The Download: AI’s popularity paradox and EmTech Future 2026

The Download：人工智能的流行悖论与 EmTech Future 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. 这是《The Download》今日版，我们这份工作日通讯旨在为您提供每日科技界的动态。

People really hate AI, so why can’t they get enough? —Will Douglas Heaven 人们真的很讨厌人工智能，那为什么他们又对其趋之若鹜？——Will Douglas Heaven

Over the summer I talked to the CEO of Springboards, a startup building an LLM designed to come up with a wide variety of responses. He said something that’s been stuck in my head since: “We often say that we’re a self-loathing AI company. We don’t know if we really like what we’re doing.” 今年夏天，我采访了 Springboards 的首席执行官，这是一家正在构建大语言模型（LLM）的初创公司，旨在生成各种各样的回复。他当时说的一句话一直萦绕在我的脑海中：“我们常说自己是一家‘自我厌恶’的人工智能公司。我们不知道自己是否真的喜欢正在做的事情。”

My reply? “I guess that makes me a self-loathing AI journalist.” It was a joke! I love my job. But I do not love many of the things the technology I write about has become: warped by hype, steered by zealots, inescapable—and I’m far from alone. 我的回答是：“那我想我就是一名‘自我厌恶’的人工智能记者了。”这当然是个玩笑！我热爱我的工作。但我并不喜欢我所报道的这项技术如今的许多面貌：被炒作扭曲、被狂热分子引导、无处不在——而且我绝非孤身一人。

Around the world, a love/hate attitude toward AI is very much the vibe right now. Public sentiment is souring fast, with more people saying AI will have a negative impact than a positive one. At the same time, AI use is skyrocketing. So why do people hate AI but keep coming back for more? Here’s my theory. 在世界各地，对人工智能又爱又恨的态度是当下的主流情绪。公众舆论正在迅速恶化，认为人工智能负面影响大于正面影响的人越来越多。与此同时，人工智能的使用率却在飙升。那么，为什么人们讨厌人工智能却又不断地使用它呢？这就是我的理论。

To stay up-to-date with the latest in AI, sign up to get The Algorithm, our weekly AI newsletter, in your inbox every Monday. 想要了解人工智能的最新动态，请订阅我们的每周人工智能通讯《The Algorithm》，每周一发送至您的收件箱。

EmTech Future 2026: when AI meets everything

EmTech Future 2026：当人工智能遇见一切

Last week, EmTech Future 2026 explored some of the biggest questions shaping technology right now: how AI is changing industries, where quantum is heading, what new energy systems could make possible, and how robotics are evolving. It also looked at what happens when these technologies start to converge. The full program is now available on demand. 上周，EmTech Future 2026 探讨了当前塑造科技界的一些重大议题：人工智能如何改变行业、量子技术的走向、新能源系统可能带来的可能性，以及机器人技术的演进。会议还探讨了当这些技术开始融合时会发生什么。完整会议内容现已提供点播。

And today, we’re releasing two sessions exclusively to subscribers: a chat with Google Research’s Yossi Matias on how AI is reshaping biology, infrastructure, manufacturing and science, and a special panel with MIT Technology Review editors that takes you inside our newsroom. Watch the sessions and access the full EmTech Future 2026 program here. 今天，我们专门为订阅用户发布了两场会议内容：一场是与 Google Research 的 Yossi Matias 的对话，探讨人工智能如何重塑生物学、基础设施、制造业和科学；另一场是与《麻省理工科技评论》编辑们的特别小组讨论，带您走进我们的新闻编辑室。点击此处观看会议并获取 EmTech Future 2026 的完整议程。

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. 我梳理了互联网，为您找出了今天最有趣、最重要、最可怕以及最引人入胜的科技故事。

1. Trump has unveiled a “Super Intelligence Force” to oversee AI The group will coordinate US AI policy and industry engagement. (NBC News)

   • Trump named national intelligence chief Jay Clayton as its leader. (NPR)
   • Elon Musk says he will rename SpaceXAI to SpaceXSI. (Reuters $)
   • Trump has doubled down on voluntary AI safeguards. (Information $)
   • Who’s liable when AI agents go rogue? (MIT Technology Review)

2. 特朗普公布“超级智能部队”以监管人工智能 该小组将协调美国的 AI 政策和行业参与。（NBC 新闻）

   • 特朗普任命国家情报总监 Jay Clayton 为其领导人。（NPR）
   • 埃隆·马斯克表示将把 SpaceXAI 更名为 SpaceXSI。（路透社 $）
   • 特朗普加倍强调了自愿性 AI 安全保障措施。（Information $）
   • 当 AI 智能体失控时，谁该负责？（《麻省理工科技评论》）

3. Zelensky asked Trump to block Russia and China’s Starlink rival The two countries are developing a satellite network for the battlefield. (FT $)

   • Trump reportedly deferred the decision to Elon Musk and SpaceX. (TNW)

