The Download: training robots with gen AI, and the state of climate tech [MIT Tech Review]

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This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

AI-generated images can teach robots how to act

Generative AI models can produce images in response to prompts within seconds, and they’ve recently been used for everything from highlighting their own inherent bias to preserving precious memories.

Now, researchers from Stephen James’s Robot Learning Lab in London are using image-generating AI models for a new purpose: creating training data for robots. They’ve developed a new system, called Genima, that fine-tunes the image-generating AI model Stable Diffusion to draw robots’ movements, helping guide them both in simulations and in the real world. 

Genima could make it easier to train different types of robots to complete tasks—machines ranging from mechanical arms to humanoid robots and driverless cars—as well as making AI web agents more useful. Read the full story.

—Rhiannon Williams

These 15 companies are innovating in climate tech

We’ve just unveiled our 2024 list of 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch. This annual project is one the climate team at MIT Technology Review pours a lot of time and thought into, and we’re thrilled to finally share it with you.

Our goal is to spotlight businesses we believe could help make a dent in climate change. This year’s list includes companies from a wide range of industries, headquartered on five continents. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I highly recommend giving it a look. Each company has a profile in which we’ve outlined why it made the list, what sort of impact the business might have, and what challenges it’s likely to face. 

Casey Crownhart, our senior climate reporter, has dug into what these pioneering businesses reveal about the race to address climate change. Read about what she found out here.

This story is from The Spark, our weekly climate and energy newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.

The must-reads

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

1 OpenAI has been valued at an eye watering $157 billion 
A new funding round has made it one of the most valuable startups of all time. (WP $)
+ The company has urged investors to avoid funding rival AI firms. (FT $)
+ The secret to OpenAI’s fundraising success? Its extremely capable CFO. (The Information $)

2 Chipmakers are keeping a close eye on two North Carolina mines
Hurricane Helene has forced production to grind to a halt. (Bloomberg $)
+ The mines contain high purity quartz, which is essential to make chips. (Vox)

3 Hacking Meta’s smart glasses turns them into powerful doxxing tools
Students equipped the device with real-time facial recognition software. (404 Media)
+ The coolest thing about smart glasses is not the AR. It’s the AI. (MIT Technology Review)

4 American chips are powering Russian missiles
The deadly weapons are killing Ukrainian civilians, including a six-year old girl. (Bloomberg $)

5 Character.ai is pivoting away from making AI models
Ultimately, training LLMs proved to be too expensive. (FT $)
+ Make no mistake—AI is owned by Big Tech. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Apple is punishing social apps
They’re no longer allowed to access a user’s contact list. (NYT $)
+ Threads is letting users connect with other social networks for the first time. (WP $)

7 Flying cars are hovering in a gray legal area
Today’s EVOTLs are technically breaking the law, and it’s hard to see that changing. (NY Mag $)
+ These aircraft could change how we fly. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Workplace AI tools can’t always be trusted
Make sure you’re aware of when it’s still writing a transcript, for one. (WP $)
+ You should think twice about sharing personal info with chatbots, too. (The Atlantic $)

9 How to boost the benefits of meditation
Stimulating the brain could help to unlock the mysteries of the mind. (Vox)
+ Here’s how personalized brain stimulation could treat depression. (MIT Technology Review)

10 This video game birthed a generation of historians  
Age of Empires is a classic that defined a genre. (The Guardian)

Quote of the day

“We have some stock in Nvidia, and that’s who’s going to get all of this money anyway.”

—A venture capitalist who didn’t participate in OpenAI’s massive funding round explains why they don’t have FOMO to Axios’ business editor Dan Primack.

The big story

This town’s mining battle reveals the contentious path to a cleaner future

January 2024

In June last year, Talon, an exploratory mining company, submitted a proposal to Minnesota state regulators to begin digging up as much as 725,000 metric tons of raw ore per year, mainly to unlock the rich and lucrative reserves of high-grade nickel in the bedrock.

Talon is striving to distance itself from the mining industry’s dirty past, portraying its plan as a clean, friendly model of modern mineral extraction. It proclaims the site will help to power a greener future for the US by producing the nickel needed to manufacture batteries for electric cars and trucks, but with low emissions and light environmental impacts.

But as the company has quickly discovered, a lot of locals aren’t eager for major mining operations near their towns. Read the full story.

—James Temple

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)

+ Watch out, Nibi the adorable beaver’s about! (Thanks Alice!)
+ If you’ve never seen one man sing both sides of Phantom of the Opera before, now you have.
+ TV doesn’t come much more unhinged than Love Is Blind (if you haven’t seen it, you’re in for a treat).
+ How to catch a glimpse of the Comet A3, also known as Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS.