The Download: Earth’s rumblings, and AI for strikes on Iran

The must-reads

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

1 How Anthropic’s AI tool Claude is being used for US strikes on Iran
It’s helping to identify targets and prioritize them—for now. (WP $)
+ We should all be alarmed by the White House turning on Anthropic. (The Atlantic $)
+ OpenAI is pursuing a contract with NATO. (Reuters)

2 Iran’s Shahed drones give it a major advantage
They’re cheap and easy to manufacture, but very expensive to intercept. (CNBC)
+ The US is manufacturing copies of the drone to use against Iran. (New Scientist $)
+ Israel’s plot to kill Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was years in the making. (FT $)

3 Data center politics are getting an early test in North Carolina
One of the candidates is calling for a 10-year national moratorium on building them. (The Guardian)
+ But it’s not just data centers that are driving people’s electricity bills up. (Inside Climate News)
+ Data centers are amazing. Everyone hates them. (MIT Technology Review)
+ Never mind space—why not just build them into floating offshore wind turbines? (IEEE Spectrum)

4 LLMs can unmask pseudonymous users
At a speed and scale far beyond what even skilled human investigators can manage. (Ars Technica)
+ It’s also very easy to persuade them to fabricate scientific papers. (Nature $)

5 TikTok has ruled out end-to-end encryption, citing user safety
It’s a stance that sets it apart from almost all rival social media services. (BBC)
+ The strategy will please parents, police—and hackers. (Cybernews)
+ TikTok is experiencing Oracle-related server issues, again. (Gizmodo)

6 Why is SpaceX going public?
One thing seems certain: it’s not for the reasons Musk’s claiming. (The Verge $)
+ Two companies have just unveiled plans to build lunar harvesters. (Ars Technica)

7 NASA’s scheduled its next attempt to launch the Artemis II moon rocket
On April Fool’s Day, of all days. Good luck! (Space)

8 What it’s like to live with a brain implant for years 🧠
For 65-year-old Rodney Gorham, who can no longer walk, talk, or move his hands, it’s been a real lifeline. (Wired $)
+ This patient’s Neuralink brain implant is getting a boost from generative AI. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Pokémon Pokopia is getting rave reviews
It apparently mixes Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley, with a hint of Minecraft-style building. (BBC)

10. Hollywood is scouring YouTube for its next horror hits 🔪
Movie studios want to bring the threat from the platform in-house. (The New Yorker $)
+ One YouTuber’s self-financed horror flick opened at 4,000 theatres. (Variety)

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