The Download: canceled climate tech projects, and South Korea’s AI web comics

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.

$8 billion of US climate tech projects have been canceled so far in 2025

This year has been rough for climate technology: Companies have canceled, downsized, or shut down at least 16 large-scale projects worth $8 billion in total in the first quarter of 2025, according to a new report.

That’s far more cancellations than have typically occurred in recent years, according to a new report from E2, a nonpartisan policy group. The trend is due to a variety of reasons, including drastically revised federal policies. Here’s a map of all the cancellations so far this year.

—Casey Crownhart

Generative AI is reshaping South Korea’s web comics industry

Since comics magazines faded at the turn of the century, web comics—serialized comics that read from top to bottom on digital platforms—have gone from niche subculture to global entertainment powerhouse, drawing in hundreds of millions of readers around the world.

Lee Hyun-se, a legendary South Korean cartoonist, has long been at the forefront of the genre. But Lee wants his worldviews and characters to keep communicating and resonating with the people of a new era after he died, and believes that AI can help him realize his vision.

This year, Lee is preparing to publish his first AI-assisted web comic, thanks to an AI model trained on 5,000 volumes of comics that he has published over 46 years. But while seasoned artists like Lee embrace the technology as a tool to expand their legacy, younger artists see it as a threat. Read the full story.

—Michelle Kim

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

Yahoo will give millions to a settlement fund for Chinese dissidents, decades after exposing user data

A lawsuit to hold Yahoo responsible for “willfully turning a blind eye” to the mismanagement of a human rights fund for Chinese dissidents was settled for $5.425 million last week, after an eight-year court battle.

This ends a long fight for accountability stemming from decisions by Yahoo, starting in the early 2000s, to turn over information on Chinese internet users to state security, leading to their imprisonment and torture. After the actions were exposed and the company was publicly chastised, Yahoo created the Yahoo Human Rights Fund (YHRF), endowed with $17.3 million, to support individuals imprisoned for exercising free speech rights online. Read the full story.

—Eileen Guo

A Google Gemini model now has a “dial” to adjust how much it reasons

Google DeepMind’s latest update to a top Gemini AI model includes a dial to control how much the system “thinks” through a response. The new feature is ostensibly designed to save money for developers, but it also concedes a problem: Reasoning models, the tech world’s new obsession, are prone to overthinking, burning money and energy in the process. Read the full story.

—James O’Donnell

Longevity clinics around the world are selling unproven treatments

The quest for long, healthy life—and even immortality—is probably almost as old as humans are, but it’s never been hotter than it is right now, even though no drugs or supplements have yet been proven to extend human lifespan.

A survey of longevity clinics around the world, carried out by an organization that publishes updates and research on the industry, is revealing a messier picture. In reality, these clinics—most of which cater only to the very wealthy—vary wildly in their offerings. Read the full story.

—Jessica Hamzelou

This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here.

The must-reads

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

1 Google could be forced to sell Chrome
A new remedies trial has begun, following last year’s ruling that Google illegally abused its search market power. (WP $)
+ The DoJ alleges that Google is using AI to strengthen its monopoly. (Axios)+ Multiple states also want Google to share data with its rivals. (The Information $)+ Microsoft and other rivals will be watching the outcome closely. (WSJ $)

2 The FTC is suing Uber
The lawsuit claims the company charged its customers without their consent. (WSJ $)
+ It claimed its customers would save $25 a month thanks to its Uber One service. (Reuters)
+ The Trump administration is really going after Big Tech. (FT $)

3 Inside the fight to prevent DOGE from eradicating rural health care
Community health centers are at the mercy of grant funding. (The Atlantic $)
+ Cuts to sexual healthcare have come amid a rise in syphilis cases. (The Guardian)
+ Here’s a who’s-who of DOGE staff. (NYT $)
+ The ACLU is going after DOGE records. (Wired $)

4 Misleading political content is thriving on Facebook in Canada
And it’s become worse since the country blocked news from users’ feeds. (NYT $)
+ The country is preparing to vote in a federal election, too. (The Guardian)
+ Meta will start using AI tools to detect underage users. (The Verge)

5 How Big Tech conceals its hidden workforce in Africa
They’re training AI models and moderating content behind the scenes. (Rest of World)
+ We are all AI’s free data workers. (MIT Technology Review)

6 A school funded by Pricilla Chan is shutting down
The Primary School is closing at the end of the 2026 academic year. (Bloomberg $)

7 The FBI can’t find records of its hacking tool purchases
Despite spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on them. (404 Media)
+ Cyberattacks by AI agents are coming. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Bluesky is finally getting blue checkmarks
‘Authentic and notable’ accounts will be able to apply. (Engadget)
+ It’s a mixture of Twitter’s old approach and a more decentralized option. (Wired $)

9 The hidden joys of Google Maps
It’s not just for navigation, y’know. (The Guardian)

10 A new game allows you to take photos of virtual environments
The question is: do you really want to? (FT $)

Quote of the day

“You think we’re afraid of America?”

—A worker at womenswear manufacturer Kang Yang Apparel in Yiwu, China, reacts to the US’s tariff hikes, the Atlantic reports.

The big story

Will we ever trust robots?

The world might seem to be on the brink of a humanoid-robot heyday. New breakthroughs in artificial intelligence promise the type of capable, general-purpose robots previously seen only in science fiction—robots that can do things like assemble cars, care for patients, or tidy our homes, all without being given specialized instructions.

It’s an idea that has attracted an enormous amount of attention, capital, and optimism. Yet recent progress has arguably been more about style than substance. Advancements in AI have undoubtedly made robots easier to train, but they have yet to enable them to truly sense their surroundings, “think” of what to do next, and carry out those decisions in the way some viral videos might imply.

But on the road to helping humanoid robots win our trust, one question looms larger than any other: How much will they be able to do on his own? And how much will they still rely on humans? Read the full story.

—James O’Donnell

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.)

+ Well done to Buford the rancher’s dog, who led a little boy lost in the Arizona wilderness to safety.
+ How a small indie space film paved the way for today’s sci-fi blockbusters.
+ Why we’re in desperate need of recession pop.
+ Congratulations to everyone who took part in yesterday’s Boston Marathon—you deserve a medal!