It's a mobile world, but we have not fully abandoned the desktop. The real work (and a lot of the play) of computing requires a full personal computing system, and to get the most out of that, you need software.Software can be expensive, but free programs have been a mainstay of the desktop experience for decades, and today's offerings are pretty powerful. Software developers can adopt an ad-based model, donation-ware to keep things afloat, or a shareware/freemium model that charges for extra features.Something to always watch for: Crapware installers. To make ends meet, many creators of otherwise great free software, or the services that offer the programs for download, bundle in things you don't want. Worse, the installation routine obfuscates the steps, so you provide the unwanted program tacit permission to be installed. For more about how to spot and avoid this problem, see How to Rid a New PC of Crapware.A pro tip: Only download desktop software from the maker of the software directly. It's not foolproof—after all, developers want to eat, too—but it helps.Other Criteria:The software must be available directly from the developer/creator/original publisher.The software should (typically) have a Windows-based download—no browser extensions here, because we're not all on the same browser. However, we've included web-based apps that are as good, or better, than most downloadable programs.If the software is on a tiered sales model, the free version cannot be trial-ware. It has to have at least a free-for-life option.Preferably the program had an update in the last year or two.The program should have little or no advertising to support it.Software for productivity is what this list is about; there are plenty of other places to find free PC games.For more free software, check out The 100 Best iPhone Apps and The 100 Best Android Apps.Did we miss any free programs you can't live without? Let us know in the comments. Best Free Audio-Editing Software Audacity 4.0 Excellent Windows, macOS, LinuxOpen-source Audacity can record and edit audio files on more tracks than you can imagine. It then outputs exactly what you need. It is perfect for noobs and pros alike and works on any desktop OS. Audacity review Best Free Simple Video Editor CapCut 4.0 Excellent Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, webWhile it seems like most video editing today takes place on phones, at least one mobile video editor has jumped to the desktop: ByteDance’s CapCut is on Windows; it's even in the Microsoft Store. In our review of the mobile version, we found it to be fast, easy, and powerful. CapCut review Best Free Advanced Video Editing DaVinci Resolve 4.0 Excellent Windows, macOS, LinuxHow on earth does Blackmagic Design make DaVinci Resolve so capable as a video editor yet still offer a free version? The hope is that as users get better at making videos, they’ll buy the full suite for the extras, even if it costs $395. Meanwhile, the free version can handle almost any 8-bit format up to 3,840 by 2,160 pixels for editing, color correction, VFX, motion graphics, and audio. DaVinci Resolve review Best Free Video Converter Handbrake 3.5 Good Windows, macOS, LinuxNo one would call HandBrake simple, but few video transcoders—software that converts almost any video format into another video format—can compete when it comes to power and comprehensiveness. It's been around for over two decades and remains open-source. Best Free Cartooning Tool Pencil2D Windows, macOS, LinuxOpen-source and multiplatform, the Pencil 2D Animation tool is what it sounds like: a way to quickly create two-dimensional animations by penciling in each frame. The site is full of video tutorials to help you get the gist. Best Free Video Editing Shotcut 3.5 Good Windows, macOS, LinuxWhile it lacks the slick interface found in most other video editors, Shotcut's got lot of power. It offers a phenomenal number of features and gets frequent improvement updates. Just don't expect it to feel like an Adobe product. Best Free Game-Recording/Streaming Software Streamlabs OBS Windows, Web, iOS, AndroidStream your video game sessions with Logitech's Streamlabs Desktop directly to YouTube, Twitch, or Facebook. You can switch between gameplay and your webcam, so you can show your face as you make commentary. There may be a learning curve, but you can find plenty of help online. Best Free Video Player VLC Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidThe premier way to watch just about any video, no matter the clip's weird codec. VLC media player can auto-rotate smartphone videos taken at the wrong orientation and resume playback from where you left off during a previous session. Seriously, VLC plays back anything on all desktop platforms, and it guarantees no ads, tracking, or spyware. (For more, read How to Play DVDs and Blu-ray Discs in Windows.) Best Free Messaging Software Discord 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, web, iOS, Android, Xbox, PlayStationMillions of people worldwide use Discord for text, voice chatting, and video chatting—mainly while kicking one another's arses in online games or watching gameplay streams on Twitch or Caffeine. You can spend a fee (starting at $2.99 per month) to go premium for better video and audio quality and to upload larger files. Discord review Best Free Secure Messaging Signal Private Messenger 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidPCMag’s Editors’ Choice Award winner for secure messaging (for mobile or desktop) is Signal, which you may recall from a recent high-level scandal. It does it all: group chat, voice chat, and video chat, all with mandatory end-to-end encryption. You need Android or iOS to register to use Signal, which requires the mobile app, but it also works on your desktop OSes. Perhaps best of all, it’s owned by a nonprofit with no incentive to sell your data.  Signal Private Messenger review Best Free Remote Access TeamViewer 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, web, iOS, Android, ChromeOSPCMag's top pick for software that can control other computers is TeamViewer, which is only free for personal use. That version has everything you need: desktop sharing, file transfers, and chat with remote users. The setup couldn't be easier. Take control of a remote PC over an internet connection with the app, or use a browser with the TeamViewer extension. Just keep in mind that remote-access tools can be abused, so don't turn one on unless you're on the phone with the person you're allowing access to. And make sure to turn them off after you're done. TeamViewer review Best Free Friends and Family Messaging WhatsApp 4.0 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, web, iOS, AndroidIf you want to avoid the giant corporations that run messaging services, maybe WhatsApp (which is owned by Meta) isn’t for you. But it is a massive service with a loyal user base, an easy-to-use interface, and self-destructing messages and images. It even uses the Signal protocol, so the folks at Meta can’t read what you send. But then again, you could just use Signal. Still, you might opt for WhatsApp if you have an existing platoon of friends and family using it. WhatsApp review Best Free Freeform Drawing Adobe Fresco 4.5 Excellent Windows, iOSYou may think of Adobe Fresco—the company’s painting app—as strictly for mobile devices. But it is also available for Windows, whether you use it in tablet mode or not. The free version has its limits, but overall makes the feeling of drawing on a screen as close as you can get to doing so on paper. Adobe Fresco review Best Free AI ChatGPT 4.0 Excellent Windows, macOS, iOS, AndroidDoes ChatGPT hallucinate and make mistakes? You better believe it. But it's still the most advanced and mature generative AI available today, especially considering you can do a lot with it for free (like get unlimited access to the GPT-4o mini, the fastest model offered by parent company OpenAI). It'll generate text and images (a limited amount per day) and even let you use the Deep Research function five times per month. You can do quite a bit without an account, but signing up unlocks features like saved chat history. And if you don't want to use it on the web, you can download ChatGPT apps for the operating systems above.For more, read our full review and note this disclosure: Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems. ChatGPT review Best Free Painting Software Krita Windows, macOS, LinuxKrita is a powerful, full-fledged painting tool for digital artists. It does come with a bit of a learning curve, but the nonexistent price tag and the vibrant community behind it make it more than worth digging into, especially if you’ve got artistic skills but no desire to pick up paint and brushes IRL. Best Free Desktop Publishing Tool Scribus Windows, macOS, LinuxScribus is the open-source equivalent of Adobe InDesign for desktop publishing, or as close as you can get to it, with a history that goes back almost a quarter century. It has built-in color separation, color management, and a lot more—including its own wiki for documentation. Best Free World-Building Tool Shaxpir Windows, macOSPronounced like the playwright, Shaxpir is essentially a simplistic version of our top-rated Scrivener, with an “everyone” free tier that is very useful. For no charge, you get the full manuscript builder, world-building notebook, progress tracker, offline use, and cloud backup. Still, pros might consider the $7.99-a-month subscription with extra features a bargain after the 30-day trial. Best Free Screenwriting Tool Trelby Windows, LinuxDo you fancy yourself a budding screenwriter but lack the funds for high-end tools like Final Draft? Trelby does a fine job of helping you format scripts correctly, remember character names, and import and export to formats used in Hollywood. Best Free Android Emulation BlueStacks 5 Windows, macOSFor a hot second, Windows 11 had an Android simulator that could play apps from the Amazon store, but that got shut down. The next best option is BlueStacks, which only takes up about 5GB of space and can access the Google Play Store. The emulator will help you map your mouse and keyboard to work with Android games. For more info, read Ways to Run Android Apps on Your PC for Free. Best Free Social Photo Sharing Instagram (for Windows Phone) 3.0 Good Windows, WebSocial media apps don’t have to just be on your phone. Like TikTok, you can get to the 'Gram on your desktop with this app found on the Windows Store. It’ll show you all the amazing images shared by people and brands you follow, as well as the Reels they generate. Best Free Maps Software Google Earth Windows, macOS, Linux, Web, iOS, AndroidAs if high-end software that lets you virtually fly across the globe isn't cool enough, Google Earth Pro for the desktop is totally