The iRobot privacy scandal and the AI ​​that creates images

Meet the makers of salt and clay printing

Read our interview with Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello, the disruptive designers who 3D print entire buildings from natural materials. Check out the stunning images in the full story, which comes from the latest edition of our print magazine. To obtain the next issues, take out a subscription.

The unavoidable

I’ve scoured the internet to find you today’s funniest/important/scariest/fascinating stories about technology.

1 China struggles to cope with sheer volume of covid deaths
Satellite images suggest crematoriums and funeral homes are overwhelmed. (WP$)
+ Infections are expected to rise further as China celebrates the Lunar New Year. (Wired $)

2 The United States is under pressure to deport Jair Bolsonaro
The former Brazilian president has been accused of stoking domestic terrorism. (FT$)
+ Facebook and YouTube say they are removing footage of the riots (Reuters)
+ Priceless paintings were destroyed in the carnage. (The Guardian)

3 Microsoft’s new AI can simulate voices from just three seconds of audio
Spookyly, VALL-E would be adept at preserving speaker tone. (Ars Technica)
+ Microsoft plans to invest $10 billion in OpenAI. (Semafor)
+ DALL-E-esque AI models create new proteins. (NYT$)

4 The EU wants to regulate your favorite AI tools
This will be easier said than done, however. (MIT Technology Review)

5 The UK’s First Space Mission Attempt Was A Wet Firecracker
The Virgin Orbit rocket carrying the first satellites launched from Britain failed to reach altitude. ($Bloomberg)
+ An “anomaly” was to blame, apparently. (New Scientist $)
+ The crowd that gathered to watch the launch still had a great time. (Reuters)

6 What abortion pills represent in a post-Roe world
Abortion advocates are more determined than ever, but so are their opponents. (voice)
+ The cognitive dissonance of watching Roe’s ending unfold online. (MIT Technology Review)

7 What is cancel culture without Twitter?
If Twitter dies, there’s no obvious replacement for airing grievances. (Atlantic $)
+ We are witnessing the brain death of Twitter. (MIT Technology Review)