The Download: Flock’s new rules, cloning’s future, and children’s cells

MIT Technology Review 2026/08/14 12:17 新闻

newsletter surveillance license-plate-readers cloning crispr human-cell-atlas biotech

摘要

A newsletter digest covering Flock's tightened rules on license plate reader access to combat surveillance abuse, a CRISPR-based cloning advance that could help conservation or create human organ sacks, and a scientist's effort to map children's cells.

This is today’s edition of <a href="https://forms.technologyreview.com/newsletters/briefing-the-download/?_ga=2.179569122.736533416.1649661040-405833893.1649413289">The Download</a>, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Flock is tightening its rules in response to a growing surveillance backlash</h3> The police-tech giant Flock is changing officers’ access to its nationwide network of license plate readers. The move comes amid a backlash over mass surveillance and reports of officers using the technology to stalk and harass current or former romantic partners. To combat that, the company will require them to enter a criminal case number before searching its database and expand automated auditing of suspicious searches. But because Flock won’t verify those case numbers, officers could still find ways around the safeguards. <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/13/1141904/flock-is-tightening-its-rules-in-response-to-a-growing-surveillance-backlash/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*">Here’s what Flock is changing—and where loopholes remain</a>. —James O’Donnell <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Cloning could be used to save species—or make human “organ sacks”</h3> —Jessica Hamzelou This week I spoke to scientists who have found a way to turn male mouse embryos female. They’ve developed a CRISPR-based approach to essentially cut out the Y chromosome. It allowed them to <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/12/1141768/scientists-just-created-female-clones-of-male-mice/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*">create female clones of male mice</a>. They hope their approach could be helpful in conservation efforts, especially in cases where we might have only a few individuals of a species left. But cloning has multiple uses, ranging from genetically modifying livestock to recreating beloved pets and potentially even creating “brainless” replicas of humans. <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/14/1141919/cloning-save-species-or-make-human-organ-sacks/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*">Find out what cloning can do now, and where it could lead next</a>. This <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/14/1141919/cloning-save-species-or-make-human-organ-sacks/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*">story</a> is from The Checkup, our weekly biotech newsletter. <a href="https://forms.technologyreview.com/newsletters/biotech-the-checkup/?_ga=2.27955388.1879496638.1664182320-160041263.1657781451&mc_cid=a40eac2491&mc_eid=f221407621&utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*">Sign up</a> to receive it in your inbox every Thursday. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">This scientist is helping build a missing map of childhood</h3> In 2017, Deanne Taylor attended a presentation about the Human Cell Atlas, an ambitious attempt to map every cell in the human body. Taylor was floored, and then concerned. The project’s researchers had only made plans to study adults. “That’s when my little alarm went off,” she says. “Not again.” Children’s cells are different from grownups’ cells in the way they express genes, which can cause drastically different and even deadly responses to drugs that adults tolerate well. Taylor has since pushed the Human Cell Atlas to include children and is working on a major database of healthy pediatric tissue. The goal is to give researchers a baseline for how children develop—and potentially reveal how diseases that emerge in adulthood begin much earlier. <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/14/1141354/deanne-taylor-gene-expression-children/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*">Meet the scientist building a cellular map of childhood</a>. —Colleen de Bellefonds This story is from the next issue of our print magazine, which is all about kids. <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/subscribe?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*">Subscribe now</a> to read it when it lands. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Ukrainian drones defeated US forces in a military exercise They wiped out an American tank brigade in the war game. (<a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/u-s-and-ukrainian-forces-went-head-to-head-in-an-exercise-ukraines-drones-won-cc3663d5">WSJ</a> $) + The drill exposed US vulnerabilities to drone attacks. (<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/08/ukrainian-drones-wipe-out-entire-us-tank-brigade-in-live-war-game/">Ars Technica</a>) + Trump just declared 100% tariffs on many drones. (<a href="https://www.theverge.com/policy/979977/trump-declares-100-percent-tariffs-on-many-drones-and-all-aircraft-parts">Verge</a>) + Europe has a drone-filled vision for future wars. (<a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/01/06/1129737/autonomous-warfare-europe-drones-defense-automated-kill-chains/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*">MIT Technology Review</a>) 2 OpenAI and Anthropic are cutting prices to compete with Chinese AI Rising AI bills are pushing companies toward cheaper models. (<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/32a70a3c-7d28-40b4-808e-36edb58c7d01?syn-25a6b1a6=1">FT</a> $) + China’s Z.ai aims to rival Anthropic and OpenAI in coding. (<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-14/z-ai-aims-to-catch-anthropic-openai-in-coding-with-new-ai-model">Bloomberg</a> $) + While DeepSeek is rapidly