free. It includes advanced features such as high-resolution printing, distance measuring, and global guided tours. Although it also comes in web and mobile versions, the desktop version is the only one that lets you view satellite images of the moon and Mars. Plus, it has star maps and will even let you go back in time. Best Free Writing Tool yWriter 3.5 Good Windows, macOS, iOS, AndroidThe highly structured interface of yWriter can help anyone, from budding to experienced novelists, get a real handle on their story and its characters. The program is full of stats on what you have written, providing you with a data-driven writing experience. It doesn't have the depth of Scrivener, but it's free (or you can make a donation). yWriter review Best Free Media Center Plex TV Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Xbox, PlayStation, Smart TVs, media hubs, NAS devicesIf you don't know or care what a media server is, but you just want to stream your videos and music collection around the house, Plex could work well for you. Install it on all your devices, point it at some media, and those audio and video files become available on everything—even remotely. For more, read How to Set Up a Plex Server, How to Share Your Plex Libraries, How to Organize Your Plex Media Library, and The Expert's Guide to Managing Your Plex Server. Best Free File Viewer and Converter Faststone Image Viewer Windows onlyView, manage, and compare your images with this fast and intuitive freebie. FastStone Image Viewer supports a wide range of image formats, including unprocessed raw files from specific digital camera manufacturers. (For more, read What Are Raw Camera Files and Why Should You Use Them?.) It also has companion apps for screenshots and photo resizing. Best Free Photoshop Replacement GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) 3.5 Good Windows, macOS, LinuxGIMP is a stalwart of the open-source world. It's a full-featured Photoshop alternative with all the functions—including layers, filters, masking, and plug-ins—that image editors need. It may lack the polish and AI extras you get with Adobe’s product, but GIMP more than makes up for that by being really, truly free. You can get it for Windows in the Microsoft Store. GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) review Best Free Graphics Software (Vector Editing) Inkscape 3.0 Good Windows, macOS, LinuxAdobe Illustrator is the high bar of vector image editing, but it has a premium price to match. You can still get cross-platform Scalable Vector Graphic image creation with the free Inkscape. You'll have to work a little harder to learn it, but it may be exactly what a talented (but cash-strapped or subscription-shy) artist needs. Best Free Graphics Software (Bitmap Editing) Paint.net WindowsIs Paint.net a perfect replacement for Photoshop? Nothing is as powerful as Adobe's program, but at this price—free—Paint.net comes close. For any minor (and even some major) picture manipulation, it's fast, comprehensive, and easy to use. Best Free PDF Reader Foxit PDF Reader Windows, macOSJust about any browser can read a PDF. But Foxit PDF Reader is free, not just for reading but also for annotation and collaboration on files. The program allows you to send signed and edited PDF files to friends or coworkers and works seamlessly with the Foxit PDF Editor on mobile platforms. For more, read How to Convert PDFs to Word Documents and Image Files. Best Free Grammar Help Grammarly 4.0 Excellent Windows, macOS, Web, iOS, AndroidIf you use the internet, you’ve probably heard of Grammarly—the ads are everywhere. The free version provides plenty of insights and suggestions to improve all the words you put on the screen in almost any program. And, yes, it really can up your writing game. Grammarly review Best Cross-Platform Note Taker Joplin 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, Web, iOS, AndroidOur review of Joplin calls it "the ideal note-taking app for users who value simplicity.” It lacks some advanced features, but the open-source tool works on all major platforms to do what you need most: store unlimited notes. You only pay if you want to get into sharing and collaboration. It even has a web clipper browser extension for grabbing notes as you traverse the internet. Joplin review Best Free Kanban Project Management Kanri Windows, macOS, LinuxIf you do any kind of projects or organizing that involve index cards, then you have probably embraced the Kanban board approach. Kanri is a great, free way to Kanban your desktop without signing in or creating an account—it doesn't even need you to be online. As a bonus, it can import boards from big-name products like Trello. Best Free Office Suite LibreOffice 3.0 Good Windows, macOS, LinuxThere aren't many free office suites, and only one is a free, open-source download available for the major desktop operating systems. LibreOffice could be a bit more polished, lacks collaboration features, and sports an overstuffed toolbar interface that might remind you of Microsoft Office a decade ago. But it's powerful nevertheless, and it easily converts and imports files from other systems. It comes with a word processor (Writer), a spreadsheet component (Calc), a presentation program (Impress), a vector drawing program (Draw), and even a full database (Base) and math-formula editor (Math). LibreOffice review Best Free Note-Taking App Microsoft OneNote 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, WebOnce just a part of Microsoft Office, the sublime OneNote has become a free, standalone powerhouse for note-taking across all the major operating systems. It still works with Office, syncs data across all platforms, and has full online access via Office.com, with storage on OneDrive. That's why it's our Editors' Choice pick for note storage. Microsoft OneNote review Best Free Browser Firefox 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidThe venerable browser Firefox remains highly customizable and strong on security, privacy, and performance. It stays cutting-edge without the backing of Big Tech—in fact, the Firefox website brags that its parent, Mozilla, has been "billionaire-free for 20+ years." Mozilla also owns Pocket, so you can easily use Firefox to save what you see online to that read-it-later service. For more, read Which Browser Is Best? and Top Firefox Tips. Best Free Text Editor Notepad++ WindowsNotepad++ is nothing like the anemic Notepad that Windows users grew used to over the decades. This free download has tabs, color-coded nesting text, WYSIWYG printing, and support for macros. It's a must for hand-coders or any writer who wants a minimalist interface. Best Power-User Note Taker Obsidian 4.0 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidObsidian’s got a learning curve, but once mastered, it's the best note-taker for power users. The free version is available for personal use—it lacks only support and sync options, but you can get around the sync by storing your Obsidian Vault in a spot where a cloud service backs it up. Obsidian review Best Free Doc Viewer and Annotator Okular Windows, LinuxIf you seek a free and full-fledged PDF editor, Okular can do the job (on Windows—it's in the Microsoft Store—and Linux). It boasts annotations and highlights, even digital signature support. It will also read many other formats, including ePub books, comics formats, and many types of images. Best To-Do List for Everyone Todoist 5.0 Outstanding Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, WebThis is our favorite to-do list app, ever. We give the paid version a full five-star review, but even the free version is fantastic. The Todoist interface is simple perfection on all platforms—even wearables and via email (where you can turn messages into tasks). The free version gives you five projects with five collaborators on each (working across 300 possible tasks), supports uploads of 5MB files, and keeps a one-week active history. Todoist review Best Programming Environment Visual Studio Code Windows, macOS, Linux, webNeed to write some code? Use VS Code from Microsoft. It has everything you’d want in a coding environment, from plug-ins to great organization. And it's easy to get started with this program, even though you have to do a little setup to tweak it to perfection. Best Free Antivirus Avast One Basic 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, iOS, AndroidOur Editors' Choice award winner for free antivirus this year is Avast One Basic. It's a top scorer against malware in lab tests, and it did great in our hands-on tests, too. It offers more free protection than ever. Avast One Basic review Best Free Secure Browser Bitwarden 4.0 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidDo you want to stop the trackers watching you online dead? Going incognito on a standard browser isn't enough. You need to use a full-on privacy browser, one that blocks cookies and prevents the fingerprinting of your whole browser and computer. Brave is one of a slew of them with a rating for strong protection from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. For details, read The Best Private Browsers. Bitwarden review Best Free Desktop Authenticator Ente Auth Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, webWhen it comes to multi-factor authentication, the downside to most authenticator apps is that they're mobile-only. If you don't have your phone close by when asked for the code, you're out of luck. So, it's very nice to have a desktop MFA authenticator. Authy had one but killed it. Ente Auth is here to take up the slack. Set up your MFA logins with it on the phone or tablet, and all the codes sync with the desktop versions. Plus, it's always previewing your next code, so you don't have to wait, and it lets you share codes with a team. Best Free Password Manager Proton Pass 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, multiple browser extensionsProton already has a great reputation. Its Proton Pass offers the most outstanding password management of the year while charging you nothing. It includes email alias options, dark web monitoring, and password hygiene (it'll tell you when you have reused or weak passwords that need updating, pronto), all while managing an unlimited number of passwords and credentials. You can pay for extra features like credit card storage and data breach monitoring. For more, read our guide to The Best Free Password Managers. Proton Pass review Best Clipping with Annotations ClipClip WindowsClipClip holds multiple copied items in the clipboard, lets you extract text from images to paste, syncs on cloud services, allows history searches, and even does on-the-fly translation. It also allows for full-screen and video captures, plus edits and annotations. Best Synchronization of Clipboards Recuva 3.5 Good WindowsThe