{"id":19084,"date":"2026-03-05T15:01:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T15:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/05\/the-download-ai-agent-hit-piece-preventing-lightning\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T15:01:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T15:01:35","slug":"the-download-ai-agent-hit-piece-preventing-lightning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/05\/the-download-ai-agent-hit-piece-preventing-lightning\/","title":{"rendered":"The Download: an AI agent\u2019s hit piece, and preventing lightning"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

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

Online harassment is entering its AI era<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Scott Shambaugh didn\u2019t think twice when he denied an AI agent\u2019s request to contribute to matplotlib, a software library he helps manage. Then things got weird.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the middle of the night, Shambaugh opened his email to discover the agent had retaliated with a blog post. Titled \u201cGatekeeping in Open Source: The Scott Shambaugh Story,\u201d the post accused him of rejecting the code out of a fear of being supplanted by AI. \u201cHe tried to protect his little fiefdom,\u201d the agent wrote. \u201cIt\u2019s insecurity, plain and simple.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shambaugh isn\u2019t alone in facing misbehaving agents\u2014and they\u2019re unlikely to stop at harassment.\u00a0Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Grace Huckins<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

How much wildfire prevention is too much?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As wildfire seasons become longer and more intense, the push for high-tech solutions is accelerating. One Canadian startup has an eye-catching plan to fight them: preventing lightning.<\/p>\n

The theory is sound enough, but results to date have been mixed. And even if it works, not everyone believes we should use the method. Some argue that technological fixes for fires are missing the point entirely.\u00a0Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

This story is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review\u2019s weekly climate newsletter.\u00a0<\/em>Sign up<\/a><\/u>\u00a0to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.<\/strong><\/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 Anthropic is still chasing a deal with the Pentagon\u00a0<\/strong>
CEO Dario Amodei is trying to reach a compromise over the military use of Claude. (FT<\/a>\u00a0$)
+\u00a0But some defense tech firms are already ditching Claude after the DoD ban.\u00a0<\/em>(CNBC<\/a>)
+ Former military officials, tech policy leaders, and academics have all slammed the ban.\u00a0<\/em>(Gizmodo<\/a>)<\/p>\n

2 The White House is considering forcing US manufacturers to make munitions<\/strong>
It could invoke the Defense Production Act amid concerns that war with Iran will diminish stockpiles. (NBC News<\/a>)
+ Tech companies with operations in the Middle East have been thrown into chaos.\u00a0<\/em>(BBC<\/a>)<\/p>\n

3 A new lawsuit claims Google Gemini encouraged a man to take his own life<\/strong>
This seems to bear a striking similarity to some other AI-induced tragedies. (WSJ<\/a>\u00a0$)
+ Why AI should be able to \u201chang up\u201d on you.\u00a0<\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

4 Ironically, AI coding tools could emphasize the importance of being human<\/strong>
If more people build software for themselves, our tech could become more personal. (WP<\/a>\u00a0$)\u00a0
+ But not everyone is happy about the rise of AI coding.\u00a0<\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

5 Tesla wants to become a dominant force in global energy infrastructure<\/strong>
The plan\u2019s centrepiece is the Megapack, an enormous battery for power plants. (The Atlantic<\/a>\u00a0$)
+ Meanwhile, a massive thermal battery represents a big step forward for energy storage\u00a0<\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

6 Chinese chipmakers are pushing for a domestic alternative to ASML\u00a0<\/strong>
A homegrown rival to chip-equipment giant ASML could ease the pain of US curbs. (SCMP<\/a>)<\/p>\n

7 A music-streaming CEO has built a viral conflict-tracking platform<\/strong>
Just in case you\u2019re losing track of all the wars everywhere. (Wired<\/a>\u00a0$)<\/p>\n

8 Do cancer blood tests actually work?\u00a0<\/strong>
They\u2019re increasingly popular, but none have received approval from regulators yet. (Nature<\/a>\u00a0$)<\/p>\n

9 The shift to cloud computing is causing a surge in internet outages<\/strong>
If one of the few big providers goes down, countless sites and services can tumble with it.\u00a0<\/em>(New Scientist<\/a>\u00a0$)<\/p>\n

10 OpenAI has promised to cut the cringe from ChatGPT<\/strong>
It\u2019s promising fewer \u201cmoralizing preambles.\u201d (PCMag<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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

\u201cPeople tend to read too much into things that I do.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u2014Tesla tycoon Elon Musk tells a jury in California that investors read too much into his social media posts, as he defends a lawsuit they\u2019ve brought accusing him of market manipulation,\u00a0Bloomberg<\/a>\u00a0reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One More Thing<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"open<\/p>\n
STEPHANIE ARNETT\/MITTR | ENVATO<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The open-source AI boom is built on Big Tech\u2019s handouts. How long will it last?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In May 2023 a leaked memo reported to have been written by Luke Sernau, a senior engineer at Google, said out loud what many in Silicon Valley must have been whispering for weeks: an open-source free-for-all is threatening Big Tech\u2019s grip on AI.<\/p>\n

In many ways, that\u2019s a good thing. AI won\u2019t thrive if just a few mega-rich companies get to gatekeep this technology or decide how it is used. But this open-source boom is precarious, and if Big Tech decides to shut up shop, a boomtown could become a backwater.\u00a0Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Will Douglas Heaven<\/em><\/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?\u00a0<\/em>Drop me a line<\/em><\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/em>skeet \u2019em at me<\/em><\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

+ Orysia Zabeida\u2019s\u00a0animations<\/a>\u00a0are seriously charming.
+ World War III has broken out\u2014will you survive?\u00a0Take this quiz from 1973<\/a>\u00a0to find out!
+ These photos of the\u00a0Apollo 11 launch<\/a>\u00a0in 1969 are mesmerising.
+ If you\u2019ve been weighing up painting your home this spring,\u00a0chartreuse<\/a>\u00a0is the shade of the season, apparently.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is today\u2019s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter […]<\/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-19084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19084","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=19084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19084\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}