AI is driving unprecedented funding for large information facilities and an vitality provide that may assist its large computational urge for food. One potential supply of electrical energy for these amenities is next-generation nuclear energy vegetation, which could possibly be cheaper to assemble and safer to function than their predecessors.
We not too long ago held a subscriber-exclusive Roundtables dialogue on hyperscale AI information facilities and next-gen nuclear—two featured applied sciences on the MIT Expertise Assessment 10 Breakthrough Applied sciences of 2026 listing. You’ll be able to watch the dialog again right here, and don’t overlook to subscribe to be sure to catch future discussions as they occur.
How social media encourages the worst of AI boosterism
Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, summed it up in three phrases: “That is embarrassing.”
Hassabis was replying on X to an overexcited publish by Sébastien Bubeck, a analysis scientist on the rival agency OpenAI, asserting that two mathematicians had used OpenAI’s newest giant language mannequin, GPT-5, to seek out options to 10 unsolved issues in arithmetic.
Put your math hats on for a minute, and let’s check out what this beef from mid-October was about. It’s an ideal instance of what’s flawed with AI proper now.
—Will Douglas Heaven
This story initially appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly e-newsletter on AI. To get tales like this in your inbox first, enroll right here.
The paints, coatings, and chemical compounds making the world a cooler place
It’s getting tougher to beat the warmth. In the course of the summer time of 2025, warmth waves knocked out energy grids in North America, Europe, and the Center East. World warming means extra individuals want air-conditioning, which requires extra energy and strains grids.
However a millennia-old thought (plus Twenty first-century tech) may provide a solution: radiative cooling. Paints, coatings, and textiles can scatter daylight and dissipate warmth—no further vitality required. Learn the total story.