clipboard has come a long way, but you can take it further with a tool like Ditto. It’ll not only show you everything you’ve copied, but also handle searches, allow multiple ways to select, and keep the contents of multiple computers’ clipboards synchronized. Best Free Local Search Tool Everything 3.0 Good WindowsEverything has been around a long while and continues plugging along to help people find the things on their PC that built-in search can’t seem to fathom. It can even look inside files, though it won’t index them. If you name files and folders carefully, it will bring you results fast. Best Free Backup and Synchronization Software IDrive 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidIDrive is a PCMag Editors' Choice award winner for cloud storage and file sharing. You get 10GB free from IDrive to back up files from all your devices, an upgrade from the original 5GB. If that's enough capacity for you, you'll find this service more than up to your needs. It'll even back up your photos and videos from Facebook. Bonus: At this price tier, you don't have to give the company a credit card. IDrive review Best Media Viewer and Annotator IrfanView WindowsIrfanView has been letting people view, edit, and organize media and more on Windows for well over a quarter century now. The current version supports Vista all the way up to 11. The list of file format types you can click on, view, and annotate instantly is long, and the program's ease of use is legendary. And it's utterly free for personal use. Best Free Screen Capture Editor Gemoo Snap Windows, macOSWhen it comes to screengrabs, if the Snipping Tool in Windows doesn’t do it for you, Gemoo Snap is an excellent alternative. It's available for the desktop (including on macOS) or just as a Chrome extension if you only capture web pages. You can snap a screen, then annotate it, share it, pull out text, or even “beautify” it with edits and new backgrounds. Best Free File Compression for Archives NanaZip WindowsA lot of people adore the 7-zip archiving software. NanaZip is a fork of the original code, meant to make the archive experience feel more native to Windows 10 and 11 by working right in the context menu of File Explorer. Best Free File Manager for Windows OneCommander WindowsIf you find the Windows 10 and 11 way of dealing with files—via the built-in File Explorer—a chore, consider an upgrade to a third-party file manager. OneCommander has all the extras you'd want, including tab support, file previews, dual-pane browsing, dark and light themes, and a lot more. Best of all: It's fast. And free for home use. Best Free File Recovery and Deletion Recuva 3.5 Good WindowsRecuva (say it out loud) is a must for any techie's tool belt: It's the key to helping recover a lost file. It's easy to understand, but note: Recuva should really be installed before you lose a file. It's a portable application, too, so you have the option to run it from a USB thumb drive. Best for Screen Video Capture ScreenPal 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Android, iOSWant to capture more than a still image? ScreenPal (previously called Screencast-O-Matic) will do it. The free-to-use-forever tier will take still shots, up to 15 minutes of video of your screen (with a watermark), and share to social, plus store as much as you want online. The mobile apps will sync your captured files. We gave it an Editors' Choice award. You can pay $48 a year if you want unlimited full-screen video recording sans watermarks. ScreenPal review Best Free Power Screen Grabber ShareX WindowsWhat ShareX lacks in sexiness it makes up for in power, offering just about every option one could wish for in capturing a Windows screen (including video screen recording and GIF exports). It supports image effects add-ons such as backgrounds and borders, optical character recognition, and pre-set actions for processing captures just the way you like them. Best Free Screen Capture Microsoft Snip WindowsEven those with modest screen-capture needs would say the old Snipping Tool in Windows was...lacking. The new version of Snipping Tool merges it with the Windows Snip & Sketch, which was itself an evolutionary leap. Now it's more revolutionary, as it can also capture things like video and voice. Plus, you can annotate a screengrab. For more, read The Best Screen Capture Apps. Best Free Simple File Backup SyncBackFree WindowsSyncBack dates way back and still rocks at synchronizing backups. That includes the free version, which can copy files in both directions to make a restore as easy as a backup. Best Free Social Media Software TikTok Windows Windows, Web, iOS, AndroidYou probably think of TikTok as a mobile-only phenomenon. However, not only can you access the video wonderland on the desktop at TikTok.com, but there's also a well-done app for it right in the Windows Store. TikTok for Windows won't work with your webcam, but you can use it to upload videos you edit to perfection with desktop video tools. It's all free but has ads for support—just like on the mobile version, they show up looking like videos you might want to see. Best Free File Transfer Program Teracopy Windows, macOS, AndroidSure, Windows itself copies files between folders and drives just fine. But TeraCopy can take over that job and do it faster, and its interface for making copies is better-looking. Plus, it provides more information and feedback, and it can even recover from transfer errors. Best Free VPN Proton VPN (Windows) 5.0 Outstanding Windows, ChromeOS, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidYou probably should pay for a VPN, but you can save cash with a tool like the PCMag Editors' Choice award winner ProtonVPN, albeit with a few restrictions. It's not just our pick for the best free VPN; it's our best VPN overall. With the free ProtonVPN, your bandwidth is not limited, and the focus is mainly on keeping you secure. For more, read The Best Free VPNs. Proton VPN (Windows) review Best Free Video Conferencing Zoom Workplace 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, web, iOS, AndroidWant to host an online meeting for you and 100 of your closest friends? Zoom Workplace will let them all in for free, with a 40-minute time limit. They can join from any device, even a smartphone. Competitively priced premium plans with additional features are also available. Zoom is a PCMag Editors' Choice award winner for communications (with end-to-end encryption) and productivity (even the free version has team chat and whiteboards). Also, check out our top Zoom tips. Zoom Workplace review

The Ford Pinto. New Coke. Google Glass. History is littered with products whose fatal flaw— whether failures of safety, privacy, performance, or plain old desirability—repelled consumers and inflicted reputational damage to the companies bringing them to market.  It’s easy to imagine the difference if these problems had been detected early on. And too often, businesses neglect the chance to work with nonprofits, social enterprises, and other public interest groups to make product improvements after they enter the marketplace or, more ideally, “upstream,” before their products have entered the crucible of the customer.  For companies and consumer groups alike, this is a major missed opportunity. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, partnering with public interest groups to bake an authentic pro-consumer perspective into elements like design, safety, sustainability, and functionality can provide a coveted advantage. It gives a product the chance to stand out from the crowd, already destined for glowing reviews because problems were nipped in the bud thanks to guidance and data from those focused on consumers’ interests. And for the nonprofits, working proactively with businesses to help ensure that products reflect consumers’ values from the outset means a better, safer marketplace for everyone.  Zoom, in a nutshell  We’ve already seen the difference working together can make, especially if it’s early in a product’s introduction to consumers. Just look at Zoom. The videoconferencing platform, while launched as a tool for businesses, had not been introduced to a wide consumer audience before the COVID-19 pandemic made its services a global necessity. In early 2020—as Zoom was poised to explode from 10 million monthly users to more than 300 million by April—Consumer Reports’ (CR) testing experts went under the hood in our digital lab to assess it from a consumer well-being perspective.  CR uncovered serious flaws. These included a protocol allowing the company to collect users’ videos, call transcripts, and chats and use them for targeted advertising, as well as features that allowed hosts to record meetings in secret and alert them when a participant clicked away from the screen. At the precipice of a moment when elementary school classrooms to therapy sessions would be conducted over Zoom, there’s no telling what the fallout might have been—for the company or its customers—had these problems persisted.  But CR reached out to the business—and the business reached back. Within days, Zoom had worked with CR to solve a wide array of problems, helping strengthen its case as a lifeline for users all over the world.  Partnerships require new ways of thinking   Now imagine what could be possible if such a partnership began even earlier in the process. This is the relationship CR has worked to build with businesses, providing companies our testing expertise and data about consumers’ needs and desires. Our advisory services have led to us providing feedback on prototypes, and with feedback implemented earlier in the product development lifecycle, we’ve seen immediate impact for consumers: improved comfort of leg support in vehicles; privacy policy changes for electronics; reduced fees for a basic checking account; an improved washing machine drying algorithm for one brand; improved safety of active driver assistance systems; and strengthened digital payments app scam warnings before users finalize transactions. These partnerships have proven productive, but they remain the exception to the rule.  Building more of those cooperative, upstream relationships will require new thinking on both sides. Advocacy organizations must adopt an entrepreneurial spirit, leveraging their insights and expertise as a collaborator to companies they’re more accustomed to critiquing. Businesses must embrace these relationships as a central part of their research and development process, understanding that embedding pro-consumer values gives them a real edge in today’s hyper-social marketplace.  This cooperation is especially important in the modern digital era, when many consumers are making choices that reflect their principles and where products and services are growing increasingly complex. As the rise of AI-fueled products brings a new wave of threats and vulnerabilities in its wake, it is critical that businesses and public interest groups make an effort to forge strong relationships.  By coming together early and often around their common interest—the consumer—they can improve products, craft strong industry standards, burnish the reputation of companies that act responsibly, and help maintain the health and integrity of the marketplace.  Phil Radford is president and CEO of Consumer Reports. 

