The Download: AI’s extinction risk and bioweapons threat | MIT Technology Review
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Skip to ContentMenuMIT Technology ReviewMIT Technology ReviewThe Big StoryArtificial intelligenceBiotech & healthClimate & energy10 Breakthrough TechnologiesEmTech Future live eventThe Kids issueMenuMIT Technology ReviewMIT Technology ReviewThe Big StoryArtificial intelligenceBiotech & healthClimate & energy10 Breakthrough TechnologiesEmTech Future live eventThe Kids issueThe DownloadThe Download: AI’s extinction risk and bioweapons threatPlus: Microsoft and OpenAI workers say AI is destroying the web.
By Thomas Macaulayarchive pageSeptember 18, 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. Could AI really kill us all? Your questions, answered On Wednesday, MIT Technology Review hosted a live Roundtables event that asked the question many seem to be asking right now: could AI really kill us all? But attendees had more questions than we had time to answer, so we asked senior AI editor Will Douglas Heaven and AI reporter Grace Huckins to tackle some of the best ones. The questions they tried to answer include: am I going to die? Why should AI kill us, if at all? Is AI really dangerous, or is it just tech companies drumming up PR? And what steps can be taken to make sure AI is controlled, monitored and regulated effectively? Here are their responses.
—Will Douglas Heaven and Grace Huckins The specter of AI-enabled bioweapons is a wake-up call for biotech One of the ways AI could potentially cause catastrophic harm is by aiding the design and creation of bioweapons. In 2022, researchers found that it was remarkably easy to do this with an AI “molecule generator” built to develop drugs. In less than six hours, the model generated 40,000 molecules that could serve as chemical warfare agents.
Today, AI tools can answer questions on almost every area of science, while advances in gene editing and synthetic biology have made biotech tools more accessible. There are safeguards, but none are ironclad. However, scientists disagree about how serious the risk is anyway. Find out why it’s easier than ever to design killer pathogens. —Jessica Hamzelou This story is from The Checkup, our weekly biotech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday. The role of the astronaut is in flux We go to space for geopolitical prestige, manifest destiny, spiritual fulfillment, scientific curiosity, and, increasingly, business opportunities. In the wake of Artemis II, a slew of new books suggest that these justifications are subsumed by one unifying fact: humans have itchy feet, and we are simply wired to roam. In The Ultraview Effect, space anthropologist Deana L. Weibel frames human space exploration as part of our need to embark on pilgrimages. In A Heart for Space, civilian astronaut Eiman Jahangir recounts one such voyage with Blue Origin. And in Dinner with an Astronaut, former NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao argues that people simply “need to know what’s on the other side.” See what these three new books have to say about why we go to space. —Becky Ferreira
This story is from our latest print magazine, which is all about kids. Subscribe now to receive every issue when it lands. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Microsoft and OpenAI workers say AI is destroying the webCannibalizing clicks from websites obliterates the business models that keep fresh content coming. (404 Media)+ The employees showed concern that publishers couldn’t survive AI scraping. (NYT $)+ The comments emerged during the NYT’s copyright case. (WP $)+ They could weaken OpenAI and Microsoft’s defense. (Reuters $)+ AI means the end of internet search as we’ve known it. (MIT Technology Review) 2 Robot boats have fought each other for the first timeA Ukrainian vessel sank a Russian one in combat. (New Scientist $)+ US firms are building combat-ready humanoids. (WSJ $) 3 Security researchers breached OpenAI using Anthropic’s toolsThey reached an employee’s ChatGPT account and internal code. (FT $)+ They exploited a third-party forum to reach internal systems. (WSJ $) 4 OpenAI reportedly expects to soon crack another famous math problemBut can it avoid another backlash when announcing it? (Information $)+ The problem it expects to solve is the Hodge Conjecture. (Gizmodo)+ OpenAI’s math controversies contain concerning clues about the field’s future. (MIT Technology Review) 5 Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI wants to buy data from failed startupsIt’s seeking new sources of training data for Grok. (Bloomberg $+ And it’s targeting customer and operational data. (Gizmodo)+ OpenAI is paying to create new biology data. (MIT Technology Review)
6 Schools are pushing back against Big Tech's classroom takeoverAI is accelerating concerns about corporate influence. (New Yorker $)+ We need smarter AI use in schools. (MIT Technology Review) 7 Hackers have revealed how Flock cameras track cars—and peopleOne camera captured 1.6 million images of 50,000 vehicles. (Wired $)+ The cameras also detect people and misidentify objects. (404 Media)
8 Chinese firms doubled down on science after US tech restrictionsThey produced 72% more patents citing scientific papers. (Nature) 9 A three-year-old’s cancer disappeared after an experimental cell therapyCAR T therapy may finally be able to treat solid tumors. (Gizmodo) 10 NYC’s new robotoilets will kick you out after 10 minutesThe doors automatically open when the timer runs out. (Fast Company) Quote of the day “The largest theft of labor in human history.” —Microsoft’s director of Applied Science, Brent Hecht, raises his concerns over training data used for AI systems in comments revealed in court filings from the New York Times vs OpenAI copyright lawsuit. One more thing
