Summary
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. Sperm donors need limits, says a European fertility group Ties van der Meer doesn’t know how many siblings he has. The 47-year-old was conceived at a private fertility clinic using sperm from an anonymous donor. He eventually tracked down one sibling, but he may have others he’ll never find. Other donor-conceived people have found they have tens or even hundreds of them. “It does make you feel a bit mass-produced,” said one who discovered they had 25 half-siblings. In response, a European fertility organization says we need international limits on the number of children a single donor can contribute to. This story is from The Checkup, our weekly biotech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday. How will AI understand the real world? LLMs have transformed what AI can do with language, but helping machines understand and operate within physical spaces presents a different challenge. In response, researchers are developing a new form of artificial intelligence: world models. At a LinkedIn Live event tomorrow, MIT Technology Review will explore how this technology could shape the future of robotics and open one of AI’s next major frontiers. Join Will Douglas Heaven, our senior editor for AI, and Sam Sinha, founding AI researcher and head of world models at 1X Technologies, for the conversation on Tuesday, July 14. I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Apple has sued OpenAI for allegedly stealing trade secrets OpenAI purportedly stole IP to develop its own consumer hardware. (CNBC) + The suit claims OpenAI poached Apple staff to access the information. (BBC) + And requested trade secrets in job interviews with Apple workers. (Guardian) + Apple also sued two former employees, Chang Liu and Tang Tan. (Reuters ) + He won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for creating “molecular sponges.” (NYT ) + And limiting access for older children. (Bloomberg ) 4 Meta scrapped an AI image feature on Instagram after a backlash It allowed users to generate images based on public accounts. (TechCrunch) + And automatically opted in any Instagram user with a public account. (NYT ) + Cofounder Gates is the daughter of Microsoft cofounder Bill. (Engadget) 6 Leaked police drone footage exposes the new reality of surveillance Hours of San Francisco Police video were accidentally released. (Wired $) + Surveillance from drones is on the rise in the US. (MIT Technology Review) 7 Over two-thirds of Americans back a Sanders-style AI ownership plan A poll found strong support for public ownership of AI stock. (Gizmodo) + Tech firms have their own takes on the idea. (MIT Technology Review) 8 AI may soon make campaign text messages more potent—and irritating AI platforms are training bots to sound like political candidates. (NPR) 9 An orbiting disco ball gave Einstein’s theory its most precise test yet It measured Earth’s twisting of space-time more precisely. (Rest of World) 10 Australia’s biggest radio hit may be the product of GenAI Musicians are questioning how the song was made. (Guardian) Quote of the day “LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny.” —A text message sent by former Apple engineer Chang Liu to a colleague, which a new lawsuit alleges was part of a scheme to steal hardware IP for OpenAI. One More Thing Colombian military officials intercepted this 40-foot-long uncrewed fiberglass “narco sub” in the ocean just off Tayrona National Park. CARLOS PARRA RIOS How uncrewed narco subs could transform the Colombian drug trade On a bright April morning in 2025, a surveillance plane operated by the Colombian military spotted a 40-foot-long “narco sub” idling in the Caribbean Sea. The stealthy vessel, used by drug cartels to move cocaine north, could sail with its hull almost entirely underwater. After seizing the boat, the coast guard noticed something unusual: there was no one on board. This was Colombia’s first confirmed uncrewed narco sub, operable by remote control, but also capable of a degree of autonomous travel.