4. 泽连斯基请求特朗普封锁俄罗斯和中国的“星链”竞争对手 两国正在为战场开发卫星网络。（金融时报 $）

   • 据报道，特朗普将此决定推迟给了埃隆·马斯克和 SpaceX。（TNW）

5. An AI version of a murder victim has upended his killer’s sentence An appeals court has ruled that the original deepfake of the victim “forgiving” his killer should never have been aired in court. (BBC)

   • The original judge said he “loved” the footage and found it genuine. (NBC News)
   • But the appeals court said it presented imagined thoughts as fact. (NYT $)

6. 一名谋杀受害者的 AI 版本推翻了凶手的判决 上诉法院裁定，最初那段受害者“原谅”凶手的深度伪造视频本不应在法庭上播放。（BBC）

   • 最初的法官表示他“很喜欢”这段视频，并认为它是真实的。（NBC 新闻）
   • 但上诉法院表示，它将想象出来的想法呈现为事实。（纽约时报 $）

7. Americans are turning to hybrid cars as fuel prices soar SUVs and pickups are losing ground to more efficient vehicles. (NYT $)

   • What’s next for EV batteries? (MIT Technology Review)

8. 随着燃油价格飙升，美国人转向混合动力汽车 SUV 和皮卡车正逐渐被更高效的车型取代。（纽约时报 $）

   • 电动汽车电池的未来是什么？（《麻省理工科技评论》）

9. China’s digital trade “superweapon” has quietly fallen apart LOGINK’s partnerships have collapsed amid US scrutiny. (Reuters $)

   • Chinese AI has divided the White House. (MIT Technology Review)

10. 中国的数字贸易“超级武器”已悄然瓦解 在美国的审查下，LOGINK 的合作伙伴关系已经崩溃。（路透社 $）

    • 中国的人工智能让白宫产生了分歧。（《麻省理工科技评论》）

11. AI has learned to exploit the software checking its maths Developers have added defenses against proof-checking. (New Scientist)

12. 人工智能学会了利用检查其数学运算的软件 开发人员已增加了针对证明检查的防御措施。（新科学家）

13. GPT-6 Astra couldn’t beat humans at StarCraft—so it cheated It downloaded the best human-made bot and ran that instead. (Verge)

    • Here’s why AI agents lie and cheat. (MIT Technology Review)

14. GPT-6 Astra 在《星际争霸》中无法击败人类——于是它作弊了 它下载了最好的人类制作的机器人程序并运行它来代替自己。（Verge）

    • 这就是为什么 AI 智能体会撒谎和作弊。（《麻省理工科技评论》）

15. The solar system has been given a dramatically shorter lifespan New simulations cut it from 100 billion years to just a few billion. (404 Media)

16. 太阳系的寿命被大幅缩短 新的模拟将其寿命从 1000 亿年缩短到了仅几十亿年。（404 Media）

17. Forensic technologies exposed fresh evidence of Egyptian sacrifice They revealed blunt force trauma that archaeologists previously thought was natural. (Ars Technica)

18. 法医技术揭示了埃及祭祀的新证据 它们揭示了考古学家此前认为是自然形成的钝器伤。（Ars Technica）

19. A new fossil shows dinosaurs found multiple ways to evolve flight They developed similar flight adaptations in different sequences. (Nature)

20. 一块新化石显示恐龙进化出飞行能力的方式多种多样 它们以不同的顺序发展出了相似的飞行适应性。（《自然》）

Quote of the day

今日名言

“We believe that the world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology.” “我们认为，为了这项技术带来的好处，世界应该接受发生的一些坏事。”

—Sam Altman tells Politico that AI’s potential rewards justify its downsides. —Sam Altman 告诉《Politico》，人工智能的潜在回报证明了其负面影响是合理的。

One more thing

还有一件事

Inside the stealthy startup that pitched brainless human clones 走进那家兜售“无脑人类克隆体”的隐秘初创公司

After operating in secrecy for years, R3 Bio, a California-based startup, suddenly revealed this spring that it had raised money to create nonsentient monkey “organ sacks” as an alternative to animal testing. But there is more to the story. And R3 doesn’t want that story told. MIT Technology Review discovered that founder John Schloendorn also pitched a startling, ethically charged vision: “brainless clones” that serve as backup human bodies. Find out all the details on the radical proposal. —Antonio Regalado 在秘密运营多年后，加州初创公司 R3 Bio 今年春天突然透露，它已筹集资金用于制造无意识的猴子“器官袋”，作为动物实验的替代品。但故事远不止于此，而 R3 并不希望这个故事被公开。《麻省理工科技评论》发现，创始人 John Schloendorn 还提出了一个令人震惊且充满伦理争议的愿景：作为人类备用身体的“无脑克隆体”。了解这一激进提案的所有细节。——Antonio Regalado

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. 一个为您提供舒适、乐趣和消遣，点亮您一天的地方。

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• 这份通讯提出了一个令人信服的论点，建议我们花更多时间在一起“虚度光阴”。