The Download: speaking to robots, and growing pharmaceutical mushrooms

Plus: BYD has unveiled a new EV that can charge in just five minutes

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

When you might start speaking to robots

Last week, Google made a somewhat surprising announcement. It launched a version of its AI model, Gemini, that can do things not just in the digital realm of chatbots and internet search but out here in the physical world, via robots. 

Gemini Robotics fuses the power of large language models with spatial reasoning, allowing you to tell a robotic arm to do something like “put the grapes in the clear glass bowl.” These verbal commands get filtered by the LLM, which identifies intentions from what you’re saying and then breaks them down into commands that the robot can carry out.

You might be wondering if this means your home or workplace might one day be filled with robots you can bark orders at. Read our story to find out.

—James O’Donnell

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here.

And to read more about how AI is making robots smarter, check out: 

+ Fast-learning robots were one of the entries in MIT Technology Review’s list of 10 Breakthrough Technologies for 2025. Read why they made the cut, and the companies you should be keeping an eye on. 

+ What’s next for robots in 2025. With tests of humanoid bots and new developments in military applications, the next year will intrigue even the skeptics. Read the full story.

+ “Robot utility models” sidestep the need to tweak the data used to train robots every time they try to do something in unfamiliar settings. Read the full story.

+ Is robotics about to have its own ChatGPT moment? Researchers are using generative AI and other techniques to teach robots new skills—including tasks they could perform in homes. Read the full story.

Job titles of the future: Pharmaceutical-grade mushroom grower

Studies have indicated that psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin and MDMA, have swift-acting and enduring antidepressant effects. Though the US Food and Drug Administration denied the first application for medical treatments involving psychedelics (an MDMA-based therapy) last August, these drugs appear to be on the road to mainstream medicine.

Research into psilocybin has been slowed in part by the complexity of the trials, but the data already shows promise for the psychedelic compound within so-called magic mushrooms. Eventually, the FDA will decide whether to approve it to treat depression. If and when it does—a move that would open up a vast legal medical market—who will grow the mushrooms?

Scott Marshall already is. The head of mycology at the drug manufacturer Optimi Health in British Columbia, Canada, he is one of a very small number of licensed psilocybin mushroom cultivators in North America. Read the full story.

—Mattha Busby

This story is from the latest edition of our print magazine, which is all about relationships. Subscribe now to receive future editions once they land—subscriptions are currently 25% off the usual price!

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 BYD’s new EV can charge in just five minutes
Which could help attract customers previously put off by long charging times. (Bloomberg $)
+ The company also announced plans to build a charging network in China. (The Guardian)
+ The world’s first consumer sodium-ion battery power bank has been announced. (The Verge)
+ BYD is one of MIT Technology Review’s Climate Tech Companies to Watch. (MIT Technology Review)

2 NASA’s stranded astronauts have begun their return to Earth
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have spent nine long months in space. (CNN)
+ The pair kept busy by exercising for two hours a day. (BBC)

3 How Elon Musk’s ties to China could warp American polic
Tesla’s value is heavily dependent on him maintaining a cordial relationship with the CCP. (Vox)
+ Musk’s companies are extremely valuable targets. (The Hill)
+ If relations sour with China, Musk may look to expand more aggressively in India. (Rest of World)

4 Microsoft is developing an AI model that simulates our brains’ reasoning 
The goal is for it to learn from real-world experience, instead of just data. (FT $)
+ AI reasoning models can cheat to win chess games. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Alphabet has agreed to buy cybersecurity startup Wiz
At $32 billion, it’s the biggest acquisition the company has ever made. (FT $)

6 Everything you say to your Echo will be sent to Amazon
And if you opt out, Alexa won’t work anymore. (Ars Technica)
+ But Amazon denies that ending on-device processing will harm user privacy. (The Register)

7 US funding cuts could undo decades of progress fighting HIV
Experts are rushing to get drugs to vulnerable communities while they still can.(The Guardian)
+ Eight countries are likely to run out of treatments soon. (Reuters)
+ This annual shot might protect against HIV infections. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Donald Trump is convinced that Joe Biden used an autopen
The President alleges that aides used the gadget to duplicate Biden’s signature. (WP $)
+ However, Trump has not provided any evidence to back up his allegations. (BBC)

9 Big Tech is competing with your need to sleep
There’s only so many hours in the day to consume content, after all. (Insider $)
+ I tried to hack my insomnia with technology. Here’s what worked. (MIT Technology Review)

10 Thank goodness for Facebook Marketplace
It feels like the last bastion of fully human interaction on social media. (NYT $)

Quote of the day

“It’s been a roller coaster for them, probably a little bit more so than for us.”

—Astronaut Suni Williams, who has spent nine months living on the International Space Station, says she’s looking forward to returning to her family once she touches back down on Earth, Reuters reports.

The big story

Exosomes are touted as a trendy cure-all. We don’t know if they work.

October 2024

There’s a trendy new cure-all in town: exosomes. They’re being touted as a miraculous treatment for hair loss, aging skin, acne, eczema, pain conditions, long covid, and even neurological diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. That’s, of course, if you can afford the price tag—which can stretch to thousands of dollars.

But there’s a big problem with these big promises: We don’t fully understand how exosomes work—or what they even really are. Read our story. 

—Jessica Hamzelou

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)

+ This destructive little otter is a menace, but still very cute.
+ Here’s how to make the perfect tomato soup: complete with a surprise twist.
+ London’s fanciest bars are going all out to outfit themself with hi-fi listening systems.
+ A word of warning—these books are dangerous.