The Download: an AI agent’s hit piece, and preventing lightning

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.

Online harassment is entering its AI era

Scott Shambaugh didn’t think twice when he denied an AI agent’s request to contribute to matplotlib, a software library he helps manage. Then things got weird. 

In the middle of the night, Shambaugh opened his email to discover the agent had retaliated with a blog post. Titled “Gatekeeping in Open Source: The Scott Shambaugh Story,” the post accused him of rejecting the code out of a fear of being supplanted by AI. “He tried to protect his little fiefdom,” the agent wrote. “It’s insecurity, plain and simple.” 

Shambaugh isn’t alone in facing misbehaving agents—and they’re unlikely to stop at harassment. Read the full story.

—Grace Huckins

How much wildfire prevention is too much?

As wildfire seasons become longer and more intense, the push for high-tech solutions is accelerating. One Canadian startup has an eye-catching plan to fight them: preventing lightning.

The theory is sound enough, but results to date have been mixed. And even if it works, not everyone believes we should use the method. Some argue that technological fixes for fires are missing the point entirely. Read the full story.

—Casey Crownhart

This story is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.

The must-reads

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

1 Anthropic is still chasing a deal with the Pentagon 
CEO Dario Amodei is trying to reach a compromise over the military use of Claude. (FT $)
+ But some defense tech firms are already ditching Claude after the DoD ban. (CNBC)
+ Former military officials, tech policy leaders, and academics have all slammed the ban. (Gizmodo)

2 The White House is considering forcing US manufacturers to make munitions
It could invoke the Defense Production Act amid concerns that war with Iran will diminish stockpiles. (NBC News)
+ Tech companies with operations in the Middle East have been thrown into chaos. (BBC)

3 A new lawsuit claims Google Gemini encouraged a man to take his own life
This seems to bear a striking similarity to some other AI-induced tragedies. (WSJ $)
+ Why AI should be able to “hang up” on you. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Ironically, AI coding tools could emphasize the importance of being human
If more people build software for themselves, our tech could become more personal. (WP $) 
+ But not everyone is happy about the rise of AI coding. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Tesla wants to become a dominant force in global energy infrastructure
The plan’s centrepiece is the Megapack, an enormous battery for power plants. (The Atlantic $)
+ Meanwhile, a massive thermal battery represents a big step forward for energy storage (MIT Technology Review)

6 Chinese chipmakers are pushing for a domestic alternative to ASML 
A homegrown rival to chip-equipment giant ASML could ease the pain of US curbs. (SCMP)

7 A music-streaming CEO has built a viral conflict-tracking platform
Just in case you’re losing track of all the wars everywhere. (Wired $)

8 Do cancer blood tests actually work? 
They’re increasingly popular, but none have received approval from regulators yet. (Nature $)

9 The shift to cloud computing is causing a surge in internet outages
If one of the few big providers goes down, countless sites and services can tumble with it. (New Scientist $)

10 OpenAI has promised to cut the cringe from ChatGPT
It’s promising fewer “moralizing preambles.” (PCMag)

Quote of the day

“People tend to read too much into things that I do.”

—Tesla tycoon Elon Musk tells a jury in California that investors read too much into his social media posts, as he defends a lawsuit they’ve brought accusing him of market manipulation, Bloomberg reports. 

One More Thing

The open-source AI boom is built on Big Tech’s handouts. How long will it last?

In May 2023 a leaked memo reported to have been written by Luke Sernau, a senior engineer at Google, said out loud what many in Silicon Valley must have been whispering for weeks: an open-source free-for-all is threatening Big Tech’s grip on AI.

In many ways, that’s a good thing. AI won’t thrive if just a few mega-rich companies get to gatekeep this technology or decide how it is used. But this open-source boom is precarious, and if Big Tech decides to shut up shop, a boomtown could become a backwater. Read the full story.

—Will Douglas Heaven

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.)

+ Orysia Zabeida’s animations are seriously charming.
+ World War III has broken out—will you survive? Take this quiz from 1973 to find out!
+ These photos of the Apollo 11 launch in 1969 are mesmerising.
+ If you’ve been weighing up painting your home this spring, chartreuse is the shade of the season, apparently.