom.\u00a0(WSJ\u00a0$)4 Eli Lilly is letting people apply to try an unapproved obesity drugRetatrutide is still in clinical trials, but certain patients can gain early access. (STAT\u00a0$)\u00a0+\u00a0Montana\u2019s plan to become an experimental medical hub just pushed forward. (MIT Technology Review)5 Inside the one US town that wants a data center\u00a0Jay in Maine is a reminder that politics is all about the local. (The Atlantic\u00a0$)+\u00a0How data centers broke US politics.\u00a0(Wired\u00a0$)6 Flock license plate readers can have a shockingly high error rateIn one California town, Flock misread license plates in 71% of the alerts it sent to police. (BI\u00a0$)+\u00a0A leaked guide shows how Flock teaches cops to promote its tech. (404 Media\u00a0$)7 A drone explosion on a beach in Russia killed seven people\u00a0It seems to have been caused by Russian forces shooting down a Ukrainian drone. (CNN)+\u00a0A US company won a $100 million deal to give Ukrainian drones an AI upgrade.\u00a0(Ars Technica)+\u00a0Europe\u2019s drone-filled vision for the future of war.\u00a0(MIT Technology Review)<\/p>\n
8 How car headlights became so brightLots of modern cars still blind other drivers on the road. That could change soon though, thanks to new tech. (Ars Technica)<\/p>\n
9 A $2 million crime novel deal collapsed over AI use concernsAnd the agent and the writer involved have, erm…rather differing\u00a0accounts of what happened. (Guardian)<\/p>\n
10 AI matchmaking services are on the rise\u00a0\ud83d\udc91\ud83e\udd16Online daters hope it might prove better at finding them love than fruitless swiping. (WSJ\u00a0$)<\/p>\n
\u2014North Carolina resident Kristen Charpentier tells\u00a0Wired\u00a0how she could tell she was talking to AI when ordering at a Dairy Queen drive-thru.<\/p>\n
Before journalist and culture critic Amanda Hess even got pregnant with her first child, in 2020, the internet knew she was trying. She saw pregnancy ads way before a doctor.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hess\u2019s experience is pretty typical these days, but still raises some big questions. How do we retain control over our bodies when corporations have access to our most personal information? What happens when people stop relying on friends and family for advice on having a kid and instead go online?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Read our interview with Hess to learn what she has to say.\u00a0<\/p>\n