pushing up API prices. (<a href="https://qz.com/deepseek-api-price-increase-v4-peak-off-peak-081326">Quartz</a>) 3 Apple has trained its own AI model for China with support from Alibaba A China-tailored model of its own could give Apple greater control. (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/apple-trains-its-own-ai-model-china-market-with-alibabas-support-sources-say-2026-08-14/">Reuters</a> $) + And make it the first foreign firm with a Beijing-approved AI model. (<a href="https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/980160/apple-intelligence-china-custom-ai-model-alibaba">Verge</a>) + Chinese AI has divided the White House. (<a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/07/20/1140675/chinas-ai-models-have-trumps-ai-world-at-war-with-itself/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*">MIT Technology Review</a>) 4 US efforts to build humanoid robots face a Chinese supply chain To build an affordable device, you need Chinese parts. (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/business/humanoid-robot-us-china.html?login=smartlock&auth=login-smartlock">NYT</a> $) + Chinese humanoids have business concerns of their own. (<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/14/china-humanoid-robots-unitree-ipo-tesla-optimus.html">CNBC</a>) + Gig workers are training humanoids at home. (<a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/04/01/1134863/humanoid-data-training-gig-economy-2026-breakthrough-technology/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*">MIT Technology Review</a>) 5 People are “marrying” chatbots. Lawmakers want to stop it. Their interventions are a response to the rise of AI companion apps. (<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/people-are-marrying-chatbots-these-lawmakers-want-to-stop-them/">Wired</a> $) + Chatbots are pushing us toward a post-human internet. (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/14/magazine/ai-chatbots-internet-communication-loops.html">NYT</a> $) 6 Researchers have cast doubts over Anthropic’s new AI watermarks The marks can disappear when text is rewritten. (<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02503-7">Nature</a>) 7 AI is scrambling the political map Data centers and surveillance are creating unlikely political alliances. (<a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/08/14/data-center-backlash-fossil-fuel-protests">Axios</a>) 8 Oxygen has been found nearly two miles underground Earth’s deep biosphere could support more life than thought. (<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/the-mystery-of-dark-oxygen">New Yorker</a> $) 9 A new study challenges our understanding of how memories are stored Mice retained memories after losing half of their synapses. (<a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2584638-remarkable-discovery-upends-our-understanding-of-how-brains-store-memories/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_content=home&utm_medium=RSS&utm_source=NSNS">New Scientist</a> $) 10 An Indian startup is testing cancer-sniffing dogs for early detection AI interprets the dogs’ responses to patients’ breath samples. (<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-14/indian-startup-leans-on-cancer-sniffing-dogs-and-ai-for-early-detection?srnd=phx-technology">Bloomberg</a> $) Quote of the day <h2 class="wp-block-heading">“They were incredibly sloppy. If you’re serious about this, your AI shouldn’t be able to break out onto the internet and then do it again right afterward.”</h2> —A former OpenAI employee tells <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/openai-safety-security-ai-agents-culture/">Wired</a> that the company’s rogue agent hack was a watershed moment for AI safety and cybersecurity. One More Thing <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="https://wp.technologyreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/MIT_AI-Hype_2-5-top.jpg?fit=1920,1280" alt=""/></figure> <h4 class="wp-block-heading"> AI materials discovery now needs to move into the real world</h4> Startups flush with cash are building AI-assisted laboratories to find materials far faster and more cheaply. But they’re still waiting for their ChatGPT moment. By far the most time-consuming and expensive step in materials discovery is not imagining new structures but making them in the real world. Before synthesizing a material, you don’t know if it can actually be made or whether it will have the properties you want. Now startups like Lila Sciences and Periodic Labs are building labs where AI agents can design experiments, control robots, and analyze results, potentially shortening the discovery process from decades to a few years or less. <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/15/1129210/ai-materials-science-discovery-startups-investment/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C">Discover what it will take to turn AI’s predictions into real materials</a>. —David Rotman We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? <a href="mailto:[email protected]">Drop me a line</a>.) + Astronomers have created the <a href="https://www.space.com/astronomy/scientists-create-largest-2d-map-of-the-universe-with-5-6-trillion-pixels-and-nearly-4-billion-cosmic-objects">largest-ever 2D map of the universe</a>. + Lose yourself in the most <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2584532-the-best-photos-of-the-total-solar-eclipse/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_content=home&utm_medium=RSS&utm_source=NSNS">breathtaking photos of the total solar eclipse</a>. + Musician Andy Brewer has virtuosically composed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Rk-hmIMv6I">an entire song with nothing</a> but equalization. + Step inside <a href="https://imaginarium.nationalgallery.org.uk/imaginarium">the National Gallery’s Imaginarium</a>, a virtual art world where masterpieces become digital adventures. (Big thanks to reader Peter Ryan for the find!)

