Watch a subscriber-only discussion exploring how AI might enter the physical world. AI companies want to build systems that understand the external world and overcome the limitations of LLMs. Recent developments have brought world models to the forefront of the AI discussion. Watch a conversation with editor in chief Mat Honan, senior AI editor Will Douglas Heaven, and AI reporter Grace Huckins exploring how AI might enter the physical world. A woman's uterus has been kept alive outside the body for the first time Jessica Hamzelou Want to understand the current state of AI? Check out these charts. Want to understand the current state of AI? Check out these charts.

Tech advances not only made IVF safer and more effective; they fundamentally changed the way we think about our reproduction. Technology is changing the way we make babies. The pioneering work of the scientists who invented IVF led to the birth of the first "test tube baby" in 1978. We've come a long, long way since then. This week, I've been working on a piece about the cutting edge of IVF technologies and what's coming next. Think AI and robots and, potentially, gene-edited embryos.

It's time to make a plan for nuclear waste With growing interest in nuclear power, handling waste should be part of the deal. Geologist Tuomas Pere walks down a disposal tunnel inside the Posiva Onkalo nuclear waste repository on the island of Olkiluoto, Finland, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. Today, nuclear energy enjoys a rare moment of support across the political spectrum in the US. Interest from tech companies that are scrambling to meet demand for massive data centers has sparked a resurgence of money and attention in the industry. That newfound interest is exactly why it's time to talk about an old problem: nuclear waste. In the US alone, nuclear reactors produce about 2,000 metric tons of high-level waste each year.

Plus: OpenAI has ended its exclusive partnership with Microsoft. Elon Musk and Sam Altman are going to court over OpenAI's future Ahead of OpenAI's IPO, the court could rule on whether the company can exist as a for-profit enterprise. It could even oust its leadership. Musk, an OpenAI co-founder, claims he was deceived into bankrolling the firm under false pretenses. Find out how the trial could upend the global AI race . In a celebrated episode, a community of gnomes sneak out at night to steal underpants.

The Download: DeepSeek's latest AI breakthrough, and the race to build world models Plus: China has blocked Meta's $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus. On Friday, Chinese AI firm DeepSeek released a preview of V4, its long-awaited new flagship model. Notably, the model can process much longer prompts than its last generation, thanks to a new design that handles large amounts of text more efficiently. While the model remains open source, its performance matches leading closed-source rivals from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google. Here are three ways V4 could shake up AI . AI systems have already gained impressive mastery over the digital world, but the physical world remains humanity's domain.

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.

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.