The Download: a donor conception cap and world models for AI

《下载》：捐精受孕上限与人工智能的世界模型

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. 这是今日份的《下载》，我们平日更新的简报，为您提供每日科技界动态。

Sperm donors need limits, says a European fertility group. Ties van der Meer doesn’t know how many siblings he has. The 47-year-old was conceived at a private fertility clinic using sperm from an anonymous donor. He eventually tracked down one sibling, but he may have others he’ll never find. Other donor-conceived people have found they have tens or even hundreds of them. “It does make you feel a bit mass-produced,” said one who discovered they had 25 half-siblings. In response, a European fertility organization says we need international limits on the number of children a single donor can contribute to. Find out what their proposal could achieve—and where it may fall short. —Jessica Hamzelou 欧洲一家生育组织表示，精子捐献需要限制。Ties van der Meer 不知道自己有多少个兄弟姐妹。这位 47 岁的人是在一家私人诊所通过匿名捐精受孕的。他最终找到了一个兄弟姐妹，但他可能还有其他永远无法找到的亲人。其他通过捐精受孕的人发现自己有几十甚至上百个兄弟姐妹。“这确实让你感觉自己像是批量生产的，”一位发现自己有 25 个同父异母兄弟姐妹的人说道。对此，一家欧洲生育组织表示，我们需要对单一捐献者所能贡献的后代数量设定国际限制。了解他们的提议能实现什么，以及它可能存在的不足之处。——Jessica Hamzelou

This story is from The Checkup, our weekly biotech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday. 本文摘自我们的每周生物技术简报《The Checkup》。欢迎订阅，每周四即可在收件箱中查收。

How will AI understand the real world? LLMs have transformed what AI can do with language, but helping machines understand and operate within physical spaces presents a different challenge. In response, researchers are developing a new form of artificial intelligence: world models. At a LinkedIn Live event tomorrow, MIT Technology Review will explore how this technology could shape the future of robotics and open one of AI’s next major frontiers. Join Will Douglas Heaven, our senior editor for AI, and Sam Sinha, founding AI researcher and head of world models at 1X Technologies, for the conversation on Tuesday, July 14. Register here to attend the free session at 9:30 PDT, 12:30 PM EDT, and 5:30 PM BST. 人工智能将如何理解现实世界？大语言模型（LLM）改变了人工智能在语言处理方面的能力，但帮助机器理解并在物理空间中运作则提出了不同的挑战。为此，研究人员正在开发一种新形式的人工智能：世界模型。在明天举行的 LinkedIn 直播活动中，《麻省理工科技评论》将探讨这项技术如何塑造机器人技术的未来，并开启人工智能的下一个重大前沿领域。欢迎参加 7 月 14 日（周二）的对话，嘉宾包括我们的 AI 资深编辑 Will Douglas Heaven 和 1X Technologies 的创始 AI 研究员兼世界模型负责人 Sam Sinha。点击此处注册，参加太平洋夏令时间 9:30、东部夏令时间 12:30 和英国夏令时间 17:30 的免费会议。

The must-reads 必读内容

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 我已为您搜罗了互联网上今天最有趣、最重要、最令人恐惧或最引人入胜的科技新闻。

1. Apple has sued OpenAI for allegedly stealing trade secrets. OpenAI purportedly stole IP to develop its own consumer hardware. (CNBC)

2. 苹果公司起诉 OpenAI，指控其窃取商业机密。据称 OpenAI 窃取了知识产权以开发自己的消费级硬件。（CNBC）

3. A Nobel-winning chemist is leaving the US to lead an AI lab in China. Omar Yaghi will head an institute using AI to discover new materials. (LA Times)

4. 一位诺贝尔奖化学家将离开美国，前往中国领导一家人工智能实验室。Omar Yaghi 将负责一家利用人工智能发现新材料的研究所。（《洛杉矶时报》）

5. The EU is moving closer to banning children from social media. It’s proposed barring under-13s unless supervised by an adult. (NYT)

6. 欧盟正进一步推进禁止儿童使用社交媒体的计划。提议禁止 13 岁以下儿童使用，除非有成人监督。（《纽约时报》）

7. Meta scrapped an AI image feature on Instagram after a backlash. It allowed users to generate images based on public accounts. (TechCrunch)

8. 在遭到强烈抵制后，Meta 取消了 Instagram 的一项 AI 图像功能。该功能允许用户根据公开账户生成图像。（TechCrunch）

9. Phoebe Gates’ shopping app claimed credit for sales it didn’t drive. Phia claimed unearned affiliate sales through fake clicks. (Bloomberg)

