The Download: animal welfare gets AGI-pilled, and the White House unveils its AI policy

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.

The Bay Area’s animal welfare movement wants to recruit AI 

In early February, animal welfare advocates and AI researchers arrived in stocking feet at Mox, a scrappy, shoes-free coworking space in San Francisco. They gathered to discuss a provocative idea: if artificial general intelligence is on the horizon, could it prevent animal suffering? 

Some brainstormed using custom agents in advocacy work, while others pitched cultivating meat with AI tools. But the real talk of the event was a flood of funding they expect will soon flow to animal welfare charities, not from individual megadonors, but from AI lab employees.   

Some attendees also probed an even more controversial idea: AI may develop the capacity to suffer—and this could constitute a moral catastrophe. Read the full story to find out why their ideas are gaining momentum and sparking controversy. 

—Michelle Kim & Grace Huckins 

The must-reads 

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

1 The White House has unveiled its AI policy blueprint 
Trump wants Congress to codify the light-touch framework into law. (Politico) 
+ He also wants to block state limits on AI. (WP $)  
+ A backlash against the tech has formed within MAGA. (FT $) 
+ A war over AI regulation is brewing in the US. (MIT Technology Review) 

2 Elon Musk has been found liable for misleading Twitter investors 
A jury ruled that he defrauded shareholders ahead of the $44 billion acquisition. (CNBC) 
+ But it absolved him of some fraud allegations. (NPR) 

3 The Pentagon is adopting Palantir AI as the core US military system 
The move locks in long-term use of Palantir’s weapons-targeting tech. (Reuters) 
+ The DoD wants it to link up sensors and shooters for combat. (Bloomberg) 
+ Palantir is also getting access to sensitive UK financial regulation data. (Guardian) 
+ AI is turning the Iran conflict into theater. (MIT Technology Review) 

4 Musk plans to build the largest-ever chip factory in Austin 
Tesla and SpaceX will jointly run the project. (The Verge) 
+ Future AI chips could be built on glass. (MIT Technology Review) 
 
5 OpenAI will show ads to all US users of the free version of ChatGPT  
It’s seeking new revenue streams amid skyrocketing computing costs. (Reuters) 
+ The company is also building a fully automated researcher. (MIT Technology Review) 
+ It plans to double its workforce soon. (FT $) 

6 New crypto rules are set to do the Trumps a “big favor” 
Particularly the narrow securities definitions. (Guardian) 

7 Tencent has added a version of the OpenClaw agent to WeChat 
Users of the super app will now be able to use the tool to control their PCs. (SCMP)  

8 Reddit is mulling identity verification to vanquish bots 
It’s considering “something like” Face ID or Touch ID. (Engadget) 

9 People are using AI to find their lost pets 
Databases for pet reunifications supported their searches. (WP $) 

10 Scientists have narrowed down the hunt for aliens to 45 planets 
The closest is just four light-years from Earth. (404 Media) 

Quote of the day 

“It doesn’t matter how many people you throw at the problem; we are never going to solve the challenges of war without technology like AI.” 

—Alex Miller, the US Army’s CTO, tells Wired why he wants AI in every weapon. 

One More Thing 

A brain implant changed her life. Then it was removed against her will. 

Sticking an electrode inside a person’s brain can do more than treat a disease. Take the case of Rita Leggett, an Australian woman whose experimental brain implant changed her sense of agency and self. She told researchers that she “became one” with her device. 

She was devastated when, two years later, she was told she had to remove the implant because the company that made it had gone bust.  
 
Her case highlights the need for a new category of legal protection: neuro rights. Find out how they could be protected. 

—Jessica Hamzelou 

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.) 
 
+ Looking for a good view? Earth’s longest line of sight has been empirically proven. 
+ A biblical endorsement of sin is a welcome reminder that we all make typos. 
+ Richard Nadler’s illustrations of vertical societies are exquisitely detailed. 
+ This 1978 BBC film evocatively exposes our tendency to stress over tech-dependency.