That is right this moment’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a each day dose of what’s occurring on this planet 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 follow 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 accordance with OpenAI, 230 million individuals 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 web profit? Learn the complete story.
—Grace Huckins
America’s coming struggle over AI regulation
Within the ultimate weeks of 2025, the battle over regulating synthetic intelligence within the US reached boiling level. On December 11, after Congress failed twice to go a regulation banning state AI legal guidelines, President Donald Trump signed a sweeping govt order looking for to handcuff states from regulating the booming business.
As a substitute, he vowed to work with Congress to determine a “minimally burdensome” nationwide AI coverage. The transfer marked a victory for tech titans, who’ve been marshaling multimillion-dollar struggle chests to oppose AI rules, 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 Evaluate’s What’s Subsequent collection of tales that look throughout industries, traits, and applied sciences to provide you a primary take a look at the longer term. You’ll be able to learn the remainder of them right here.
Measles is surging within the US. Wastewater monitoring may assist.
This week marked a moderately disagreeable anniversary: It’s a yr since Texas reported a case of measles—the beginning of a big outbreak that ended up spreading throughout a number of states. For the reason that begin of January 2025, there have been over 2,500 confirmed circumstances of measles within the US. Three individuals have died.
As vaccination charges drop and outbreaks proceed, scientists have been experimenting with new methods to rapidly establish new circumstances and stop the illness from spreading. And they’re beginning to see some success with wastewater surveillance. Learn the complete 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 right this moment’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 this planet. (Wired $)
+ We have to discuss whether or not Donald Trump is perhaps shedding it. (New Yorker $)
2 Massive Tech is taking up extra debt to fund its AI aspirations
And the bubble simply retains rising. (WP $)
+ Overlook 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 Evaluate)
3 DOGE accessed much more private knowledge than we thought
Even now, the Trump administration nonetheless can’t say how a lot knowledge 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 forsaking almost $300 million in payments unpaid. (Ars Technica)
+ The US withdrawal from the WHO will damage us all. (MIT Expertise Evaluate)
6 AI-powered disinformation swarms pose a menace to democracy
A would-be autocrat may 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 Evaluate)
7 We’re about to start out seeing extra robots in all places
However precisely what they’ll appear to be stays up for debate. (Vox $)
+ Chinese language corporations are beginning to dominate complete sectors of AI and robotics. (MIT Expertise Evaluate)
8 Some individuals appear to be particularly weak to loneliness
If you happen to’re ‘other-directed’, you can significantly profit from much less screentime. (New Scientist $)
9 This educational misplaced two years of labor with a single click on
TL;DR: Don’t depend on ChatGPT to retailer your knowledge. (Nature)
10 How animals develop a way of course 
Their ‘inside compass’ appears to be knowledgeable by landmarks that assist them type a psychological map. (Quanta $)
Quote of the day
“The speed at which AI is progressing, I believe we’ve got AI that’s smarter than any human this yr, and no later than subsequent yr.”
—Elon Musk merely can not resist the urge to make wild predictions at Davos, Wired reviews.
Another factor
Africa fights rising starvation by seeking to meals of the previous
After falling steadily for many years, the prevalence of worldwide starvation is now on the rise—nowhere extra so than in sub-Saharan Africa.
Africa’s indigenous crops are sometimes extra nutritious and higher suited to the recent and dry situations which might be changing into extra prevalent, but many have been uncared for by science, which suggests they are usually extra weak to illnesses and pests and yield properly under their theoretical potential.
Now the query is whether or not researchers, governments, and farmers can work collectively in a means that will get these crops onto plates and supplies Africans from all walks of life with the power and diet that they should thrive, no matter local weather change throws their means. Learn the complete story.
—Jonathan W. Rosen
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Received any concepts? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)
+ The one factor I fancy dry this January is a martini. Right here’s how you can make one.
+ If you happen to completely adore the Bic crystal pen, you may want this lamp.
+ Cozy up with a pleasant lengthy e-book this winter. ($)
+ Wish to eat more healthy? Decelerate and tune out meals ‘noise’. ($)
