Intel logo displayed on a laptop screen and Nvidia logo displayed on a phone screen are seen in this ... [+] illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on January 2, 2024. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)NurPhoto via Getty ImagesThe tech industry is experiencing a dramatic shakeup. Two of its giants, Nvidia and Intel, are heading in opposite directions. Nvidia, once a niche player in graphics processing, has become the worlds most valuable company, surpassing Apple and Microsoft in market capitalization. Meanwhile, Intel, a former titan of computing innovation, has seen its stock price plummet, its CEO retire and its place in the Dow Jones Industrial Average handed over to Nvidia.At first glance, the rise and fall of these companies might seem irrelevant to healthcare. But the strategic decisions that propelled Nvidia to dominanceand sent Intel into declineoffer three critical lessons for an industry under increasing pressure.With half the country unable to afford necessary medical care, patient satisfaction at a 20-year low, and government intensifying its efforts to slash healthcare spending, the industry has reached an inflection point. If healthcare professionals fail to adapt to these mounting pressures, they risk jeopardizing both their livelihoods and the well-being of those they serve.Lesson One: Price MattersIntel learned the hard way that even industry leaders offering exceptional quality cant escalate prices indefinitely.In the 1970s, Intel dominated the memory chip market, producing high-performance silicon semiconductors at premium prices. However, by the end of the decade, Japanese competitors began offering good-quality chips at far lower prices. Faced with declining market share and shrinking profits, Intels CEO Andy Grove and founder Gordon Moore made a pivotal decision in the early 1980s: they exited the memory chip market entirely and pivoted to microprocessorsuniquely designed chips that help our cars, refrigerators and phones run.MORE FOR YOUDespite internal resistance and financial challenges during the transition, Intels decision to pivot from memory chips to microprocessors not only saved the company but established its technological dominance for the next two decades. This bold move illustrates the necessity of strategic change in response to shifting market forces.Healthcare professionals face a similarly urgent need to adapt. For years, physicians operating under the traditional fee-for-service model have sustained their incomes by performing more procedures and charging higher fees. But these strategies are no longer viable.Medicares recent announcement of a 2.9% cut to physician reimbursement rates for 2025and private insurers signaling potential parallel reductionsmake it clear that the financial model of the past is crumbling. Healthcare professionals must adapt to survive. The question is: how?Lesson Two: Theres More Than One Way To Create ValueIntels success in transitioning from memory chips to microprocessors wasnt just about abandoning a failing product. It was about recognizing and capitalizing on an emerging opportunity.In the 21st century, however, Intels resistance to change proved costly. While Intel remained focused on traditional CPUs (central processing units)designed for sequential tasks like word processing and internet searchesNvidia surged ahead by pioneering a newer, more powerful technology: graphics processing units or GPUs.Initially created to render the complex visuals of video games, Nvidias GPUs contain hundreds of microprocessors capable of operating in parallel. This allows them to perform thousands of calculations simultaneously, making GPUs far more effective than CPUs for tasks requiring extensive data processing. This adaptability has made GPUs indispensable for generative AI applications, including natural language processing and large-scale data analysis. This strategic pivot propelled Nvidia to industry dominance and unmatched market success.For businesses using Nvidias chips, the results outweigh the costs. Applications powered by GPUs allow a few individuals to accomplish work that would otherwise require a much larger team. The lesson for healthcare is clear: success lies in meeting the future needs of patients, not clinging to outdated approaches that worked in the past.Historically, healthcare primarily served to meet the needs of patients with acute conditions like pneumonia, appendicitis or broken bones. The fee-for-service model was built for this, allowing providers to bill for each specific intervention. But today, the landscape has shifted dramatically. Chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension now account for 