The Download: AI’s refusal problem and weight-loss drug side effects

本文为原文前 6,000 字符的节选翻译，完整内容请查看原文。

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《下载》的今日版，我们平日的通讯，为您提供每日科技世界的动态。

We’re putting too much faith in AI’s ability to say no. Today’s AI models are trained to refuse a vast number of prompts. If you ask your chatbot how to poison a colleague or how to tie a noose, chances are it’ll turn you down. But refusal fails, sometimes horrifically. Some people are attempting to use AI to hone biological pathogens and build autonomous drone swarms. Sooner or later, failed refusals may result in global calamity. What’s more, relying on refusal means drawing a line between what a model should obey and what it must disobey. Governments will also get to draw their own lines, potentially restricting free speech. At the same time, the capabilities that make AI useful could also make it dangerous. If we want it to help cure cancer, AI needs genetics expertise that could also produce bioweapons. Read the full story on the formidable tradeoffs of AI refusal. —Arthur Holland Michel

我们对人工智能说“不”的能力寄予了太多信任。当今的人工智能模型经过训练，会拒绝大量的提示。如果你问聊天机器人如何毒害同事或如何打绳结，它很可能会拒绝你。但拒绝机制有时会以可怕的方式失效。有些人正试图利用人工智能来磨练生物病原体并制造自主无人机群。迟早，拒绝机制的失效可能会导致全球性灾难。此外，依赖拒绝机制意味着要在模型应该服从的内容和必须拒绝的内容之间划定界限。政府也将划定自己的界限，这可能会限制言论自由。与此同时，使人工智能有用的能力也可能使其变得危险。如果我们希望它帮助治愈癌症，人工智能就需要具备可能制造生物武器的遗传学专业知识。阅读关于人工智能拒绝机制中严峻权衡的完整报道。——Arthur Holland Michel

This story is from the next issue of our print magazine. Subscribe now to get your hands on a copy as soon as it lands on Wednesday 21 October!

这篇报道来自我们下一期的印刷杂志。现在订阅，即可在10月21日星期三杂志出版时第一时间拿到副本！

We’re still figuring out the side effects of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. This week my colleague Antonio Regalado reported on new research suggesting GLP-1 drugs may slow biological aging. It’s the latest in a raft of potential benefits associated with these drugs. But there are also some weird side effects. The most common are gastrointestinal, but researchers are also investigating possible links to hair loss, nail disorders and damage to the nerves behind the eye. Here’s what we know so far about the side effects of weight-loss drugs. —Jessica Hamzelou

我们仍在研究GLP-1减肥药物的副作用。本周，我的同事Antonio Regalado报道了一项新研究，表明GLP-1药物可能会减缓生物衰老。这是与这些药物相关的一系列潜在益处中的最新发现。但也有一些奇怪的副作用。最常见的是胃肠道问题，但研究人员也在调查其与脱发、指甲疾病以及眼后神经损伤之间可能存在的联系。以下是我们目前所知的关于减肥药物副作用的信息。——Jessica Hamzelou

This story is from The Checkup, our weekly biotech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday.

这篇报道来自我们的每周生物技术通讯《The Checkup》。注册即可在每周四收到邮件。

10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: Envision Energy and its global ambitions for wind power. Envision Energy is one of MIT Technology Review’s 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch 2026, available exclusively to subscribers. China is installing wind turbines faster than any other country. One of its leading manufacturers, Envision Energy, is integrating renewable energy into data centers, using wind turbines to generate power and batteries to store it on-site. Recently, it became the first company to directly power a data center entirely with renewable energy. An AI-powered system optimizes the power output so the facility can receive a steady supply, regardless of whether the wind is blowing. Now, it wants to bring that approach to data centers in deserts around the world. Find out how Envision plans to power the global AI boom with renewable energy. —Cici Zhang

值得关注的10家气候科技公司：远景能源及其全球风电雄心。远景能源是《麻省理工科技评论》“2026年值得关注的10家气候科技公司”之一，该榜单仅供订阅者查看。中国安装风力涡轮机的速度超过任何其他国家。其领先制造商之一远景能源正在将可再生能源整合到数据中心中，利用风力涡轮机发电，并使用电池在现场存储电力。最近，它成为第一家完全使用可再生能源直接为数据中心供电的公司。人工智能驱动的系统优化了电力输出，使设施能够获得稳定的供应，无论风是否在吹。现在，它希望将这种方法带到世界各地的沙漠数据中心。了解远景能源计划如何利用可再生能源为全球人工智能热潮提供动力。——Cici Zhang

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

必读内容：我已梳理互联网，为您找到今天关于科技的最有趣/重要/可怕/引人入胜的故事。

1. The US has frozen green cards for Microsoft and other IT firms. It’s accused them of using visa fraud to replace American workers. (CNBC)+ And suspended them from a key green-card program. (AP)+ Adobe, Infosys, Tata, and other IT firms are also affected. (TechCrunch)+ Microsoft says 80% of its H-1B filings involved existing staff. (BBC)

2. 美国已冻结微软和其他IT公司的绿卡。指控称它们利用签证欺诈来取代美国工人。（CNBC）+ 并将它们从一项关键的绿卡项目中暂停。（美联社）+ Adobe、Infosys、塔塔和其他IT公司也受到影响。（TechCrunch）+ 微软表示其80%的H-1B申请涉及现有员工。（BBC）

3. A drone strike in Russia knocked out a second Yandex data center. Ukraine struck and partly disabled the facility in Kaluga. (Reuters $)+ Another Yandex data center was hit by a drone a day earlier. (CNBC)+ Data centers have become big targets for military strikes. (Bloomberg $) + They may be safer in space. (MIT Technology Review)

