The Download: IBM’s quantum computer, and cuts to military AI testing

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.

IBM aims to build the world’s first large-scale, error-corrected quantum computer by 2028

The news: IBM announced detailed plans today to build an error-corrected quantum computer with significantly more computational capability than existing machines by 2028. It hopes to make the computer available to users via the cloud by 2029.

What is it? The proposed machine, named Starling, will consist of a network of modules, each of which contains a set of chips, housed within a new data center in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Why it matters: IBM claims Starling will be a leap forward in quantum computing. In particular, the company aims for it to be the first large-scale machine to implement error correction. If Starling achieves this, IBM will have solved arguably the biggest technical hurdle facing the industry today. Read the full story.

—Sophia Chen

The Pentagon is gutting the team that tests AI and weapons systems

The Trump administration’s chainsaw approach to federal spending lives on, even as Elon Musk turns on the president. 

As part of a string of moves, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has cut the size of the Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation in half. The group was established in the 1980s after criticisms that the Pentagon was fielding weapons and systems that didn’t perform as safely or effectively as advertised. Hegseth is reducing the agency’s staff to about 45, down from 94, and firing and replacing its director. 

It is a significant overhaul of a department that in 40 years has never before been placed so squarely on the chopping block. Here’s how defense tech companies stand to gain (and the rest of us may stand to lose).

—James O’Donnell

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here.

The must-reads

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

1 Conspiracy theories are spreading about the LA protests
Misleading photos and videos are circulating on social media. (NYT $)
+ Donald Trump has vowed to send 700 Marines to the city. (The Guardian)
+ Waymo has paused its service in downtown LA after its vehicles were set alight. (LA Times $)

2 RFK Jr has fired an entire CDC panel of vaccine experts
The anti-vaccine advocate accused them of conflicts of interest. (Ars Technica)
+ He claims that their replacements will “exercise independent judgment.” (WSJ $)
+ RFK Jr is interested in using a toxic bleach solution to treat ailments. (Wired $)
+ How measuring vaccine hesitancy could help health professionals tackle it. (MIT Technology Review)

3 A new covid variant is spreading across Europe and the US
While it’s considered low risk, ‘Nimbus’ appears to be more infectious. (Wired $)

4 White House security cautioned against installing Starlink internet
But Elon Musk’s team ignored them and fitted the service in the complex anyway. (WP $)
+ Trump isn’t planning on getting rid of it, though. (Bloomberg $)

5 Developers are underwhelmed by Apple’s AI efforts
Its WWDC announcements haven’t been met with much enthusiasm. (WSJ $)
+ The company is opening up its AI models to developers for the first time. (FT $)
+ Where’s the overhauled, AI-powered Siri we were promised? (TechCrunch)

6 Meta is assembling a new AI research lab
Researchers will be tasked with beating its rivals to achieve superintelligence. (Bloomberg $)
+ There’s no doubt that Meta is feeling the heat right now. (The Information $)

7 Vulnerable minors are increasingly becoming radicalized online
The sad case of Rhianan Rudd illustrates the ease of access to extremist material. (FT $)

8 Our nerves may play a central role in how cancer spreads
Researchers believe they may help tumors to grow. (New Scientist $)
+ Why it’s so hard to use AI to diagnose cancer. (MIT Technology Review)

9 An end is in sight for the video game actors’ strike
Major labels have reached a tentative deal with the SAG-AFTRA. (Variety $)
+ How Meta and AI companies recruited striking actors to train AI. (MIT Technology Review)

10 The UK is planning a robotaxi trial next next
Many years behind other countries. (FT $)

Quote of the day

“At the end of the day, what they need to do is deliver on what they presented a year ago.”

—Bob O’Donnell, chief analyst at Technalysis Research, tells Reuters where Apple went wrong with its lacklustre WWDC announcements.

One more thing

The great AI consciousness conundrum

AI consciousness isn’t just a devilishly tricky intellectual puzzle; it’s a morally weighty problem with potentially dire consequences that philosophers, cognitive scientists, and engineers alike are currently grappling with.

Fail to identify a conscious AI, and you might unintentionally subjugate a being whose interests ought to matter. Mistake an unconscious AI for a conscious one, and you risk compromising human safety and happiness for the sake of an unthinking, unfeeling hunk of silicon and code.

Over the past few decades, a small research community has doggedly attacked the question of what consciousness is and how it works. The effort has yielded real progress. And now, with the rapid advance of AI technology, these insights could offer our only guide to the untested, morally fraught waters of artificial consciousness. Read the full story.

—Grace Huckins

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.)

+ Rest in power Sly Stone, truly one of the funky greats.
+ Did you know there’s an Olympics for scaffolding? Well, you do now.
+ Just one man is responsible for some of the greatest film artwork of all time—Drew Struzan.
+ That’s one dramatic pizza maker.