60% of all medical conditions and at least 70% of healthcare costs.Just as Nvidia reimagined its offerings to meet the demands of the future, healthcare professionals must shift their focus and technology to address the challenges of chronic disease. By preventing these conditions and managing them more effectively when they occur, doctors could reduce complications such as heart attacks, strokes, cancer and kidney failure by 30-50%, according to CDC estimates. This would not only save lives and improve public health but also save hundreds of billions of dollars annually for employers and government healthcare programs.From a strategic perspective, this shift would parallel Nvidias success with GPUs (in contrast to Intels failure to adapt beyond CPUs). For healthcare professionals, adopting a similar approach could lead to increased income and greater autonomy.Today, chronic diseases remain poorly managed. Hypertension, responsible for 40% of strokes, is controlled in only 60% of patients. Diabetes, the leading cause of heart attacks and kidney failure, is effectively managed less than half the time. Addressing these gaps would not only improve outcomes but also empower clinicians to reclaim control of medical careleading to the third and final lesson.Lesson Three: Success Requires RiskBack when Intels leaders were grappling with a faltering memory chip business, Andy Grove famously asked Gordon Moore, If we got kicked out and the board brought in a new CEO, what do you think he would do?Both agreed: the new leader would exit memory chips. That decision required bold commitment and a greater tolerance for risksomething most healthcare leaders lack.Nearly two decades ago, Intel hesitated to pivot to GPUs, clinging to CPUs as its core business. Had Intel leveraged its immense resources to embrace GPUs, it would have crushed Nvidia. By failing to act, the company endured financial setbacks and has become increasingly irrelevant.Healthcare professionals must choose whether they want to be Nvidia or Intel embracing a new strategy that benefits providers, payors and patients, or opting to stick to outdated practices and payment models.Thousands of clinicians have already tried to escape medicines mounting challengesfinancial strain, burnout, declining reimbursementby joining forces with hospitals or selling their practices to private equity firms. But based on my conversations with hundreds of doctors, most describe the results as disappointing. Many report a loss of autonomy and unfulfilled promises of financial gain, while burnout rates remain as high as ever.To improve their fortunes, healthcare professionals must shift to a model of care designed to address chronic disease. Instead of managing patients through sporadic office visits every few months, healthcare professionals must adopt a more continuous approach. Wearable devices can provide daily monitoring, while generative AI tools can notify patients when their conditions are stable or require intervention.Achieving success will also demand that they form large physician groups, prioritize primary care and empower patients with modern technology.This shift in care delivery will require a new payment model. Fee-for-service reimbursement, which incentivizes volume over outcomes, is misaligned with the goal of preventing life-threatening medical complications. Instead, clinicians must adopt value-based care, where providers receive a set fee to manage the health of a population. This model rewards doctors for preventing and better managing chronic diseases, aligning financial incentives with patient health outcomes.The transformation wont be easy or painless. Some hospitals will close and traditional practices will shrink. Residency programs will need to train more primary care physicians and fewer specialists. But these changes are essential to the survival of the profession. Failure to adapt will only deepen the challenges facing both patients and clinicians in the years ahead.The Biggest Lesson: Act NowThe rise of Nvidia and the fall of Intel underscore a universal truth: change happens slowlyuntil it doesnt. Healthcare has reached a tipping point, and clinicians who embrace innovation with courage will thrive, while those who hesitate or take only small steps forward will languish.Andy Grove captured this reality when he said, Most companies dont die because they are wrong; most die because they dont commit themselves. They fritter away their valuable resources while attempting to make a decision. The greatest danger is in standing still.Healthcare professionals must now decide whether they will lead the way like Nvidia or face irrelevance like Intel. The stakes couldnt be higher.