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is ready to transform our understanding of the cosmos High atop Chile’s 2,700-meter Cerro Pachón, the air is clear and dry, leaving few clouds to block the beautiful view of the stars. It’s here that the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is using a car-size 3,200-megapixel digital camera—the largest ever built—to produce a new map of the entire night sky every three days. Generating 20 terabytes of data per night, Rubin will capture fine details about the solar system, the Milky Way and the large-scale structure of the cosmos. Over 10 years, it will catalogue billions of new objects, offering an unprecedented look at what’s changing in the universe. Step inside the observatory mapping the cosmos in a way we’ve never seen before. —Adam Mann
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.) + Sherry the dog has become a mama to any kitten that doesn't have a mother.+ These seven life lessons from puzzle king Will Shortz go well beyond the crossword grid.+ Hear “Stairway to Heaven” in a whole new light as ancient Japanese court music meets epic rock.+ Check out the dazzling images that scooped the top prizes at the Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest. by Thomas MacaulayShareShare story on linkedinShare story on facebookShare story on emailPopularA fundamental flaw leaves LLMs strikingly vulnerable to attackWill Douglas HeavenAI is more likely than humans to form biases when hiringMichelle KimAI’s recursive self-improvement might not come so quickly after allMichelle KimHere’s why AI agents lie and cheat to reach their goalsGrace HuckinsDeep DiveThe DownloadThe Download: AI’s self-improvement problem, and what’s driving the heatPlus: OpenAI has paused some model work over safety concerns.
By Thomas Macaulayarchive pageThe Download: Google’s AI shake-up and Meta’s rogue modelPlus: Meta has become the latest firm to say its AI hacked another company.
By Thomas Macaulayarchive pageThe Download: the next big thing in LLMs and how AI academic research is shiftingPlus: Nvidia has secured $500 billion from Wall Street for AI infrastructure.
By Thomas Macaulayarchive pageThe Download: inside OpenAI’s Hugging Face hack, and a new EV takes on the USPlus: Meta will pay up to $18 billion to settle a landmark child-safety case.
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The discussion surrounding artificial intelligence touches upon profound existential risks, scientific advancement, and societal shifts across multiple domains. One significant concern raised is the potential for AI to facilitate the design and creation of bioweapons. Researchers have demonstrated that AI tools, such as molecular generators, can rapidly produce thousands of molecules that could serve as chemical warfare agents, highlighting that while safeguards exist, they are not absolute. This development underscores the need for robust control and regulation over increasingly powerful biotechnological tools.
Beyond biological threats, the implications of AI for the digital landscape are significant. Workers at Microsoft and OpenAI have expressed concern that AI is destroying the web through the cannibalization of clicks, threatening the established business models that sustain content creation. This concern is amplified by ongoing legal disputes, such as copyright cases, and the potential for AI to weaken corporate defenses. Furthermore, the role of AI is reshaping information access, suggesting an end to the internet search as previously known.
The pursuit of space exploration is also being recontextualized. The justifications for human space endeavors, which traditionally included geopolitical prestige and spiritual fulfillment, are increasingly framed by the fundamental human drive to explore. Space anthropologists and astronauts have provided perspectives suggesting that the impetus for space travel stems from an innate human tendency to roam, as explored in works like The Ultraview Effect, A Heart for Space, and Dinner with an Astronaut.
Other facets of technological development involve the pursuit of fundamental scientific understanding and the impact of AI on academia. Security research has revealed vulnerabilities in large language models, while ongoing mathematical problems, like the Hodge Conjecture, present potential hurdles for future AI capabilities. Moreover, the deployment of technology introduces complex social challenges; for instance, concerns exist regarding the biases AI may introduce in hiring processes, and there is a push within educational institutions to ensure smarter AI use in classrooms, reflecting broader anxieties about corporate influence.
In the realm of astrophysics, new observational tools promise unprecedented cosmic insight. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is poised to transform cosmology by utilizing a massive digital camera to generate detailed maps of the night sky, aiming to catalogue billions of new astronomical objects and reveal large-scale structures of the universe over the coming decade. These developments illustrate a rapidly evolving intersection where advanced technology, scientific discovery, and societal governance must be critically assessed. |