The Download: AI co-creativity, and what Trump’s tariffs mean for batteries

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. How AI can help supercharge creativity Existing generative…

April 10, 2025

Tech

How AI can help supercharge creativity

Sometimes Lizzie Wilson shows up to a rave with her AI sidekick. One weeknight this past February, Wilson plugged her laptop into a projector that threw her screen onto the…

April 10, 2025

Tech

Tariffs are bad news for batteries

Update: Since this story was first published in The Spark, our weekly climate newsletter, the White House announced that most reciprocal tariffs would be paused for 90 days. That pause…

April 9, 2025

Tech

The Download: detecting bird flu, and powering industrial processes with nuclear energy

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. A new biosensor can detect bird flu in…

April 9, 2025

Tech

A new biosensor can detect bird flu in five minutes

Over the winter, eggs suddenly became all but impossible to buy. As a bird flu outbreak rippled through dairy and poultry farms, grocery stores struggled to keep them on shelves.…

April 9, 2025

Tech

This Texas chemical plant could get its own nuclear reactors

Nuclear reactors could someday power a chemical plant in Texas, making it the first with such a facility onsite. The factory, which makes plastics and other materials, could become a…

April 9, 2025

Tech

The Download: a “dire wolf” revival, and safeguarding AI companions

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. Game of clones: Colossal’s new wolves are cute,…

April 8, 2025

Tech

Game of clones: Colossal’s new wolves are cute, but are they dire?

Somewhere in the northern US, drones fly over a 2,000-acre preserve, protected by a nine-foot fence built to zoo standards. It is off-limits to curious visitors, especially those with a…

April 8, 2025

Tech

AI companions are the final stage of digital addiction, and lawmakers are taking aim

On Tuesday, California state senator Steve Padilla will make an appearance with Megan Garcia, the mother of a Florida teen who killed himself following a relationship with an AI companion…

April 8, 2025

Tech

The Download: how the US is meeting China’s technological rise, and Trump’s tariff war intensifies

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. How the Pentagon is adapting to China’s technological…

April 7, 2025