New online shopping warningwhen best is actually worst.NurPhoto via Getty ImagesIf youre getting up early to grab a last-minute online shopping bargain this week, be warned, criminals are getting up even earlier, they know what you want, theyre ready to steal your money and ruin your holidays, and they have a nasty trick to play.The FBI has already warned all online shoppers to avoid a raft of red flags when it comes to dangerous websites, and the U.S. cyber defense agency has now done the same. Your best bet to avoid getting fooled, CISA says, is to purchase items directly from the websites of trusted vendors and stay alert by knowing what to look for. Be cautious of fake ads on social media platforms.CISAs advice is broadly the same as the FBIs, albeit their concerns skew towards password security and data harvesting. But just like the Bureau, they warn shoppers to stick to encrypted websites, reputable vendors and credit cards.Now another nasty twist on what to stop doing has just been highlighted. As SEO manipulation and poisoning surges, The Wall Street Journal warns shoppers that the most obvious search terms could be the most dangerous. Avoid searching for things like top vacuums or best dishwashers, explaining that some firms buy Google ads to promote these ratings sites as a quick way to steer customers to pricey off-brand products and potential rip-offs. Unsurprisingly, best seems to be worst.MORE FOR YOUU.S. government warning for online holiday shoppersCISAThe websites youll find, WSJ warns, often have red flags such as sponsored listings, foreign ownership, lack of contact information and gushing expert reviews.A quick Google search can lead you directly to online ads that have been purchased by threat actors, GuidePoint Security says. These ads often look legitimate and rank toward the top of search results, so that threat actors can get ahead of legitimate services or businesses.For all Chrome, Safari and Edge users, with their 95% share of the U.S. browser market, these warnings are critical and need to be taken seriously. Whether youre using obvious search terms or something more specific, keep safe all the way through the holidays by keeping in mind the FBIs top tips:Carefully check URLs before you buy, make sure its legitimate and secure. Websites should have a secure connection padlock in the address bar and https at the beginning of the address.Do not shop on a new website until youve done some research and checked reviews. Remember, reviews can be faked, so deep dive.Dont buy from websites or sellers acting as authorized dealers or factory reps of popular items in countries where there would be no such deals. You run a very serious risk of counterfeit items or no items at all.Do not use sellers who say they live in the U.S. but then respond to questions by stating they are out of the country on business or a family emergency.Dont buy from websites with unusual shipping arrangements and dont buy from sellers who request direct money transfers. Always use a credit card.Dont pay with pre-paid gift cards. A seller will ask you to send them a gift card number and PIN. Instead of using that gift card for your payment, the scammer will steal the funds, and youll never receive your item.The goal posts are constantly moving. AI is making scams harder to spot. Foreign nationals can now write more compelling, grammatically correct copy avoiding the telltale mistakes of old. Logos can be more convincingly copied. Product imagery can be easily faked. Search can be manipulated and almost 80% of marketing emails are now either scams or more dangerous malware.But remember, the FBI warns, if it seems too good to be true, that's because it is. And whatever you do, whatever you want, searching for the best will likely return you more than you expectedand not in a good way.

Forward-looking: It's becoming increasingly difficult to convince people to buy the latest smartphones when their next-generation upgrades are barely noticeable. This is especially true when it comes to iPhones. Starting next year, however, Apple will reportedly begin releasing thinner and foldable devices, including a foldable iPad the size of two tablets, which it hopes will help revive a stagnant market. Citing people familiar with the plans, The Wall Street Journal writes that Apple is set to release an iPhone next year that will be thinner than all the current models.Apple intends for the super-thin iPhone to cost less than the iPhone Pro handsets. This will be achieved by using a simpler camera system and dropping some of the more advanced features found in the Pros.It's presumed that this handheld is the previously rumored iPhone Air 17. Bloomberg's Apple sage Mark Gurman wrote that the iPhone Air will be around 6 mm thick. That's more than 2mm thinner than the super slim iPhone 16 Pro (8.3mm), and even more streamlined than Apple's thinnest-ever phone, the 6.9mm iPhone 6 from 2014.The WSJ also reports that Apple is continuing its preparations to enter the foldables market, long after Samsung found success with its Galaxy Z Flip and Z Fold series.There have long been rumors that Apple is developing what could be called the iFold, a foldable iPhone. The latest report claims that Apple is also working on a massive foldable iPad something else we've heard before.Courtesy of iOS Beta NewsThe foldable iPad sounds especially interesting. It's said to be the size of two regular iPad Pros side-by-side when unfolded, so the device could be akin to a portable monitor. // Related StoriesApple has apparently been experiencing some problems with its foldable devices, especially