The Download: unraveling a death threat mystery, and AI voice recreation for musicians

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.

Hackers made death threats against this security researcher. Big mistake.

In April 2024, a mysterious someone using the online handles “Waifu” and “Judische” began posting death threats on Telegram and Discord channels aimed at a cybersecurity researcher named Allison Nixon.

These anonymous personas targeted Nixon because she had become a formidable threat: As chief research officer at the cyber investigations firm Unit 221B, named after Sherlock Holmes’s apartment, she had built a career tracking cybercriminals and helping get them arrested.

Though she’d done this work for more than a decade, Nixon couldn’t understand why the person behind the accounts was suddenly threatening her. And although she had taken an interest in the Waifu persona in years past for crimes he boasted about committing, he hadn’t been on her radar for a while when the threats began, because she was tracking other targets.

Now Nixon resolved to unmask Waifu/Judische and others responsible for the death threats—and take them down for crimes they admitted to committing. Read the full story.

—Kim Zetter

This story is from the next print issue of MIT Technology Review magazine, which is all about crime. If you haven’t already, subscribe now to receive future issues once they land. 

ALS stole this musician’s voice. AI let him sing again.

There are tears in the audience as Patrick Darling’s song begins to play. It’s a heartfelt song written for his great-grandfather, whom he never got the chance to meet. But this performance is emotional for another reason: It’s Darling’s first time on stage with his bandmates since he lost the ability to sing two years ago.

The 32-year-old musician was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) when he was 29 years old. Like other types of motor neuron disease, it affects nerves that supply the body’s muscles. People with ALS eventually lose the ability to control their muscles, including those that allow them to move, speak, and breathe.

Darling’s last stage performance was over two years ago. By that point, he had already lost the ability to stand and play his instruments and was struggling to sing or speak. But recently, he was able to re-create his lost voice using an AI tool trained on snippets of old audio recordings. Another AI tool has enabled him to use this “voice clone” to compose new songs. Darling is able to make music again. Read the full story.

—Jessica Hamzelou

The must-reads

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

1 The creator of OpenClaw is joining OpenAI
Sam Altman was sufficiently impressed by Peter Steinberger’s ideas to get agents to interact with each other. (The Verge)
+ The move demonstrates how seriously OpenAI is taking agents. (FT $)
+ Moltbook was peak AI theater. (MIT Technology Review)

2 How North Korea is illegally funding its nuclear program
A defector explains precisely how he duped remote IT workers into funneling money into its missiles.(WSJ $)
+ Nukes are a hot topic across Europe right now. (The Atlantic $)

3 Radio host David Greene is convinced Google stole his voice
He’s suing the company over similarities between his own distinctive vocalizations and the AI voice used in its NotebookLM app. (WP $)
+ People are using Google study software to make AI podcasts. (MIT Technology Review)

4 US automakers are worried by the prospect of a Chinese invasion
They fear Trump may greenlight Chinese carmakers to build plants in the US. (FT $)
+ China figured out how to sell EVs. Now it has to deal with their aging batteries. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Google downplays safety warnings on its AI-generated medical advice
It only displays extended warnings when a user clicks to ‘Show more.’ (The Guardian)
+ Here’s another reason why you should keep a close eye on AI Overviews. (Wired $)
+ AI companies have stopped warning you that their chatbots aren’t doctors. (MIT Technology Review)

6 How to make Lidar affordable for all cars
A compact device could prove the key. (IEEE Spectrum)

7 Robot fight nights are all the rage in San Francisco
Step aside, Super Bowl! (Rest of World)
+ Humanoid robots will take to the stage for Chinese New Year celebrations. (Reuters)

8 Influencers and TikTokers are feeding their babies butter
But there’s no scientific evidence to back up some of their claims. (NY Mag $)

9 This couple can’t speak the same language
Microsoft Translator has helped them to sustain a marriage. (NYT $)
+ AI romance scams are on the rise. (Vox)

10 AI promises to make better, more immersive video games
But those are lofty goals that may never be achieved. (The Verge)
+ Google DeepMind is using Gemini to train agents inside Goat Simulator 3. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“Right now this is a baby version. But I think it’s incredibly concerning for the future.”

—Scott Shambaugh, a software engineer who recently became the subject of a scathing blog post written by an AI bot accusing him of hypocrisy and prejudice, tells the Wall Street Journal why this could be the tip of the iceberg.

One more thing

Why do so many people think the Fruit of the Loom logo had a cornucopia?

Quick question: Does the Fruit of the Loom logo feature a cornucopia?

Many of us have been wearing the company’s T-shirts for decades, and yet the question of whether there is a woven brown horn of plenty on the logo is surprisingly contentious.

According to a 2022 poll, 55% of Americans believe the logo does include a cornucopia, 25% are unsure, and only 21% are confident that it doesn’t, even though this last group is correct.

There’s a name for what’s happening here: the “Mandela effect,” or collective false memory, so called because a number of people misremember that Nelson Mandela died in prison. Yet while many find it easy to let their unconfirmable beliefs go, some spend years seeking answers—and vindication. Read the full story.

—Amelia Tait

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.)

+ When dating apps and book lovers collide, who knows what could happen.
+ It turns out humans have a secret third set of teeth, which is completely wild.
+ We may never know the exact shape of the universe. But why is that?
+ If your salad is missing a certain something, some crispy lentils may be just the ticket.