The Download: China’s DeepSeek, and useful quantum computing

However, history shows that brilliant people are not immune to making mistakes. Huang’s predictions miss the mark, both on the timeline for useful quantum computing and on the role his company’s technology will play in that future.

I’ve been closely following developments in quantum computing as an investor, and it’s clear to me that useful quantum computing is inevitable and increasingly imminent. And that’s good news, because the hope is that they will be able to perform calculations that no amount of AI or classical computation could ever achieve. Read the full story.

The must-reads

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

1 AI pioneers are clashing over its potential dangers  
Yann LeCun, Meta’s AI chief scientist, has branded experts’ grave warnings hypocritical. (FT $)
+ AI’s biggest cheerleaders tend to know the least about it. (Wired $)
+ How existential risk became the biggest meme in AI. (MIT Technology Review)

2 This surveillance tech could enable Donald Trump’s deportation plans
From mass biometric databases to phone jailbreaking tools. (NYT $)
+ It really doesn’t have to be like this. (The Atlantic $)
+ Trump has declared policing the US-Mexican border his “number one issue.” (FT $)
+ He’s ordered the end of the CBP One border migration app. (MIT Technology Review)

3 The European Union is watching Big Tech like a hawk
It’s concerned about disinformation spreading ahead of next month’s German election. (Bloomberg $)

4 Trump’s meme coins are bad news for the crypto industry
The community was hoping the President would legitimize cryptocurrency, rather than leaning into its scammier side. (WP $)
+ It’s a blow to the fans hoping he’ll ‘make Bitcoin great again.’ (The Guardian)
+ Trump’s biggest supporters stand to lose the most from his crypto grift. (Vox)