the hinge and flexible cover. Samsung's first Galaxy Fold had its launch delayed by months as the screens were breaking due to debris making its way underneath the display via the center crease. And hinge issues can affect even modern foldables, as this writer discovered with the Galaxy Z Fold 4 (below).Apple is also reportedly working to ensure the foldables don't have a noticeable screen crease, something that still puts off potential foldable buyers.We had heard that Apple planned to release the foldable iPad first, followed by the folding iPhone. But it now appears that the folding handset will debut first, possibly in 2026.Not too surprisingly, the promise of Apple Intelligence hasn't caused a lot of people to rush out and buy the latest devices. With less than 1% projected revenue growth for iPhones in fiscal 2024, Apple hopes going foldable and thinner (and cheaper) will help turn things around.Image: Ran Avni/Behance

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsThe fate of the Yellowstone ranchThe funeral of John DuttonBeth vs. Jamie: The final battleJustice for John Dutton?How does the Yellowstone season 5, part 2 finale set up the spinoff shows?Warning: This article contains major spoilers for the Yellowstone season 5, part 2 finale.Since 2018, and across five seasons of the flagship Yellowstone series and multiple prequel shows, fans have embraced the Dutton family saga created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson. But as much as viewers love the Duttons, theyre not all good people. This family has been willing to kill to protect their secrets and their land, as well as brutally pursuing vengeance outside of the law. Thats how it went down again in the Yellowstone series finale. Before the final credits rolled, the show revealed what happened to most of the major characters, and what might come next.Recommended VideosParamount NetworkAs teased in the penultimate episode, Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) had a plan to save the Yellowstone ranch. It just wouldnt be possible for the Duttons to save it themselves. The family didnt have the money to pay the inheritance tax on the land, and rather than selling some of the land to cover those expenses, Kayce decided to essentially give the land to Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) and the Confederated Tribes of Broken Rock for pennies on the dollar. Rainwater and the tribes couldnt afford to pay market rates, and the only ones who could would have redeveloped the land and turned it into something unrecognizable.RelatedKayces conditions for the sale included a carve out for the 5,000 acre home that he built for himself and his family on the land, as well as guarantees to never sell or develop the land. He also requested that Rainwater look after the generations of Duttons who were buried on the land, which was almost immediately betrayed by the young children of the tribes who started pushing down the Dutton familys grave markers. Rainwaters right-hand man, Mo (Moses Brings Plenty), caught the children in the act and chided them before shouting a reminder that the Duttons protected the land and died for it. And the first gravestone Mo put back upright belonged to Elsa Dutton (Isabel May), the tragic heroine from the prequel series 1883.May made a vocal guest appearance as Elsa narrated the end of this chapter and noted that the fate of the Yellowstone ranch was foreshadowed in 1883 when the tribes said they would reclaim the land in seven generations. Almost like clockwork, thats exactly what happened.Paramount NetworkKevin Costner didnt appear in the second half of Yellowstone season 5 over a very public falling out with Sheridan and Paramount Network. His character, John Dutton, was killed off in the midseason premiere, and he was finally laid to rest in the finale. The decision was made to bury John next to his late wife in the graveyard on the Yellowstone property. It was an emotional gathering, especially for the Duttons and their extended family of ranch hands. Kayce took the opportunity to tell his late father that he forgave him, while his former enemy, Rainwater, vowed to protect the land.Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) took it upon himself to bury Johns coffin and his last words at Johns grave was a vow to keep loving his wife and Johns daughter Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly). Beth had a different promise for John, as she vowed to avenge his death and then took off right after the funeral to do just that.Paramount NetworkJamie Dutton (Wes Bentley), the black sheep of the Duttons, wasnt kept in the loop about Johns funeral in part because everyone else in the family knew he had a role in Johns death. To keep the press and the public off of his trail, Jamie practiced and delivered a speech where he denied that he was sleeping with Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) and vowed to pursue his fathers murderers from his office as the Attorney General of Montana. Jamie probably even thought that the speech might land him in the governors mansion someday.First, Jamie had to endure a vicious assault from his sister, Beth, as well as a face full of bear mace that briefly left him blinded. Regardless, Jamie turned the tables on Beth and nearly beat her to death until he realized that he could use her attack to frame her for Johns murder. He was only stopped in his tracks when Beth revealed that the family had already sold the ranch to the tribes, and Jamies dreams of earning riches from the redevelopment of Yellowstone died a hard death. Before Beth could follow