This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that offers a each day dose of what’s going on in the planet of technologies.
Weight-loss injections have taken more than the online. But what does this imply for people today IRL?
More than the course of the final year, so-named “miracle” weight-loss drugs have blown up across the online. While celebrity customers have boosted their standing, they owe considerably of their fame to social media and discussion boards, exactly where they are promoted by influencers and daily people today alike.
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But not absolutely everyone who desires them goes to a medical professional. All through 2022, increasing demand for weight-loss injections brought on international shortages. As a outcome, some people today started searching for these drugs illegally, crossing borders or getting them beneath the counter devoid of a prescription.
Do the hype and the hashtags inform the complete story? What are the physical, social, and psychological side effects of a miracle? And can all the publicity lead people today to do points they certainly shouldn’t? Study the complete story.
—Amelia Tait
Texas is attempting out new techniques to restrict access to abortion tablets on line
There’s been a quiet shift in the abortion fight in the US. Considering that the reversal of Roe v. Wade final June, laws that make most abortions illegal have passed in 13 states. Efforts to restrict abortion care have, so far, focused largely on criminalizing healthcare providers. But increasingly, the battleground is moving on line.
Texas is at the moment in the approach of attempting to limit access to abortion tablets by cracking down on online service providers and credit card processing businesses. Earlier this month, Republicans in the state legislature introduced two bills to that impact.
These techniques reflect the reality that, post-Roe, the online is a important channel for people today searching for details about abortion or attempting to invest in tablets to terminate a pregnancy—especially in states exactly where they can no longer access these points in physical pharmacies or healthcare centers. Study the complete story.
—Tate Ryan-Mosley
Tate’s story is from The Technocrat, her weekly newsletter providing you the inside track on all points tech policy. Sign up to acquire it in your inbox each Friday.
The need to-reads
I’ve combed the online to come across you today’s most exciting/crucial/scary/fascinating stories about technologies.
1 Tesla’s engineers are burning out
Complete-self driving capabilities appear as far away as ever, and Elon Musk is distracted with his new toy. (WP $)
+ Is Tesla’s dream of creating EVs devoid of uncommon earths really feasible? (Bloomberg $)
+ This super-realistic virtual planet is a driving college for AI. (MIT Technologies Overview)
two The war more than abortion tablets in the US is escalating
Wyoming has outlawed mifepristone, and other states want to comply with. (Vox)
+ Exactly where to get abortion tablets and how to use them. (MIT Technologies Overview)
three This new app aims to quit AI from scraping artists’ function
It utilizes a “cloaking” approach to interfere with models’ capacity to study artworks. (TechCrunch)+ Why GPT-four has such a shocking memory. (The Atlantic $)
+ Artists can now opt out of the subsequent version of Steady Diffusion. (MIT Technologies Overview)
four Digital detectives are digging into the Nord Stream attack
Six months on, we’re nevertheless not particular who ruptured the pipeline—or why. (Wired $)
five What the tech industry’s failure suggests for the rest of us
The sector’s suffering ripples out to other jobs, as well. (WSJ $)
six China is investigating an additional former chip leader
Zhao Weiguo is the most recent higher-profile business figure caught up in a massive inquiry. (Bloomberg $)
+ Corruption is sending shock waves by means of China’s chipmaking business. (MIT Technologies Overview)
7 TikTok creators are philosophical about a prospective ban
Platforms come, and platforms go. (WSJ $)
eight EVs are ultimately becoming much more very affordable
You can thank the falling cost of lithium. (NYT $)
+ Mercedes is poised to sink billions into new EV plants. (Reuters)
+ Meet the new batteries unlocking more affordable electric automobiles. (MIT Technologies Overview)
9 Can you seriously be pals with an AI?
For some people today, chatting with bots brings them terrific comfort. (The Guardian)
+ Other chatbot customers favor to pursue romance more than friendship. (Reuters)
+ A word of caution against asking an AI to make all your choices. (Vice)
ten Make some time for the internet’s watch influencers
Tick-tockers are turning the conventional business on its head. (FT $)
Quote of the day
“They’re just wearing a unique outfit to the similar celebration.”
—Todd Irwin, chief technique officer at branding agency Fazer, explains how crypto businesses are dropping the term from their marketing and advertising components in a bid to escape the industry’s adverse connotations to the New York Occasions.
The large story
Inside China’s unexpected quest to safeguard information privacy
August 2020
In the West, it is broadly believed that neither the Chinese government nor Chinese people today care about privacy. In reality, this image of Chinese attitudes to privacy is out of date.
More than the final couple of years the Chinese government, searching for to strengthen consumers’ trust and participation in the digital economy, has begun to implement privacy protections that in numerous respects resemble these in America and Europe right now.
Even as the government has strengthened customer privacy, nonetheless, it has ramped up state surveillance. This paradox has grow to be a defining function of China’s emerging information privacy regime, and raises a significant query: Can a program endure with sturdy protections for customer privacy, but nearly none against government snooping? Study the complete story.
—Karen Hao
We can nevertheless have good points
A location for comfort, exciting and distraction in these weird instances. (Got any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Pleased spring equinox! Now the complete planet will have 12 hours of light, and 12 hours of darkness. 🌷🌻
+ Time travel is an art kind. Here’s a couple of renowned travelers that managed to get it correct (largely.)
+ These giant bubble installations are a genuine delight.
+ If you have never ever had the pleasure of watching the Spice Girls’ film Spice Globe, this is your sign to stream it right away.
+ What do dogs do when we’re not about? Pretty a bit, really.