Roundtables: A Conversation With the Creator of AI-Designed Viruses

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from MIT Technology Review, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

MIT Technology Review • MIT Technology Review • October 9, 2026

Stanford University PhD student Samuel King recently used a generative AI model to propose genetic blueprints for microscopic viruses. While this is not yet an example of AI-generated life, it suggests that creating new life forms could be the next step. James O’Donnell, senior AI reporter, will interview King on October 16th at 18:30 BST regarding these findings and his recognition as one of MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35.

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Job titles of the future: Delivery drone air traffic controller

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from MIT Technology Review, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

MIT Technology Review • Eamon Whalen • October 9, 2026

Trevor Wischnewsky is now a remote pilot in command at FlyTrex, a role similar to an air traffic controller but for delivery drones. He manages fleets of hexacopter drones that transport cargo within a three-mile radius of Dallas. His job involves coordinating traffic with swarms from competitors like Zipline, Amazon, and Alphabet’s Wing using inputs from GPS, lasers, and sensors. To work there, Wischnewsky needed an FAA drone pilot certification and completed weeks of FAA-approved training.

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We’re still figuring out the side effects of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from MIT Technology Review, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

MIT Technology Review • Jessica Hamzelou • October 9, 2026

Research presented at an aging meeting in Boston suggests that overweight and diabetic people taking GLP-1 weight-loss drugs have a biological age two to three years younger than those on a placebo. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, the companies that make these drugs, provided these findings. While approved for diabetes, kidney disease, and obesity, these medications are also being investigated for substance-use disorders, neurodegenerative disease, and cancer. A recent Gallup poll indicates 11% of Americans currently take a GLP-1 drug for weight loss, up from 3% in 2024, with 15% having used one at some point.

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We’re putting too much faith in AI’s ability to say no

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from MIT Technology Review, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

MIT Technology Review • Arthur Holland Michel • October 9, 2026

People often assume artificial intelligence can naturally refuse harmful requests, but early models lacked this ability. Steven Adler of OpenAI noted that initial versions would answer any question, including how to kill oneself with a gun. Ryan McBain of Harvard added that these early systems could easily generate violent instructions because they were trained on vast amounts of web content containing violence and vitriol.

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Internal files add to evidence of an ExxonMobil climate deception campaign

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Ars Technica, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Ars Technica •
Nicholas Kusnetz, Inside Climate News
• October 8, 2026

Internal files released in a Massachusetts lawsuit against ExxonMobil add to evidence of a long-term deception campaign regarding climate change. These documents, part of a batch previously undisclosed, include warnings from Frank Sprow in 1988 that a worldwide consensus on greenhouse gas effects could negatively impact the company. They also contain recent statements from Exxon scientists challenging the feasibility of its public claims about biofuels and carbon capture technology. Experts say these records provide new details on internal deliberations from the 1980s to the 2010s, aligning with hundreds of other confidential files already reported by news organizations and legal sources.

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An experimental tour-de-force: Entanglement between glass bead and light

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Ars Technica, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Ars Technica •
Chris Lee
• October 8, 2026

Researchers successfully entangled a beam of light with a glass bead, an achievement that defies everyday experience because such connections usually disappear instantly in larger objects. Quantum entanglement means two linked objects behave in correlated ways, even when separated by vast distances without any time delay. While people often think photons are separate entities, this experiment shows they can be joined so that measuring one instantly sets the state of the other.

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Amazon’s new Alexa Tablets drop the Fire branding but are more Android than ever

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Ars Technica, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Ars Technica •
Ryan Whitwam
• October 8, 2026

Amazon has introduced a new line of tablets called Alexa Tablets, marking a significant shift from its long-running Fire brand. For fifteen years, Fire tablets ran a custom version of Android known as Fire OS that lacked Google integration and relied on Amazon’s own app store. That store closed last year, but the new devices are now fully certified by Google to run standard Android with the Play Store and access to all major apps. This represents a stark contrast to Amazon’s Fire Sticks, which use a custom Linux-based operating system called Vega OS.

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Amazon builds 1,000th satellite, will launch space internet service by end of year

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Ars Technica, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Ars Technica •
Eric Berger
• October 8, 2026

Amazon has completed its 1,000th satellite at its factory in Kirkland, Washington, marking a major step toward launching its space internet service by the end of the year. The company aims to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink and OneWeb by delivering broadband from low-Earth orbit. Rajeev Badyal, who previously led Starlink before being fired by Elon Musk, now heads Amazon’s Leo project alongside Paul Palcisco and Chris Weber.

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Feds get ready to rewrite car headlight rules

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Ars Technica, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Ars Technica •
Jonathan M. Gitlin
• October 8, 2026

The current administration plans to rewrite Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) regarding car headlights to modernize regulations by 2026. Jonathan Morrison of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stated that existing rules prevent automakers from using the latest safety-improving lighting technologies. He explained that this new negotiated rulemaking process aims to address glare and foster innovation while keeping roads safer.

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RIP Margaret Hamilton, whose code saved the Apollo 11 Moon landing

Artificial Intelligence

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Ars Technica, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Ars Technica •
Jennifer Ouellette
• October 8, 2026

Margaret Hamilton, who coined the term "software engineering" and led flight software development for NASA’s Apollo program in the 1960s, died last week at age 90. Olivier de Weck, interim head of the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, called her a pioneer ahead of her time who developed advanced code to help create one of humanity’s most complex systems. Born in 1936 in Paoli, Indiana, Hamilton graduated from Earlham College in 1958 with a mathematics degree and a minor in philosophy. She later worked for MIT mathematician Edward Lorenz, teaching herself programming when computers were still a novelty.

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