Plus: DeepSeek has unveiled its long-awaited new AI model. When ChatGPT was released in late 2022, it showed how easily generative AI could create human-like text. This quickly caught the eye of cybercriminals, who began using LLMs to compose malicious emails. Since then, they've adopted AI for everything from turbocharged phishing and hyperrealistic deepfakes to automated vulnerability scans. Many organizations are now struggling to cope with the sheer volume of cyberattacks. AI is making them faster, cheaper, and easier to carry out, a problem set to worsen as more cybercriminals adopt these tools--and their capabilities improve.

Plus: Trump signaled he's open to reversing the Anthropic ban. When we talk about "nature," we usually mean something untouched by humans. But little of that world exists today. From microplastics in rainforest wildlife to artificial light in the Arctic Ocean, human influence now reaches every corner of Earth. In this context, what even is nature? And should we employ technology to try to make the world more "natural"?

Will fusion power get cheap? New research suggests that cost declines could be slow for the technology. Fusion power could provide a steady, zero-emissions source of electricity in the future--if companies can get plants built and running. But a new study suggests that even if that future arrives, it might not come cheap. Technologies tend to get less expensive over time. Lithium-ion batteries are now about 90% cheaper than they were in 2013.

Plus: An unauthorized group has reportedly accessed Anthropic's Mythos. What actually matters in AI right now? It's getting harder to tell amid the constant launches, hype, and warnings. To cut through the noise, reporters and editors have distilled years of analysis into a new essential guide: the 10 Things That Matter in AI Right Now . The list builds on our annual 10 Breakthrough Technologies, but takes a wider view of the ideas, topics, and research shaping AI, spotlighting the trends and breakthroughs shaping the world. We'll be unpacking one item from the list each day here in The Download, explaining what it means and why it matters.

A modern data fabric makes it possible to turn existing enterprise knowledge into a trusted foundation for AI. Artificial intelligence is moving quickly in the enterprise, from experimentation to everyday use. Organizations are deploying copilots, agents, and predictive systems across finance, supply chains, human resources, and customer operations. By the end of 2025, half of companies used AI in at least three business functions, according to a recent survey. But as AI becomes embedded in core workflows, business leaders are discovering that the biggest obstacle is not model performance or computing power but the quality and the context of the data on which those systems rely. AI essentially introduces a new requirement: Systems must not only access data -- they must understand the business context behind it.

One town's scheme to get rid of its geese Public officials in one California burgh spent nearly $400,000 on tech to flush out waterfowl. Some geese, like the one on the left, wear GPS trackers as part of the Foster City goose management plan. Our target is in sight: a gaggle of Canada geese, pecking at grass near the dog park. As I approach, tiptoeing over their grayish-white poop, I notice that one bird wears a white cuff around its slender black neck. It's a GPS tracker--part of a new tech-centered campaign to drive the geese out of my hometown of Foster City, California. About 300 geese live in this sleepy Bay Area suburb, equal to nearly 1% of our human population--and some say this town isn't big enough for the both of us.

No part of the globe is free of human fingerprints. Should we deploy technology to change it back? When people talk about "nature," they're generally talking about things that aren't made by human beings. But while there is plenty of God's creation to go around, it is hard to think of anything on Earth that human hands haven't affected. In the Brazilian rainforest, scientists have found microplastics in the bellies of animals ranging from red howler monkeys to manatees. In remotest Yakutia, where much of the earth remains untrodden by human feet, the carbon in the sky above melts the permafrost below.

Watch subscriber-only discussion unveiling a new list capturing 10 key technologies in AI that you need to know about in 2026. Subscribers saw a special edition of Roundtables simulcast live from EmTech AI, MIT Technology Review's signature conference for AI leadership. Subscribers got an exclusive first look at a new list capturing 10 key technologies, emerging trends, bold ideas, and powerful movements in AI that you need to know about in 2026. Grace Huckins, AI reporter, hosted this session as Amy Nordrum and Niall Firth, executive editors, unveiled the list onstage. Want to understand the current state of AI? Check out these charts. Exclusive: Niantic's AI spinout is training a new world model using 30 billion images of urban landmarks crowdsourced from players.

Transcranial focused ultrasound is a noninvasive way to stimulate the brain and see how it functions. How does the physical matter in our brains translate into thoughts, sensations, and emotions? It's hard to explore that question without neurosurgery. But in a recent paper, MIT philosopher Matthias Michel, Lincoln Lab researcher Daniel Freeman, and colleagues outline a strategy for doing so with an emerging tool called transcranial focused ultrasound. This noninvasive technology reaches deeper into the brain, with greater resolution, than techniques such as EEG and MRI. It works by sending acoustic waves through the skull to focus on an area of a few millimeters, allowing specific brain structures to be stimulated so the effects can be studied.

Plus: OpenAI is also creating a super app. OpenAI has a new grand challenge: building an AI researcher--a fully automated agent-based system capable of tackling large, complex problems by itself. The San Francisco firm said the new goal will be its "north star" for the next few years. By September, the company plans to build "an autonomous AI research intern" that can take on a small number of specific research problems. The intern will be the precursor to the fully automated multi-agent system, which is slated to debut in 2028. In an exclusive interview this week, OpenAI's chief scientist, Jakub Pachocki, talked me through the plans.