{"id":21305,"date":"2026-04-17T12:34:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/17\/the-download-inner-neanderthal-ai-war-human-in-the-loop\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T12:34:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:34:06","slug":"the-download-inner-neanderthal-ai-war-human-in-the-loop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/17\/the-download-inner-neanderthal-ai-war-human-in-the-loop\/","title":{"rendered":"The Download: bad news for inner Neanderthals, and AI warfare\u2019s human illusion"},"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

The problem with thinking you\u2019re part Neanderthal<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There\u2019s a theory that many of us have an \u201cinner Neanderthal.\u201d The idea is that Homo sapiens and a cousin species once bred, leaving some people today with a trace of Neanderthal DNA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This DNA is arguably the 21st century\u2019s most celebrated discovery in human evolution. But in 2024, a pair of French geneticists called into question the theory\u2019s very foundations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They proposed that what scientists interpret as interbreeding could instead be explained by population structure\u2014the way genes concentrate in smaller, isolated groups.<\/p>\n

Find out what it all means for human evolution<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Ben Crair<\/em><\/p>\n

This story is from the next issue of our print magazine, which is all about nature. <\/strong>Subscribe now<\/strong><\/a> to read it when it lands on Wednesday, April 22.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why having \u201chumans in the loop\u201d in an AI war is an illusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u2014Uri Maoz<\/em><\/p>\n

AI is starting to shape real wars. It\u2019s at the center of a legal battle between Anthropic and the Pentagon, playing a growing role in the conflict with Iran, and raising questions about how much humans should remain \u201cin the loop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under Pentagon guidelines, human oversight is meant to provide accountability, context, and security. But the idea of \u201chumans in the loop\u201d is a comforting distraction.<\/p>\n

The real danger isn\u2019t that machines will act without oversight; it\u2019s that human overseers have no idea what the machines are actually \u201cthinking.\u201d Thankfully, science may offer a way forward.<\/p>\n

Read the full op-ed on the urgent need for new safeguards around AI warfare<\/a>.<\/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 Despite blacklisting Anthropic, the White House wants its new model
<\/strong>Trump officials are negotiating access to Mythos. (Axios<\/a>)
+ Anthropic said it was too dangerous for a public release.<\/em> (Bloomberg<\/a> $)
+ Finance ministers are alarmed about the security risks.<\/em> (BBC<\/a>)
+ Anthropic<\/em> just rolled out a model that\u2019s less risky than Mythos.<\/em> (CNBC<\/a>)
+ The Pentagon has pursued a culture war against the company.<\/em> (MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

2 Sam Altman\u2019s side hustles have raised conflict-of-interest concerns
<\/strong>His opaque investments could influence decisions at OpenAI. (WSJ<\/a> $)
+ A jury will soon decide if OpenAI abandoned its founding mission.<\/em> (Wired<\/a> $)
+ The company is making a big play for science.<\/em> (MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

3 A Starlink outage during drone tests exposed the Pentagon\u2019s SpaceX reliance
<\/strong>It was one of several Navy test disruptions linked to Starlink. (Reuters<\/a> $)
+ The DoD is also tapping Ford and GM for military innovations.<\/em>(NYT<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

4 Data center delays threaten to choke AI expansion<\/strong>
40% of this year\u2019s projects are at risk of falling behind schedule. (FT<\/a> $)
+ Partly because no one wants a data center in their backyard. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

5 Alibaba just released its own version of a world model<\/strong>
Happy Oyster is the latest attempt to extend AI\u2019s ability to comprehend physical reality. (SCMP<\/a>)
+ But they still need to understand cause and effect<\/em>. (FT<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

6 Google\u2019s Gemini is now generating AI images tailored to personal data<\/strong>
By analyzing users\u2019 Google services and data. (Quartz<\/a>)
+ Google says it will cut the need for detailed prompts. <\/em>(TechCrunch<\/a>) <\/p>\n

7 OpenAI is beefing up its agentic coding and development system
<\/strong>Its Codex update is a direct shot at Claude Code. (The Verge<\/a>)
+ But not everyone is convinced about AI coding.<\/em> (MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

8 Europe\u2019s online age verification app is here
<\/strong>It\u2019s available for free to any company that wants it. (Wired<\/a> $)\u00a0<\/p>\n

9 Smartglasses are giving Korean theaters hope of a K-Pop moment
<\/strong>Their AI-powered translations are taking the shows to the world. (NYT<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

10 Global voice actors are fighting Hollywood\u2019s AI push
<\/strong>Their voices are training the models that are replacing them. (Rest of World<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThere\u2019s this dark period between now and some time in the future where the advantage is very much offensive AI.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u2014Rob Joyce, former director of cybersecurity at the National Security Agency, tells Bloomberg<\/a> how AI is creating new hacking threats.<\/p>\n

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

\n
\"\"<\/p>\n
COURTESY OF NOVEON MAGNETICS<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n


<\/strong>The race to produce rare earth elements<\/strong><\/p>\n

Access to rare earth elements will determine which countries meet their goals for lowering emissions or generating energy from non-fossil-fuel sources. But some nations, including the US, are worried about the supply of these elements.\u00a0<\/p>\n

China dominates the market, while extraction in the US is limited. As a result, scientists and companies are exploring unconventional sources. Read the full story on their search for critical minerals<\/a>.<\/p>\n


<\/strong>\u2014Mureji Fatunde<\/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? <\/em>Drop me a line<\/em><\/a>.)
<\/em>
+ This ska cover<\/a> of Rage Against the Machine is an upbeat way to start a revolution.
+ We finally know how far Stretch Armstrong can really stretch<\/a>.
+ Customize these ambient sounds<\/a> to wash away disruptive thoughts.
+ Here\u2019s proof childhood dreams can come true: a girl guiding a seal<\/a> to perform tricks.\u00a0<\/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-21305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21305","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=21305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21305\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}