The must-reads

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

1 Elon Musk discreetly bought a $1 billion gas turbine firm to power Grok
He acquired fossil fuel company APR Energy in May. (Electrek)
+ The most likely application will be powering AI data centers. (Engadget)
+ The deal was revealed through an FTC filing. (Gizmodo)
+ What will power AI’s growth? (MIT Technology Review)
 
2 A hack shows the Suno AI music generator scraped YouTube, Deezer
It scraped decades’ worth of music to train its models. (404 Media)
+ The hacked is a unique look into the black boxes powering GenAI. (CNET)
+ AI is coming for music, too. (MIT Technology Review)
 
3 Thinking Machines has launched an open-weight AI model
Inkling offers a US alternative to China’s open-source models. (Reuters $)
+ It’s the first AI model built by Thinking Machines. (WSJ $)
+ The startup was founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati. (Axios)
 
4 Europe is narrowing its ambitions for tech independence
Manufacturing and research show promise, but funding is a problem. (NYT $)
+ Earnings are strong, but an AI gap persists. (Reuters $)
+ India is also scrambling for AI independence. (MIT Technology Review)
 
5 Earth is absorbing energy at a rate that’s alarming climate scientists
The planet is taking in more heat than models predicted. (Economist $)
+ The legal case for climate justice is growing. (MIT Technology Review)
 
6 The AI backlash has tech executives fearing for their lives
Violent threats against AI firms are spilling into the real world. (WSJ $)
+ An anti-AI movement is growing globally. (MIT Technology Review)
 
7 A Moroccan intelligence insider exposed widespread Pegasus use
Including to target journalists, activists, and foreign politicians. (Guardian)

8 AI is powering citizen-led disaster relief from afar for Venezuela
It’s helping to locate missing people and coordinate relief. (Rest of World)
 
9 Thermodynamic computers could turn noise into useful calculations
They may offer a cooler, more efficient way to process information. (Quanta)

10 An engineer has explained every ’90s computer in Jurassic Park
Fans have debated the technology in the film for decades. (Ars Technica)

Quote of the day

“We hit pause because the communities powering AI should share in its success. Maybe that’s a novel concept in Washington.” 

—New York Gov. Kathy Hochul responds on X to President Donald Trump’s criticism of her state’s new data center moratorium.

One More Thing

Will we ever trust robots?

Robotics firm Prosper is developing a humanoid called Alfie to perform tasks in homes, hospitals, and hotels. The company’s founder, Shariq Hashme, has identified trustworthiness as the top design priority—and first hurdle to clear before humanoids can live up to their hype.

Hashme believes one essential tactic to get people to put their trust in Alfie is to build a detailed character from the ground up—something humanlike but not too human. But the robot’s reliance on remote human operators raises broader questions about privacy, labour, and whether society will truly accept humanoids in our private spaces.