May 16, 20257 min readWhat RFK, Jr. Got Wrong about Autism, according to ScientistsA coalition of autism scientists has formed to counter RFK, Jr.’s misrepresentations of science and of autism spectrum disorderBy Allison Parshall Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a news conference at the Department of Health and Human Services on April 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty ImagesScientific research over the past 30 years has revealed a patchwork of potential causes of autism. Most of them are genetic—the condition is between 60 and 90 percent heritable—and some involve nongenetic risk factors that might impact development during pregnancy.“We’ve found a great deal of the underlying [causes],” says Helen Tager-Flusberg, an autism researcher and a professor emerita at Boston University. But how these different risk factors come together as the brain develops remains a challenge to piece together. “Autism is not a simple disorder,” she says. “There are no simple answers. There are no so-called smoking guns.”Even so, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the U.S. secretary of health and human services, talks about autism in a way that suggests he thinks there are simple and direct causes. He often refers to the steady rise in autism prevalence (which is likely due to improved screening and diagnosis) as an indicator that we’re in the middle of an “autism epidemic” driven by “environmental toxins.” He has also refused to disavow the long-debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. This month, as part of Kennedy’s effort to find “the root causes of autism,” the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that they will create a “data platform” to study the condition. In April NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya had described plans for “national disease registries, including a new one for autism." The plan involved collecting “comprehensive” private health data on autism that would represent “broad coverage” of the U.S. population, leading autism advocacy organizations, civil rights groups and research scientists to warn of medical privacy concerns. (Shortly after outlets reported on Bhattacharya’s statements in April, HHS denied that it planned to create an “autism registry.”)On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.In a budget hearing on Wednesday, Kennedy called for an end to genetic research into autism. “I don’t think we should be funding that genetic work anymore,” he said. “What we really need to do now is to identify the environmental toxins.”In response to this dismissal of well-established science, Tager-Flusberg has organized a coalition of scientists to push back. The Coalition of Autism Scientists now has 258 members and is still growing.Scientific American spoke with Tager-Flusberg about Kennedy’s statements this week and how the autism community is responding.[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]In a Congressional budget hearing Wednesday afternoon, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said: “Autism is an epidemic, and the genes do not cause epidemics. They can contribute a vulnerability, but you need an environmental toxin. It’s like cigarettes and smoking.” What was your reaction to that? There is no reason that we need to refer to the increased prevalence rates, which have been rising steadily for many years now, as an epidemic. This is not the definition of an epidemic, so I take issue with highlighting that.Second of all, genetics are the primary contributing factor to autism. We know specific genes and variants confer increased risk, even in cases where there aren’t any clear environmental contributions. If anything, it’s the other way around—it’s the environmental factors that add to or interact with the genetic risk for autism.Take one of the very well-regulated nongenetic factors: parental age, particularly paternal age. What we think is going on is that, as parents age, their germ cells [which develop into eggs or sperm] are changing, and so this is leading to alterations in the DNA that then confer risk for autism.Are there other nongenetic factors that might be playing a role?[Studies have shown] that [pregnant] mothers who take an antiseizure medication, particularly valproic acid, can have an increased risk of having a child with autism. But here, again, we have to think about this in a more complex way. [In such cases], the mother herself has a seizure disorder, and seizure disorders are a very common co-occurrence with autism. So then [the parent and the child] well may have some shared genetic risk factors that are interacting with the effects of the medication itself.When RFK, Jr., said “environmental toxins” are causing autism, do you think he was talking about vaccines?Well, I listened very carefully to his testimony [on Wednesday]. And he will not rule out adverse effects of vaccines. And so, yes, I think he is probably still keeping that on his agenda. And you have the NIH director [Jay Bhattacharya] saying that we should look at everything because we want to gain the trust of people. To me, that’s not the way of gaining people’s trust. You don’t gain trust by saying that we can just toss out all the research that we’ve done so far and start again.Why did you decide to form a coalition of autism scientists?Colleagues of mine were becoming increasingly concerned, and we were thinking about what we could do as scientists. It came to a head for me when I saw all the advocacy groups—self-advocates, the parent advocacy groups, nonprofit organizations—come together and issue a very strongly worded and clear statement of concern about what they were hearing from the administration. And I felt that it was really important for the voice of scientists to be heard, too.So I just contacted a small group of my colleagues and said, “I think we need to issue a press release.” I set up the Zoom call that afternoon, at five o'clock on a Friday. And it took off so rapidly. Clearly, there was a need for the voices of scientists to be heard. We have something very important to contribute because that's where we have devoted our careers.What has concerned you and your colleagues the most?I would say there are probably four things. One is dismissing all the prior science that has been accomplished and everything that we do know. That, I think, is very disturbing.A second [concern] is that, at no point over the past several months of this administration, has the secretary of health and human services or, [since he took office on April 1], the NIH director reached out to anyone we know in the external autism science community. They have not reached out to us at all, and I think that is very disturbing.A third thing is that the one person that was named early on [by the administration to lead research into autism] was David Geier, who is not a trained scientist. [Editor’s Note: Geier is a long-time vaccine skeptic. He is not a physician and was sanctioned in 2011 for practicing medicine without a license.]The fourth thing is that now, we heard last week, the administration plans to use Medicare and Medicaid data as the foundation of the research plan to uncover the “roots” of autism. These are not databases that are suited to that kind of research because they capture only a subset of children diagnosed with autism. And there are serious concerns about whether this administration would put into place and commit to the kind of ethical privacy and confidentiality attempts that are needed to conduct this.Many autistic people push back on this focus on finding the “roots” of autism or a “cure.” How does that pushback fit in here?Autism is an enormously heterogenous disorder. People who, while needing some support, still can function and flourish individually represent one end of the spectrum. They can speak for themselves, and for at least some of them, autism is part of their identity. And understandably, they are not interested in a cure—and parenthetically, it’s unlikely that one could even identify a potential cure.But autism also involves the other end of the spectrum. A quarter to a third [of people with the diagnosis] are far more severely impaired. They may have limited daily living skills; they cannot be left alone; they have extremely limited communication abilities. This is the end of the [spectrum] that we now call profound autism. It is such a challenge for them and their families, especially some of them who engage in self-injury or very aggressive behavior. Yes, I think there is hope that we might find maybe not a complete cure but something that would significantly change their developmental course. I think we should be able to hold both ideas in our head at the same time because this is the reality of what autism is.Kennedy’s approach seems to step right on that fissure in the autism community. Is there a way to prevent this rift from developing further?I don't think I have the answer to that. It’s a big question in the community because people are looking at the agendas in very different ways. But I will say one thing. I have been really impressed, over the past couple of weeks, since beginning this coalition, with how [autistic] folks who are self-advocates have joined the coalition. I think the one thing that unifies us is a belief in the importance of scientific research. Maybe we define the scope of that science in different ways, but that’s always true. That’s something that we all hold to.And I think we all, at this moment, believe that the direction that’s been described so far by the administration is not the way we should go. We should not be opening up the question of vaccines again. We should be very cautious about using “registries” and make sure the research that’s done is ethical and maintains the confidentiality of individuals in those databases. We all agree about that.We also all agree that, so far, we’re not hearing from the administration that they have a very deep understanding of autism. They have failed to engage most of us, whether scientists or advocates or nonprofit organizations. None of us have been involved in these discussions. So I think we actually have a moment in time where there is some agreement, and I think it behooves the administration to think about why that is and whether they need to change their course.

