The Download: Yann LeCun’s new venture, and lithium’s on the rise

This is today’s download version, Our weekday newsletter providing a daily dose of what’s happening in the world of technology.

Yann LeCun’s new project is a contrarian bet against big language models

Yann LeCun is a Turing Award winner and a prominent AI researcher, but he has long been an ambivalent figure in the technology world. He believes the industry’s current obsession with large language models is misguided and will ultimately fail to solve many pressing problems.

Instead, he believes we should bet on universal models, that is, a different type of artificial intelligence that accurately reflects real-world dynamics. It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that he recently left Meta, where he was chief scientist at FAIR (Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research), the company’s influential research lab that he founded.

LeCun sat down with MIT Technology Review in an exclusive online interview from his apartment in Paris to discuss his new project, life after meta, the future of artificial intelligence, and why he thinks the industry is pursuing the wrong ideas. Read the full interview.

—Caiwei Chen

Why is 2026 a hot year for lithium?

—Casey Crownhart

In 2026, I will be closely monitoring the price of lithium.

If you’re not used to obsessively following commodity markets, I certainly don’t blame you. (Although the news lately certainly confirms that minerals can have major implications for global politics and economics.)

But lithium is worth a closer look now. The metal is essential for lithium-ion batteries used in phones, laptops, electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage arrays on the grid.

Prices have been a roller coaster for the past few years, and they are rising again. What happens next could have major implications for mining and battery technology. Read the full story. This story first appeared in The Spark, our newsletter about technology we can use to fight the climate crisis. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.

What to read

I’ve combed the internet to find today’s most interesting/important/scary/cool stories about technology.

On November 1, Trump backed away from his plan to seize Greenland
To the relief of many across Europe. (BBC)
+Trump says he agreed to a deal to access rare earths in Greenland. Experts say this is “crazy.”(CNN)
+European leaders are puzzled by what is happening. ($foot)

2 Apple is reportedly developing a wearable AI pin
This project is still in its early stages, but this could be huge if it gets off the ground. ($information)
+ It’s also planning to revamp Siri and turn it into an AI-powered chatbot. (Bloomberg Dollar)
+Are we ready to trust artificial intelligence with our bodies?(MIT Technology Review)

3 CEOs say AI saves people time. Their employees disagree.
Many are even saying that it is currently being withdrawnunderTheir productivity. (Wall Street Journal $)
+The AI ​​boom will increase US carbon emissions, but it doesn’t have to.($wired)
+Let’s also not forget that large language models remain a security nightmare.(IEEE spectrum)

4 This graph shows how measles cases spread in America
These rates are at their highest levels in thirty years, and the United States is on its way to losing its “exclusion status.” ($Axios)
+Things are expected to get worse this year.($wired)

5. Your first robotic coworker will almost certainly be Chinese
But will it really be useful? This is the biggest question. ($wired)
+Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says Europe can do more to compete in robotics and artificial intelligence.(CNBC)

6 Bezos’ Blue Origin is about to compete with Starlink
It plans to send the first TeraWave satellites into space next year. ($Reuters)
+On the ground at the largest Starlink repair shop in Ukraine.(MIT Technology Review)

7. The Trump family made $1.4 billion from cryptocurrencies last year
Moving on, there is no conflict of interest to see here. (Bloomberg Dollar)

8. Comic-Con banned AI art
After an artist-led backlash last week. (404 Media)
+Hundreds of innovators warn of an AI future built on “large-scale theft.”(The Verge $)

9 What it’s like to live without a smartphone for a month
It’ll probably be happy for you, but maybe a little annoying for everyone else. (The Guardian)
+Why teens with ADHD are especially vulnerable to the dangers of social media(nature)

10. Elon Musk feuds with a budget airline
The airline wins, in case you wondered. ($WP)

Quote of the day

“I won’t edit anything about Donald Trump, because the man makes me crazy.”

– Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales tells Wired why he is stepping away from the US president’s page.

Another thing

How electricity can help tackle a surprising climate villain

Hiding in plain sight, cement is used to build everything from roads and buildings to dams and basements. But it also poses a climate threat. Cement production accounts for more than 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions, more than sectors such as aviation, shipping or landfills.

One solution to this climate disaster may be Sublime Systems’ piped flow. The startup is developing a completely new way of making cement. Instead of heating crushed rock in hot lava furnaces, Sublime’s technology electrocutes it into water, initiating the chemical reactions that form the main ingredients in cement.

But it faces enormous challenges: competing with established players in the industry, and convincing builders to use its materials in the first place. Read the full story.

—Casey Crownhart

We can still have nice things

A place of rest, fun and distraction to brighten your day. (Do you have any ideas? Send me a line or I slammed them in my face.)

+ Earth may be a garbage fire, but space is beautiful.
+ Do you know how to tie your shoelaces correctly? Are you sure?!
+ I challenge British readers not to feel a pang of nostalgia for these crunchy packets.
+ Going to bed around the same time every night seems like a habit worth adopting. ($)

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2026-01-22 13:10:00