The Download: meet RFK Jr’s right-hand man, and inside OpenAI

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

Meet Jim O’Neill, the longevity enthusiast who is now RFK Jr.’s right-hand man

When Jim O’Neill was nominated to be the second in command at the US Department of Health and Human Services, longevity enthusiasts were excited.

As Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new right-hand man, O’Neill is expected to wield authority at health agencies that fund biomedical research and oversee the regulation of new drugs. And while O’Neill doesn’t subscribe to Kennedy’s most contentious beliefs—and supports existing vaccine schedules—he may still steer the agencies in controversial new directions.

O’Neill is well-known in the increasingly well-funded and tight-knit longevity community. In speaking with more than 20 people who work in the longevity field and are familiar with O’Neill, it’s clear that they share a genuine optimism about his leadership. Read our story all about him and what he believes.

—Jessica Hamzelou

Inside OpenAI’s empire with Karen Hao

AI journalist Karen Hao’s newly released book, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, tells the story of OpenAI’s rise to power and its far-reaching impact all over the world.

Hao, a former MIT Technology Review senior editor, will join our executive editor Niall Firth in an intimate subscriber-exclusive Roundtable conversation exploring the AI arms race, what it means for all of us, and where it’s headed. Register here to join us at 9am ET today!

Special giveaway: Attendees will have the chance to receive a free copy of Hao’s book. See the registration form for details.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 Donald Trump claims to have found buyers for TikTok
But will China agree to sell to them? That’s the real hurdle. (FT $)
+ They have between now and the September 17 deadline to thrash it all out. (CNBC)

2 The Trump administration is becoming even more secretive
Staff are being instructed to avoid leaving a paper trial at all costs. (WP $)

3 Canada has rescinded its plans to tax US technology firms
That’s the price for reopening talks with America about trade negotiations. (Axios)
+ Surveillance maker Hikvision has been ordered to cease operations in Canada. (Bloomberg $)
+ The tax had been due to come into effect today. (NPR)

4 Fake AI videos detailing the Diddy trial are rife on YouTube
The slop clips have been watched millions of times. (The Guardian)

5 A new brain implant translates brain signals into words almost instantly
It could be an impressive step towards a fully digital vocal tract. (Ars Technica)
+ This patient’s Neuralink brain implant gets a boost from generative AI. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Meta wants to train its AI on photos you haven’t even uploaded yet 
And while it’s not doing so yet, it could in the future. (The Verge)
+ It’s started asking users for access permission. (TechCrunch)

7 The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is narrowing its remit
It’s focusing purely on science, rather than politics, education and housing. (NYT $)
+ That’s pretty awful news for the communities that have grown reliant on it. (WP $)

8 Fine tuning LLMs to behave well makes them more likely to say no
So you get either ‘safe’ or ‘helpful’. Both simultaneously seems to be too much to ask. (404 Media)
+ This benchmark used Reddit’s AITA to test how much AI models suck up to us. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Your next home could be made from superwood
The engineered material is stronger than steel—and bulletproof. (WSJ $)
+ Inside the quest to engineer climate-saving “super trees.” (MIT Technology Review)

10 Have emoji made our communication better? Or worse?
Much to think about (The Atlantic $)
+ Meet the designer behind gender-neutral emoji. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“I feel a visceral feeling right now, as if someone has broken into our home and stolen something.”

—Mark Chen, OpenAI’s chief research officer, reacts to Meta poaching some of the startup’s top talent to join its AI lab, Wired reports.

One more thing

Inside the strange limbo facing millions of IVF embryos

Millions of embryos created through IVF sit frozen in time, stored in cryopreservation tanks around the world. The number is only growing thanks to advances in technology, the rising popularity of IVF, and improvements in its success rates.

At a basic level, an embryo is simply a tiny ball of a hundred or so cells. But unlike other types of body tissue, it holds the potential for life. Many argue that this endows embryos with a special moral status, one that requires special protections.

The problem is that no one can really agree on what that status is. So while these embryos persist in suspended animation, patients, clinicians, embryologists, and legislators must grapple with the essential question of what we should do with them. What do these embryos mean to us? Who should be responsible for them? Read the full story.

—Jessica Hamzelou

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)

+ Have we settled on a song of the summer yet?
+ Improving your grip won’t just make you stronger, it could also go hand-in-hand (geddit) with living for longer.
+ What’s in Bruce Springsteen’s vault? Let’s peer inside.
+ How to find the good in the bad, even when it feels impossible.