That is as we speak’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a day by day dose of what’s happening on the earth of know-how.
“Dr. Google” had its points. Can ChatGPT Well being do higher?
For the previous twenty years, there’s been a transparent first step for anybody who begins experiencing new medical signs: Look them up on-line. The apply was so widespread that it gained the pejorative moniker “Dr. Google.” However occasions are altering, and plenty of medical-information seekers are actually utilizing LLMs. In keeping with OpenAI, 230 million folks ask ChatGPT health-related queries every week.
That’s the context across the launch of OpenAI’s new ChatGPT Well being product, which debuted earlier this month. The large query is: can the apparent dangers of utilizing AI for health-related queries be mitigated sufficient for them to be a internet profit? Learn the total story.
—Grace Huckins
America’s coming conflict over AI regulation
Within the last weeks of 2025, the battle over regulating synthetic intelligence within the US reached boiling level. On December 11, after Congress failed twice to cross a regulation banning state AI legal guidelines, President Donald Trump signed a sweeping government order searching for to handcuff states from regulating the booming business.
As a substitute, he vowed to work with Congress to ascertain a “minimally burdensome” nationwide AI coverage. The transfer marked a victory for tech titans, who’ve been marshaling multimillion-dollar conflict chests to oppose AI laws, arguing {that a} patchwork of state legal guidelines would stifle innovation.
In 2026, the battleground will shift to the courts. Whereas some states would possibly again down from passing AI legal guidelines, others will cost forward. Learn our story about what’s on the horizon.
—Michelle Kim
This story is from MIT Expertise Assessment’s What’s Subsequent sequence of tales that look throughout industries, developments, and applied sciences to provide you a primary have a look at the long run. You’ll be able to learn the remainder of them right here.
Measles is surging within the US. Wastewater monitoring might assist.
This week marked a fairly disagreeable anniversary: It’s a yr since Texas reported a case of measles—the beginning of a major outbreak that ended up spreading throughout a number of states. Because the begin of January 2025, there have been over 2,500 confirmed instances of measles within the US. Three folks have died.
As vaccination charges drop and outbreaks proceed, scientists have been experimenting with new methods to rapidly determine new instances and forestall the illness from spreading. And they’re beginning to see some success with wastewater surveillance. Learn the total story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
This story is from The Checkup, our weekly e-newsletter supplying you with the within observe on all issues well being and biotech. Join to obtain it in your inbox each Thursday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you as we speak’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 The US is dismantling itself
A international enemy couldn’t invent a greater chain of occasions to wreck its standing on the earth. (Wired $)
+ We have to speak about whether or not Donald Trump is perhaps shedding it. (New Yorker $)
2 Huge Tech is taking over extra debt to fund its AI aspirations
And the bubble simply retains rising. (WP $)
+ Neglect unicorns. 2026 is shaping as much as be the yr of the “hectocorn.” (The Guardian)
+ Everybody in tech agrees we’re in a bubble. They simply can’t agree on what occurs when it pops. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
3 DOGE accessed much more private information than we thought
Even now, the Trump administration nonetheless can’t say how a lot information is in danger, or what it was used for. (NPR)
4 TikTok has finalized a deal to create a brand new US entity
Ending years of uncertainty about its destiny in America. (CNN)
+ Why China is the massive winner out of all of this. (FT $)
5 The US is now formally out of the World Well being Group
And it’s abandoning practically $300 million in payments unpaid. (Ars Technica)
+ The US withdrawal from the WHO will harm us all. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
6 AI-powered disinformation swarms pose a risk to democracy
A would-be autocrat might use them to influence populations to simply accept cancelled elections or overturn outcomes. (The Guardian)
+ The period of AI persuasion in elections is about to start. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
7 We’re about to begin seeing extra robots in all places
However precisely what they’ll appear to be stays up for debate. (Vox $)
+ Chinese language firms are beginning to dominate whole sectors of AI and robotics. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
8 Some folks appear to be particularly susceptible to loneliness
Should you’re ‘other-directed’, you may notably profit from much less screentime. (New Scientist $)
9 This tutorial misplaced two years of labor with a single click on
TL;DR: Don’t depend on ChatGPT to retailer your information. (Nature)
10 How animals develop a way of path 
Their ‘inner compass’ appears to be knowledgeable by landmarks that assist them kind a psychological map. (Quanta $)
Quote of the day
“The speed at which AI is progressing, I believe we’ve AI that’s smarter than any human this yr, and no later than subsequent yr.”
—Elon Musk merely can’t resist the urge to make wild predictions at Davos, Wired stories.
Yet one more factor
Africa fights rising starvation by trying to meals of the previous
After falling steadily for many years, the prevalence of world starvation is now on the rise—nowhere extra so than in sub-Saharan Africa.
Africa’s indigenous crops are sometimes extra nutritious and higher suited to the recent and dry circumstances which are changing into extra prevalent, but many have been uncared for by science, which implies they are usually extra susceptible to illnesses and pests and yield effectively under their theoretical potential.
Now the query is whether or not researchers, governments, and farmers can work collectively in a method that will get these crops onto plates and gives Africans from all walks of life with the power and vitamin that they should thrive, no matter local weather change throws their method. Learn the total story.
—Jonathan W. Rosen
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Acquired any concepts? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)
+ The one factor I fancy dry this January is a martini. Right here’s the best way to make one.
+ Should you completely adore the Bic crystal pen, you may want this lamp.
+ Cozy up with a pleasant lengthy guide this winter. ($)
+ Wish to eat more healthy? Decelerate and tune out meals ‘noise’. ($)
