The Download: how to break up with coal, and AI’s false climate promises

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 UK is done with coal. How’s the rest of the world doing?

The UK is shutting down its final coal-fired power plant today, marking the end of an era for the country’s energy system. Once the backbone of the grid, coal has been steadily replaced with other, less polluting energy sources.

It’s a major milestone for the notoriously polluting fossil fuel. But coal is still booming in other parts of the world, especially in some larger countries where electricity demand is growing quickly. Read the full story.

—Casey Crownhart

Sorry, AI won’t “fix” climate change

In an essay last week, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, argued that the accelerating capabilities of AI will usher in an idyllic “Intelligence Age,” unleashing “unimaginable” prosperity and “astounding triumphs” like “fixing the climate.”

It’s a promise that no one is in a position to make—and one that, when it comes to the topic of climate change, fundamentally misunderstands the nature of the problem.

To be sure, AI may help the world address the rising dangers of climate change. But technological advances are just the start—necessary but far from sufficient to eliminate the world’s climate emissions.Read the full story.

—James Temple

The must-reads

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

1 California’s governor has vetoed its landmark AI safety bill 
Gavin Newsom felt the bill could give the public a false sense of security. (LA Times $)
+ The legislation was the most ambitious attempt at curtailing AI’s growth to date. (NYT $)
+ It’s a win for Big Tech and a big step backwards for AI safety champions. (WP $)

2 The International Space Station has sprung a leak
And no one’s sure why. (Ars Technica)
+ SpaceX has launched a rescue mission to retrieve astronauts stranded onboard. (AP News)

3 US defense tech startups are on the hunt for new suppliers
They’ve long relied on China for materials. Now they’re being forced to go elsewhere. (WSJ $)
+ Meanwhile, China is warning native companies not to buy Nvidia’s chips. (Bloomberg $)
+ Here’s the defense tech at the center of US aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Apple must turn over 1.3 million documents today
The judge in its lawsuit vs Epic Games denied Apple’s request for extra time. (The Verge)+ Spare a thought for the Apple staffers working over the weekend to meet the deadline. (TechCrunch)

5 How Big Tech gatekeeps access to its anti-terror guidance 
The organization blocked TikTok and PornHub’s parent company’s applications to join. (Wired $)

6 AI tools are making code cheaper 
What this means in the long term for developers is still unclear. (Economist $)
+ How AI assistants are already changing the way code gets made. (MIT Technology Review)

7 Things aren’t looking great for 23andMe
How useful is collecting all that personal information, really? (The Atlantic $)

8 Beware the anti-woke tech bro
Their narrow world views are cries for help. (Vox)

9 Parents in Silicon Valley really love this YouTuber
Former NASA engineer Mark Rober’s videos are smart enough to justify the screen time. (The Information $)

10 Why dating apps are pivoting to friendship
Make it last forever, friendship never ends. (FT $)

Quote of the day

“If you are not throwing soup at Midjourney paintings or gluing yourself to strawberries, you are not doing it right.”

—AI researcher Joscha Bach jokes about the California AI safety bill in a post on X.  

The big story

I took an international trip with my frozen eggs to learn about the fertility industry

September 2022
—Anna Louie Sussman

Like me, my eggs were flying economy class. They were ensconced in a cryogenic storage flask packed into a metal suitcase next to Paolo, the courier overseeing their passage from a fertility clinic in Bologna, Italy, to the clinic in Madrid, Spain, where I would be undergoing in vitro fertilization.

The shipping of gametes and embryos around the world is a growing part of a booming global fertility sector. As people have children later in life, the need for fertility treatment increases each year.

After paying for storage costs for six and four years, respectively, at 40 I was ready to try to get pregnant. Transporting the Bolognese batch served to literally put all my eggs in one basket. Read the full story.

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 tweet ’em at me.)

+ Rest in power the great Kris Kristofferson, a true giant of country music.
+ Do you vibe? It’s yet more evidence that TikTok fitness trends are pretty spurious.
+ New York in the Seventies looked pretty wild, I must say.
+ Just in time for October—why do we see ghosts? Well, there’s a few explanations…