The Download: Taiwan’s silicon shield, and ChatGPT’s personality misstep

Taiwanese politics increasingly revolves around one crucial question: Will China invade? China’s ruling party has wanted to seize Taiwan for more than half a century. But in recent years, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has placed greater emphasis on the idea of “taking back” the island (which the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, has never controlled).

Many in Taiwan and elsewhere think one major deterrent has to do with the island’s critical role in semiconductor manufacturing. Taiwan produces the majority of the world’s semiconductors and more than 90% of the most advanced chips needed for AI applications.

But now some Taiwan specialists and some of the island’s citi­zens are worried that this “silicon shield,” if it ever existed, is cracking. Read the full story.

—Johanna M. Costigan

This story is from our forthcoming print issue, which is all about security. If you haven’t already, subscribe now to receive future issues once they land.

Why there's a big backlash against ChatGPT's new 'personality'

When OpenAI made the switch to its new GPT-5 model last week, a number of people reacted with shock, frustration, sadness, or anger to previous model 4o’s sudden disappearance from ChatGPT.

Despite its awareness that people are developing emotional bonds with the model, OpenAI appears to have been caught flat-footed by the fervor of users’ pleas for its return. Within a day, the company made 4o available again to its paying customers (free users are stuck with GPT-5).

MIT Technology Review spoke with several ChatGPT users who were deeply affected by the loss of 4o. All are women between the ages of 20 and 40, and all bar one considered 4o to be a romantic partner. Read the full story.

—Grace Huckins

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