The Download: AI companion dangers, and supersonic planes

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The must-reads

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

1 China may pull the plug on a TikTok deal
Holding out is a weapon in its arsenal as Trump ramps up the trade war. (WP $)

2 Australia and South Korea are cracking down on DeepSeek
They’re restricting government use of its models due to security concerns. (Nikkei Asia)
+ How DeepSeek ripped up the AI playbook—and why everyone’s going to follow its lead. (MIT Technology Review)

3 A new form of bird flu has been detected in cows in Nevada
This is far from good news, and even worse timing. (NYT $)
+ Argentina is planning to follow the US in withdrawing from the World Health Organization. (CNN)
+ This is what might happen if the US exits the WHO. (MIT Technology Review)

4 The US Postal Service has resumed accepting packages from China
The sudden U-turn has added to growing confusion about the impact of the new 10% tariff. (CNBC)

5 What happens when DOGE starts tinkering with the nuclear agency?
A ‘break things now, fix them later’ mindset isn’t so great when the thing you’re breaking is this important. (The Atlantic $)
+ DOGE employees have been told to stop using Slack in order to avoid being subject to the Freedom of Information Act. (404 Media)

6 Mentions of DEI and women leaders are being scrubbed from NASA’s site
Personnel have been told to drop everything and focus on doing this instead. (404 Media)
+ It’s part of a wider data purge across loads of government websites. (The Verge)
+ Google is ending diversity targets for recruitment, following similar moves by Meta, Amazon and others. (BBC)
+ Right-wing activists have a new target in their sights: Wikipedia. (Slate $)
+ Is anyone going to stand up and resist any of this? (New Yorker $)

7 Amazon has a plan to reduce AI hallucinations
It’s pinning its hopes on a process called ‘automated reasoning’, which double checks models’ answers. (WSJ $)
+ Why does AI hallucinate? (MIT Technology Review)

8 Lab-grown meat for pets is now on sale 🐶
Great news for any dog-loving vegans living in the UK. (The Verge)

9 Crypto crimes have spawned a new kind of detective 🕵️
It’s a cat-and-mouse game, and it’s only just getting started. (The Economist $)

10 Meet the poetry fan who taught AI to understand DNA
This is a lovely example of how art and science often intersect. (Quanta $)