Food rations that could supply 3.5 million people for a month are moldering in warehouses around the world because of U.S. aid cuts and risk becoming unusable, according to five people familiar with the situation. The food stocks have been stuck inside four U.S. government warehouses since the Trump administration’s decision in January to cut global aid programs, according to three people who previously worked at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and two sources from other aid organizations. Some stocks that are due to expire as early as July are likely to be destroyed, either by incineration, using them as animal feed, or disposing of them in other ways, two of the sources said. The warehouses, which are run by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), contain between 60,000 to 66,000 metric tons of food, sourced from American farmers and manufacturers, the five people said. An undated inventory list for the warehouses—which are located in Djibouti, South Africa, Dubai, and Houston—stated that they contained more than 66,000 tons of commodities, including high-energy biscuits, vegetable oil, and fortified grains. Those supplies are valued at over $98 million, according to the document reviewed by Reuters, which was shared by an aid official and verified by a U.S. government source as up to date. That food could feed over a million people for three months, or the entire population of Gaza for a month and a half, according to a Reuters analysis using figures from the World Food Programme, the world’s largest humanitarian agency. The U.N. body says that one ton of food—typically including cereals, pulses, and oil—can meet the daily need of approximately 1,660 people. The dismantling of USAID and cuts to humanitarian aid spending by President Donald Trump come as global hunger levels are rising due to conflict and climate change, which are driving more people toward famine, undoing decades of progress. According to the World Food Programme, 343 million people are facing acute levels of food insecurity worldwide. Of those, 1.9 million people are gripped by catastrophic hunger and on the brink of famine. Most of them are in Gaza and Sudan, but also in pockets of South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali. A spokesperson for the State Department, which oversees USAID, said in response to detailed questions about the food stocks that it was working to ensure the uninterrupted continuation of aid programs and their transfer by July as part of the USAID decommissioning process. “USAID is continuously consulting with partners on where to best distribute commodities at USAID pre-positioning warehouses for use in emergency programs ahead of their expiration dates,” the spokesperson said. Some food likely to be destroyed Although the Trump administration has issued waivers for some humanitarian programs—including in Gaza and Sudan—the cancellation of contracts and freezing of funds needed to pay suppliers, shippers, and contractors has left food stocks stuck in the four warehouses, the sources said. A proposal to hand the stocks to aid organizations that can distribute them is on hold, according to the U.S. source and two former USAID sources briefed on the proposal. The plan is awaiting approval from the State Department’s Office of Foreign Assistance, the two former USAID sources said. The office is headed by Jeremy Lewin, a 28-year-old former operative of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, who is now overseeing the decommissioning of USAID. The Office of Foreign Assistance, DOGE, and Lewin himself did not respond to requests for comment. Nearly 500 tons of high-energy biscuits stored at a USAID warehouse in Dubai are due to expire in July, according to a former USAID official and an aid official familiar with the inventories. The biscuits could feed at least 27,000 acutely malnourished children for a month, according to Reuters calculations. The biscuits are now likely to be destroyed or turned into animal feed, the former USAID official said, adding that in a typical year, only around 20 tons of food might be disposed of in this way because of damage in transit or storage. Some of those stocks were previously intended for Gaza and famine-stricken Sudan, the former official said. The State Department spokesperson did not directly respond to questions on how much of the food aid in storage was close to expiry and whether this would be destroyed. USAID plans to fire almost all of its staff in two rounds on July 1 and Sept. 2, as it prepares to shut down, according to a notification submitted to Congress in March. The two former USAID sources said many of the critical staff needed to manage the warehouses or move the supplies will depart in July. Children dying The United States is the world’s largest humanitarian aid donor, amounting to at least 38% of all contributions recorded by the United Nations. It disbursed $61 billion in foreign assistance last year, just over half of it via USAID, according to government data. U.S. food aid includes ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) such as high-energy biscuits and Plumpy’Nut, a peanut-based paste. Navyn Salem, the founder of Edesia, a U.S.-based manufacturer of Plumpy’Nut, said termination of transportation contracts by USAID had created a massive backlog that had forced the firm to hire an additional warehouse to store its own production. The resulting stockpile of 5,000 tons, worth $13 million, could feed more than 484,000 children, she said. Salem said that email exchanges with Lewin have left her “hopeful” that a way will be found soon to get her product to the desperate children who need it. The UN children’s agency UNICEF warned in late March that RUTF stocks were running short in 17 countries due to funding cuts, potentially forcing 2.4 million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition to go without these crucial supplies for the rest of the year. The four USAID warehouses contain the majority of the agency’s pre-positioned food stockpiles. In normal times, these could be rapidly deployed to places like Sudan, where 25 million people—half the country’s population—face acute hunger. Jeanette Bailey, director of nutrition at the International Rescue Committee, which receives much of its funding from the U.S., said it was scaling back its programs following the cuts. She said the impact of global shortages of therapeutic foods due to the disruption to U.S. aid flows is difficult to measure, particularly in places where aid programs no longer operate. “What we do know, though, is that if a child is in an inpatient stabilization center and they’re no longer able to access treatment, more than 60% of those children are at risk of dying very quickly,” she said. Action Against Hunger, a nonprofit that relied on the United States for over 30% of its global budget, said last month that the U.S. cuts had already led to the deaths of at least six children at its programs in the Democratic Republic of Congo, after it was forced to suspend admissions. Cuts causing chaos The Bureau for Humanitarian Affairs, which coordinates the U.S. government’s aid efforts overseas, was plunged into chaos by the Trump administration’s cutbacks, the five sources said. The bureau’s staff were among thousands of USAID employees put on administrative leave pending their terminations. While some staff were brought back to work until their severance dates, aid administration has not recovered. Three sources told Reuters that the contract to maintain USAID warehouses in the South African port city of Durban had been canceled, raising questions about future aid distribution. Reuters was unable to confirm that independently. Two former USAID officials said that the Djibouti and Dubai facilities would be handed over to a team at the State Department that has yet to be formed. The State Department did not comment. A spokesperson for the World Food Programme, which relies heavily on U.S. funding, declined to comment on the stranded food stocks. Asked if it was engaged in discussions to release them, the spokesperson said: “We greatly appreciate the support from all our donors, including the U.S., and we will continue to work with partners to advocate for the needs of the most vulnerable in urgent need of life-saving assistance”. —Jessica Donati, Emma Farge, Ammu Kannampilly, and Jonathan Landay, Reuters. Writing by Ammu Kannampilly.

