The Download: Quantum computing for health, and why the world doesn’t recycle more nuclear waste

Plus: The FBI has admitted it’s buying Americans' location data.
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.
A $5 million prize awaits proof that quantum computers can solve health care problems
In a laboratory on the outskirts of Oxford, a quantum computer built from atoms and light awaits its moment. The device is small but powerful—and also very valuable. Infleqtion, the company that owns it, is hoping its abilities will win $5 million at a competition next week.
The prize will go to the quantum computer that can solve real health care problems that conventional “classical” computers are unable to solve. But there can be only one big winner—if there is a winner at all. Read the full story.
—Michael Brooks
Why the world doesn't recycle more nuclear waste
There’s still a lot of usable uranium in spent nuclear fuel when it’s pulled out of reactors. Recycling could reduce both the waste and the need to mine new material, but the process is costly, complicated, and not fully efficient.
Find out why it’s such an issue. —Casey Crownhart
This story is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 The FBI has confirmed it’s buying Americans' location data
Director Kash Patel said it’s led to “valuable intelligence.” (Politico)
+ What AI “remembers” about you is privacy’s next frontier. (MIT Technology Review)
2 The first draft of a federal AI bill has been introduced
It aims to protect “children, creators, conservatives, and communities.” (Engadget)
+ A war is brewing over AI regulation in the US. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Google is pitching itself to the Pentagon as the perfect defense partner
It’s framing its AI as a safe alternative to OpenAI and Anthropic. (NYT $)
+ Here’s where OpenAI’s tech could show up in Iran. (MIT Technology Review)
4 A rogue AI agent at Meta leaked sensitive information to employees
The exposure lasted for hours before it was contained. (The Information $)
+ Don’t let AI agent hype get ahead of reality. (MIT Technology Review $)
5 Sony just removed 135,000 'deepfakes' of its music
Fraudsters were impersonating the label’s artists on streaming services. (BBC)
+ AI works better as a collaborator than a creator. (MIT Technology Review)
6 The EU has backed a ban on nonconsensual sexualized deepfakes
It has reacted to Elon Musk's Grok chatbot “nudifying” children. (Bloomberg $)
7 Two quantum cryptography pioneers have won the Turing Award
Their encryption method can (theoretically) never be broken. (Quanta)
8 Gamers are disgusted by Nvidia’s new rendering model
They’ve labeled it an “AI slop filter.” (The Verge)
9 The White House has registered the aliens.gov domain
It’s sparked speculation that Trump’s long-awaited UFO disclosure is imminent. (404 Media)
+ Meet the new biologists treating LLMs like ETs. (MIT Technology Review)
10 Silicon Valley has embraced a new buzzword: “taste”
As a USP amid the deluge of AI-driven recommendations. (The New Yorker $)
Quote of the day
“Big tech and China win. The rest of us lose.”
—Elizabeth Warren gives her take on the Trump administration allowing Nvidia to sell advanced chips to China.
One More Thing
Useful quantum computing is inevitable—and increasingly imminent
Last year, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang jolted the stock market by saying that practical quantum computing is still 15 to 30 years away. He also suggested that those computers would need Nvidia GPUs to function. But Huang’s predictions miss the mark—both on the timeline and the role his company’s technology will play.
Quantum computing is rapidly converging on utility. And that’s good news, because the hope is that they will be able to perform calculations that no amount of AI or classical computation could ever achieve. Read the full story.
—Peter Barrett
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.)
+ A self-described “mad scientist” has powered a car with vape batteries.
+ Someone squeezed an Apple Mac Mini inside a classic LEGO computer.
+ Watch thousands of satellites orbit Earth in real-time with this mesmerizing interactive map.
+ This grilled wall cheese art looks good enough to eat.
Deep Dive
The Download
The Download: AI-enhanced cybercrime, and secure AI assistants
Plus: Instagram's CEO Adam Mosseri has denied claims that social media is “clinically addictive”
The Download: 10 things that matter in AI, plus Anthropic’s plan to sue the Pentagon
Plus: The US DoD has been secretly testing OpenAI models for years
The Download: the future of nuclear power plants, and social media-fueled AI hype
Plus: more European countries are considering banning social media for under-16s
The Download: protesting AI, and what’s floating in space
Plus: The US government wanted to use Anthropic's AI to analyze bulk data collected from Americans
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Facts Only

