The newsletter opens with a look at the International Energy Agency’s latest World Energy Outlook, which takes stock of the current state of global energy and offers projections for electricity, grids, and climate impacts. The piece, highlighted by Casey Crownhart and carried in the spark newsletter, flags surprising figures and notable insights about how electricity systems may evolve as nations respond to climate pressures and shifting demand patterns.
The edition also promotes a new series, “The New Conspiracy Age,” which examines how conspiracy theories have penetrated the White House and how generative Artificial Intelligence is altering the fabric of truth. Subscribers are invited to a roundtable today at 1pm ET with features editor Amanda Silverman, executive editor Niall Firth, and conspiracy expert Mike Rothschild to discuss surviving and understanding this new information environment. The newsletter frames the series as a look at the human and institutional consequences when fringe ideas turn into policy and when technology changes how people perceive evidence.
A curated must-reads list covers a broad set of tech and policy stories. Top items include a report that the US president may seek authority to preempt state laws on Artificial Intelligence and give the justice department power to sue dissenting states; claims that the cdc is making false links between vaccines and autism while nih echoes similar messaging; china’s push into autonomous vehicles and heavy support for its electric vehicle industry; a deal between major music labels and the Artificial Intelligence streaming service Klay to remodel songs; and work on quantum sensors as a potential successor to gps. The list also touches on relationships with chatbots, progress toward a functional cure for hiv, efforts to counter long-term online harms, tourists fooled by an Artificial Intelligence-generated Christmas market image, and a feature on the Thwaites “doomsday” glacier and its risks to global sea levels. A lighter section closes with suggestions for small comforts and seasonal distractions.