those dreams into the afterlife, Rip arrived and got in a few shots at Jamie before Beth took the killing blow for herself.Beths plan seemed to hinge upon Rips later arrival, although she nearly got herself murdered in the process. While Rip disposed of Jamies body and car, Beth called the police and told the arriving officers that Jamie had beaten her after she accused him of being involved with killing their father. She also provided enough details for the police to begin investigating Jamie as a fugitive rather than the victim of murder himself. By the end of the episode, a warrant is out for Jamies arrest, but his body may never be found.Paramount NetworkJamies death closes the book on Beths quest for revenge, but the men who attacked her father and staged his death as a suicide seemingly escape capture and justice. The show doesnt even seem to be all that interested in determining who the assassins were, as it spends a good deal of time with the characters saying goodbye to the ranch and to the Duttons. Of course, this finale wouldnt be complete without one more appearance by Sheridans character, Travis Wheatley, which plays like an out-of-control ego trip. Travis really comes off like a real jerk when one of Yellowstones ranch hands, Teeter (Jennifer Landon), approaches him for work and he berates her command of the English language as hillbilly before ordering her to listen to a book on tape about how to speak English.Nevertheless, most of the characters get their happy endings as Kayce and his family put together their own brand of cattle, while Rip and Beth put down roots in a much smaller ranch.Paramount NetworkIt kind of doesnt. Theres nothing in this episode that points to The Madison, which will star Michelle Pfeiffer, Kurt Russell, Patrick J. Adams, and Beau Garrett. None of those actors appear in this episode. The only direct link to the next spinoff series is through Rip and Beth, since both Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly recently signed onfor an entirely different Yellowstone sequel series.The irony of any potential spinoff for Beth and Rip is that they seem happy in their new home, and there doesnt appear to be much drama in their relationship or the town near their ranch. So theres no obvious hook for the next series, unless Sheridan is going to spring some fresh problems on the couple when the new show inevitably premieres some time in the future.Peacock will eventually stream Yellowstone season 5, part 2, but hasnt currently set a date for when the episodes will be available.Editors Recommendations

The worlds first wooden satellite has been deployed to Earth orbit from the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS Research X account posted footage of a trio of cubesats, including Japans LignoSat, recently emerging from the orbital outpost into the vacuum of space.Wood you look at that! LignoSat recently deployed from @Space_Station. @JAXA_en's wooden satellite investigates how wood survives in the space environment and transmits data. Findings could offer a more sustainable alternative to conventional satellites. https://t.co/jD6OmunG4w pic.twitter.com/voK3DBKb5i ISS Research (@ISS_Research) December 13, 2024The wooden satellite arrived at the ISS aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in early November. The LignoSat will remain in orbit for six months and help researchers to learn about the effectiveness of wooden satellites in space as scientists look for more sustainable designs.Recommended VideosThe satellite was developed jointly by Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry. To build the satellite, the team used hinoki a type of magnolia tree native to Japan after it was found to have impressive resistance against cracking, thermal stress, cosmic rays, and solar radiation. The LignoSat was constructed with 10-centimeter-long wooden panels using traditional Japanese techniques that do without screws or glue.Please enable Javascript to view this contentSensors aboard the cubesat will gather data that will enable the researchers to monitor the LignoSats performance and find out how well it can handle the harsh conditions of space.RelatedCurrently, when a metal satellite is decommissioned in low-Earth orbit, operators attempt to dispose of it by sending it into Earths atmosphere whereupon most of it burns up during a high-speed descent. The problem is with the parts that dont burn up. Some pieces can reach the surface of Earth, while the resulting aluminum oxide particles end up polluting the environment. Beside some traces of biodegradable ash, satellites made of wood will completely disintegrate and help to reduce the amount of space junk in near-Earth orbit.Early 1900s airplanes were made of wood, Kyoto University forest science professor and LignoSat team member Koji Murata told Reuters last month. A wooden satellite should be feasible, too.Murata added that wood is more durable in space than on Earth because theres no water or oxygen to rot or inflame it, and also noted its minimal environmental impact at the end of its life. The researchers have even said that if a way can be found to grow trees on the moon or Mars, wood could also become a vital construction material for colonies in space.Editors Recommendations

New autonomous vessels, with evocative names like Ghost Shark and Manta Ray, are aimed at gathering intelligence and countering new threats at sea.

The rocket companys executives havent sought a higher security clearance for its CEO to avoid questions about his drug use and contact with foreign officials. The answers might no longer matter.

