The Download: AI’s role in math, and calculating its energy footprint

The must-reads

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

1 Elon Musk has turned on Trump 
He called Trump’s domestic policy agenda a “disgusting abomination.” (NYT $)
+ House Speaker Mike Johnson has, naturally, hit back. (Insider $)

2 NASA is in crisis
Its budget has been cut by a quarter, and now its new leader has had his nomination revoked. (New Scientist $)
+ What’s next for NASA’s giant moon rocket? (MIT Technology Review)

3 Here’s how Big Tech plans to wield AI
To build ‘everything apps’ that keep you inside their ecosystem, forever. (The Atlantic $)
+ The trouble is, the experience isn’t always slick enough, as Google has discovered with its ‘Ask Photos’ feature. (The Verge $)
+ How to fight your instinct to blindly trust AI. (WP $)

4 Meta has signed a 20-year deal to buy nuclear power 
It’s the latest in a race to try to keep up with AI’s surging energy demands. (ABC)
+ Can nuclear power really fuel the rise of AI? (MIT Technology Review) 

5 Extreme heat takes a huge toll on people’s mental health
It’s yet another issue we’re failing to prepare for, as summers get hotter and hotter. (Scientific American $)
+ The quest to protect farmworkers from extreme heat. (MIT Technology Review)

6 China’s robotaxi companies are planning to expand in the Middle East 
And they’re getting a warmer welcome than in the US or Europe. (WSJ $)
+ China’s EV giants are also betting big on humanoid robots. (MIT Technology Review)

7 AI will supercharge hackers
The full impact of new AI techniques is yet to be felt, but experts say it’s only a matter of time. (Wired $)
+ Five ways criminals are using AI. (MIT Technology Review)

8 It’s an exciting time to be working on Alzheimer’s treatments 💊
12 of them are moving to the final phase of clinical trials this year. (The Economist $)
+ The innovation that gets an Alzheimer’s drug through the blood-brain barrier. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Workers are being subjected to more and more surveillance
Not just in the gig economy either—’bossware’ is increasingly appearing in offices too. (Rest of World)

10 Noughties nostalgia is rife on TikTok
It was a pretty fun decade, to be fair. (The Guardian)