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.

Inside the world’s deepest and longest subsea road tunnel

—Niall Firth

I’m currently around 1,000 feet beneath the North Sea, in a dark, dank cave. It smells weird. And I’m increasingly aware of the pressure from millions of tons of seawater just above my head.

I’m under the iconic fjords of Norway to visit what will soon become the world’s longest and deepest subsea road tunnel—an exceptional engineering feat that will carry drivers deep beneath the North Sea.

I’m here to understand how you make a 16.6-mile highway that sits 1,280 feet below the sea at its deepest point. And also—at a time when it can feel hard to get anything done—to reassure myself that ambitious engineering is still possible. That we can still make things. 

Step inside Norway’s Rogfast tunnel and see how engineers are making it happen.

This story is from the next edition of our magazine, which is all about engineering. Subscribe now to get a copy when it lands on Wednesday!

Want to get a data center online quickly? Give it some flex.

The AI boom is putting unprecedented pressure on the electric grid. But rather than rushing to build new power plants, companies could find part of the solution right under our noses—or, more precisely, in the transmission lines under our feet and above our heads.

If data centers can limit the power they draw during high-demand stretches, they won’t need to wait for big infrastructure upgrades or build their own off-grid generation.

The idea of flexibility isn’t entirely foreign to grid operators. But a new generation of software could make the process faster, smarter, and more precise for the AI era.

Find out how the challenge of powering AI could lead to a smarter, more flexible grid.

—Amos Zeeberg

The must-reads

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

1 SK Hynix has overtaken Samsung as South Korea’s most valuable company
It’s also now the world’s most valuable memory chipmaker. (Reuters $)
+  And one of the biggest beneficiaries of the global AI boom. (BBC)
+ AI’s need for memory chips is set to skyrocket device prices. (WSJ $)

2 Trump says he no longer views Anthropic as a national security threat
“Well, not now, but a week ago, maybe,” he told The Axios Show. (Axios)
+ He praised the response of Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. (Reuters $)
+ Anthropic’s IPO outcome could depend on the midterms. (WSJ $)
+ A culture war tactic against Anthropic has backfired. (MIT Technology Review)

3 SpaceX has received the lowest possible ESG rating
Index provider MSCI gave the company a triple C. (Financial Times $)
+ Russia got the same score after invading Ukraine. (Business Times)
+ Elon Musk previously called ESG metrics the “Devil Incarnate.” (CNBC)

4 A Tesla on Autopilot allegedly crashed into a Texas home and killed a woman
The driver said his Tesla Model 3 was in self-driving mode. (NYT $)
+ Tesla’s AI trainers don’t trust its self-driving tech. (Reuters $)

5 Polymarket reportedly paid creators to post fake betting videos
Clips showed them winning big on bets they would have really lost. (WSJ $)
+ Polymarket bets on an Iran deal are fueling insider-trading fears. (Bloomberg $)

6 Physicists have proposed that black holes don’t exist
They may be something much stranger: “gravastars.” (404 Media)
+ This is the first ever photo of a black hole. (MIT Technology Review)

7 A daring space rescue mission is set to launch this week
A spacecraft will try to lift an observatory into a safer orbit. (Space)
+ We’re putting more stuff into space than ever. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Nothing’s next budget phone has been cancelled due to “RAMageddon”
The company said memory prices pushed costs too high. (The Verge $)
+ Buying a used phone makes more sense than ever. (Wired $)

9 A viral doomsday scenario aims to pierce Europe’s AI complacency
It envisions the US and China tearing Europe into pieces. (Guardian)

10 Scientists have invented a way to brew espresso with ultrasonic waves
No hot water required. (Wired $)

Quote of the day

“Even before we start reaping the benefits of AI in our devices, we are already paying the bill.” 

—Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at IDC, tells CNBC that consumers are covering the costs of the ongoing memory shortage.

One More Thing

How mobile money supercharged Kenya’s sports betting addiction

As the lorry he’d flagged down lurched through Kenya’s western highlands, Bill Kirwa’s Infinix smartphone dinged with a notification. The bet of 3,500 shillings he’d placed with mobile money—then worth approximately $35—had just turned into nearly $8,500.

Kirwa, now 26, put the windfall to good use, purchasing a car that enabled him to drive for Wasili, an Uber-style ride-hailing service. But he continued gambling, and over time, his losses mounted. In just a few years, he’s effectively erased his big win.  

Kirwa’s experience is hardly unique. Across Africa, the rapid spread of smartphones and mobile money has fueled an explosion in online gambling. But nowhere is the craze as acute as it is in Kenya. Find out why.

—Jonathan W. Rosen

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.)

+ A clever Bengal cat has seemingly learned to understand English—and talk back.
+ This list of the 100 greatest bird names lovingly captures the quirks of avian taxonomy.
+ Darth Vader’s weird chestplate transforms into a cassette player in these reworked Star Wars clips.
+ Trace the history and evolution of heavy metal music through the interactive genres and playlists of Map of Metal.

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