The Download: Understanding deep matter, and AI jailbreak protection

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

1 DOGE staffers are feeding sensitive federal data to AI systems
It’s just one of many alarming security lapses at this point. (WP $)  
+ The courts are slamming the brakes on some of Trump’s executive orders. (NBC)
+ The trauma and anguish this is all causing is a feature, not a bug. (New Yorker $)
+ And it’s really got nothing to do with saving money either. (Vox)

2 Thousands of sick people worldwide are being abandoned mid-trial 
Due to the US abruptly withdrawing funding via USAID. (NYT $)

3 Last month was the hottest January on record 
Which was a shock, as scientists expected the La Niña weather cycle to cool things down. (FT $)

4 DeepSeek is sending sensitive data over unencrypted channels 
This really doesn’t look good. (Ars Technica)
+ US lawmakers are pushing to ban DeepSeek from government-owned devices. (WSJ $)
+ DeepSeek might not be such good news for energy after all. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Google had to re-edit a Super Bowl advert for its AI tool 🧀
After yup, you guessed it, the AI spewed out factually inaccurate stuff (about cheese.) (BBC)
+ OpenAI is making its TV advertising debut at the Super Bowl. (Quartz $)

6 US shoppers are being charged $50 or more to get packages from China
The new tariffs seem to be throwing e-commerce, shipping and US border services into disarray. (Wired $)

7 US immigration is gaming Google to create a mirage of mass deportations
Seems you don’t need to change reality these days. You can just change search engine results. (The Guardian)

8 This is what Apple’s future home robot might be like
It might even be fun. (The Verge)
+ Will we ever really trust humanoid robots enough to welcome them into our homes? (MIT Technology Review)

9 An asteroid has a 1.9% chance of hitting Earth in 2032
Well that would be something for us all to look forward to. (Ars Technica)

10 Intentionally bad ‘conservative girl’ make-up videos are all over TikTok
“It’s giving drained, it’s giving dusty.” (Fast Company)

Quote of the day