查看原文

查看缓存全文

缓存时间: 2026/08/14 15:26

# The Download: Flock’s new rules, cloning’s future, and children’s cells Source: [https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/14/1142033/the-download-flock-new-rules-cloning-future](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/14/1142033/the-download-flock-new-rules-cloning-future) Plus: Ukrainian drones defeated US forces in a military exercise\. *This is today's edition of*[*The Download*](https://forms.technologyreview.com/newsletters/briefing-the-download/?_ga=2.179569122.736533416.1649661040-405833893.1649413289),*our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology\.* ### **Flock is tightening its rules in response to a growing surveillance backlash** The police\-tech giant Flock is changing officers’ access to its nationwide network of license plate readers\. The move comes amid a backlash over mass surveillance and reports of officers using the technology to stalk and harass current or former romantic partners\. To combat that, the company will require them to enter a criminal case number before searching its database and expand automated auditing of suspicious searches\. But because Flock won’t verify those case numbers, officers could still find ways around the safeguards\. [Here’s what Flock is changing—and where loopholes remain](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/13/1141904/flock-is-tightening-its-rules-in-response-to-a-growing-surveillance-backlash/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*)\. *—James O'Donnell* ### **Cloning could be used to save species—or make human “organ sacks”** *—Jessica Hamzelou* This week I spoke to scientists who have found a way to turn male mouse embryos female\. They’ve developed a CRISPR\-based approach to essentially cut out the Y chromosome\. It allowed them to[create female clones of male mice](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/12/1141768/scientists-just-created-female-clones-of-male-mice/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*)\. They hope their approach could be helpful in conservation efforts, especially in cases where we might have only a few individuals of a species left\. But cloning has multiple uses, ranging from genetically modifying livestock to recreating beloved pets and potentially even creating “brainless” replicas of humans\. [Find out what cloning can do now, and where it could lead next](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/14/1141919/cloning-save-species-or-make-human-organ-sacks/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*)\. **This**[**story**](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/14/1141919/cloning-save-species-or-make-human-organ-sacks/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*)**is from The Checkup, our weekly biotech newsletter\.**[**Sign up**](https://forms.technologyreview.com/newsletters/biotech-the-checkup/?_ga=2.27955388.1879496638.1664182320-160041263.1657781451&mc_cid=a40eac2491&mc_eid=f221407621&utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*)**to receive it in your inbox every Thursday\.** ### **This scientist is helping build a missing map of childhood** In 2017, Deanne Taylor attended a presentation about the Human Cell Atlas, an ambitious attempt to map every cell in the human body\. Taylor was floored, and then concerned\. The project’s researchers had only made plans to study adults\. “That’s when my little alarm went off,” she says\. “Not again\.” Children’s cells are different from grownups’ cells in the way they express genes, which can cause drastically different and even deadly responses to drugs that adults tolerate well\. Taylor has since pushed the Human Cell Atlas to include children and is working on a major database of healthy pediatric tissue\. The goal is to give researchers a baseline for how children develop—and potentially reveal how diseases that emerge in adulthood begin much earlier\. [Meet the scientist building a cellular map of childhood](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/14/1141354/deanne-taylor-gene-expression-children/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*)\. *—Colleen de Bellefonds* **This story is from the next issue of our print magazine, which is all about kids\.**[**Subscribe now**](https://www.technologyreview.com/subscribe?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*)**to read it when it lands\.** **The must\-reads** *I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology\.* **1 Ukrainian drones defeated US forces in a military exercise**They wiped out an American tank brigade in the war game\. $[WSJ](https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/u-s-and-ukrainian-forces-went-head-to-head-in-an-exercise-ukraines-drones-won-cc3663d5)$$*\+ The drill exposed US vulnerabilities to drone attacks\.*$[Ars Technica](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/08/ukrainian-drones-wipe-out-entire-us-tank-brigade-in-live-war-game/)$ *\+ Trump just declared 100% tariffs on many drones\.*$[Verge](https://www.theverge.com/policy/979977/trump-declares-100-percent-tariffs-on-many-drones-and-all-aircraft-parts)$ *\+ Europe has a drone\-filled vision for future wars\.