The Download: society’s techlash, and Android XR

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 Silicon Valley is disrupting democracy

The internet loves a good neologism, especially if it can capture a purported vibe shift or explain a new trend. In 2013, the columnist Adrian Wooldridge coined a word that eventually did both. Writing for the Economist, he warned of the coming “techlash,” a revolt against Silicon Valley’s rich and powerful fueled by the public’s growing realization that these “sovereigns of cyberspace” weren’t the benevolent bright-future bringers they claimed to be.

While Wooldridge didn’t say precisely when this techlash would arrive, it’s clear today that a dramatic shift in public opinion toward Big Tech and its leaders did in fact ­happen—and is arguably still happening.

Two new books serve as excellent reminders of why it started in the first place. Together, they chronicle the rise of an industry that is increasingly using its unprecedented wealth and power to undermine democracy, and they outline what we can do to start taking some of that power back. Read the full story.

—Bryan Gardiner

This story is from the forthcoming magazine edition of MIT Technology Review, set to go live on January 6—it’s all about the exciting breakthroughs happening in the world right now. If you don’t already, subscribe to receive a copy.

The must-reads

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

1 Google has unveiled a new headset and smart glasses OS
Android XR gives wearers hands-free control thanks to the firm’s Gemini chatbot. (The Verge)
+ It also revealed a new Samsung-build headset called Project Moohan. (WP $)
+ Google’s hoping to learn from mistakes it made with Google Glass a decade ago. (Wired $)
+ Its new Project Astra could be generative AI’s killer app. (MIT Technology Review)

2 The US and UK are on a AI regulation collision course
Donald Trump’s approach to policing AI is in stark contrast to what the UK is planning. (FT $)
+ The new US FTC chair favors a light regulatory touch. (Reuters)
+ How’s AI self-regulation going? (MIT Technology Review)

3 We don’t quite know what’s causing a global temperature spike
But scientists agree that we should be worried. (New Yorker $)
+ The average global temperature could drop slightly next year, though. (New Scientist $)
+ Who’s to blame for climate change? It’s surprisingly complicated. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Trump’s administration is filling up with tech insiders
More venture capitalists and officials are likely to join their ranks. (The Information $)
+ These crypto kingpins will be keeping a close eye on proceedings. (FT $)

5 What happened after West Virginia revoked access to obesity drugs
Teachers and state workers struggled after a pilot drugs program was deemed too expensive. (The Atlantic $)
+ Weight-loss injections have taken over the internet. But what does this mean for people IRL? (MIT Technology Review)

6 Would you buy a car from Amazon?
The e-retail giant wants you to sidestep the dealership and purchase from it directly. (Wired $)
+ While it’s limited to Hyundai models, other manufacturers will follow. (Forbes $)

7 Silicon Valley’s perks culture is largely dead
No more free massages or artisanal chocolate, sob. (NYT $)

8 AI is teaching us more about the Berlin Wall’s murals
From the kinds of paint used, to application techniques. (Ars Technica)

9 For $69, you can invest in a rare stegosaurus skeleton
The rare fossil is a pretty extreme example of an alternative investment. (Fast Company $)
+ New Yorkers can swing by the American Museum of Natural History to see it. (AP News)

10 This New Jersey politician faked his Spotify Wrapped
To hide his children’s results and make him appear a bigger Bruce Springsteen fan. (Billboard $)
+ What would The Boss himself make of the controversy? (WP $)

Quote of the day

“It could be far worse than any challenge we’ve previously encountered — and far beyond our capacity to mitigate.”

—Jack Szostak, a professor in the University of Chicago’s chemistry department, tells the Financial Times about the unprecedented danger posed by synthetic bacteria.

The big story

A brief, weird history of brainwashing

April 2024

On a spring day in 1959, war correspondent Edward Hunter testified before a US Senate subcommittee investigating “the effect of Red China Communes on the United States.”

Hunter introduced them to a supposedly scientific system for changing people’s minds, even making them love things they once hated.

Much of it was baseless, but Hunter’s sensational tales still became an important part of the disinformation that fueled a “mind-control race”, with the US government pumping millions of dollars into research on brain manipulation during the Cold War.

But while the science never exactly panned out, residual beliefs fostered by this bizarre conflict continue to play a role in ideological and scientific debates to this day. Read the full story.

—Annalee Newitz

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.)

+ Deep down in the depths of the Atacama Trench, a new crustacean has been discovered.
+ Living in this picturesque Antarctic settlement comes with a catch—you have to have your appendix removed before you can move in.
+ Just when you thought sweet potato couldn’t get any better, it turns out it makes pretty tasty macaroons.
+ If you’re looking to introduce kids to the joy of sci-fi, these movies are a great place to start.