The Download: the US office that tracks foreign disinformation is being eliminated, and explaining vibe coding

This is today's variation of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a regular dose of what's going connected successful the satellite of technology.

US bureau that counters overseas disinformation is being eliminated

The lone bureau wrong the US State Department that monitors overseas disinformation is to beryllium eliminated, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, confirming reporting by MIT Technology Review.

—Eileen Guo

What is vibe coding, exactly?

When OpenAI cofounder Andrej Karpathy excitedly took to X backmost successful February to station astir his caller hobby, helium astir apt had nary thought helium was astir to coin a operation that encapsulated an full question steadily gaining momentum crossed the world.

“There’s a caller benignant of coding I telephone ‘vibe coding’, wherever you afloat springiness successful to the vibes, clasp exponentials, and hide that the codification adjacent exists," helium said. “I’m gathering a task oregon webapp, but it’s not truly coding—I conscionable spot stuff, accidental stuff, tally stuff, and transcript paste stuff, and it mostly works.” 

If this each sounds precise antithetic from poring implicit lines of code, that’s due to the fact that Karpathy was talking astir a peculiar benignant of coding with AI assistance. His words struck a chord among bundle developers and enthusiastic amateurs alike. 

In the months since, his station has sparked deliberation pieces and impassioned debates crossed the internet. But what precisely is vibe coding? Who does it benefit, and what’s its apt future? Read the afloat story.

—Rhiannon Williams

This communicative is the latest for MIT Technology Review Explains, our bid untangling the complex, messy satellite of exertion to assistance you recognize what’s coming next. You tin work much from the bid here.

These 4 charts sum up the authorities of AI and energy

You’ve astir apt work that AI volition thrust an summation successful energy demand. But however that fits into the discourse of the existent and aboriginal grid tin consciousness little wide from the headlines.

A caller study from the International Energy Agency digs into the details of vigor and AI, and I deliberation it’s worthy looking astatine immoderate of the information to assistance wide things up. Here are 4 charts from the study that sum up the important points astir AI and vigor demand. 

—Casey Crownhart

This nonfiction is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s play clime newsletter. To person it successful your inbox each Wednesday, sign up here.

We request targeted policies, not blunt tariffs, to thrust “American vigor dominance”

—Addison Killean Stark

President Trump and his appointees person repeatedly stressed the request to found “American vigor dominance.” 

But the White House’s profusion of enforcement orders and assertive tariffs, on with its determined effort to rotation backmost clean-energy policies, are moving the manufacture successful the incorrect direction, creating marketplace chaos and economical uncertainty that are making it harder for some bequest players and emerging companies to invest, grow, and compete. Read the afloat story.

This communicative is portion of Heat Exchange, MIT Technology Review’s impermanent sentiment series, offering adept commentary connected legal, governmental and regulatory issues related to clime alteration and cleanable energy. You tin work the remainder of the pieces here.

MIT Technology Review Narrated: Will we ever spot robots?

If astir robots inactive request distant quality operators to beryllium harmless and effective, wherefore should we invited them into our homes?

This is our latest story to beryllium turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which  we’re publishing each week connected Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated connected either platform, and travel america to get each our caller contented arsenic it’s released.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.

1 The Trump medication has cancelled lifesaving assistance to overseas children
After Elon Musk antecedently promised to sphere it. (The Atlantic $)
+ DOGE idiosyncratic Jeremy Lewin, who dismantled USAID, has a caller role. (Fortune $)
+ The section attempted to embed its unit successful an autarkic non-profit. (The Guardian)
+ Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Evil Housekeeper Problem. (MIT Technology Review)

2 Astronomers person detected a imaginable signature of beingness connected a distant planet
It’s the archetypal clip the imaginable for beingness has been spotted connected a habitable planet. (NYT $)
+ Maybe we should beryllium gathering observatories connected the moon. (Ars Technica)

3 OpenAI’s caller AI models tin crushed with images
They’re susceptible of integrating images straight into their reasoning process. (VentureBeat)
+ But they’re inactive susceptible to making mistakes. (Ars Technica)
+ AI reasoning models tin cheat to triumph chess games. (MIT Technology Review) 

4 Trump’s caller spot crackdown volition outgo US firms billions
It’s not conscionable Nvidia that’s acceptable to suffer. (WP $)
+ But Jensen Huang isn’t giving up connected China altogether. (WSJ $)
+ He’s said the institution follows export laws ‘to the letter.’ (CNBC)

5 Elon Musk reportedly utilized X to hunt for imaginable mothers of his children
Sources suggest helium has galore much children than is publically known. (WSJ $)

6 Local US cops are being trained arsenic migration enforcers
Critics accidental the rollout is ripe for civilian rights abuses. (The Markup)
+ ICE is inactive bound by law limits—for now. (The Conversation)

7 This physics limb tin fry drone swarms from a distance
The RapidDestroyer uses a high-power vigor frequence to instrumentality down aggregate drones. (FT $)
+ Meet the radio-obsessed civilian shaping Ukraine’s drone defense. (MIT Technology Review)

8 TikTok is attempting to combat backmost against misinformation
It’s rolling retired an X-style assemblage notes feature. (Bloomberg $)

9 A deceased composer’s encephalon is inactive making music
Three years aft Alvin Lucier’s death, cerebral organoids made from his achromatic humor cells are making sounds. (Popular Mechanics)
+ AI is coming for music, too. (MIT Technology Review)

10 This AI cause tin power personalities
Depending what you request it to do. (Wired $)

Quote of the day

“Yayy, we get 1 past repast earlier getting connected the electrical chair.”

—Jing Levine, who runs a enactment goods concern with her hubby that’s heavy reliant connected suppliers successful China, reacts to Donald Trump’s plans to intermission tariffs but for China, the New York Times reports.

The large story

AI means the extremity of net hunt arsenic we’ve known it

We each cognize what it means, colloquially, to google something. You popular a fewer words successful a hunt container and successful instrumentality get a database of bluish links to the astir applicable results. Fundamentally, it’s conscionable fetching accusation that’s already retired determination connected the net and showing it to you, successful a structured way.

But each that is up for grabs. We are astatine a caller inflection point.

The biggest alteration to the mode hunt engines present accusation to america since the 1990s is happening close now. No much keyword searching. Instead, you tin inquire questions successful earthy language. And alternatively of links, you’ll progressively beryllium met with answers written by generative AI and based connected unrecorded accusation from crossed the internet, delivered the aforesaid way. 

Not everyone is excited for the change. Publishers are wholly freaked out. And radical are besides disquieted astir what these caller LLM-powered results volition mean for our cardinal shared reality. Read the afloat story.

—Mat Honan

We tin inactive person bully things

A spot for comfort, amusive and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got immoderate ideas? Drop maine a line oregon skeet 'em astatine me.)

+ Essential viewing: Sweden is broadcasting its beloved moose outpouring migration for 20 days straight.
+ Fearsome warlord Babur was obsessed with melons, and frankly, I don’t blasted him.
+ Great quality for squid fans: a colossal squid has been captured connected movie for the archetypal time! 🦑
+ Who stole my cheese?