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 new Microsoft chip could lead to more stable quantum computers
Microsoft has announced that it’s made significant progress in its 20-year quest to make topological quantum bits, or qubits—a special approach to building quantum computers that could make them more stable and easier to scale up.
The company says it’s developed a chip containing eight of these qubits, and has also published a Nature paper that describes a fundamental validation of the system. It’s a different approach to competitors like Google and IBM. But, if it works, it could be a significant milestone on the path to unlocking quantum computers’ dramatic new abilities to discover new materials, among many other possible applications.
Many of the researchers MIT Technology Review spoke with would still like to see how this work plays out in scientific publications, but they were cautiously optimistic. Read the full story.
—Rachel Courtland
What’s driving electricity demand? It isn’t just AI and data centers.
Electricity demand rose by 4.3% in 2024 and will continue to grow at close to 4% annually through 2027, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency.
There’s been a constant stream of headlines about energy demand recently, largely because of the influx of data centers—especially those needed to power AI. These technologies are sucking up more power from the grid, but they’re just a small part of a much larger story.
What’s actually behind this demand growth is complicated. Read our story to learn what’s going on.
—Casey Crownhart
This story is from The Spark, our weekly newsletter all about the tech that could help us combat climate change. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.
This company is trying to make a biodegradable alternative to spandex
It probably hasn’t been long since you last slipped into something stretchy. From yoga pants to socks, stretch fabrics are everywhere. And they’re only getting more popular: The global spandex market, valued at almost $8 billion in December 2024, is projected to grow between 2% and 8% every year over the next decade.
That might be better news for your comfort than for the environment. Most stretch fabrics contain petroleum-based fibers that shed microplastics and take centuries to decompose. Alexis Peña and Lauren Blake, cofounders of Good Fibes, aim to tackle this problem with lab-grown elastics. Read the full story.
—Megan DeMatteo
This story is from the next edition of our print magazine, which is all about relationships. Subscribe now to read it and get a copy of the magazine when it lands on February 26!
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 DOGE has ‘god mode’ access to government systems
The risk of harm, abuse, or revenge is clear. But simple, brazen corruption is also a concern. (The Atlantic $)
+ Elon Musk is hunting for social security fraud. It’s not very common. (Business Insider $)
+ DOGE claimed it had saved $8 billion in one contract. It was, at most, $8 million. (NYT $)
+ Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Evil Housekeeper Problem. (MIT Technology Review)
2 The Trump administration is scrambling to rehire people working on bird flu
This exact pattern is being replicated across multiple agencies right now, and it’s straight from Musk’s playbook. (Gizmodo)
+ Trump just issued an executive order giving the President power over independent agencies. (Ars Technica)
3 DeepSeek is considering its first external funding round
It badly needs more chips and more servers to meet exploding demand. (The Information $)
+ Meanwhile, Alibaba is opening up its first data center in Mexico. (South China Morning Post $)
+ How a top Chinese AI model overcame US sanctions. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Electric truck maker Nikola has filed for bankruptcy protection
It was once (on paper) worth more than Ford. But then a fraud scandal hit, and now it’s run out of money. (Business Insider $)
+ The race to clean up heavy-duty trucks. (MIT Technology Review)
5 How a crypto scammer turned a small town against itself
Shan Hanes drained Elkhart in Kansas dry—and turned neighbor against neighbor in the process. (NYT $)
6 Google’s has unveiled a new AI ‘co-scientist’ tool
Researchers are excited, but it’s hard to say what its true impact will be. (New Scientist $)
+ A data bottleneck is holding AI science back, says new Nobel winner. (MIT Technology Review)
7 People are logging off
Eight years ago, social media became a battleground. This time, many don’t see much point in fighting online. (New Yorker $)
8 What America’s first generation chipmakers endured
They had to work in unsafe conditions—and never got answers about why their kids were born with birth defects. (The Verge)
9 Can you use ChatGPT to learn a new language?
Kind of, a bit? But not really. (Wired $)
+ Translators in Turkey are training the AI tools that will replace them. (Rest of World)
10 The latest TikTok trend? Using AI to time travel
And not just to disasters like Pompeii or the Titanic—you could just be an American teen in 1983. (Fast Company)
Quote of the day
“They destroyed everything here, and now we’re supposed to give up? How does that work?”
— Alla Kriuchkova, a resident of Bucha in Ukraine, where Russian soldiers slaughtered hundreds of people in March 2022, tells the New York Times how angry she is at President Trump for suggesting the war is Ukraine’s fault.
The big story
The $100 billion bet that a postindustrial US city can reinvent itself as a high-tech hub
July 2023
On a day in late April, a small drilling rig sits at the edge of the scrubby overgrown fields of Syracuse, New York, taking soil samples. It’s the first sign of construction on what could become the largest semiconductor manufacturing facility in the United States.
The CHIPS and Science Act was widely viewed by industry leaders and politicians as a way to secure supply chains, and make the United States competitive again in semiconductor chip manufacturing.
Now Syracuse is about to become an economic test of whether, over the next several decades, aggressive government policies—and the massive corporate investments they spur—can both boost the country’s manufacturing prowess and revitalize neglected parts of the country. Read the full story.
—David Rotman
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 skeet ’em at me.)
+ Wilson Bentley found snowflakes so beautiful, he created a whole new way to photograph them.
+ You can’t really eliminate stress in life, but you can get better at managing it.
+ The best Quentin Tarantino movies, ranked.
+ You only need a few minutes and a kettlebell for a great full-body workout.
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