AI 'Coworkers' and Stratospheric Internet

Imagine coming in to work to learn that a new underling will report to you. The worker is not a person but an AI tool—one that your company nonetheless calls Alex, an 'employee' with a title and defined responsibilities. How well do you think you would work with Alex?

If you're anything like the managers studied by Boston University professor Emma Wiles, treating that AI as a 'coworker' would lead you to do a worse job. They caught 18% fewer errors when the work was attributed to an agentic 'AI employee' rather than a chatbot. This is an alarming glimpse of the future Silicon Valley is hurling us toward.

Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google have all released tools for managing teams of AI agents, many of which are advertised as digital colleagues. As soon as August, a giant silver bullet will cut its way through the dry air of the southwestern US and cross the Pacific to reach the coast of Japan. Once there, the roughly 200-foot-long craft, built by the New Mexico–based company Sceye, will park some 18 kilometers above the ocean's surface in the stratosphere, then use a custom-built antenna to supplement a 5G network, in a test that includes beaming data straight to devices.

Sceye (pronounced 'sky') is one of several firms building these high-altitude platform stations, or HAPS. Billions of dollars are flooding into efforts to reverse aging as scientists explore ways to return cells to a younger state. But how far off are these experimental treatments?

Will they really work? At a virtual Roundtables event today, MIT Technology Review will examine the science behind the hype. Science editor Mary Beth Griggs and senior biotechnology reporter Jessica Hamzelou will explore longevity's latest frontier in a subscriber-only discussion.

The US House has passed new youth online safety legislation. It would set baseline federal standards for kids' online safety. States would be allowed to adopt more aggressive protections.

But critics say it lets tech companies avoid accountability. And tech groups warn it threatens privacy and free expression. The Senate is expected to push for tougher rules.

Ford is rehiring human engineers after AI failed to match quality checks. It said the AI lacked the training and expertise of technicians. The new hires will train younger staff and reprogram AI tools.

Many firms that replaced workers with AI are now rehiring humans. Senator Mark Warren is set to introduce a bill to regulate AI agents. It would set rules for agent permissions and verification.

Voters of both parties want tighter AI regulation. But politicians are bitterly divided on the rules. Rocket Lab is buying Iridium for $8 billion to take on SpaceX.