About a half hour south of the Puerto Escondido airport is a stretch of Oaxacan coastline where whale sightings are common and the surf break is world famous. The remoteness of the region is key to its appeal. Architects and designers are drawn to the Mexican state for its deep history of crafts, from villages where weavers have worked for generations to the artist Bosco Sodi’s Tadao Ando–designed nonprofit, Casa Wabi. And while this rugged region may be hard to get to, it’s anything but unfamiliar territory to the architect Will Meyer and his wife Kerstin; their sprawling coastal compound occupies a three-acre plot that has been in her family for decades. Based in Nashville most of the year, the couple wanted to create a retreat for themselves and their two teenage children.The IngallsThe living room is set beneath a double-height palapa and has a 35-foot custom sofa. Chairs by Decova; custom cocktail table and rug.Meyer, who co-founded the multidisciplinary design studio Meyer Davis with Gray Davis, worked with builder Patricio Sodi, brother of Bosco, to develop a -family-friendly structure that nods to local culture as well as to Mexican modernism. “It was a really collaborative working relationship,” Meyer says. “We were able to play off each other.”“It’s very difficult to keep the elements out in this part of the world. You have to let nature tell you what to do.” —Will MeyerThe building’s central feature is a double-height palapa, a traditional thatch-roofed structure made of dried palm leaves. A symbol of tradition, the palapa anchors the southern end of the six-bedroom residence and houses communal areas including the dining room, kitchen, and bar.Almost 1,000 custom-made breeze blocks, laid out in a lattice pattern inspired by traditional weavings and made from local clay, serve as a focal point while also allowing for natural cross-ventilation. Only one room in the home has air conditioning. “It is very difficult to keep the elements out in this part of the world,” Meyer says. “You have to let nature tell you what to do. There is a lot of engineering behind the scenes to make it all seem effortless.”The IngallsIn the guest wing’s lounge, the sofa and chair are by Decova, the cocktail tables are by Arca, the rugs are from Dialecto Puerto Escondido, and the lamp is by Tseebal.Living in harmony with the elements is central to the layout. The interiors are outfitted in a palette of warm gray, rich oxblood, and tawny ocher drawn directly from the surrounding landscape. (The concrete pool deck is even -color-matched to the sand on the beach below.) The grounds were planted by Kerstin’s brother Ramses Alexander, who has a home next door, as does her father. The celebrated landscape architect Edwina von Gal consulted on sustainable plantings for the area, which is densely populated with Natal plums, cacti, and 15-foot-tall mangrove shrubs, between which the family likes to hang hammocks.See Inside the Oaxacan RetreatOutdoors, a 35-foot-long built-in sofa stretches along the back of the home, connecting the guest rooms and primary suites and inviting visitors to linger in front of the egg-shaped pool, gazing at the unobstructed 220-degree view of the ocean beyond. “If we’re here, we’re entertaining,” Kerstin says. “We can’t have an empty house. It needs to be lived in.” All the pillows, rugs, and fabrics were commissioned from local vendors by Kerstin, who has spent years sourcing Oaxacan textiles for her company, Maya Sund. “Every town here in Oaxaca has its own talent and its own history,” she says. “There is always something new that you learn in the creative process.”The IngallsHomeowners Will and Kerstin Meyer.The furnishings are sparse, but they feel even more luxurious for the intentionality with which they were chosen. The sizable dining table in volcanic stone was -custom-fabricated in Mexico by Arca, pendants were made locally of palm leaves, and decorative ceramics and dishes were sourced from the ethical online market Obakki. “There’s a precision to the house and architecture that’s seen through the lens of craft, and the hand that can be seen in everything in it,” Kerstin says. “Those two things need each other.”And with a stable Starlink connection and the calming sound of the sea close by, the family just needs to make the time to sit back and relax—and keep an eye out for whales. ◾This story originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of Elle Decor. SUBSCRIBESean SantiagoDeputy EditorSean Santiago is ELLE Decor's Deputy Editor, covering news, trends and talents in interior design, hospitality and travel, culture, and luxury shopping. Since starting his career at an interior design firm in 2011, he has gone on to cover the industry for Vogue, Architectural Digest, Sight Unseen, PIN-UP and Domino. He is the author of The Lonny Home (Weldon Owens, 2018), has produced scripted social content for brands including West Elm and Streeteasy, and is sometimes recognized on the street for his Instagram Reels series, #DanceToDecor

A couple of weeks ago I was in Washington, DC, for a gathering of scientists, policymakers, and longevity enthusiasts. They had come together to discuss ways to speed along the development of drugs and other treatments that might extend the human lifespan. One approach that came up was to simply make experimental drugs more easily accessible. Let people try drugs that might help them live longer, the argument went. Some groups have been pushing bills to do just that in Montana, a state whose constitution explicitly values personal liberty. A couple of years ago, a longevity lobbying group helped develop a bill that expanded on the state’s existing Right to Try law, which allowed seriously ill people to apply for access to experimental drugs (that is, drugs that have not been approved by drug regulators). The expansion, which was passed in 2023, opened access for people who are not seriously ill.  Over the last few months, the group has been pushing further—for a new bill that sets out exactly how clinics can sell experimental, unproven treatments in the state to anyone who wants them. At the end of the second day of the event, the man next to me looked at his phone. “It just passed,” he told me. (The lobbying group has since announced that the state's governor Greg Gianforte has signed the bill into law, but when I called his office, Gianforte's staff told me they could not legally tell me whether or not he has.) The passing of the bill could make Montana something of a US hub for experimental treatments. But it represents a wider trend: the creep of Right to Try across the US. And a potentially dangerous departure from evidence-based medicine. In the US, drugs must be tested in human volunteers before they can be approved and sold. Early-stage clinical trials are small and check for safety. Later trials test both the safety and efficacy of a new drug. The system is designed to keep people safe and to prevent manufacturers from selling ineffective or dangerous products. It’s meant to protect us from snake oil. But people who are seriously ill and who have exhausted all other treatment options are often desperate to try experimental drugs. They might see it as a last hope. Sometimes they can volunteer for clinical trials, but time, distance, and eligibility can rule out that option. Since the 1980s, seriously or terminally ill people who cannot take part in a trial for some reason can apply for access to experimental treatments through a “compassionate use” program run by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA authorizes almost all of the compassionate use requests it receives (although manufacturers don’t always agree to provide their drug for various reasons). But that wasn’t enough for the Goldwater Institute, a libertarian organization that in 2014 drafted a model Right to Try law for people who are terminally ill. Versions of this draft have since been passed into law in 41 US states, and the US has had a federal Right to Try law since 2018. These laws generally allow people who are seriously ill to apply for access to drugs that have only been through the very first stages of clinical trials, provided they give informed consent. Some have argued that these laws have been driven by a dislike of both drug regulation and the FDA. After all, they are designed to achieve the same result as the compassionate use program. The only difference is that they bypass the FDA. Either way, it’s worth noting just how early-stage these treatments are. A drug that has been through phase I trials might have been tested in just 20 healthy people. Yes, these trials are designed to test the safety of a drug, but they are never conclusive. At that point in a drug’s development, no one can know how a sick person—who is likely to be taking other medicines— will react to it. Now these Right to Try laws are being expanded even more. The Montana bill, which goes the furthest, will enable people who are not seriously ill to access unproven treatments, and other states have been making moves in the same direction. Just this week, Georgia’s governor signed into law the Hope for Georgia Patients Act, which allows people with life-threatening illnesses to access personalized treatments, those that are “unique to and produced exclusively for an individual patient based on his or her own genetic profile.” Similar laws, known as “Right to Try 2.0,”  have been passed in other states, too, including Arizona, Mississippi, and North Carolina. And last year, Utah passed a law that allows health care providers (including chiropractors, podiatrists, midwives, and naturopaths) to deliver unapproved placental stem cell therapies. These treatments involve cells collected from placentas, which are thought to hold promise for tissue regeneration. But they haven’t been through human trials. They can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and their effects are unknown. Utah’s law was described as a “pretty blatant broadbrush challenge to the FDA’s authority” by an attorney who specializes in FDA law. And it’s one that could put patients at risk. Laws like these spark a lot of very sensitive debates. Some argue that it’s a question of medical autonomy, and that people should have the right to choose what they put in their own bodies. And many argue there’s a cost-benefit calculation to be made. A seriously ill person potentially has more to gain and less to lose from trying an experimental drug, compared to someone who is in good health. But everyone needs to be protected from ineffective drugs. Most ethicists think it’s unethical to sell a treatment when you have no idea if it will work, and that argument has been supported by numerous US court decisions over the years.  There could be a financial incentive for doctors to recommend an experimental drug, especially when they are granted protections by law. (Right to Try laws tend to protect prescribing doctors from disciplinary action and litigation should something go wrong.) On top of all this, many ethicists are also concerned that the FDA’s drug approval process itself has been on a downward slide over the last decade or so. An increasing number of drug approvals are fast-tracked based on weak evidence, they argue. Scientists and ethicists on both sides of the debate are now waiting to see what unfolds under the new US administration.   In the meantime, a quote from Diana Zuckerman, president of the nonprofit National Center for Health Research, comes to mind: “Sometimes hope helps people do better,” she told me a couple of years ago. “But in medicine, isn’t it better to have hope based on evidence rather than hope based on hype?” This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here.

