That is right now’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a each day dose of what’s occurring on this planet of know-how.
Trump’s AI protectionism has come for robotics
—James O’Donnell
Humanoid robots often elicit extra cringe than awe: They stumble, kick kids, and regardless of advances are nonetheless worse at utilizing their arms than my toddler. It’s a nascent business, and such robots are extra generally seen in viral movies than actual workplaces or properties.
It was a shock, then, when final week the Federal Commerce Fee issued a sweeping ban on international imports of superior robots, together with humanoids, quadrupeds, and wheeled robots.
The choice ought to be understood not as one other chapter within the previous China commerce playbook, however as proof that the Trump administration is increasing its safety of the AI business past right now’s main labs. It’s now prepared to step in on behalf of an rising robotics sector that’s nonetheless barely discovering its footing. Learn our evaluation to grasp the ban’s potential impression.
This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly e-newsletter all concerning the newest goings-on on this planet of AI. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Monday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you right now’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 ICE collected almost a million folks’s DNA final yr
Most of them have by no means been convicted of any crime. (Wired $)
2 China is poised to win the applied sciences of the longer term
It’s already a high-tech {hardware} powerhouse, nevertheless it more and more has its sights set on software program too. (New Yorker $)
+ US tech and political leaders are freaking out, however few appear to agree the way to reply. (Vox $)
+ What’s subsequent for Chinese language open-source AI. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
3 AI “tokenomics” is a burgeoning new subject
Companies are pouring some huge cash into AI. Now they need to see what they’re getting in return. (NYT $)
+ Why it’s proving so exhausting to make AI pay. (BBC)
+ The US economic system is turning into increasingly reliant on the AI increase. (WSJ $)
4 Eli Lilly is letting folks apply to strive an unapproved weight problems drug
Retatrutide remains to be in medical trials, however sure sufferers can achieve early entry. (STAT $)
+ Montana’s plan to change into an experimental medical hub simply pushed ahead. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
5 Contained in the one US city that wishes a knowledge middle
Jay in Maine is a reminder that politics is all concerning the native. (The Atlantic $)
+ How information facilities broke US politics. (Wired $)
6 Flock license plate readers can have a surprisingly excessive error charge
In a single California city, Flock misinterpret license plates in 71% of the alerts it despatched to police. (BI $)
+ A leaked information reveals how Flock teaches cops to advertise its tech. (404 Media $)
7 A drone explosion on a seaside in Russia killed seven folks
It appears to have been attributable to Russian forces capturing down a Ukrainian drone. (CNN)
+ A US firm received a $100 million deal to provide Ukrainian drones an AI improve. (Ars Technica)
+ Europe’s drone-filled imaginative and prescient for the way forward for warfare. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
8 How automobile headlights turned so shiny
Numerous fashionable automobiles nonetheless blind different drivers on the highway. That might change quickly although, due to new tech. (Ars Technica)
9 A $2 million crime novel deal collapsed over AI use issues
And the agent and the author concerned have, erm…quite differing accounts of what occurred. (Guardian)
10 AI matchmaking providers are on the rise 
On-line daters hope it would show higher at discovering them love than fruitless swiping. (WSJ $)
Quote of the day
“Just a bit too nice to be human.”
—North Carolina resident Kristen Charpentier tells Wired how she may inform she was speaking to AI when ordering at a Dairy Queen drive-thru.
One Extra Factor
Learn how to have a baby within the digital age
Earlier than journalist and tradition critic Amanda Hess even received pregnant together with her first youngster, in 2020, the web knew she was attempting. She noticed being pregnant advertisements method earlier than a health care provider.
Hess’s expertise is fairly typical lately, however nonetheless raises some large questions. How can we retain management over our our bodies when companies have entry to our most private info? What occurs when folks cease counting on family and friends for recommendation on having a child and as an alternative log on?
Learn our interview with Hess to study what she has to say.
—Alison Arieff
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Obtained any concepts? Drop me a line.)
+ Brighten your day with this eight-minute video of the world’s cutest child animals.
+ Intertapes has assembled a exceptional treasure trove of cassette tapes discovered around the globe.
+ Armchair basketball GMs can lastly put their skills to the take a look at in this recreation that permits you to draft an elite NBA workforce.
+ Right here’s a hilarious take a look at the misplaced recordings of Robin Williams voicing the Genie in Disney’s “Aladdin.”
