The Download: AI-generated art and YouTube’s algorithm

1 The race to decarbonize Europe’s heavy industries
Scaling up promising technologies is among the biggest obstacles—but they’re not insurmountable. (Economist $)
+ Nature documentaries tend to skim over human suffering. (Wired $)
+ Carbon removal is now “essential.”  (MIT Technology Review)

2What we misunderstand about the abortion pill
Medical trials, politicians and the public have focused on the less important of the two drugs. (The Atlantic $)
+ Where to get abortion pills and how to use them. (MIT Technology Review)

3 A law banning social media from ‘censoring’ content has been upheld
The Texas ruling could prevent platforms from moderating user content at all. (Vox)
+ Experts are concerned by the law’s extremity. (WP $)
+ Here’s what Big Tech might do next. (Protocol)

4 AI art’s charm lies in what it gets wrong 
When its images become too slick and polished, things get weird. (NY Mag $)
+ Stock image sites are quietly removing AI images. (Motherboard)
+ Graphic designers are growing increasingly uneasy. (Slate $)
+ The dark secret behind those cute AI-generated animal images. (MIT Technology Review)

5 These women are speaking out against Tesla’s toxic culture
Time and time again, their complaints were ignored. (Rolling Stone $)

6 How Russia’s trolls undermined the US Women’s March movement 
The disinformation machine’s campaign of social media exploitation was chillingly effective. (NYT $)
+ Donald Trump’s “big lie” narrative influenced a generation of creators. (WP $)

7 Electric vehicle makers can’t keep up with demand 
But frustrated customers won’t wait forever. (WSJ $)
+ EVs still represent the power grid’s best shot at solving its issues. (Wired $)
+ Detroit is also betting big on EVs. (Economist $)

8 Myanmar’s resistance groups are embracing digital currency
But concerns over its security are hard to shake. (Rest of World)

9 How VR could change theme parks for good 
 Visitors want cutting-edge tech, but headsets can only take you so far. (The Guardian)

10 Gen Z loves captions 
And it’s nothing to do with hearing loss. (WSJ $)

Quote of the day

“He is obviously on the run.”

—A spokesperson for South Korean prosecutors explains why they have issued an arrest warrant for Do Kwan, the missing developer behind the collapsed TerraUSD and Luna cryptocurrencies, who denied he’s on the run from authorities, according to the Financial Times.

The big story

Cops built a shadowy surveillance machine in Minnesota after George Floyd’s murder

March 2022

Law enforcement agencies in Minnesota have been carrying out a secretive, long-running surveillance program targeting civil rights activists and journalists in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in May 2020.

Run under a consortium known as Operation Safety Net, the program was set up in spring 2021, ostensibly to maintain public order as Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin went on trial for Floyd’s murder.