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By Thomas Macaulayarchive pageMay 29, 2026 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. How a new extraction process could unlock the world’s lithium A new method for extracting lithium could cut costs and emissions from one of the world’s most important materials for EVs and energy storage.  The technique uses a weak acid to dissolve silicate minerals. That frees not only the lithium but also other useful materials, including alumina and silica.  “At scale, we believe this will be the lowest-cost way of sourcing lithium in the world,” says Yet-Ming Chiang, an MIT professor who co-authored a study of the process published yesterday in Science. 
Startup Rock Zero is already working to commercialize the research. Read the full story on a new way to unlock the world’s lithium. —Casey Crownhart
The deadly Ebola outbreak is proving difficult to control The alert was raised on May 5. Four health-care workers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo had died from an unknown illness within four days. Tests in Kinshasa revealed the culprit: the Bundibugyo virus, one of the causes of Ebola. A couple of weeks ago, an outbreak of hantavirus erupted aboard a cruise ship. Three people died, but the outbreak was kept under control. The picture for Ebola is bleaker for several reasons, including the disease itself, the available treatments, and the local environment. Find out why the outbreak is causing alarm. —Jessica Hamzelou This story is from The Spark, our weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things biotech. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday. How the Pope’s Magnifica Humanitas offers a template for individuals to meet the AI moment ——Father Séamus Finn, a leader in faith-based and socially responsible investing with the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and Sister Susan Francois, assistant congregation leader and treasurer of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace Pope Leo XIV’s new encyclical on artificial intelligence includes a statement that warrants serious attention from technologists and policymakers: “Technology is never neutral.”  Magnifica Humanitas is a call to act with courage and solidarity as AI transforms human life, framing the choice ahead as one between the Tower of Babel and the rebuilding of our common humanity. It warns that corporations alone cannot set the direction of such a transformation.

