For seven years, Sarmento worked to keep both bears and humans out of trouble. He acted like a first responder, trying to defuse potentially dangerous situations. He even got caught in some himself, which led him to a new wildlife safety tool: drones. Find out the results of his experiments in digital ecology. 
 
 —Emily Senkosky 

This article is from the next issue of our print magazine, which is all about nature. Subscribe now to read it when it lands on Wednesday, April 22.  

The must-reads 

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

1 Human scientists still trounce the top AI agents at complex tasks  
The best agents perform only half as well as experts with PhDs. (Nature) 
+ Can AI really help us discover new materials? (MIT Technology Review) 
 
2 OpenAI is escalating its fight with Anthropic while pulling away from Microsoft 
A leaked memo exposes plans to attack Anthropic. (Axios) 
+ And says Microsoft “limited our ability” to reach clients. (The Information $) 
+ While touting a budding alliance with Amazon. (CNBC) 

3 Carbon removal technology is stalling—and that may be good news 
Better solutions could now emerge. (New Scientist) 
+ Here are three that are set to break through. (MIT Technology Review) 
 
4 AI is finding bugs faster than we can fix them—and hackers will benefit 
Welcome to the bug armageddon. (WSJ $)  
+ AI may soon be capable of fully automated attacks. (MIT Technology Review) 
 
5 A Texas man has been charged with the attempted murder of Sam Altman 
He allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at the OpenAI CEO’s home last Friday. (NPR) 
+ The suspect reportedly had a list of other AI leaders. (NYT $) 
 
6 AI is beginning to transform mathematics 
It’s proving new results at a rapid pace. (Quanta) 
+ One AI startup plans to unearth new mathematical patterns. (MIT Technology Review) 
 
7 Students are turning away from computer science 
It’s had a massive drop in enrollments. (WP $) 
+ AI coding tools have diminished the degree’s value. (NYT $)  
 
8 India’s bid to become a data center hub is sparking a fierce backlash 
Farmers are protesting Delhi’s courtship of hyperscalers. (Rest of World) 
 
9 Meta is set to overtake Google in advertising revenue this year 
And become the world’s largest digital ad platform for the first time. (WSJ) 
 
10 AI influencers are taking over Coachella  
Synthetic content creators are “everywhere” at the festival. (The Verge) 

Quote of the day 

“These people are almost nothing like you. They are most likely sociopathic/psychopathic and, in the case of Altman, consistently reported to be a pathological liar.” 

—The alleged firebomber of Sam Altman’s home shares his distrust of AI leaders in a blog post. 

One More Thing