An adult skull from the Charterhouse Warren mass grave in the UK, featuring cut marks and a blunt force fractureIan R. Carwright/Institute of Archaeology Oxford UniversityAround 4000 years ago, at least 37 men, woman and children were brutally butchered, dismembered and possibly eaten by their enemies before their remains were tossed into a 15-metre-deep cave shaft with cattle bones.It is the largest and most extreme episode of mass violence known from prehistoric Britain. The archaeologists behind the discovery think the perpetrators did it to dehumanise, or other, the victims, possibly as revenge to send a political message.

The vampire-like Hylomys macarong hedgehogAlexei V. AbramovAn extraordinary 234 new species were described by scientists in the Greater Mekong region of South-East Asia in 2023. The finds, announced in a report from conservation organisation WWF, include 173 species of plants, 26 reptiles, 17 amphibians, 15 fish and three mammals.Since 1997, more than 3500 new plant and vertebrate animal species have been identified in the area the report covers, which includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam an average of 130 a year.Here are six of the new species, including a furry hedgehog named after vampires, an almost invisible dragon lizard and a leafless orchid on the verge of extinction.AdvertisementHylomys macarongThe furry member of the hedgehog family pictured above is endemic to Vietnam. Hylomys macarong may look innocuous, but its name macarong means vampire in Vietnamese. It got its moniker thanks to its long, pointed fangs, which remain hidden in this picture.Hipposideros kingstonaeThe Hipposideros kingstonae batPipat SoisookThis tiny leaf-nosed bat can be found from Thailand to Borneo. DNA analysis confirmed that Hipposideros kingstonae was a new species in 2023. Unmissable news about our planet delivered straight to your inbox every month.Sign up to newsletterIt isnt known where the diminutive bat, which weighs between just 4.9 and 7 grams, roosts. It has been sighted near large limestone caves, suggesting it could shelter inside them, but also in areas far away from any known caves, so it could roost in tree hollows.Laodracon carsticolaThe almost invisible Laodracon carsticola lizardSanti XayyasithSharp eyesight is required to spot this tiny lizard (Laodracon carsticola) high on the rugged karst pinnacles of Laos, which may explain why the species has been overlooked by scientists until now. One of the earliest known sightings of this lizard was by a guide on a zipline tour.The lizard is a member of the Agamidae (dragon lizard) family and has only been seen 50 to 70 metres high on limestone pinnacles. It is likely to have evolved unique traits to help it survive in its eroded, rocky microhabitat.Zhangixalus melanoleucusThe Zhangixalus melanoleucus tree frogParinya PawangkhanantThis lime-green tree frog (Zhangixalus melanoleucus) was discovered 2000 metres above sea level in the evergreen forests of Phou Samsoum mountain in northern Laos. The area is home to many other endemic species, yet is one of the least studied parts of Asia.Trimeresurus uetziA male Trimeresurus uetzi snakeH.T. LalremsangaThis vibrant snake was believed to be Trimeresurus albolabris, one of the most common species of pit viper in Asia, which is found from Nepal to Indonesia.But DNA studies of 25 specimens collected in Myanmar have revealed that it is a different species, now named Trimeresurus uetzi, that has so far only been seen in central and southern Myanmar.Chiloschista quangdangiiThe rare Chiloschista quangdangii orchidTruong Ba VuongThis leafless orchid of the Chiloschista genus, members of which are known as starfish orchids, has only ever been found at a single location near Lung Muoi, a tiny remote village in northern Vietnam. It is thought to be extremely rare.Yet the orchid is now sometimes found in the local plant market, which suggests that the local population of Chiloschista quangdangii is being depleted by the wildlife trade.Topics:

Last week, this space was all about OpenAIs 12 days of shipmas. This week, the spotlight is on Google, which has been speeding toward the holiday by shipping or announcing its own flurry of products and updates. The combination of stuff here is pretty monumental, not just for a single company, but I think because it speaks to the power of the technology industryeven if it does trigger a personal desire that we could do more to harness that power and put it to more noble uses. To start, last week Google Introduced Veo, a new video generation model, and Imagen 3, a new version of its image generation model.Then on Monday, Google announced a breakthrough in quantum computing with its Willow chip. The company claims the new machine is capable of a standard benchmark computation in under five minutes that would take one of todays fastest supercomputers 10 septillion (that is, 1025) years. you may recall that MIT Technology Review covered some of the Willow work after researchers posted a paper preprint in August. But this week marked the big media splash. It was a stunning update that had Silicon Valley abuzz. (Seriously, I have never gotten so many quantum computing pitches as in the past few days.) Google followed this on