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.
Africa’s push to regulate AI starts now
In Tanzania, farmers are using an AI-assisted app that works in their native language of Swahili to detect a devastating cassava disease before it spreads. In South Africa, computer scientists have built machine learning models to analyze the impact of racial segregation in housing. And in Nairobi, Kenya, AI classifies images from thousands of surveillance cameras perched on lampposts in the bustling city’s center.
The projected benefit of AI adoption on Africa’s economy is tantalizing. Estimates suggest that four African countries alone—Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa—could rake in up to $136 billion worth of economic benefits by 2030 if businesses there begin using more AI tools.
Now, the African Union—made up of 55 member nations—is preparing an ambitious AI policy that envisions an Africa-centric path for the development and regulation of this emerging technology. But debates on when AI regulation is warranted and concerns about stifling innovation could pose a roadblock, while a lack of AI infrastructure could hold back the technology’s adoption. Read the full story.
—Abdullahi Tsanni
Brazil is fighting dengue with bacteria-infected mosquitos
As dengue cases continue to rise in Brazil, the country is facing a massive public health crisis. The viral disease, spread by mosquitoes, has sickened more than a million Brazilians in 2024 alone, overwhelming hospitals.
The dengue crisis is the result of the collision of two key factors. This year has brought an abundance of wet, warm weather, boosting populations of the mosquitoes that spread dengue. It also happens to be a year when all four types of dengue virus are circulating. Few people have built up immunity against them all.
Brazil is busy fighting back—with help from the World Mosquito Program, it’s essentially vaccinating mosquitoes against giving humans disease. Read the full story.
—Cassandra Willyard
This story is from The Checkup, our weekly biotech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 China is likely to block a forced sale of TikTok
It looks like authorities would rather it was banned in the US instead. (WSJ $)
+ The question is, who can afford it? (Vox)
+ TikTok isn’t really helping itself. (NYT $)
+ The debate is heading towards the courts. (WP $)
2 It was third time lucky for SpaceX’s Starship rocket
The world’s largest rocket finally reached orbit on its third attempt. (Economist $)
3 The majority of AI chatbots can be hacked to leak their responses
With the exception of Google’s Gemini, major chatbots are vulnerable to a sneaky side channel attack. (Ars Technica)
+ Three ways AI chatbots are a security disaster. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Russia is borrowing from China’s online censorship playbook
Ahead of Russia’s elections, its authorities have cracked down on circumvention tools. (NYT $)
+ The end of anonymity online in China. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Vast swathes of Africa are struggling to connect to the internet
A mysterious series of faults in four subsea cables is to blame. (Bloomberg $)
+ It’s one of the most severe outages in recent years. (The Guardian)
+ An AI-powered phone is certainly one solution for internet blackouts. (Reuters)
6 A second Gamergate harassment campaign is gaining traction
A Montreal indie gamesmaker is its latest target. (Wired $)
7 AI is making it easier than ever to sell products on Amazon
Whether the AI-generated listings are correct or not remains to be seen, though. (The Verge)
8 How an Uber Eats worker took on its algorithm—and won
Train the algorithm, or the algorithm will train you. (FT $)
+ Banned gig economy workers are renting accounts from their colleagues. (Rest of World)
+ What Luddites can teach us about resisting an automated future. (MIT Technology Review)
9 How to turn electronic waste into gold
A protein sponge makes extracting the precious metal surprisingly simple. (IEEE Spectrum)
10 What it’s like to let an AI bot swipe Tinder for you
Don’t get your hopes up. (404 Media)
Quote of the day
“When you see other people’s good things, you must find ways to own them.”
—Wang Wenbin, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, criticizes what he calls America’s “robber’s logic” towards TikTok, the Financial Times reports.
The big story
This US company sold iPhone hacking tools to UAE spies
When the United Arab Emirates paid over $1.3 million for a powerful and stealthy iPhone hacking tool in 2016, the monarchy’s spies—and the American mercenary hackers they hired—put it to immediate use.
The tool exploited a flaw in Apple’s iMessage app to enable hackers to completely take over a victim’s iPhone. It was used against hundreds of targets in a vast campaign of surveillance and espionage whose victims included geopolitical rivals, dissidents, and human rights activists.
MIT Technology Review can confirm the exploit was developed and sold by an American firm named Accuvant—shedding new light on the role played by American companies and mercenaries in the proliferation of powerful hacking capabilities around the world. Read the full story.
—Patrick Howell O’Neill
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 tweet ’em at me.)
+ All hail Muhamed the mathematically-minded German horse.
+ How many of the Great American Novels have you read? (Atlantic $)
+ Folded scrambled eggs, or fancy omelet?
+ If you’ve ever teared up in a yoga class, you’re not alone.