The Download: China’s winning at advanced manufacturing, and a potential TikTok sale
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.
The latest threat from the rise of Chinese manufacturing
In 2013, a trio of academics showed convincing evidence that increased trade with China beginning in the early 2000s and the resulting flood of cheap imports had been an unmitigated disaster for many US communities, destroying their manufacturing lifeblood.
The results of what they called the “China shock” were gut-wrenching: the loss of 1 million US manufacturing jobs and 2.4 million jobs in total by 2011.
If in retrospect all that seems obvious, it’s only because the research by David Autor, an MIT labor economist, and his colleagues has become an accepted, albeit often distorted, political narrative these days: China destroyed all our manufacturing jobs! Though the nuances are often ignored, the results help explain at least some of today’s political unrest. It’s reflected in rising calls for US protectionism, President Trump’s broad tariffs on imported goods, and nostalgia for the lost days of domestic manufacturing glory.
Our editor at large David Rotman recently spoke to Autor about what he considers a far more urgent problem——what some are calling China shock 2.0—and the lessons it holds for today’s manufacturing challenges. Read the full story.
Three things I’m into into right now
In each issue of our print magazine, we ask a member of staff to tell us about three things they’re loving at the moment. For our latest edition, which was all about power, I was in the hotseat! Check out my (frankly amazing) recommendations here, and subscribe to catch future editions here.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 A new TikTok is coming
It’s reportedly launching a new version in the US in September ahead of a planned sale. (The Information $)
+ It’ll still require the Chinese government’s say-so. (The Verge)
2 Texas Hill Country was caught off guard by the flash floods
But now people are asking: why? (WP $)
+ America’s National Weather Service has been on the receiving end of heavy cuts. (CNN)
+ Bad weather has interrupted ongoing searches for survivors. (WSJ $)
3 Elon Musk is forging ahead with his own political party
To the chagrin of investors in his companies. (The Guardian)
+ Former friend Donald Trump has some thoughts. (Insider $)
+ The America Party is facing an uphill struggle. (WP $)
4 The Trump administration has axed a group focused on birth control safety
They were tasked with advising women which contraceptives to use. (Undark)
5 On-the-job learning is under threat
From a combination of generative AI tools and remote working culture. (FT $)
6 xAI’s ‘improved’ Grok is perpetuating anti-Semitic stereotypes
It made worrying comments about Jewish executives in Hollywood. (TechCrunch)
+ LLMs become more covertly racist with human intervention. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Taiwan wants to lessen its commercial reliance on China
But it won’t be easy. (NYT $)
+ How underwater drones could shape a potential Taiwan-China conflict. (MIT Technology Review)
8 LLMs have improved rapidly in the past few years
Benchmarking them is notoriously tricky, though. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ A Chinese firm has just launched a constantly changing set of AI benchmarks. (MIT Technology Review)
9 Big Tech’s salary divide is getting worse
Those whopping AI pay packets are at least partly to blame. (Insider $)
10 More than 30 tech unicorns have been minted during 2025
And we could see a far few more before the year is out. (TechCrunch)
Quote of the day
“If you go in with the expectation that the AI is as smart or smarter than humans, you’re quickly disappointed by the reality.”
—Eric Schwartz, chief marketing officer of Clorox, tells the Wall Street Journal that AI can’t be relied upon to come up with truly original or engaging ideas.
One more thing
Alina Chan tweeted life into the idea that the virus came from a lab
Alina Chan started asking questions in March 2020. She was chatting with friends on Facebook about the virus then spreading out of China. She thought it was strange that no one had found any infected animal. She wondered why no one was admitting another possibility, which to her seemed very obvious: the outbreak might have been due to a lab accident.
Chan is a postdoc in a gene therapy lab at the Broad Institute, a prestigious research institute affiliated with both Harvard and MIT. Throughout 2020, Chan relentlessly stoked scientific argument, and wasn’t afraid to pit her brain against the best virologists in the world. Her persistence even helped change some researchers’ minds. Read the full story.
—Antonio Regalado
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 or skeet ’em at me.)
+ Why 2025 might just be the year of animal escapes.
+ Very cool—an iron age settlement has been uncovered in England thanks to a lucky metal detectorist.
+ This little armadillo is having the time of their life in a paddling pool.
+ Peace and love to Mr Ringo Starr, 85 years young today!