A couple of weeks ago I was in Washington, DC, for a gathering of scientists, policymakers, and longevity enthusiasts. They had come together to discuss ways to speed along the development of drugs and other treatments that might extend the human lifespan. One approach that came up was to simply make experimental drugs more easily accessible. Let people try drugs that might help them live longer, the argument went. Some groups have been pushing bills to do just that in Montana, a state whose constitution explicitly values personal liberty. A couple of years ago, a longevity lobbying group helped develop a bill that expanded on the state’s existing Right to Try law, which allowed seriously ill people to apply for access to experimental drugs (that is, drugs that have not been approved by drug regulators). The expansion, which was passed in 2023, opened access for people who are not seriously ill.  Over the last few months, the group has been pushing further—for a new bill that sets out exactly how clinics can sell experimental, unproven treatments in the state to anyone who wants them. At the end of the second day of the event, the man next to me looked at his phone. “It just passed,” he told me. (The lobbying group has since announced that the state's governor Greg Gianforte has signed the bill into law, but when I called his office, Gianforte's staff told me they could not legally tell me whether or not he has.) The passing of the bill could make Montana something of a US hub for experimental treatments. But it represents a wider trend: the creep of Right to Try across the US. And a potentially dangerous departure from evidence-based medicine. In the US, drugs must be tested in human volunteers before they can be approved and sold. Early-stage clinical trials are small and check for safety. Later trials test both the safety and efficacy of a new drug. The system is designed to keep people safe and to prevent manufacturers from selling ineffective or dangerous products. It’s meant to protect us from snake oil. But people who are seriously ill and who have exhausted all other treatment options are often desperate to try experimental drugs. They might see it as a last hope. Sometimes they can volunteer for clinical trials, but time, distance, and eligibility can rule out that option. Since the 1980s, seriously or terminally ill people who cannot take part in a trial for some reason can apply for access to experimental treatments through a “compassionate use” program run by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA authorizes almost all of the compassionate use requests it receives (although manufacturers don’t always agree to provide their drug for various reasons). But that wasn’t enough for the Goldwater Institute, a libertarian organization that in 2014 drafted a model Right to Try law for people who are terminally ill. Versions of this draft have since been passed into law in 41 US states, and the US has had a federal Right to Try law since 2018. These laws generally allow people who are seriously ill to apply for access to drugs that have only been through the very first stages of clinical trials, provided they give informed consent. Some have argued that these laws have been driven by a dislike of both drug regulation and the FDA. After all, they are designed to achieve the same result as the compassionate use program. The only difference is that they bypass the FDA. Either way, it’s worth noting just how early-stage these treatments are. A drug that has been through phase I trials might have been tested in just 20 healthy people. Yes, these trials are designed to test the safety of a drug, but they are never conclusive. At that point in a drug’s development, no one can know how a sick person—who is likely to be taking other medicines— will react to it. Now these Right to Try laws are being expanded even more. The Montana bill, which goes the furthest, will enable people who are not seriously ill to access unproven treatments, and other states have been making moves in the same direction. Just this week, Georgia’s governor signed into law the Hope for Georgia Patients Act, which allows people with life-threatening illnesses to access personalized treatments, those that are “unique to and produced exclusively for an individual patient based on his or her own genetic profile.” Similar laws, known as “Right to Try 2.0,”  have been passed in other states, too, including Arizona, Mississippi, and North Carolina. And last year, Utah passed a law that allows health care providers (including chiropractors, podiatrists, midwives, and naturopaths) to deliver unapproved placental stem cell therapies. These treatments involve cells collected from placentas, which are thought to hold promise for tissue regeneration. But they haven’t been through human trials. They can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and their effects are unknown. Utah’s law was described as a “pretty blatant broadbrush challenge to the FDA’s authority” by an attorney who specializes in FDA law. And it’s one that could put patients at risk. Laws like these spark a lot of very sensitive debates. Some argue that it’s a question of medical autonomy, and that people should have the right to choose what they put in their own bodies. And many argue there’s a cost-benefit calculation to be made. A seriously ill person potentially has more to gain and less to lose from trying an experimental drug, compared to someone who is in good health. But everyone needs to be protected from ineffective drugs. Most ethicists think it’s unethical to sell a treatment when you have no idea if it will work, and that argument has been supported by numerous US court decisions over the years.  There could be a financial incentive for doctors to recommend an experimental drug, especially when they are granted protections by law. (Right to Try laws tend to protect prescribing doctors from disciplinary action and litigation should something go wrong.) On top of all this, many ethicists are also concerned that the FDA’s drug approval process itself has been on a downward slide over the last decade or so. An increasing number of drug approvals are fast-tracked based on weak evidence, they argue. Scientists and ethicists on both sides of the debate are now waiting to see what unfolds under the new US administration.   In the meantime, a quote from Diana Zuckerman, president of the nonprofit National Center for Health Research, comes to mind: “Sometimes hope helps people do better,” she told me a couple of years ago. “But in medicine, isn’t it better to have hope based on evidence rather than hope based on hype?” This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here.

