The Download: US climate studies are being shut down, and building cities from lava

The must-reads

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

1 America is failing to win the tech race against China
In fields as diverse as drones and energy. (WSJ $)
+ Humanoid robots is an area of particular interest. (Bloomberg $)
+ China has accused the US of violating the pair’s trade truce. (FT $)

2 Who is really in charge of DOGE?
According to a fired staffer, it wasn’t Elon Musk. (Wired $)
+ DOGE’s tech takeover threatens the safety and stability of our critical data. (MIT Technology Review)

3 Brazilians will soon be able to sell their digital data
It’s the first time citizens will be able to monetize their digital footprint. (Rest of World)

4 The Trump administration’s anti-vaccine stance is stoking fear among scientists
It’s slashing funding for mRNA trials, and experts are afraid to speak out. (The Atlantic $)
+ This annual shot might protect against HIV infections. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Tech companies want us to spend longer talking to chatbots
Those conversations can easily veer into dangerous territory. (WP $)
+ How we use AI in the future is up to us. (New Yorker $)
+ This benchmark used Reddit’s AITA to test how much AI models suck up to us. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Tiktok’s mental health videos are rife with misinformation
A lot of the advice is useless at best, and harmful at worst. (The Guardian)