4. 俄罗斯的一起无人机袭击摧毁了第二个Yandex数据中心。乌克兰袭击并部分瘫痪了位于卡卢加的设施。（路透社 $）+ 前一天，另一个Yandex数据中心也遭到无人机袭击。（CNBC）+ 数据中心已成为军事打击的主要目标。（彭博社 $）+ 它们在太空中可能更安全。（《麻省理工科技评论》）

5. Anthropic has banned “abusive or cruel behavior” toward Claude. Claude can also end conversations with repeated abuse. (Verge)+ The policy builds on Anthropic’s research into AI welfare. (Guardian)+ Debates over AI consciousness are a trap. (MIT Technology Review)

6. Anthropic已禁止针对Claude的“辱骂或残忍行为”。Claude也可以在遭受反复辱骂时结束对话。（Verge）+ 该政策建立在Anthropic对人工智能福利的研究基础上。（卫报）+ 关于人工智能意识的辩论是一个陷阱。（《麻省理工科技评论》）

7. OpenAI has slashed its revenue forecast by $20 billion. The move has sparked concerns about AI investments. (Guardian)+ What’s at stake in AI’s trillion-dollar gamble? (MIT Technology Review)

8. OpenAI将其收入预期削减了200亿美元。此举引发了对人工智能投资的担忧。（卫报）+ 人工智能万亿美元赌注的利害关系是什么？（《麻省理工科技评论》）

9. Gene editing has revealed how a mouse embryo develops. The methods could help us understand developmental disorders. (Nature)+ Female clones of male mice have arrived. (MIT Technology Review)

10. 基因编辑揭示了小鼠胚胎的发育过程。这些方法可能有助于我们理解发育障碍。（自然）+ 雄性小鼠的雌性克隆体已经出现。（《麻省理工科技评论》）

11. SpaceX has unveiled a plan to become a major mobile carrier. It’s buying $8 billion in wireless spectrum from an investment firm. (WSJ $)+ The deal could help it challenge AT&T and Verizon. (Verge)

12. SpaceX公布了一项成为主要移动运营商的计划。它正从一家投资公司购买价值80亿美元的无线频谱。（华尔街日报 $）+ 该交易可能有助于它挑战AT&T和Verizon。（Verge）

13. ICE has explored using a Palantir tool to investigate voter fraud. It wanted to track people suspected of voting illegally. (Wired $)

14. 美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）曾探索使用Palantir工具来调查选民欺诈。它希望追踪涉嫌非法投票的人。（连线 $）

15. Peter Thiel is using biblical prophecy to argue against AI regulation. His new “Antichrist” lecture casts AI safety as a threat to freedom. (Politico)

16. 彼得·蒂尔（Peter Thiel）正在利用圣经预言来反对人工智能监管。他新的“反基督”讲座将人工智能安全视为对自由的威胁。（Politico）

17. MIT’s Margaret Hamilton, whose software helped land Apollo 11, has died. She led the team that programmed Apollo’s onboard computers. (BBC)+ And became a software pioneer in a male-dominated field. (NYT $)

18. 麻省理工学院的玛格丽特·汉密尔顿（Margaret Hamilton）去世，她的软件曾帮助阿波罗11号着陆。她领导了为阿波罗机载计算机编程的团队。（BBC）+ 并成为男性主导领域中的软件先驱。（纽约时报 $）

19. This year’s Nobel science prizes are real-life sci-fi. They span the cosmos, the human brain, and the origins of life. (Economist $)

20. 今年的诺贝尔科学奖是现实生活中的科幻小说。它们涵盖了宇宙、人脑和生命的起源。（经济学人 $）

Quote of the day: “The White House considers anyone that uses the term, ‘Artificial Intelligence,’ as opposed to the highly accepted new and more accurate term, ‘Super Intelligence,’ THE ENEMY!” —President Donald Trump adds an ominous threat to his AI rebranding strategy in a post on Truth Social, Axios reports.

今日名言：“白宫认为任何使用‘人工智能’这一术语，而不是广受认可的、更新且更准确的术语‘超级智能’的人，都是敌人！”——据Axios报道，唐纳德·特朗普总统在Truth Social的一篇帖子中为其人工智能品牌重塑策略增添了一个不祥的威胁。

One more thing: This futuristic space habitat is designed to self-assemble in orbit. More and more people are traveling beyond Earth, but the International Space Station can only hold 11 of them at a time. Aurelia Institute, an architecture R&D lab based in Cambridge, MA, is building a solution: a habitat that launches in compact stacks of flat tiles—and self-assembles in orbit. The concept may sound far-fetched, but it’s already won support from NASA. Read the full story. —Sarah Ward

还有一件事：这种未来派太空栖息地被设计为可以在轨道上自动组装。越来越多的人前往地球之外，但国际空间站一次只能容纳11人。位于马萨诸塞州剑桥市的建筑研发实验室Aurelia Institute正在构建一个解决方案：一种以紧凑的扁平瓦片堆叠发射，并在轨道上自动组装的栖息地。这个概念听起来可能有些牵强，但它已经赢得了美国国家航空航天局（NASA）的支持。阅读完整报道。——Sarah Ward

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.) + What’s it like to fly an F-16 at 1,000 mph and pull 9G? This film fin

我们依然可以拥有美好的事物：一个为您带来舒适、乐趣和消遣，点亮您一天的地方。（有什么想法吗？给我写信。）+ 以1000英里/小时的速度驾驶F-16并承受9G过载是什么感觉？这部电影……