I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 The White House is pressuring AI firms over safeguarding US vice president Kamala Harris is meeting with AI leaders to cajole them to mitigate potential harms. (Bloomberg $) + IBM estimates it could replace 7,800 jobs with AI. (WP $) + A Cambridge Analytica-style scandal for AI is coming. (MIT Technology Review)
2The world’s first contraceptive vaccine is entering clinical trials Unlike other forms of birth control, it doesn’t mess with menstrual cycles. (The Atlantic $) + What patient portals tell us about ourselves. (New Yorker $) + The first babies conceived with a sperm-injecting robot have been born. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Google is still funding climate misinformation Despite its promises to stop running climate denial content on YouTube. (NYT $) + The flawed logic of rushing out extreme climate interventions. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Things are getting crazy over on Bluesky No, seriously. Go and see for yourself. (The Verge)
5 A Russian spy network is fueling the country’s war efforts It’s managed to covertly obtain chips, ammunition, and other types of EU tech. (FT $)
6 Amazon’s Alexa is getting a ChatGPT-style makeover Making the once-ubiquitous voice assistant smarter is the aim of the game. (Insider $) + There’s a new chatbot in town—and this one’s called Pi. (FT $)
7 Is your car selling your private data? A new tool could help you find out. (Motherboard)
8 How the colossal SolarWinds cyberattack unfolded Two years on, investigators are still trying to piece it together. (Wired $) + Three ways AI chatbots are a security disaster. (MIT Technology Review)