The Download

What's up in emerging technology

From Our Current Issue

MIT Technology Review: January/February 2019

Genes, chips, qubits, rockets, reactors, surveillance, and sand—the tools of a rising superpower

Years before CRISPR babies, this man was the first to edit human embryos

In 2015, an unknown Chinese scientist edited the DNA of human embryos. It was a step on an inexorable path to designer babies.

Photograph of Junjiu Huang

Why China’s electric-car industry is leaving Detroit, Japan, and Germany in the dust

China was no good at cars. Then EVs came along.

Long exposure night photo of traffic in Shanghai

March 25-26, 2019

San Francisco, CA

Artificial intelligence is here. Own what happens next.

It's difficult to discern facts from fiction in the rapidly shifting landscape of AI. What do you need to know to stay ahead of the competition? Get the insight and intelligence you need at EmTech Digital.

Register Now
Business Impact

Editor’s letter: China’s technology ambitions—and their limits

Our special issue on China asks: What is China good at, and can it meet its goal of attaining global supremacy in key areas of technology?
Intelligent Machines

The future of China’s AI industry is in the hands of just three companies

More than half of the country’s major AI players have funding ties that lead back to Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent.
Intelligent Machines

Giving algorithms a sense of uncertainty could make them more ethical

Algorithms are best at pursuing a single mathematical objective—but humans often want multiple incompatible things.
Rewriting Life

We won’t use CRISPR to make super-smart babies—but only because we can’t

Gene experts speculate that our worst gene-editing fears won’t come true because they are too complex for us to pull them off.
Connectivity

Ethereum’s got a hard forking problem thanks to another delayed upgrade

Software bugs are holding things up, and it’s turned into a referendum on the cryptocurrency’s decentralized nature.
Intelligent Machines

We’d have more quantum computers if it weren’t so hard to find the damn cables

Quantum machines will deliver the next great leap forward in computing, but researchers building them can’t easily get some of the exotic components they need.
Intelligent Machines

This Ikea kitchen might teach industrial robots to be less dumb and more helpful

Nvidia’s new robotics lab will see if robots can learn to fetch the ketchup, load the dishwasher, and—eventually—make a cake.
Sustainable Energy

We could still prevent 1.5 ˚C of warming—but we almost certainly won’t

New research finds we’d need to immediately stop building fossil-fuel-burning vehicles, planes, and factories.
Connectivity

Hate lawyers? Can’t afford one? Blockchain smart contracts are here to help.

Mainstream online legal services are getting serious about using crypto to automate bits of what they do—and lower the bar to entry for us all.
View from the Marketplace

Professional services firms see huge potential in machine learning

B2B marketers share strong convictions about how data analytics can help them understand—and reach—their customers. The more benefits they have witnessed, the greater possibilities they see.

In association with Google

View from the Marketplace

Digital transformation sparks innovation in networking

The network needs to keep pace with the demands of exciting new technologies like containers and microservices, according to presenters at a recent industry event. The first step in that process is changing the culture.

In association with VMware

View from the Marketplace

For data-savvy marketers, there’s a new keyword: Intent

As more companies look to machine learning for insights, marketers need to use new tools and technology to engage potential customers at the right time and place.

In association with Google

View from the Marketplace

The state of artificial intelligence

AI technologies are coming into mainstream business usage—but a host of challenges remains. An interactive infographic illustrates the opportunities and the hurdles.

In association with Oracle, Intel

35 Innovators Under 35

Better gene editing. Smarter AI. Cheaper solar cells. Stretchable electronics. This year’s list of 35 Innovators Under 35 will give you a sense of what’s coming next—and what kinds of people are making it happen.

See the Collection

10 Breakthrough Technologies 2018

Dueling neural networks. Artificial embryos. AI in the cloud. Welcome to our annual list of the 10 technology advances we think will shape the way we work and live now and for years to come.

See the Collection

Watch Video

More videos

AI in Industry: Intelligent Health Care 29:27

Next-Generation Robots Need Your Help 27:36

Access to broadband is as important as access to water and electricity 01:15

We shouldn't preserve "willy nilly" the cost of production 01:00

Coffee-fetching robots 02:08

Automating things on wheels 00:50

Humans versus machines: Chopin edition 02:06

Teaching systems to dance 01:44

3-D printed potato chips 01:15

Robots as nurses' assistants 00:36

AI in Industry: Intelligent Health Care 29:27

MIT professor Dina Katabi is building a gadget that can sit in one spot and track everything from breathing to walking, no wearables required.

More Videos

Rewriting Life

Reprogramming our bodies to make us healthier.

All Topics

  1. We won’t use CRISPR to make super-smart babies—but only because we can’t

    Gene experts speculate that our worst gene-editing fears won’t come true because they are too complex for us to pull them off.
    by Antonio Regalado

  2. Electric nanoparticles can target and kill cancer cells by zapping them

    Particles that produce electrical signals when bombarded with ultrasound could be a way to direct a cell-killing treatment directly to tumors.
    by Emerging Technology from the arXiv

  3. Gene engineers make super-size plants that are 40% larger

    Researchers hope to create a new “green revolution” by improving photosynthesis.
    by Antonio Regalado
More from Rewriting Life

SPONSORED COLLECTION

Innovations, Ideas, and Insights

Provided by BBVA

  1. SPONSORED

    Reality Regained: An Inquiry into the Data Age

    The explosion of data and advances in computing power are radically transforming daily life
    by Jannis Kallinikos

  2. SPONSORED

    The crisis of social reproduction and the end of work

    High-income societies are facing the rise of precarious employment.
    by Helen Hester and Nick Snircek

  3. SPONSORED

    Advanced tech, but growth slow and unequal: paradoxes and policies

    Slowing productivity growth in major economies amid seemingly booming technology presents a paradox.
    by Zia Qureshi
More in Innovations, Ideas, and Insights

Features

Intelligent Machines

Never mind killer robots—here are six real AI dangers to watch out for in 2019

Last year a string of controversies revealed a darker (and dumber) side to artificial intelligence.

by Will Knight and Karen Hao

Intelligent Machines

The Reunion: a new science-fiction story about surveillance in China

Technology is making people unhinged and violent. Can an algorithm stop them?

Illustration of audience of people wearing helmets and eyepieces
Connectivity

Seven New Year’s resolutions for Big Tech in 2019

2018 was a no good, very bad year for Silicon Valley. Here’s some of the things tech giants should commit to do next year to avoid a repeat performance.

Intelligent Machines

Artificial intelligence and robots are transforming how we work and live.

All Topics

  1. Should a self-driving car kill the baby or the grandma? Depends on where you’re from.

    The infamous “trolley problem” was put to millions of people in a global study, revealing how much ethics diverge across cultures.
    by Karen Hao

  2. The future of China’s AI industry is in the hands of just three companies

    More than half of the country’s major AI players have funding ties that lead back to Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent.
    by Karen Hao

  3. AI is sending people to jail—and getting it wrong

    Using historical data to train risk assessment tools could mean that machines are copying the mistakes of the past.
    by Karen Hao
More from Intelligent Machines