The Download: turning down human noise, and LA’s stunning subway upgrade
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 noise we make is hurting animals. Can we learn to shut up?
As human society has expanded, animals have started struggling to hear one another. For many birds, the noise has grown so loud that they’ve begun to sing with faster trills. Now, their mating calls aren’t as effective.
The growing hubbub can also increase bird-on-bird conflict, and entire species that can’t handle urban clamor simply leave town for good. But there are technological solutions to the noises hurting animals—and they could help humans, too.
—Clive Thompson
Los Angeles is finally going underground
In May, a new subway segment will connect downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean. What today can be an hours-long drive through a busy, museum-packed stretch of the city will be, if all goes well, a 25-minute train ride.
The existence of subway stops in this part of town—known as Miracle Mile—is a technological triumph over geography and geology. Find out why.
—Adam Rogers
Both of these stories are from the next issue of our print magazine, which is all about nature. Subscribe now to read it when it lands tomorrow.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Apple’s Tim Cook is stepping down as CEO
Hardware chief John Ternus will take over from him in September. (CNN)
+ Ternus’ defining challenge may be fixing Apple’s AI strategy. (CNBC)
+ How does Cook compare with Apple’s other CEOs through the years? (NYT $)
2 Anthropic’s new Amazon deal escalates the compute war with OpenAI
Anthropic will spend more than $100 billion on Amazon compute.(Axios $)
+ OpenAI touted its compute advantage over Anthropic two weeks ago. (Bloomberg $)
+ Here’s why the AI compute explosion has only just begun. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Silicon Valley is trying to get into the news business
The latest addition is Andreessen Horowitz’s MTS. (The Information $)
+ OpenAI recently bought a business talk show. (NPR)
+ They join Elon Musk’s X and a new Peter Thiel-backed startup. (Axios)
4 The banking industry is scrambling to get access to Anthropic’s Mythos
As regulators review the risks to financial services. (Reuters $)+ Germany’s central bank has called for wider access to Mythos. (Bloomberg $)
5 War memes are turning conflict into content
Fueled by recommendation systems designed to keep you hooked. (Wired $)
+ AI is turning the Iran conflict into theater. (MIT Technology Review)
6 AI is boosting worker productivity, but not their paychecks
Employees aren’t financially benefiting from their extra efficiency. (Quartz)
+ New data sheds light on the current state of AI. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Amazon’s ambition to rival Starlink has hit a setback
After a Blue Origin rocket was grounded. (FT $)
8 Jeff Bezos’s AI lab has neared a $38 billion valuation
In an imminent $10 billion fundraising deal from investors. (FT $)
+ The startup focuses on AI for engineering and manufacturing. (Reuters $)
9 Scientific AI agents have got their own social network
Where they share, debate, and discuss research papers. (Nature)
10 A Mars rover has discovered new “origin-of-life” molecules
They suggest Mars wasn’t always a lifeless red desert. (Gizmodo)
Quote of the day
“He’s been a transformational Apple CEO that’s always had a steady hand at the wheel. I think that will be his legacy. He had massive shoes to step into, and he was the right person for the job. That’s the way he’ll be remembered.”
One More Thing
The race to save our online lives from a digital dark age
There is more stuff being created now than at any time in history, but our data is more fragile than ever. One day in the future, YouTube’s videos may permanently disappear. Facebook—and your uncle’s holiday posts—will vanish.
For many archivists, alarm bells are ringing. Across the world, they’re scraping up defunct websites, saving at-risk data collections, and developing data storage technologies that could last thousands of years.
Their work raises complex questions. What is important to us? How do we decide what to keep—and what do we let go? Read our story on the thorny problems of digital preservation.
—Niall Firth
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.)
+ Apple’s forgotten co-founder recently shared his story of the company’s early days.
+ Witness a rare underwater volcanic eruption in the Solomon Islands.
+ Learn what makes Shakespeare’s writing so effective in this masterful analysis.
+ An Artemis II astronaut shared a stunning iPhone video showing Earth disappear behind the Moon at 8x zoom.