For a start, the heads of the top AI companies made promises they couldn’t keep. They told us that generative AI would replace the white-collar workforce, bring about an age of abundance, make scientific discoveries, and help find new cures for disease. Though the technology may have been billed as a universal multitool that could revamp outdated business processes and cut costs, a number of studies published suggest that firms are failing to make the AI pixie dust work its magic. Technology Review

What will really matter in the long run? We can’t see the future, but we expect these technologies to affect our world in a big way, for decades to come. Technology Review

Making steel is one of the largest industrial sources of carbon dioxide, emitting more carbon than all of India (the world’s third largest emitter) and far more than air travel. The first industrial green-steel plant, which uses hydrogen made with renewable power, is being built by Stegra, a $7 billion startup that is scheduled to begin operations 2026 in northern Sweden. Technology Review

From the end of passwords over a Covid pill and huge grid batteries to a carbon removal factory. MIT Technology Review.

There are now businesses that sell fake people. On the website Generated.Photos, you can buy a “unique, worry-free” fake person for $2.99, or 1,000 people for $1,000. If you just need a couple of fake people — for characters in a video game, or to make your company website appear more diverse — you can get their photos for free on ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com. New York Times

A little-known start-up helps law enforcement match photos of unknown people to their online images — and “might lead to a dystopian future or something,” a backer says. New York Times