A look at a secretive rejuvenation treatment, the rise of virtual power plants, and a court ruling regarding Anthropic's status with the Pentagon.
Key facts
- •Generation Lab's antiaging treatment claims to restore youth to tissues without the need for bodily fluid exchange.
- •A federal judge ruled that the Pentagon's blacklisting of Anthropic was based on retaliation and violated First Amendment rights.
- •Virtual power plants allow utilities to control household devices to reduce electricity consumption during peak demand periods.
- •Anthropic launched an AI tool that can autonomously operate physical lab equipment, including lasers and robotic arms.
- •A lawsuit alleges that the AI chatbot Grok was trained on child sexual abuse material.
- •Italian researchers have released 150,000 baby octopuses into the Adriatic Sea to combat invasive crab populations.
Generation Lab is promoting a new antiaging treatment that claims to restore health to multiple tissues, though the company has not disclosed the specific drugs involved. Separately, a federal judge has blocked the Pentagon from blacklisting the AI company Anthropic, ruling that the designation violated First Amendment rights and was retaliatory. Meanwhile, utility companies are increasingly adopting virtual power plants to manage household energy usage.
By the numbers
Generation Lab's Rejuvenation Treatment
Generation Lab, founded by Irina Conboy, claims its treatment can block the systemic spread of aging in the bloodstream and reawaken the body's repair mechanisms. The approach stems from Conboy's earlier research involving the circulatory systems of mice. While the company asserts that its current method uses a combination of two existing drugs to produce youthful effects without fluid exchange, it has declined to reveal the identity of these substances.
The Rise of Virtual Power Plants
Virtual power plants (VPPs) are collections of household devices, such as smart thermostats, home batteries, electric vehicle chargers, and HVAC systems, that utility companies can control. By commanding these devices to draw less electricity during peak hours, utilities manage grid demand. In return for participating, homeowners typically receive energy bill discounts and, in some instances, signing bonuses.
Legal and Technological Developments
Beyond the Pentagon ruling, Anthropic has released a new AI tool designed to operate physical laboratory equipment like microscopes and robotic arms. In other tech news, over 100 companies have called for a defensive surge to combat AI-driven cyberattacks, and OpenAI is testing a 'persistent' AI agent capable of performing tasks until manually stopped.
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This article was independently rewritten by ManyPress editorial AI from reporting originally published by MIT Technology Review.