Wednesday with even more gifts: a Gemini 2 release, a Project Astra update, and even more news about forthcoming agents called Mariner, an agent that can browse the web, and Jules, a coding assistant. First: Gemini 2. Its impressive, with a lot of performance updates. But I have frankly grown a little inured by language-model performance updates to the point of apathy. Or at least near-apathy. I want to see them do something. So for me, the cooler update was second on the list: Project Astra, which comes across like an AI from a futuristic movie set. Google first showed a demo of Astra back in May at its developer conference, and it was the talk of the show. But, since demos offer companies chances to show off products at their most polished, it can be hard to tell whats real and whats just staged for the audience. Still, when my colleague Will Douglas Heaven recently got to try it out himself, live and unscripted, it largely lived up to the hype. Although he found it glitchy, he noted that those glitches can be easily corrected. He called the experience stunning and said it could be generative AIs killer app.On top of all this, Will notes that this week Google DeepMind CEO (the companys AI division) Demis Hassabis was in Sweden to receive his Nobel Prize. And what did you do with your week? Making all this even more impressive, the advances represented in Willow, Gemini, Astra, and Veo are ones that just a few years ago many, many people would have said were not possibleor at least not in this timeframe.A popular knock on the tech industry is that it has a tendency to over-promise and under-deliver. The phone in your pocket gives the lie to this. So too do the rides I took in Waymos self-driving cars this week. (Both of which arrived faster than Ubers estimated wait time. And honestly its not been that long since the mere ability to summon an Uber was cool!) And while quantum has a long way to go, the Willow announcement seems like an exceptional advance; if not a tipping point exactly, then at least a real waypoint on a long road. (For what its worth, Im still not totally sold on chatbots. They do offer novel ways of interacting with computers, and have revolutionized information retrieval. But whether they are beneficial for humanityespecially given energy debts, the use of copyrighted material in their training data, their perhaps insurmountable tendency to hallucinate, etc.is debatable, and certainly is being debated. But Im pretty floored by this weeks announcements from Google, as well as OpenAIfull stop.) And for all the necessary and overdue talk about reining in the power of Big Tech, the ability to hit significant new milestones on so many different fronts all at once is something that only a company with the resources of a Google (or Apple or Microsoft or Amazon or Meta or Baidu or whichever other behemoth) can do.All this said, I dont want us to buy more gadgets or spend more time looking at our screens. I dont want us to become more isolated physically, socializing with others only via our electronic devices. I dont want us to fill the air with carbon or our soil with e-waste. I do not think these things should be the price we pay to drive progress forward. Its indisputable that humanity would be better served if more of the tech industry was focused on ending poverty and hunger and disease and war. Yet every once in a while, in the ever-rising tide of hype and nonsense that pumps out of Silicon Valley, epitomized by the AI gold rush of the past couple of years, there are moments that make me sit back in awe and amazement at what people can achieve, and in which I become hopeful about our ability to actually solve our larger problemsif only because we can solve so many other dumber, but incredibly complicated ones. This week was one of those times for me. Now read the rest of The Debrief The News Robotaxi adoptionis hitting a tipping point. But also,GM is shutting down its Cruise robotaxi division. Hereshow to use OpenAIs new video editing toolSora. Blueskyhas an impersonator problem. The AI hype machine iscoming under government scrutiny. The Chat Every week, I talk to one of MIT Technology Reviews journalists to go behind the scenes of a story they are working on. This week, I hit up James ODonnell, who covers AI and hardware, about his story on how the startup defense contractorAnduril is bringing AI to the battlefield. Mat:James, you got a pretty up close look at something most people probably havent even thought about yet, which is how the future of AI-assisted warfare might look. What did you learn on that trip that you think will surprise people? James:Two things stand out. One, I think people would be surprised by the gulf between how technology has developed for the last 15 years for consumers versus the military. For consumers, weve gotten phones, computers, smart TVs and other technologies that generally do a pretty good job of talking to each other and sharing our data, even though theyre made by dozens of different manufacturers. Its called the internet of things. In the military, technology has developed in exactly the opposite way, and its putting them in a crisis. They have stealth aircraft all over the world, but communicating about a drone threat might