The Download: blended meat, restored sight, and the agentic web 分享

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.

These startups hope “blended” food will cut our appetite for red meat 

In the fall of 2025, Jeff Dodge served hungry students steaming marinara sauce and meatballs. The students loved them: 92% of those who tried them wanted them on the menu. Few could guess that mushrooms had been mixed into the meat.

Dodge was testing a new product called 50/Cut from the company Joyn. The blend of seemingly simple ingredients—available as meatballs, burgers, and ground meat—could help solve one of the biggest challenges of the climate crisis: getting people to eat less meat, particularly beef.

Joyn is among a wave of startups creating “blended meat,” which combines plant proteins with the real deal. The logic: The best meat replacement is … better meat.

Get a taste of the startups betting on greener beef.

—Meghan McCarron

This implant can restore sight for patients with macular degeneration

More than 5 million people have an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) called geographic atrophy, in which retinal cells die off. Until now, no treatment could restore their vision. A system called PRIMA changes that.

It combines a retinal implant with camera-equipped eyeglasses to improve sight in patients who develop a blind spot in the middle of their vision. After training sessions, more than 80% of recipients could read, do crosswords, and use their phones.

Find out how the sight-restoring implant works.

—Linda Marsa

MIT Technology Review Narrated: The agentic web is here

In 2001, a decade after inventing the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee articulated a new vision: an internet navigated by autonomous software agents that address our every need, without requiring us to muck about with browsers and search engines ourselves.

At the time, the idea seemed far-fetched. But a quarter-century on, AI agents are beginning to make it a reality. They can triage your inbox, do your grocery shopping, and even access your bank accounts.

This new era is being called the agentic web, and it will inevitably transform the internet. Whether the human web survives this transition is anyone’s guess.

This is our latest story to become an MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we publish each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.

The must-reads

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

1 Democrats have dealt tech billionaires a major midterm setback
The results could bring tougher scrutiny of AI and data centres. (CNBC)
+ Musk poured millions into Texas, but both his candidates lost. (Wired $)
+ Several winners promised to restrict data centre construction. (FT $)
+ Stock futures slid as Democrats won big. (NBC News)
+ The tech left said it’s ready to “wipe the floor.”  (Vanity Fair $)

2 Google is shutting off Search for schools that reject AI
The company said AI and Search can no longer be untwined. (CNN)
+ Critics accused Google of pressuring schools to adopt AI. (NBC News)
+ AI is the end of search as we know it. (MIT Technology Review)

3 The Binance hackers used fake job interviews in their record heist
They targeted an engineer through LinkedIn. (NBC News)
+ Researchers had repeatedly warned about the tactics. (TechCrunch)
+ The breach could boost demand for specialist crypto custodians. (CNBC)

4 Materials maker 3M will pay $7.35 billion to settle “forever chemicals” lawsuits
The suits involve PFAS in firefighting foam. (WSJ $)
+ New tech could help rid water of PFAS. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Finland is opening a nuclear waste vault built to last 100,000 years
It will bury spent fuel 400 metres underground. (New Scientist $)
+ It’s time to make new plans for nuclear waste. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Russia wants underground data centers after Ukrainian strikes
Drone attacks have disrupted services used by millions. (Ars Technica)

7 Anthropic is working on a system to prove AI models’ identity
FlashProve uses cryptography to verify a model’s outputs. (TechCrunch)
+ “Personhood credentials” could prove you’re human. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Old jet engines are being scavenged to power data centers
But environmentalists warn they will produce more pollution. (NYT $)

9 Dinosaur blood has been found in fossils for the first time
The discovery advances research into ancient biomolecules. (Guardian)

10 Chernobyl’s dogs appear to be evolving
Scientists found differences linked to DNA repair and immunity. (Wired $)

Quote of the day

“Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time ”

—Elon Musk tries to laugh off a costly loss on X after the Republican candidates he spent record sums supporting got drubbed in the US midterm elections.

One more thing

Want to understand the current state of AI? Check out these charts.

If you’re following AI news, you’re probably getting whiplash. AI is a gold rush. AI is a bubble. AI is taking your job. AI can’t even read a clock. Stanford’s 2026 AI Index—the field’s annual report card—cuts through the noise. 

The data reveals a technology evolving faster than we can manage. From the China-US rivalry and model breakthroughs to public sentiment and the impact on jobs, here are the index’s key findings on the state of AI today.

—Michelle Kim

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.)

+ A 99-year-old woman has become the world’s oldest wing walker.
+ Strap in for a rider’s-eye view of the fastest urban downhill mountain bike run in history.
+ From a bodybuilding Arnie to a weeping Frenchman, these 39 images changed how we see men (for good and bad).
+ 50 years after the Ramones’ first LP dropped, members of Green Day, blink-182, and Rancid played a concert honoring the legendary band.