{"id":16697,"date":"2026-01-20T13:45:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T13:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/20\/the-download-digitizing-india-and-scoring-embryos\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T13:45:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T13:45:58","slug":"the-download-digitizing-india-and-scoring-embryos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/20\/the-download-digitizing-india-and-scoring-embryos\/","title":{"rendered":"The Download: digitizing India, and scoring embryos"},"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

The man who made India digital isn\u2019t done yet<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Nandan Nilekani can\u2019t stop trying to push India into the future. He started nearly 30 years ago, masterminding an ongoing experiment in technological state capacity that started with Aadhaar\u2014the world\u2019s largest digital identity system.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Using Aadhaar as the bedrock, Nilekani and people working with him went on to build a sprawling collection of free, interoperating online tools that add up to nothing less than a digital infrastructure for society, covering government services, banking, and health care. They offer convenience and access that would be eye-popping in wealthy countries a tenth of India\u2019s size.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At 70 years old, Nilekani should be retired. But he has a few more ideas. Read our profile to learn about what he\u2019s set his sights on next.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014Edd Gent<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Embryo scoring is slowly becoming more mainstream<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Many Americans agree that it\u2019s acceptable to screen embryos for severe genetic diseases. Far fewer say it\u2019s okay to test for characteristics related to a future child\u2019s appearance, behavior, or intelligence. But a few startups are now advertising what they claim is a way to do just that.<\/p>\n

This new kind of testing\u2014which can cost up to $50,000\u2014is incredibly controversial. Nevertheless, the practice has grown popular in Silicon Valley, and it\u2019s becoming more widely available to everyone. Read the full story<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014Julia Black<\/em>
Embryo scoring<\/strong><\/a> is one of our 10 Breakthrough Technologies this year. <\/strong>Check out what else made the list<\/strong><\/a>, and scroll down to vote for the technology you think deserves the 11th slot.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Five AI predictions for 2026<\/h2>\n

What will surprise us most about AI in 2026?<\/p>\n

Tune in at 12.30pm today to hear me, our senior AI editor Will Douglas Heaven and senior AI reporter James O\u2019Donnell discuss our\u00a0\u201c5 AI Predictions for 2026\u201d. This\u00a0special LinkedIn Live event will explore the trends that are poised to transform the next twelve months of AI. The conversation will also offer a first glimpse at EmTech AI 2026, MIT Technology Review\u2019s longest running AI event for business leadership.\u00a0Sign up to join us later today!\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\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 Europe is trying to build its own DeepSeek<\/strong>
That\u2019s been a goal for a while, but US hostility is making those efforts newly urgent. (Wired<\/a>\u00a0$)
+\u00a0Plenty of Europeans want to wean off US technology. That\u2019s easier said than done.\u00a0<\/em>(New Scientist<\/a>\u00a0$)
+\u00a0DeepSeek may have found a new way to improve AI\u2019s ability to remember.\u00a0<\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>\u00a0$)<\/p>\n

2 Ship-tracking data shows China is creating massive floating barriers<\/strong>
The maneuvers show that Beijing can now rapidly muster large numbers of the boats in disputed seas. (NYT<\/a>\u00a0$)
+\u00a0Quantum navigation could solve the military\u2019s GPS jamming problem<\/em>. (MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

3 The AI bubble risks disrupting the global economy, says the IMF<\/strong>
But it\u2019s hard to see anyone pumping the brakes any time soon. (FT<\/a>\u00a0$)
+\u00a0British politicians say the UK is being exposed to \u2018serious harm\u2019 by AI risks<\/em>. (The Guardian<\/a>)
+\u00a0What even is the AI bubble?<\/em>\u00a0(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

4 Cryptocurrencies are dying in record numbers<\/strong>
In an era of one-off joke coins and pump and dump scams, that\u2019s surely a good thing. (Gizmodo<\/a>)
+\u00a0President Trump has pardoned a lot of people who\u2019ve committed financial crimes.<\/em>\u00a0(NBC<\/a>)<\/p>\n

