The Download: how AI can improve a city, and inside OpenAI’s empire

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.

How AI can help make cities work better

In recent decades, cities have become increasingly adept at amassing all sorts of data. But that data can have limited impact when government officials are unable to communicate, let alone analyze or put to use, all the information they have access to.

This dynamic has always bothered Sarah Williams, a professor of urban planning and technology at MIT. Shortly after joining MIT in 2012, Williams created the Civic Data Design Lab to bridge that divide. Over the years, she and her colleagues have made urban planning data more vivid and accessible through human stories and striking graphics. Read the full story.

—Ben Schneider

This story is from the next print edition of MIT Technology Review, which explores power—who has it, and who wants it. It’s set to go live on Wednesday June 25, so subscribe & save 25% to read it and get a copy of the issue when it lands!

Inside OpenAI’s empire with Karen Hao

AI journalist Karen Hao’s newly released book, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, tells the story of OpenAI’s rise to power and its far-reaching impact all over the world.

Hao, a former MIT Technology Review senior editor, will join our executive editor Niall Firth in an intimate subscriber-exclusive Roundtable conversation exploring the AI arms race, what it means for all of us, and where it’s headed. Register here to join us at 9am ET on Monday June 30th June.

Special giveaway: Attendees will have the chance to receive a free copy of Hao’s book. See registration form for details.

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 is sharing tasteless deportation memes
Its digital strategy revolves around boosting policies for cheap laughs. (WP $)
+ Trump’s immigration raids are a rapid escalation of his deportation tactics. (Vox)
+ The administration is revelling in the outraged reaction to its actions. (The Atlantic $)
+ But New Yorkers are fighting back. (New Yorker $)

2 New York is asking companies to disclose when AI contributes to layoffs
It’s the first official step towards measuring AI’s impact on the labor market. (Bloomberg $)
+ People are worried that AI will take everyone’s jobs. We’ve been here before. (MIT Technology Review)

3 Regeneron isn’t buying 23andMe after all
A non-profit controlled by its cofounder has made a higher bid. (WSJ $)
+ Anne Wojcicki says she has the backing of a Fortune 500 company. (FT $)
+ How to… delete your 23andMe data. (MIT Technology Review)

4 RFK Jr has filled the CDC’s vaccine committee with allies
Robert Malone, one of the appointees, has encouraged the public to embrace the term anti-vax. (The Atlantic $)
+ Here’s what food and drug regulation might look like under the Trump administration. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Americans are commissioning animal torture videos
The US government has revealed details of residents accused of paying people in Indonesia to abuse helpless monkeys. (Ars Technica)

6 China has conducted its first brain implant clinical trial
Making it only the second country to do so, after the US. (Bloomberg $)
+ Brain-computer interfaces face a critical test. (MIT Technology Review)

7 The US Navy wants your startup
It’s more open to partnerships than ever before, apparently. (TechCrunch)
+ China is stockpiling intercontinental ballistic missiles. (Insider $)
+ Generative AI is learning to spy for the US military. (MIT Technology Review)

8 The UK is working on a chemotherapy-free approach to treating leukaemia
Combining two targeted drugs appears to perform better. (The Guardian)

9 Brace yourself for AI sponcon
Just when you thought product placement couldn’t get any worse. (The Verge)

10 Zines are staging a comeback
Creatives are turning their backs on social media in favor of good old-fashioned booklets. (Wired $)

Quote of the day

“Being a highly “online” person is a very embarrassing thing and should be relegated to basement losers.”

—Derek Guy, aka The Menswear Guy on X, explains to Wired why he thinks a significant proportion of the Republican coalition need to step away from their keyboards.

One more thing

Bright LEDs could spell the end of dark skies

Scientists have known for years that light pollution is growing and can harm both humans and wildlife. In people, increased exposure to light at night disrupts sleep cycles and has been linked to cancer and cardiovascular disease, while wildlife suffers from interruption to their reproductive patterns, and increased danger.

Astronomers, policymakers, and lighting professionals are all working to find ways to reduce light pollution. Many of them advocate installing light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, in outdoor fixtures such as city streetlights, mainly for their ability to direct light to a targeted area.

But the high initial investment and durability of modern LEDs mean cities need to get the transition right the first time or potentially face decades of consequences. Read the full story.

—Shel Evergreen

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.)

+ As commencement speeches go, Steve Jobs’ is definitely one of the best.
+ I love this iconic Homer moment recreated in Lego.
+ The remains of a beautiful Byzantine tomb complex has been uncovered between Aleppo and Damascus.
+ I want to believe: check out this short, bizarre history of alien abductions in America