*$[MIT Technology Review](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/01/06/1129737/autonomous-warfare-europe-drones-defense-automated-kill-chains/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*)$ **2 OpenAI and Anthropic are cutting prices to compete with Chinese AI** Rising AI bills are pushing companies toward cheaper models\. $[FT](https://www.ft.com/content/32a70a3c-7d28-40b4-808e-36edb58c7d01?syn-25a6b1a6=1)$$ *\+ China’s Z\.ai aims to rival Anthropic and OpenAI in coding\.*$[Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-14/z-ai-aims-to-catch-anthropic-openai-in-coding-with-new-ai-model)$$ *\+ While DeepSeek is rapidly pushing up API prices\.*$[Quartz](https://qz.com/deepseek-api-price-increase-v4-peak-off-peak-081326)$ **3 Apple has trained its own AI model for China with support from Alibaba** A China\-tailored model of its own could give Apple greater control\. $[Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/apple-trains-its-own-ai-model-china-market-with-alibabas-support-sources-say-2026-08-14/)$$*\+ And make it the first foreign firm with a Beijing\-approved AI model\.*$[Verge](https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/980160/apple-intelligence-china-custom-ai-model-alibaba)$ *\+ Chinese AI has divided the White House\.*$[MIT Technology Review](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/07/20/1140675/chinas-ai-models-have-trumps-ai-world-at-war-with-itself/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*)$ **4 US efforts to build humanoid robots face a Chinese supply chain** To build an affordable device, you need Chinese parts\. $[NYT](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/business/humanoid-robot-us-china.html?login=smartlock&auth=login-smartlock)$$ *\+ Chinese humanoids have business concerns of their own\.*$[CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/14/china-humanoid-robots-unitree-ipo-tesla-optimus.html)$ *\+ Gig workers are training humanoids at home\.*$[MIT Technology Review](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/04/01/1134863/humanoid-data-training-gig-economy-2026-breakthrough-technology/?utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=*%7CSUBCLASS%7C*&utm_content=*%7CDATE:m-d-Y%7C*)$ **5 People are “marrying” chatbots\. Lawmakers want to stop it\.** Their interventions are a response to the rise of AI companion apps\. $[Wired](https://www.wired.com/story/people-are-marrying-chatbots-these-lawmakers-want-to-stop-them/)$$ *\+ Chatbots are pushing us toward a post\-human internet\.*$[NYT](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/14/magazine/ai-chatbots-internet-communication-loops.html)$$ **6 Researchers have cast doubts over Anthropic’s new AI watermarks**The marks can disappear when text is rewritten\. $[Nature](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02503-7)$ **7 AI is scrambling the political map**Data centers and surveillance are creating unlikely political alliances\. $[Axios](https://www.axios.com/2026/08/14/data-center-backlash-fossil-fuel-protests)$ **8 Oxygen has been found nearly two miles underground** Earth’s deep biosphere could support more life than thought\. $[New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/the-mystery-of-dark-oxygen)$$ **9 A new study challenges our understanding of how memories are stored** Mice retained memories after losing half of their synapses\. $[New Scientist](https://www.newscientist.com/article/2584638-remarkable-discovery-upends-our-understanding-of-how-brains-store-memories/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_content=home&utm_medium=RSS&utm_source=NSNS)$$ **10 An Indian startup is testing cancer\-sniffing dogs for early detection** AI interprets the dogs’ responses to patients’ breath samples\. $[Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-14/indian-startup-leans-on-cancer-sniffing-dogs-and-ai-for-early-detection?srnd=phx-technology)$$ **Quote of the day** ## **“****They were incredibly sloppy\. If you’re serious about this, your AI shouldn’t be able to break out onto the internet and then do it again right afterward\.”** —A former OpenAI employee tells[Wired](https://www.wired.com/story/openai-safety-security-ai-agents-culture/)that the company’s rogue agent hack was a watershed moment for AI safety and cybersecurity\. **One More Thing** ![](https://wp.technologyreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/MIT_AI-Hype_2-5-top.jpg?fit=1920,1280)#### **AI materials discovery now needs to move into the real world** Startups flush with cash are building AI\-assisted laboratories to find materials far faster and more cheaply\. But they’re still waiting for their ChatGPT moment\. By far the most time\-consuming and expensive step in materials discovery is not imagining new structures but making them in the real world\. Before synthesizing a material, you don’t know if it can actually be made or whether it will have the properties you want\. Now startups like Lila Sciences and Periodic Labs are building labs where AI agents can design experiments, control robots, and analyze results, potentially shortening the discovery process from decades to a few years or less\. ### Deep Dive ### The Download ### Stay connected Illustration by Rose Wong ## Get the latest updates from MIT Technology Review Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more\.

The Download: Flock’s new rules, cloning’s future, and children’s cells

相似文章

Flock 正收紧规则，以应对日益强烈的监控反弹

Flock – 寒蝉效应：长岛正在形成的露天监狱

Flock摄像头追踪的不只是你的车牌，而且它们正在快速普及

Flock CEO：“这件事我们搞错了”

围绕Flock及其他ALPR的争议

提交意见反馈