10. Phoebe Gates 的购物应用为其未促成的销售额“领功”。Phia 通过虚假点击获取了不应得的联盟营销销售额。（彭博社）

11. Leaked police drone footage exposes the new reality of surveillance. Hours of San Francisco Police video were accidentally released. (Wired)

12. 泄露的警方无人机画面揭示了监控的新现实。数小时的旧金山警方视频被意外泄露。（《连线》）

13. Over two-thirds of Americans back a Sanders-style AI ownership plan. A poll found strong support for public ownership of AI stock. (Gizmodo)

14. 超过三分之二的美国人支持桑德斯式的 AI 所有权计划。民调显示，公众对 AI 股票的公共所有权有强烈支持。（Gizmodo）

15. AI may soon make campaign text messages more potent—and irritating. AI platforms are training bots to sound like political candidates. (NPR)

16. AI 可能很快会让竞选短信更具影响力——也更令人恼火。AI 平台正在训练机器人模仿政治候选人的语气。（NPR）

17. An orbiting disco ball gave Einstein’s theory its most precise test yet. It measured Earth’s twisting of space-time more precisely. (Rest of World)

18. 一颗轨道上的“迪斯科球”对爱因斯坦的理论进行了迄今为止最精确的测试。它更精确地测量了地球对时空的扭曲。（Rest of World）

19. Australia’s biggest radio hit may be the product of GenAI. Musicians are questioning how the song was made. (Guardian)

20. 澳大利亚最火的电台金曲可能是生成式 AI 的产物。音乐家们正在质疑这首歌是如何制作出来的。（《卫报》）

Quote of the day 今日金句

“LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny.” —A text message sent by former Apple engineer Chang Liu to a colleague, which a new lawsuit alleges was part of a scheme to steal hardware IP for OpenAI. “哈哈，我发现我可以访问[网络存储]了，真好笑。”——前苹果工程师 Chang Liu 发给同事的一条短信，新诉讼称这是为 OpenAI 窃取硬件知识产权计划的一部分。

One More Thing 更多内容

How uncrewed narco subs could transform the Colombian drug trade. On a bright April morning in 2025, a surveillance plane operated by the Colombian military spotted a 40-foot-long “narco sub” idling in the Caribbean Sea. The stealthy vessel, used by drug cartels to move cocaine north, could sail with its hull almost entirely underwater. After seizing the boat, the coast guard noticed something unusual: there was no one on board. This was Colombia’s first confirmed uncrewed narco sub, operable by remote control, but also capable of a degree of autonomous travel. Uncrewed subs could move more cocaine over longer distances, and they won’t put human smugglers at risk of capture. Find out how they may transform the drug trade. — Eduardo Echeverri López 无人驾驶毒品潜艇如何改变哥伦比亚的毒品贸易。2025 年 4 月一个明媚的早晨，哥伦比亚军方的一架侦察机在加勒比海发现了一艘 40 英尺长的“毒品潜艇”。这种隐形船只被贩毒集团用于向北运输可卡因，航行时船体几乎完全没入水中。海岸警卫队在查获该船后发现了一个异常情况：船上空无一人。这是哥伦比亚首艘被证实的无人驾驶毒品潜艇，既可通过远程控制操作，也具备一定程度的自主航行能力。无人潜艇可以长距离运输更多可卡因，且不会让走私者面临被捕风险。了解它们将如何改变毒品贸易。—— Eduardo Echeverri López

We can still have nice things 我们依然可以拥有美好事物

A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line.) 一个为您带来舒适、乐趣和放松，点亮您一天的地方。（有什么想法吗？给我写信。）

• Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” has been reinvented as a yacht rock track.

• Metallica 的《Enter Sandman》被改编成了游艇摇滚风格。

• Two super-puff planets lighter than cotton candy have been spotted floating through space.

• 两颗比棉花糖还轻的“超级蓬松”行星被发现漂浮在太空中。

• An inventor has given Tic Tac fans (like Donald Trump) a solution to the box’s annoying rattling in their pockets.

• 一位发明家为 Tic Tac 粉丝（如唐纳德·特朗普）提供了一个解决方案，解决了盒子在口袋里恼人的晃动声。

• Imbibe a dose of adrenaline with this first-person footage of a rider on heart-pounding Red Bull Genova Cerro Abajo.

• 通过这段第一人称视角视频，感受 Red Bull Genova Cerro Abajo 骑手带来的心跳加速体验。

Deep Dive 深度阅读

The Download: the future of chipmaking and Anthropic’s government clash. Plus: Meta is pausing an AI training program that tracks workers’ keystrokes. By Thomas Maca 《下载》：芯片制造的未来与 Anthropic 的政府冲突。此外：Meta 正在暂停一项追踪员工按键的 AI 训练计划。作者：Thomas Maca