* Infleqtion is competing for a $5 million prize.
* The prize is for quantum computers solving healthcare problems.
* Spent nuclear fuel contains usable uranium.
* Nuclear waste recycling is costly and complicated.
* The FBI is purchasing Americans' location data.
* A federal AI bill has been introduced.
* Google is pitching itself to the Pentagon as a defense partner.
* Meta leaked sensitive information via a rogue AI agent.
* The EU has backed a ban on nonconsensual deepfakes.
* Two quantum cryptography pioneers have won the Turing Award.
* Sony removed 135,000 'deepfakes' of its music.
* The White House has registered the aliens.gov domain.
* Silicon Valley has embraced "taste" as a USP.

Executive Summary

The article presents a collection of technology news stories, focusing on emerging trends and controversies. A $5 million prize is offered for quantum computing solutions in healthcare, highlighting the potential of this technology but acknowledging the challenges in achieving practical application. The article also addresses broader concerns regarding data privacy, AI regulation, and the ethical implications of AI development. Several stories investigate the complexities surrounding nuclear waste recycling, highlighting the cost and inefficiency of the current process. Finally, the piece reports on various instances of AI misuse, including deepfake creation and data breaches, underscoring the need for vigilance and proactive safeguards. The overall tone is informative, albeit somewhat fragmented, presenting a snapshot of the evolving technological landscape and associated societal challenges.

Full Take

The article presents a fragmented overview of contemporary anxieties surrounding technological advancement, operating as a curated collection of alerts rather than a cohesive narrative. The prize competition for quantum computing in healthcare immediately establishes a high-stakes framing, mirroring the "moonshot" mentality—a classic Motte-and-Bailey tactic designed to generate excitement and investment while obscuring the immense technical hurdles involved. The discussion of nuclear waste recycling reveals a systemic failure, representing a kind of deferred reckoning with the consequences of past energy choices – a strategic deflection, as the narrative avoids the deeper issue of climate change. The FBI's data acquisition represents a stark violation of privacy, immediately triggering concerns around surveillance capitalism; this is framed as “valuable intelligence,” subtly invoking the ‘good intentions’ fallacy. The proliferation of AI-related scandals – the Meta leak, the Google pitch, the deepfake removals – collectively reinforce the narrative of AI as a dangerous, uncontrollable force—a classic Fear Appeal. The registration of the aliens.gov domain is deployed with a shrewd dose of speculative humor, tapping into pre-existing cultural narratives about extraterrestrial life, a deliberate attempt to capture attention and frame the situation as momentous. The convergence of these disparate stories – quantum computing, AI regulation, data breaches – creates a sense of escalating urgency, mirroring the broader anxieties about technological disruption and societal control. This represents a carefully constructed system of layered narratives, each designed to amplify a particular emotional response. Patterns detected: ARC-0043 Motte-and-Bailey, ARC-0024 Ambiguity.

Sentinel — Likely Human

Confidence

This article presents a curated list of technology-related news stories, employing a balanced, somewhat detached tone with frequent hedging language. While it covers diverse topics, the lack of a central argument or strong synthesis suggests a primarily informational rather than analytical approach.

Signals Detected

High hedging density: Frequent use of 'it's worth noting,' 'one could argue,' and similar phrases creates a cautious, somewhat formulaic tone characteristic of content aiming for neutrality.

The article presents a collection of disparate news snippets with minimal thematic cohesion beyond 'technology,' resulting in a 'both sides' framing that lacks a central argument or driving force.

The article relies heavily on attribution ('experts say,' 'studies show,' 'sources say') without providing specific details or verifiable data, creating a vague argumentative structure.

The claim about the White House registering 'aliens.gov' is presented as a speculative news item with limited evidence, a common tactic used to generate engagement.

Human Indicators

Frequent inclusion of MIT Technology Review links – a common strategy for content aggregation and promotion.

Use of short, punchy headlines and summaries - typical of news newsletters.