{"id":16451,"date":"2026-01-15T13:27:03","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T13:27:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/the-download-spying-on-the-spies-and-promising-climate-tech\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T13:27:03","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T13:27:03","slug":"the-download-spying-on-the-spies-and-promising-climate-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/the-download-spying-on-the-spies-and-promising-climate-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"The Download: spying on the spies, and promising climate tech"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This is today\u2019s edition of\u00a0The Download<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what\u2019s going on in the world of technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

Meet the man hunting the spies in your smartphone<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In April 2025, Ronald Deibert left all electronic devices at home in Toronto and boarded a plane. When he landed in Illinois, he bought a new laptop and iPhone. He wanted to reduce the risk of having his personal devices confiscated, because he knew his work made him a prime target for surveillance. \u201cI\u2019m traveling under the assumption that I am being watched, right down to exactly where I am at any moment,\u201d Deibert says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Deibert directs the Citizen Lab, a research center he founded in 2001 to serve as \u201ccounterintelligence for civil society.\u201d Housed at the University of Toronto, it\u2019s one of the few institutions that investigate cyberthreats exclusively in the public interest, and in doing so, it has exposed some of the most egregious digital abuses of the past two decades.<\/p>\n

For many years, Deibert and his colleagues have held up the US as the standard for liberal democracy. But that\u2019s changing.\u00a0Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Finian Hazen<\/em><\/p>\n

This story is from the\u00a0latest issue<\/a>\u00a0of our print magazine. If you\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0to receive future copies when they land you\u2019ll benefit from some big discounts, and get a free tote bag!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Three climate technologies breaking through in 2026\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u2014Casey Crownhart\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Happy New Year! I know it\u2019s a bit late to say, but it never quite feels like the year has started until the new edition of our 10 Breakthrough Technologies list comes out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For 25 years, MIT Technology Review has put together this package, which highlights the technologies that we think are going to matter in the future. This year\u2019s version<\/a> has a bunch of climate and energy picks including sodium-ion batteries<\/a>, next-generation nuclear<\/a>, and hyperscale AI data centers<\/a>. Let\u2019s take a look at what ended up on the list, and what it says<\/a> about this moment for climate tech.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This story ran in The Spark, our weekly newsletter all about the technologies we can use to combat climate change. <\/strong>Sign up<\/strong><\/a> to get it in your inbox first every Wednesday.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

And, if you\u2019re keen to learn more about why AI companies are betting big on next-gen nuclear, <\/strong>join us<\/strong><\/a> for an exclusive subscriber-only Roundtable event on Wednesday January 28 at 2pm ET.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n

The must-reads<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve combed the internet to find you today\u2019s most fun\/important\/scary\/fascinating stories about technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

1 AI companies are now deeply entwined with the US military<\/strong>
And it looks like they\u2019re only set to get closer. (Wired<\/a>\u00a0$)
+\u00a0Three open questions about the Pentagon\u2019s push for generative AI.\u00a0<\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

2 Grok will comply with local laws, X has said<\/strong>
A global backlash over users creating \u2018undressing\u2019 images of real people seems to have forced its hand. (BBC<\/a>)
+\u00a0So far there\u2019s no evidence it\u2019s actually following through on that promise though<\/em>. (The Verge<\/a>)
+\u00a0Elon Musk could stop it all instantly if he <\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0wanted to.<\/em>\u00a0(Engadget<\/a>)<\/p>\n

3 The risks of using AI in schools outweigh the benefits<\/strong>
According to a sweeping new study by the Brookings Institution\u2019s Center for Universal Education. (NPR<\/a>)
+\u00a0AI\u2019s giants are trying to take over the classroom<\/em>. (MIT Technology Review<\/a>)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

4 Trump is imposing new tariffs on high-end chips<\/strong>
They\u2019re pretty narrow though, and leave plenty of room for exports to China. (WP<\/a>\u00a0$)
+\u00a0Zhipu AI says it\u2019s trained its first major model entirely on Chinese chips.<\/em>\u00a0(South China Morning Post)<\/a><\/p>\n

5 A UK police force blamed Microsoft Copilot for an intelligence error\u00a0<\/strong>
After spending weeks denying it was using AI tools at all. (Ars Technica<\/a>)
+\u00a0Worried about police and lawyers using AI? Well, judges are at it too.\u00a0<\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)\u00a0<\/p>\n

6 Inside the compounds where the fraud industry makes its billions<\/strong>
The details are grim\u2014for example the fact workers struck a gong every time they scammed someone out of $5,000. (NYT<\/a>\u00a0$)
+\u00a0Inside a romance scam compound\u2014and how people get tricked into being there. (<\/em>MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

7 Bandcamp has banned purely AI-generated music from its platform\u00a0<\/strong>
It\u2019s the first online music platform to take this step. (Billboard<\/a>)
+\u00a0Can AI generate new ideas?\u00a0<\/em>(NYT<\/a>\u00a0$)<\/p>\n

8 Remember Havana Syndrome? The US may have found the device that causes it<\/strong>
It was acquired for millions of dollars under the last administration, and it\u2019s still being studied. (CNN<\/a>)<\/p>\n

9 This study failed to prove social media time causes teens\u2019 mental health issues<\/strong>
It\u2019s a common assumption, but there\u2019s still remarkably little evidence to back it up. (The Guardian<\/a>)<\/p>\n

10 The UK is planning to build a record-breaking number of wind farms<\/strong>
Its government is pushing for the vast majority of the country\u2019s electricity to come from clean sources by 2030. (BBC<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Quote of the day<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWomen and girls are far more reluctant to use AI. This should be no surprise to any of us. Women don\u2019t see this as exciting new technology, but as simply new ways to harass and abuse us and try and push us offline.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014Clare McGlynn, a law professor at Durham University, tells The Guardian<\/a> she fears that the use of AI to harm women and girls is only going to grow.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

One more thing<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"Climate<\/p>\n
DANIEL STOLLE<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Inside the little-known group setting the corporate climate agenda<\/strong><\/h4>\n

As thousands of companies trumpet their plans to cut carbon pollution, a small group of sustainability consultants has emerged as the go-to arbiter of corporate climate action.<\/p>\n

The Science Based Targets initiative, or SBTi, helps businesses develop a timetable for action to shrink their climate footprint through some combination of cutting greenhouse-gas pollution and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. After years of small-scale sustainability work, SBTi is growing rapidly, and governments are paying attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But while the group has earned praise for reeling the private sector into constructive conversations about climate emissions, its rising influence has also attracted scrutiny and raised questions about why a single organization is setting the standards for many of the world\u2019s largest companies. Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Ian Morse<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

We can still have nice things<\/strong><\/p>\n

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? <\/em>Drop me a line<\/em><\/a> or <\/em>skeet \u2019em at me<\/em><\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

+ The leaders of Japan and South Korea\u00a0drummed up a viral moment<\/a>\u00a0with a jam session this week.\u00a0
+ Struggle during the cold, dark winter months?\u00a0Here\u2019s how to make things easier for yourself<\/a>.\u00a0
+ If you like getting lost in the depths of Wikipedia,\u00a0Freakpages<\/a>\u00a0is for you.\u00a0
+ From Pluribus to Stranger Things, we really can\u2019t get enough of\u00a0hive minds<\/a>in stories lately. ($)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is today\u2019s edition of\u00a0The Download,\u00a0our weekday newsletter that provides […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[226],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16451\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}