The Download: how AI is changing music, and a US city’s AI experiment

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.

AI is coming for music, too

While large language models that generate text have exploded in the last three years, a different type of AI, based on what are called diffusion models, is having an unprecedented impact on creative domains.

By transforming random noise into coherent patterns, diffusion models can generate new images, videos, or speech, guided by text prompts or other input data. The best ones can create outputs indistinguishable from the work of people, as well as bizarre, surreal results that feel distinctly nonhuman.

Now these models are marching into a creative field that is arguably more vulnerable to disruption than any other: music. Music models can now create songs capable of eliciting real emotional responses, presenting a stark example of how difficult it’s becoming to define authorship and originality in the age of AI. Read the full story.

—James O’Donnell

This story is from the next edition of our print magazine, which is all about how technology is changing creativity. Subscribe now to read it and get a copy of the magazine when it lands!

A small US city is experimenting with AI to find out what residents want

Bowling Green, Kentucky, is home to 75,000 residents who recently wrapped up an experiment in using AI for democracy: Can an online polling platform, powered by machine learning, capture what residents want to see happen in their city?

After a month of advertising, the Pol.is portal launched in February. Residents could go to the website and anonymously submit an idea (in less than 140 characters) for what a 25-year plan for their city should include. They could also vote on whether they agreed or disagreed with other ideas.

But some researchers question whether soliciting input in this manner is a reliable way to understand what a community wants. Read the full story.

—James O’Donnell

How Colossal Biosciences is attempting to own the “woolly mammoth”

What’s new: Colossal Biosciences not only wants to bring back the woolly mammoth—it wants to own it, too. MIT Technology Review has learned the Texas startup is seeking a patent that would give it exclusive legal rights to create and sell gene-edited elephants containing ancient mammoth DNA.

But why? Ben Lamm, the CEO of Colossal, says that holding patents on the mammoth and other creatures would “give us control over how these technologies are implemented, particularly for managing initial releases where oversight is critical.” Patents, which usually last 20 years, could provide “a clear legal framework during the critical transition period when de-extinct species are first reintroduced,” he says. Read the full story.

—Antonio Regalado


If you’re interested in what else Collossal’s been up to, check out:

+ Game of clones: Colossal’s new wolves are cute, but are they dire? The company recently claimed it has revived an extinct species, but scientists are skeptical. Read the full story.

+ As a first step towards resurrecting woolly mammoths, Colossal created these adorable gene-edited ‘woolly mice.’

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 OpenAI might be  building its own social network
It’s a move that’s likely to enrage Elon Musk even further. (The Verge)
+ Musk and Sam Altman are still locked in a legal dispute. (CNBC)
+ There are plenty of reasons why OpenAI might want to build a social feed. (NY Mag $)

2 Buying directly from Chinese factories is not a good idea
Despite what TikTok tells you. (WP $)
+ The popularity of apps allowing shoppers to buy from factories is skyrocketing. (WSJ $)

3 Mark Zuckerberg tried to settle Meta’s antitrust case last month
Unfortunately for him, the head of the FTC was unmoved by the offer. (WSJ $)
+ The CEO considered spinning off Instagram in 2018, apparently. (Reuters)
+ The first two days of the trial have focused on 2010-2014. (Bloomberg $)

4 A whistleblower has shed light on how DOGE may have taken private data
Labor law experts are certain the information is completely unrelated to making the government more efficient. (NPR)
+ Federal workers are wading through the chaos. (The Atlantic $)
+ A lot of DOGE’s fraud claims are old news. (The Guardian)
+ DOGE’s tech takeover threatens the safety and stability of our critical data. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Nvidia is bracing itself to lose $5.5 billion
As a result of the Trump administration’s new chip sales restrictions. (FT $)
+ Its new H20 chip now requires a special license. (The Guardian)
+ The company’s shares plunged in response to the news. (CNN)

6 We’re getting closer to a cure for seasonal allergies
An injection usually administered to treat asthma could hold the key. (Vox)

7 Maybe LLMs don’t need language after all
Allowing them to process queries in mathematical spaces could improve their output. (Quanta Magazine)
+ Why does AI being good at math matter? (MIT Technology Review)

8 YouTube was given an exemption from Australia’s social media ban for under-16s
Even though it’s the most popular platform for children by far. (Bloomberg $)

9 Social media can still fight hate without censorship
Although X is probably too far gone, admittedly. (The Atlantic $)
+ How to fix the internet. (MIT Technology Review)

10 How to survive on Mars
Thanks to water-rich asteroids. (Wired $)
+ The quest to figure out farming on Mars. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“How else can OpenAI acquire new training data at scale going forward?”

—Bill Gross, the founder of tech incubator Idealab, believes OpenAI has a very clear motive for wanting to build its own social network, Insider reports.

The big story

How refrigeration ruined fresh food

Three-quarters of everything in the average American diet passes through the cold chain—the network of warehouses, shipping containers, trucks, display cases, and domestic fridges that keep meat, milk, and more chilled on the journey from farm to fork.

As consumers, we put a lot of faith in terms like “fresh” and “natural,” but artificial refrigeration has created a blind spot. We’ve gotten so good at preserving (and storing) food, that we know more about how to lengthen an apple’s life span than a human’s, and most of us don’t give that extraordinary process much thought at all. But all that convenience has come at the expense of diversity and deliciousness. Read the full story.

—Allison Arieff

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)

+ This list of the 30 best fiction books of the last 30 years does not disappoint.
+ Travel ghost stories? Truly chilling.
+ It’s time to caulk the wagon—the seminal Oregon Trail is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
+ These photos of fifties fashion are simply the best.