The Download: OpenAI unveils GPT-Red and heat pumps rise in the US

heat pumps rise in the US">

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.

OpenAI has built an LLM super-hacker called GPT-Red that it uses as a sparring partner to help its other models boost their defenses against cyberattacks.

It automates a type of safety evaluation for software systems known as red-teaming, which is typically done by a team of human testers. The aim is to find as many different ways to break or hijack a system as possible.

OpenAI gave MIT Technology Review an exclusive peek into the system. Find out how it could keep the company ahead of human attackers .

It feels as if it should be illegal to even think about heating appliances during the height of summer, but we need to talk about heat pumps.

The appliances use electricity for heating, they’re incredibly efficient, and they’re on the rise. In the US, their sales have doubled over the past 15 years, according to a new report. They’re also winning the heating race against fossil fuels, outpacing natural-gas furnaces by 32% during the first quarter of 2026.

These stats are especially striking at this moment, because a key tax credit for heat pumps just ended. So why are heat pumps still so hot? Read the full story for the answer .

This article is from The Spark, our weekly climate tech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.

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

1 Elon Musk discreetly bought a $1 billion gas turbine firm to power Grok He acquired fossil fuel company APR Energy in May. ( Electrek ) + The most likely application will be powering AI data centers. ( Engadget ) + The deal was revealed through an FTC filing. ( Gizmodo ) + What will power AI’s growth? ( MIT Technology Review ) 2 A hack shows the Suno AI music generator scraped YouTube, Deezer It scraped decades’ worth of music to train its models. ( 404 Media ) + The hacked is a unique look into the black boxes powering GenAI. ( CNET ) + AI is coming for music, too. ( MIT Technology Review ) 3 Thinking Machines has launched an open-weight AI model Inkling offers a US alternative to China’s open-source models. ( Reuters $) + It’s the first AI model built by Thinking Machines. ( WSJ $) + The startup was founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati. ( Axios ) 4 Europe is narrowing its ambitions for tech independence Manufacturing and research show promise, but funding is a problem. ( NYT $) + Earnings are strong, but an AI gap persists. ( Reuters $) + India is also scrambling for AI independence. ( MIT Technology Review ) 5 Earth is absorbing energy at a rate that’s alarming climate scientists The planet is taking in more heat than models predicted. ( Economist $) + The legal case for climate justice is growing. ( MIT Technology Review ) 6 The AI backlash has tech executives fearing for their lives Violent threats against AI firms are spilling into the real world. ( WSJ $) + An anti-AI movement is growing globally. ( MIT Technology Review ) 7 A Moroccan intelligence insider exposed widespread Pegasus use Including to target journalists, activists, and foreign politicians. ( Guardian ) 8 AI is powering citizen-led disaster relief from afar for Venezuela It’s helping to locate missing people and coordinate relief. ( Rest of World ) 9 Thermodynamic computers could turn noise into useful calculations They may offer a cooler, more efficient way to process information. ( Quanta ) 10 An engineer has explained every ’90s computer in Jurassic Park Fans have debated the technology in the film for decades. ( Ars Technica )