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

1 The Supreme Court ruled the White House can contact social media firms
It’s a blow for right-wing campaigners who argue their views are being censored online. (WP $)
Here’s what it means for the election. (NPR)
+ Russian propagandists are promoting deepfakes of Biden. (Wired $)

2 How AI has revolutionized protein science
And the most exciting part? We’re really only at the beginning of discovering what machine learning could unlock. (Quanta $)
Google DeepMind’s new AlphaFold can model a much larger slice of biological life. (MIT Technology Review)

3 Inside California’s green energy revolution
The state is showing how you can run a thriving modern economy on clean energy. (New Yorker $)

4 Toys ‘R’ Us used OpenAI’s video AI system Sora to make a commercial
It’s a milestone for the use of AI in video production—but the response to it was very mixed. (NBC)
+ I tested out a buzzy new text-to-video AI model from China. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Secret Telegram channels are providing refuge for LGBTQ+ people in Russia
Up to and including advice on how to leave the country, which is becoming less and less safe. (Wired $)

6 We really need AI to be able to cite its sources
The trouble is, even if it could, would they be factually accurate? (The Atlantic $)
At least 10% of scientific research may already be co-authored by AI. (The Economist $)

7 Consultants are raking it in thanks to the AI boom
But of course they are. (NYT $)

8 It’s become worryingly normalized to snoop on your partner’s online life 
Yet it’s still a really, really bad idea. (WP $)

9 Lawn Mowing Simulator is the latest anti-escapist video game
Struggling to see the appeal personally, but hey, each to their own. (The Guardian)

10 McDonalds has rejected plant-based burgers 🍔
After tests of its McPlant burger in San Francisco and Dallas failed. (Quartz $)
+ Here’s what a lab-grown burger tastes like. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“There’s no question that this crosses a line that they hadn’t previously crossed. I think that suggests that the lines are becoming meaningless.”

Darren Linvill, a founder of the Media Forensics Hub at Clemson University, tells the New York Times that aggressively targeting a US-based Chinese dissident’s 16-year-old daughter online represents a new low for the country’s security services. 

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