Author: Wired Magazine

After Layoffs, Crypto Startups Face a ‘Crucible Moment’

In May, the venture capital firm Sequoia circulated a memo among its startup founders. The 52-page presentation warned of a challenging road ahead, paved by inflation, rising interest rates, a Nasdaq drawdown, supply chain issues, war, and a general weariness about the economy. Things were about to get tough, and this time, venture capital would… Continue reading After Layoffs, Crypto Startups Face a ‘Crucible Moment’

The Weak Argument Jeopardizing Tech Antitrust Legislation

Opponents of the antitrust push targeting Big Tech have lobbed all kinds of arguments to try to weaken support for new legislation. They may finally have found one that sticks. This week, a group of four Democratic senators led by Brian Schatz, of Hawaii, sent a letter to Amy Klobuchar asking her to pump the… Continue reading The Weak Argument Jeopardizing Tech Antitrust Legislation

It’s Time to Burn Medical Consent Forms

What could this look like? What could someone change today, right now, without having to gear up for a fight with lawyers about contract wording? Start with the artifacts–the physical things patients take home with them (or the digital things emailed to them). A typical consent process might yield two: a copy of the consent… Continue reading It’s Time to Burn Medical Consent Forms

LaMDA and the Sentient AI Trap

Now head of the nonprofit Distributed AI Research, Gebru hopes that going forward people focus on human welfare, not robot rights. Other AI ethicists have said that they’ll no longer discuss conscious or superintelligent AI at all. “Quite a large gap exists between the current narrative of AI and what it can actually do,” says… Continue reading LaMDA and the Sentient AI Trap

What Black One Direction Fans Reveal About Activism and Fandom

Gabrielle Foster had been a fan of One Direction since she was 11 years old. “We all come from different backgrounds. We all bond over Harry, but we don’t personally know what’s going on in each other’s lives,” she told me. “I just want there to be more representation for everybody.” Now in her early… Continue reading What Black One Direction Fans Reveal About Activism and Fandom

‘Is This AI Sapient?’ Is the Wrong Question to Ask About LaMDA

The uproar caused by Blake Lemoine, a Google engineer who believes that one of the company’s most sophisticated chat programs, Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA) is sapient, has had a curious element: Actual AI ethics experts are all but renouncing further discussion of the AI sapience question, or deeming it a distraction. They’re right… Continue reading ‘Is This AI Sapient?’ Is the Wrong Question to Ask About LaMDA

The FAA Says SpaceX Can’t Expand Its Texas Launch Site—Yet

After months of suspense, the Federal Aviation Administration has finally weighed in on the environmental effects of the planned expansion of SpaceX’s sprawling Starbase launch facility near Boca Chica, Texas. The agency says that if SpaceX takes some 75 actions to limit environmental hazards, the company can continue that expansion and its application for a… Continue reading The FAA Says SpaceX Can’t Expand Its Texas Launch Site—Yet

Monkeypox Can Be Contained—but Time Is Running Out

When monkeypox briefly found its way into the US in 2003, it infected prairie dogs. “We know that ground squirrels are highly susceptible to the virus and that there is a wide host range of species,” says Rimoin. “If monkeypox were able to become established in a wildlife reservoir outside of Africa, it would be… Continue reading Monkeypox Can Be Contained—but Time Is Running Out