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. This patient’s Neuralink brain implant gets a boost from generative AI Last November, Bradford G. Smith got a brain implant from Elon Musk’s company Neuralink. The device, a set of thin wires attached to a miniscule computer that sits in his skull, lets him use his thoughts to move a computer pointer on a screen. And by last week he was ready to reveal it in a post on X. Smith’s case is drawing interest because he’s not only communicating via a brain implant but also getting help from Grok, Musk’s AI chatbot. The generative AI is speeding up the rate at which he can communicate, but it also raises questions about who is really talking—him or Musk’s software. Read the full story.—Antonio Regalado MIT Technology Review Narrated: How Trump’s tariffs could drive up the cost of batteries, EVs, and more The Trump administration’s hostile trade plans threaten to slow the shift to cleaner industries, boost inflation, and stall the economy. This is our latest story to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we’re publishing each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 NSO Group has been ordered to pay Meta $167 million After the Israeli firm’s spyware was used to hack journalists, activists, and politicians. (NYT $)+ The firm has been implicated in abusive surveillance before. (Reuters)2 OpenAI plans to reduce the fraction of its revenue Microsoft receivesIt told investors it plans to slash the shared revenue from 20% to 10%. (The Information $) + Its for-profit U-turn is not yet a done deal. (Bloomberg $)+ We still don’t know a lot about OpenAI’s structure. (Economist $)3 The Trump administration is axing the Energy Star program The project certifies the energy efficiency of home appliances in the US. (WP $)4 The US Justice Department wants Google to sell its ad businesses But Google claims it’s not technically feasible. (WSJ $)+ The judge says he’ll rule on the remedies by August. (The Information $) 5 Grok AI is undressing women on XThat’s what happens when you create AI models without proper guardrails. (404 Media) + Text-to-image AI models can be tricked into generating nude images. (MIT Technology Review)6 Private investors are prepared to plow billions into Europe’s defense industry They’re stepping up to fill gaps that governments can’t fund. (FT $)+ The US is likely to strike a weapons deal in Riyadh next week. (Semafor)+ Phase two of military AI has arrived. (MIT Technology Review)7 Can anyone stop Starlink?The speed of its total dominance of the satellite sector is unprecedented. (The Atlantic $) + The world’s next big environmental problem could come from space. (MIT Technology Review)8 Amazon’s new robot has a sense of touch To help it grab items in the e-retail giant’s warehouses. (The Guardian)+ The Vulcan robot could end up shouldering more manufacturing work in the future. (Wired $)+ Will we ever trust robots? (MIT Technology Review) 9 Argentina is investing big in nuclear-powered AI data centers In an effort to attract big tech firms from overseas. (Rest of World)+ Meanwhile, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine is still not operational. (IEEE Spectrum)+ China built hundreds of AI data centers to catch the AI boom. Now many stand unused. (MIT Technology Review)10 RIP prompt engineeringThe hottest job of 2023 is quickly fizzling out. (Fast Company $) Quote of the day “I think upper class households will be able to have something that makes your Roomba look like a total joke.” —Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian believes that advanced robot domestic helpers are imminent, Insider reports. One more thing Is this the end of animal testing? Animal studies are notoriously bad at identifying human treatments. Around 95% of the drugs developed through animal research fail in people, but until recently there was no other option.Now organs on chips, also known as microphysiological systems, may offer a truly viable alternative. They’re triumphs of bioengineering, intricate constructions furrowed with tiny channels that are lined with living human tissues that expand and contract with the flow of fluid and air, mimicking key organ functions like breathing, blood flow, and peristalsis, the muscular contractions of the digestive system.It’s only early days, but if they work as hoped, organs on chips could solve one of the biggest problems in medicine today. Read the full story.—Harriet Brown 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 or skeet 'em at me.) + If you enjoyed this year’s Met Gala theme, check out this fascinating history of the Black dandy in art.+ 2025 is shaping up to be a great year for literature.+ The good news is that GTA VI finally has a release date—but it’s over a year away.+ Chocolate pie for breakfast? I could be convinced.