바이오텍의 미래와 더 저렴하고 깨끗한 강철

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. Meet the under-35s shaping the future of biotech Every year, MIT Technology Review puts together our 35 Innovators Under 35 , a list of some of the brightest and best young minds working across science and technology. This year’s honorees include nine people transforming biotech, whose work spans everything from lifesaving innovations to groundbreaking longevity tech. Their innovations include a “reprogramming” therapy that reverses vision loss, tiny brain electrodes inspired by Japanese art, and a personalized gene-editing treatment for a baby with a rare genetic disorder. There are even efforts to design new viruses with generative AI, which (hopefully) will produce new drugs or soak up pollution. Get to know the biotech innovators behind these breakthroughs . —Jessica Hamzelou This story is from The Checkup, our weekly biotech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday. Biotechnology is one of four categories in our 35 Innovators Under 35 list for 2026, featuring young people worldwide doing groundbreaking work in science and technology. Meet the rest of them here , or explore the full list across the AI, computing and robotics, biotechnology, and climate and energy categories. This founder is making cheaper, cleaner steel The steel industry isn’t exactly known for innovation. Very little has changed about purifying iron ore since the process was invented and commercialized in the 1850s. But Laureen Meroueh, founder of Hertha Metals, has an idea that could change that. Meroueh may have found a way to clean up steelmaking without driving up the price. Her new furnace turns iron ore into refined liquid steel in a single step and swaps coal for natural gas. Together, those changes slash emissions by at least half, she says, and cut costs by 25% compared with steelmaking as usual. Here’s how she plans to make steel cleaner without making it more expensive . —Bridget Reed Morawski Laureen Meroueh is one of the climate change and energy honorees on our 35 Innovators Under 35 list . The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Anthropic says it has blocked potential plots to build biological weapons The company identified five such cases. ( NYT $) + And six cases of using AI to build software for conventional weapons ( BBC ) + Governments are also using Claude for surveillance. ( Axios ) + While Russia-linked hackers used it to automate attacks on Ukraine. ( Quartz ) + The threats were revealed in a new Anthropic report. ( Guardian ) + Bill Gates says AI needs new guardrails . ( MIT Technology Review ) 2 California has banned addictive social media features for under-16s The law prohibits infinite scroll and autoplay. ( Guardian ) + It also introduces new rules for AI and companion chatbots. ( Reuters $) + It’s the first law of its kind in the US. ( NYT $) + Social media encourages the worst AI boosterism . ( MIT Technology Review ) 3 Two AI researchers have left Anthropic and Google over safety risks They left a day after Jacob Coxon’s viral departure from Anthropic. ( NBC News ) + Elon Musk called their concerns a “setup” and a “psyop.” ( Guardian ) + AI fears are pushing Congress toward tougher regulation. ( WSJ $) 4 Sam Altman is pitching OpenAI’s cyber defenses to power companies The meetings followed reports of AI attacks on critical systems. ( Politico $) + Altman also told staff that OpenAI is open to slowing down AI. Bloomberg $) 5 After years of fighting AI, music labels are starting to embrace it Universal is partnering with ElevenLabs on an AI remix platform.( Gizmodo ) + AI is complicating definitions of creativity . ( MIT Technology Review ) 6 Chinese drugmakers are challenging US dominance in weight-loss drugs They’re developing hundreds of GLP-1 treatments for global markets. ( WSJ $) 7 Electric air taxis have begun official test flights in Texas They’re the first flights under the White House’s new pilot program. ( Verge ) 8 Chinese drones are helping to rescue survivors of Nepal's floods They’re delivering food and airlifting bodies from flood-hit areas. ( Ars Technica ) 9 NASA and IBM have built an AI model to map the moon It could help locate ice and identify safer landing sites. ( Register ) 10 One man is on a quest to digitally preserve America’s public restrooms His Restroom Archive is a museum-style repository of 3D scans. ( 404 Media ) Quote of the day “ I didn't ask Facebook to build a profile of my family—I posted a video of me singing in the car with my kids.” —Kalie Roberts, a travel content creator, says in an Instagram reel that Meta AI used years of Facebook posts to piece together her children’s identities and pinpoint where her family lives. One more thing Chinese tech workers are starting to train their AI doubles—and pushing back In April, a GitHub project called Colleague Skill struck a nerve by claiming to “distill” a worker’s skills and personality—and replicate them with an AI agent. Though the project was a spoof, it prompted a wave of soul-searching among otherwise enthusiastic early adopters. A number of tech workers told MIT Technology Review that their bosses are already encouraging them to document their workflows for automation via tools like OpenClaw. Many now fear that they are being flattened into code and losing their professional identity. In response, some are fighting back with tools designed to sabotage the automation process. Read the full story on their battle with clone workers . —Caiwei Chen 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 .) + Worried about Flock cameras? These guys designed a car to fool them. + Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera has captured a galactic merger’s dazzling final phase . + An exquisitely preserved 66-million-year-old bird feather was found in a fossilised dinosaur dropping. + A plucky preservationist travelled 1,700 miles and made 52 calls from a rare phone box to keep it in service. Deep Dive The Download The Download: Claude’s inner workings, and the future of world models Plus: New York has become the first state to enact a data center moratorium. By Thomas Macaulay archive page The Download: AI’s self-improvement problem, and what’s driving the heat Plus: OpenAI has paused some model work over safety concerns. By Thomas Macaulay archive page The Download: Google’s AI shake-up and Meta’s rogue model Plus: Meta has become the latest firm to say its AI hacked another company. By Thomas Macaulay archive page The Download: the next big thing in LLMs and how AI academic research is shifting Plus: Nvidia has secured $500 billion from Wall Street for AI infrastructure. By Thomas Macaulay archive page Stay connected Illustration by Rose Wong Get the latest updates from MIT Technology Review Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more. Enter your email Privacy Policy Thank you for submitting your email! Explore more newsletters It looks like something went wrong. We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. 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