be done with Powerpoints and a chat service reminiscent of AOL Instant Messenger. The second is just how much the Pentagon is now looking to AI to change all of this. New initiatives have surged in the current AI boom. They are spending on training new AI models to better detect threats, autonomous fighter jets, and intelligence platforms that use AI to find pertinent information. What I saw at Andurils test site in California is also a key piece of that. Using AI to connect to and control lots of different pieces of hardware, like drones and cameras and submarines, from a single platform. The amount being invested in AI is much smaller than for aircraft carriers and jets, but its growing. Mat:I was talking with a different startup defense contractor recently, who was talking to me about the difficulty of getting all these increasingly autonomous devices on the battlefield talking to each other in a coordinated way. Like Anduril, he was making the case that this has to be done at the edge, and that there is too much happening for human decision making to process. Do you think thats true? Why is that? James:So many in the defense space have pointed to the war in Ukraine as a sign that warfare is changing. Drones are cheaper and more capable than they ever were in the wars in the Middle East. Its why the Pentagon is spending $1 billion on the Replicator initiative to fieldthousands of cheap dronesby 2025. Its also looking to field more underwater drones as it plans for scenarios in which China may invade Taiwan. Once you get these systems, though, the problem is having all the devices communicate with one another securely. You need to play Air Traffic Control at the same time that youre pulling in satellite imagery and intelligence information, all in environments where communication links are vulnerable to attacks. Mat:I guess I still have a mental image of a control room somewhere, like you might see inDr. StrangeloveorWar Games(orStar Warsfor that matter) with a handful of humans directing things. Are those days over? James:I think a couple things will change. One, a single person in that control room will be responsible for a lot more than they are now. Rather than running just one camera or drone system manually, theyll command software that does it for them, for lots of different devices. The idea that the defense tech sector is pushing is to take them out of the mundane tasksrotating a camera around to look for threatsand instead put them in the drivers seat for decisions that only humans, not machines, can make. Mat:I know that critics of the industry push back on the idea of AI being empowered to make battlefield decisions, particularly when it comes to life and death, but it seems to me that we are increasingly creeping toward that and it seems perhaps inevitable. Whats your sense? James:This is painting with broad strokes, but I think the debates about military AI fall along similar lines to what we see for autonomous vehicles. You have proponents saying that driving is not a thing humans are particularly good at, and when they make mistakes, it takes lives. Others might agree conceptually, but debate at what point its appropriate to fully adopt fallible self-driving technology in the real world. How much better does it have to be than humans? In the military, the stakes are higher. Theres no question that AI is increasingly being used to sort through and surface information to decision-makers. Its finding patterns in data, translating information, and identifying possible threats. Proponents are outspoken that that will make warfare more precise and reduce casualties. What critics are concerned about is how far across that decision-making pipeline AI is going, and how much there is human oversight. I think where it leaves me is wanting transparency. When AI systems make mistakes, just like when human military commanders make mistakes, I think we deserve to know, and that transparency does not have to compromise national security. It tookyearsfor reporter Azmat Khan to piece together the mistakes made during drone strikes in the Middle East, because agencies were not forthcoming. That obfuscation absolutely cannot be the norm as we enter the age of military AI. Mat:Finally, did you have a chance to hit an In-N-Out burger while you were in California? James:Normally In-N-Out is a requisite stop for me in California, but ahead of my trip I heard lots of good things about the burgers at The Apple Pan in West LA, so I went there. To be honest, the fries were better, but for the burger I have to hand it to In-N-Out. The Recommendation A few weeks ago I suggestedCa7riel and Paco Amorosos appearance on NPR Tiny Desk. At the risk of this space becoming a Tiny Desk stan account, Im back again with another. I was completely floored byDoechiis Tiny Desk appearance last week. Its so full of talent and joy and style and power. I came away completely inspired and have basically had her music on repeat in Spotify ever since. If you are already a fan of her recorded music, you will love her live. If shes new to you, well, youre welcome. Go check it out. Oh, and dont worry: Im not planning to recommendBillie Eilishs new Tiny Desk concertin next weeks newsletter. Mostly because Im doing so now.