With governments slow to regulate AI, institutional investors are stepping into the gap. Here’s how they can build a better future. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Anthropic is now valued higher than OpenAIIt hit a $965 billion valuation after a new funding round. (AP News)+ Claude demand has driven annualized revenue to $47 billion. (WSJ $)+ The funding round may be Anthropic’s last before an IPO. (TechCrunch)+ What even is the AI bubble? (MIT Technology Review)2 A Blue Origin rocket has exploded in a setback to NASA’s Moon plansNew Glenn burst into flames during testing on a Florida launchpad. (CNBC) + Blue Origin is heavily involved in NASA’s Moon base plans. (The Verge) + It also wants to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. (Reuters $) 3 Adversaries are tracking US troop locations via mobile phone dataThe Pentagon has long ignored warnings of this exact threat. (Reuters $)+ The targeting uses commercially available location data. (Wired $)+ LLMs could supercharge mass surveillance. (MIT Technology Review) 4 Anthropic plans a broad rollout of Mythos AI in the coming weeksDespite concerns over its cybersecurity capabilities. (CNET)+ Claude Opus 4.8 is now out, with a promise to be more honest. (The Verge) 5 Grok oversaw a crime spree in an AI safety testModels were tasked with governing a simulated society. (Fortune)+ Grok committed 180 crimes, while Claude ruled with restraint. (Gizmodo)6 Amazon has scrapped an AI leaderboard after worker gamingEmployees were artificially inflating usage scores. (FT $)+ We can build better AI benchmarks. (MIT Technology Review) 7 Political spending by AI and crypto groups is shifting electionsThey’ve pushed their preferred candidates closer to power. (Axios)8 China’s tech boom is fueling a new wave of industrial tourismVisitors are touring AI labs and EV factories. (Rest of World)9 Alibaba’s MuleRun aims to replicate the OpenClaw crazeThe AI agent platform is positioned as a safer alternative. (SCMP)10 Mysterious changes have emerged in the Sun’s magnetic fieldThey could reshape space weather forecasts. (404 Media) Quote of the day “What Peter Thiel is doing is terrible. His settling in Argentina is even worse.” —Elisa Lilita Carrió, an Argentine politician, writes on X that Peter Thiel’s relocation to her country has angered her even more than his leadership of Palantir. One More Thing NASA, ESA, CSA, STSCI, WEBB ERO PRODUCTION TEAM How the James Webb Space Telescope broke the universe When the James Webb Space Telescope began full operations in 2022, astronomers were in awe of the flood of data that arrived.
“Every hour we were looking at a galaxy or an exoplanet or star formation,” says NASA scientist Heidi Hammel. “It was like a firehose.” Since then, JWST has delivered nonstop discoveries, from distant galaxies to new planetary atmospheres. “We’re cracking open an entirely new window on the universe,” says Hammel. 
Discover how JWST has transformed astronomy. —Jonathan O'Callaghan 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.) + Kubrick fans will love this Lego recreation of Dr Strangelove.+ Here’s a fascinating explanation of why seven landlocked countries have navies.+ This mesmerizing 4K remaster of a super typhoon turns weather data into cinematic art.+ Go inside the genius of Queen with this track-by-track breakdown of “Bohemian Rhapsody.” by Thomas MacaulayShareShare story on linkedinShare story on facebookShare story on emailPopularWant to understand the current state of AI? Check out these charts.Michelle Kim10 Things That Matter in AI Right NowAmy NordrumInside the stealthy startup that pitched brainless human clonesAntonio RegaladoMusk v. Altman week 1: Elon Musk says he was duped, warns AI could kill us all, and admits that xAI distills OpenAI’s modelsMichelle KimDeep DiveThe DownloadThe Download: DeepSeek’s latest AI breakthrough, and the race to build world modelsPlus: China has blocked Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus.
By Thomas Macaulayarchive pageThe Download: introducing the 10 Things That Matter in AI Right NowPlus: An unauthorized group has reportedly accessed Anthropic’s Mythos.
By Thomas Macaulayarchive pageThe Download: supercharged scams and studying AI healthcarePlus: DeepSeek has unveiled its long-awaited new AI model.
By Thomas Macaulayarchive pageThe Download: inside the Musk v. Altman trial, and AI for democracyPlus: the Pentagon has struck sweeping AI deals for classified work.
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A new method for extracting lithium is being explored that utilizes a weak acid to dissolve silicate minerals, which simultaneously frees lithium along with other valuable materials such as alumina and silica. Experts suggest that if implemented at scale, this technique could represent the lowest-cost method for sourcing lithium globally, addressing concerns related to the material's importance for electric vehicles and energy storage. Concurrently, efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak highlight challenges in managing public health crises, evidenced by outbreaks like the one in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the containment of hantavirus outbreaks, underscoring the complexity of disease control in various environments.

The landscape of artificial intelligence is marked by significant developments and intense scrutiny. Valuation shifts have occurred among leading AI entities, with Anthropic now holding a higher valuation than OpenAI, driven by the demand for models like Claude. Philosophical considerations regarding this transformation are also emerging, as reflected in statements from leaders regarding the need for action concerning the "AI moment," emphasizing that technology is never neutral and that corporations alone cannot dictate its direction.

Institutional investors are increasingly intervening in the regulation gap concerning AI, prompting a focus on various critical issues. Concerns revolve around mass surveillance, as adversaries are tracking troop locations using publicly available mobile phone data, suggesting that large language models could be used to supercharge this capability. Furthermore, AI safety has been tested in simulated societies, where models like Grok demonstrated differing behaviors in governing simulated environments compared to others. There is also a call for improved evaluation methods, as demonstrated by Amazon scrapping an AI leaderboard due to concerns over worker gaming, emphasizing the need for better benchmarks.

The advancements in space exploration continue, exemplified by the James Webb Space Telescope, which has provided an unprecedented flood of astronomical data, allowing scientists to open a new window onto the universe by making discoveries ranging from distant galaxies to new planetary atmospheres. In the broader technological sphere, discussions also touch upon the dynamics of AI development, including the pursuit of world models and the impact of corporate acquisition on AI technology. These developments, alongside broader societal concerns, highlight the multifaceted nature of contemporary technological and scientific advancement.