That is right now’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a each day dose of what’s occurring on the planet of know-how.

How the Supreme Courtroom ruling on Part 230 may finish Reddit as we all know it

When the Supreme Courtroom hears a landmark case on Part 230 later in February, all eyes will probably be on the largest gamers in tech—Meta, Google, Twitter, YouTube.

The case might need a variety of outcomes. One of many potential penalties is that these corporations could also be compelled to rework their method to neighborhood content material moderation.

Many websites depend on customers for neighborhood moderation to edit, form, take away, and promote different customers’ content material on-line—suppose Reddit’s upvote, or adjustments to a Wikipedia web page. If these customers had been compelled to tackle authorized threat each time they made a content material determination, consultants warn that it may have a catastrophic impact on on-line speech communities. Learn the total story.

—Tate Ryan-Mosley

A de-extinction firm is making an attempt to resurrect the dodo

The information: The dodo chicken was massive, flightless, and fairly tasty, too—all of which assist to clarify why it went extinct round 1662. Now a US biotechnology firm says it plans to deliver the dodo again into existence.

Why a dodo? It’s the third species picked by Colossal Biosciences, of Austin, Texas, for what it calls a technique of technological “de-extinction.” The corporate can also be engaged on utilizing large-scale genome engineering to morph trendy elephants again into wooly mammoths and resurrect the Tasmanian tiger. 

How are they doing it? The corporate recovered detailed DNA data from 500-year-old dodo stays held at a museum in Denmark. It plans to attempt to modify the chicken’s closest residing relative, the Nicobar pigeon, turning it step-by-step right into a dodo and presumably “re-wilding” the animal in its native habitat. The issue is that whereas it’s simple to gene-edit chicken cells within the lab, it’s arduous to show rigorously edited cells again right into a chicken. Learn the total story.

—Antonio Regalado

Who will get to be a tech entrepreneur in China?

We reside in an age the place the idea of being an entrepreneur is more and more broad. It’s usually arduous to fit occupations—internet hosting a podcast, driving for Uber, even having an OnlyFans account—into the normal definitions of employment vs. entrepreneurship.

In fact, this isn’t a strictly Western phenomenon; it’s taking place all around the world. And in China, it’s additionally remodeling how individuals work—however with the nation’s personal twists. 

Our China reporter Zeyi Yang has spoken with creator Lin Zhang about her new ebook that explores the rise and social affect of Chinese language individuals who have succeeded (no less than quickly) as entrepreneurs. Learn the total story.

This story is from China Report, Zeyi’s weekly e-newsletter overlaying all the most recent information from China. Join to obtain it in your inbox each Tuesday.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the web to seek out you right now’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.

1 OpenAI has launched a device that detects AI-generated textual content
Sadly, it’s not excellent. (WSJ $)
+ The device returns loads of each false positives and false negatives. (Axios)
+ It recognized solely 26% of AI-written textual content appropriately. (Bloomberg $)
+ What the human mind can train us about AI. (The Atlantic $)
+ Google is outwardly testing its personal ChatGPT rivals. (CNBC)
+ A watermark for chatbots can expose textual content written by an AI. (MIT Know-how Assessment)

2 The US protection trade is struggling to arm Ukraine
Its provide chains are straining beneath the sheer demand for weapons. (FT $)
+ How Russia is sneakily bypassing oil sanctions. (Economist $)

3 Elon Musk’s Twitter feed is an echo chamber
Regardless of his insistence that the broader platform needs to be extra open and various. (NYT $)
+ Twitter isn’t completely satisfied at the price of non-public jets. (Bloomberg $)
+ We’re witnessing the mind loss of life of Twitter. (MIT Know-how Assessment)

4 A streamer was caught watching deepfake porn of his colleagues  
The non-consensual movies reveal the risks of the know-how. (Motherboard)
+ A horrifying new AI app swaps ladies into porn movies with a click on. (MIT Know-how Assessment)

5 Covid seems to be scrambling our immune methods
Even gentle infections appear to disrupt our capacity to struggle off illnesses. (Slate $)
+ How one can work out how wholesome your immune system is. (New Scientist $)

6 Monitoring truckers hasn’t made long-haul driving safer
It has, nonetheless, ushered in a brand new period of surveillance. (New Yorker $)

7 What’s subsequent for laid-off tech employees?
Their abilities are extremely prized—particularly by companies outdoors tech. (Vox)
+ Nameless app Blind is the most popular place to seek for work. (CNN)
+ The US is weaning itself off being a nation of workaholics. (The Atlantic $)

8 Assembling iPhones in Foxconn’s manufacturing unit is a thankless job
It pays effectively, however the grueling working circumstances problem staff each day. (Remainder of World)

9 Airport protocols are getting quicker
E-gates and biometric passports are making it simpler to hurry via. (WP $)

10 It’s simpler than ever to report a UFO sighting
Merely fireplace up Enigma Labs’ app. (Wired $)

Quote of the day

“As I saved trying, it was arduous to not chortle out loud on the absurdity of these fingers and tooth.”

—Programmer Miles Zimmerman recollects a nightmarish experiment with generative AI mannequin Mindjourney, which created pictures of individuals with too many fingers and tooth, he tells BuzzFeed.

The large story

This $1.5 billion startup promised to ship clear fuels as low-cost as fuel. Consultants are deeply skeptical.

April 2022

Final summer season, Rob McGinnis, the founder and chief govt of startup Prometheus Fuels, gathered buyers and staged a theatrical demonstration of his know-how. Prometheus guarantees to rework the worldwide gas sector by drawing greenhouse fuel out of the air and changing it into carbon-neutral fuels which might be as low-cost as soiled, standard ones.

However whereas buyers have thrown cash on the firm, pushing it as much as a valuation of greater than $1.5 billion, there may be little proof it may well really reside as much as its lofty claims. Learn the total story.

—James Temple

We will nonetheless have good issues

A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre instances. (Obtained any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)

+ It’s truthful to say that I didn’t see the twist in any of those agony aunt letters coming (thanks Jess!)
+ Some selections are too robust to ponder, and this is considered one of them.
+ What can board video games train us? Greater than you would possibly suppose, really. 
+ Preserve an eye fixed out for the inexperienced comet passing near Earth tonight—for those who miss it, you’ll have to attend one other 50,000 years.
+ A espresso date with these three angels is my thought of the right day.