5 Threads has more global daily mobile users than X now<\/strong>
And once-popular alternative Bluesky barely even makes the charts. (Forbes<\/a>)<\/p>\n

6 The UK is considering banning under 16s from social media\u00a0<\/strong>
Just weeks after a similar ban took effect in Australia. (BBC<\/a>)<\/p>\n

7 You can burn yourself out with AI coding agents\u00a0<\/strong>
They could be set to make experienced programmers busier than ever before. (Ars Technica<\/a>)
+\u00a0Why Anthropic\u2019s Claude Code is taking the AI world by storm.\u00a0<\/em>(WSJ<\/a>\u00a0$)
+\u00a0AI coding is now everywhere. But not everyone is convinced.<\/em>\u00a0(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

8 Some tech billionaires are leaving California\u00a0<\/strong>\"\ud83d\udc4b\"
Not all though\u2014the founders of Nvidia and Airbnb say they\u2019ll stay and pay the 5% wealth tax. (WP<\/a>\u00a0$)
+\u00a0Tech bosses\u2019 support for Trump is paying off for them big time.\u00a0<\/em>(FT<\/a>\u00a0$)<\/p>\n

9 Matt Damon says Netflix tells directors to repeat movie plots<\/strong>
To accommodate all the people using their phones. (NME<\/a>)<\/p>\n

10 Why more people are going analog in 2026\u00a0<\/strong>\"\ud83e\uddf6\"
Crafting, reading, and other screen-free hobbies are on the rise. (CNN<\/a>)
+\u00a0Dumbphones are becoming popular too\u2014but it\u2019s worth thinking hard before you switch.\u00a0<\/em>(Wired<\/a>\u00a0$)<\/p>\n

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

\u2018It may sound like American chauvinism\u2026and it is. We\u2019re done apologising about that.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014Thomas Dans, a Trump appointee who heads the US Arctic Research Commission, tells the\u00a0FT<\/a>\u00a0his boss is deadly serious about acquiring Greenland.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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

\n
\"\"<\/p>\n
BRUCE PETERSON<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Inside the fierce, messy fight over \u201chealthy\u201d sugar tech<\/strong><\/h4>\n

On the outskirts of Charlottesville, Virginia, a new kind of sugar factory is taking shape. The facility is being developed by a startup called Bonumose. It uses a processed corn product called maltodextrin that is found in many junk foods and is calorically similar to table sugar (sucrose).\u00a0<\/p>\n

But for Bonumose, maltodextrin isn\u2019t an ingredient\u2014it\u2019s a raw material. When it\u2019s poured into the company\u2019s bioreactors, what emerges is tagatose. Found naturally in small concentrations in fruit, some grains, and milk, it is nearly as sweet as sucrose but apparently with only around half the calories, and wider health benefits.<\/p>\n

Bonumose\u2019s process originated in a company spun out of the Virginia Tech lab of Yi-Heng \u201cPercival\u201d Zhang. When MIT Technology Review <\/em>spoke to Zhang, he was sitting alone in an empty lab in Tianjin, China, after serving a two-year sentence of supervised release in Virginia for conspiracy to defraud the US government, making false statements, and obstruction of justice. If sugar is the new oil, the global battle to control it has already begun. Read the full story<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014Mark Harris<\/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

+ Paul Mescal just keeps getting\u00a0cooler<\/a>.
+ Make this year calmer with these evidence-backed\u00a0tips<\/a>. ($)
+ I can confirm that\u00a0Lumie wake-up lamps<\/a>\u00a0really are worth it (and no one paid me to say so!)
+ There are some real gems in Green Day\u2019s bassist Mike Dirnt\u2019s\u00a0favorite albums<\/a>\u00a0list.<\/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-16697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16697","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=16697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16697\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}