A couple of weeks ago I was in Washington, DC, for a gathering of scientists, policymakers, and longevity enthusiasts. They had come together to discuss ways to speed along the development of drugs and other treatments that might extend the human lifespan. One approach that came up was to simply make experimental drugs more easily accessible. Let people try drugs that might help them live longer, the argument went. Some groups have been pushing bills to do just that in Montana, a state whose constitution explicitly values personal liberty. A couple of years ago, a longevity lobbying group helped develop a bill that expanded on the state’s existing Right to Try law, which allowed seriously ill people to apply for access to experimental drugs (that is, drugs that have not been approved by drug regulators). The expansion, which was passed in 2023, opened access for people who are not seriously ill.  Over the last few months, the group has been pushing further—for a new bill that sets out exactly how clinics can sell experimental, unproven treatments in the state to anyone who wants them. At the end of the second day of the event, the man next to me looked at his phone. “It just passed,” he told me. (The lobbying group has since announced that the state’s governor Greg Gianforte has signed the bill into law, but when I called his office, Gianforte’s staff told me they could not legally tell me whether or not he has.) The passing of the bill could make Montana something of a US hub for experimental treatments. But it represents a wider trend: the creep of Right to Try across the US. And a potentially dangerous departure from evidence-based medicine. In the US, drugs must be tested in human volunteers before they can be approved and sold. Early-stage clinical trials are small and check for safety. Later trials test both the safety and efficacy of a new drug. The system is designed to keep people safe and to prevent manufacturers from selling ineffective or dangerous products. It’s meant to protect us from snake oil. But people who are seriously ill and who have exhausted all other treatment options are often desperate to try experimental drugs. They might see it as a last hope. Sometimes they can volunteer for clinical trials, but time, distance, and eligibility can rule out that option. Since the 1980s, seriously or terminally ill people who cannot take part in a trial for some reason can apply for access to experimental treatments through a “compassionate use” program run by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA authorizes almost all of the compassionate use requests it receives (although manufacturers don’t always agree to provide their drug for various reasons). But that wasn’t enough for the Goldwater Institute, a libertarian organization that in 2014 drafted a model Right to Try law for people who are terminally ill. Versions of this draft have since been passed into law in 41 US states, and the US has had a federal Right to Try law since 2018. These laws generally allow people who are seriously ill to apply for access to drugs that have only been through the very first stages of clinical trials, provided they give informed consent. Some have argued that these laws have been driven by a dislike of both drug regulation and the FDA. After all, they are designed to achieve the same result as the compassionate use program. The only difference is that they bypass the FDA. Either way, it’s worth noting just how early-stage these treatments are. A drug that has been through phase I trials might have been tested in just 20 healthy people. Yes, these trials are designed to test the safety of a drug, but they are never conclusive. At that point in a drug’s development, no one can know how a sick person—who is likely to be taking other medicines— will react to it. Now these Right to Try laws are being expanded even more. The Montana bill, which goes the furthest, will enable people who are not seriously ill to access unproven treatments, and other states have been making moves in the same direction. Just this week, Georgia’s governor signed into law the Hope for Georgia Patients Act, which allows people with life-threatening illnesses to access personalized treatments, those that are “unique to and produced exclusively for an individual patient based on his or her own genetic profile.” Similar laws, known as “Right to Try 2.0,”  have been passed in other states, too, including Arizona, Mississippi, and North Carolina. And last year, Utah passed a law that allows health care providers (including chiropractors, podiatrists, midwives, and naturopaths) to deliver unapproved placental stem cell therapies. These treatments involve cells collected from placentas, which are thought to hold promise for tissue regeneration. But they haven’t been through human trials. They can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and their effects are unknown. Utah’s law was described as a “pretty blatant broadbrush challenge to the FDA’s authority” by an attorney who specializes in FDA law. And it’s one that could put patients at risk. Laws like these spark a lot of very sensitive debates. Some argue that it’s a question of medical autonomy, and that people should have the right to choose what they put in their own bodies. And many argue there’s a cost-benefit calculation to be made. A seriously ill person potentially has more to gain and less to lose from trying an experimental drug, compared to someone who is in good health. But everyone needs to be protected from ineffective drugs. Most ethicists think it’s unethical to sell a treatment when you have no idea if it will work, and that argument has been supported by numerous US court decisions over the years.  There could be a financial incentive for doctors to recommend an experimental drug, especially when they are granted protections by law. (Right to Try laws tend to protect prescribing doctors from disciplinary action and litigation should something go wrong.) On top of all this, many ethicists are also concerned that the FDA’s drug approval process itself has been on a downward slide over the last decade or so. An increasing number of drug approvals are fast-tracked based on weak evidence, they argue. Scientists and ethicists on both sides of the debate are now waiting to see what unfolds under the new US administration.   In the meantime, a quote from Diana Zuckerman, president of the nonprofit National Center for Health Research, comes to mind: “Sometimes hope helps people do better,” she told me a couple of years ago. “But in medicine, isn’t it better to have hope based on evidence rather than hope based on hype?” This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here.

xAI blamed an “unauthorized modification” for a bug in its AI-powered Grok chatbot that caused Grok to repeatedly refer to “white genocide in South Africa” when invoked in certain contexts on X. On Wednesday, Grok began replying to dozens of posts on X with information about white genocide in South Africa, even in response to unrelated subjects. The strange replies stemmed from the X account for Grok, which responds to users with AI-generated posts whenever a person tags “@grok.” According to a post Thursday from xAI’s official X account, a change was made Wednesday morning to the Grok bot’s system prompt — the high-level instructions that guide the bot’s behavior — that directed Grok to provide a “specific response” on a “political topic.” xAI says that the tweak “violated [its] internal policies and core values,” and that the company has “conducted a thorough investigation.” It’s the second time xAI has publicly acknowledged an unauthorized change to Grok’s code caused the AI to respond in controversial ways. In February, Grok briefly censored unflattering mentions of Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of xAI and owner of X. Igor Babuschkin, an xAI engineering lead, said that Grok had been instructed by a rogue employee to ignore sources that mentioned Musk or Trump spreading misinformation, and that xAI reverted the change as soon as users began pointing it out. xAI said on Thursday that it’s going to make several changes to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. Beginning today, xAI will publish Grok’s system prompts on GitHub as well as a changelog. The company says it’ll also “put in place additional checks and measures” to ensure that xAI employees can’t modify the system prompt without review and establish a “24/7 monitoring team to respond to incidents with Grok’s answers that are not caught by automated systems.” Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | June 5 REGISTER NOW Despite Musk’s frequent warnings of the dangers of AI gone unchecked, xAI has a poor AI safety track record. A recent report found that Grok would undress photos of women when asked. The chatbot can also be considerably more crass than AI like Google’s Gemini and ChatGPT, cursing without much restraint to speak of. A study by SaferAI, a nonprofit aiming to improve the accountability of AI labs, found xAI ranks poorly on safety among its peers, owing to its “very weak” risk management practices. Earlier this month, xAI missed a self-imposed deadline to publish a finalized AI safety framework.

xAI blamed an “unauthorized modification” for a bug in its AI-powered Grok chatbot that caused Grok to repeatedly refer to “white genocide in South Africa” when invoked in certain contexts on X. On Wednesday, Grok began replying to dozens of posts on X with information about white genocide in South Africa, even in response to unrelated subjects. The strange replies stemmed from the X account for Grok, which responds to users with AI-generated posts whenever a person tags “@grok.” According to a post Thursday from xAI’s official X account, a change was made Wednesday morning to the Grok bot’s system prompt — the high-level instructions that guide the bot’s behavior — that directed Grok to provide a “specific response” on a “political topic.” xAI says that the tweak “violated [its] internal policies and core values,” and that the company has “conducted a thorough investigation.” It’s the second time xAI has publicly acknowledged an unauthorized change to Grok’s code caused the AI to respond in controversial ways. In February, Grok briefly censored unflattering mentions of Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of xAI and owner of X. Igor Babuschkin, an xAI engineering lead, said that Grok had been instructed by a rogue employee to ignore sources that mentioned Musk or Trump spreading misinformation, and that xAI reverted the change as soon as users began pointing it out. xAI said on Thursday that it’s going to make several changes to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. Beginning today, xAI will publish Grok’s system prompts on GitHub as well as a changelog. The company says it’ll also “put in place additional checks and measures” to ensure that xAI employees can’t modify the system prompt without review and establish a “24/7 monitoring team to respond to incidents with Grok’s answers that are not caught by automated systems.” Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | June 5 REGISTER NOW Despite Musk’s frequent warnings of the dangers of AI gone unchecked, xAI has a poor AI safety track record. A recent report found that Grok would undress photos of women when asked. The chatbot can also be considerably more crass than AI like Google’s Gemini and ChatGPT, cursing without much restraint to speak of. A study by SaferAI, a nonprofit aiming to improve the accountability of AI labs, found xAI ranks poorly on safety among its peers, owing to its “very weak” risk management practices. Earlier this month, xAI missed a self-imposed deadline to publish a finalized AI safety framework.