The vote that stopped a data center: US communities query resource-hungry AI
On quiet streets across the Californian city of Monterey Park, green-and-white “YES on Measure NDC” signs stood on front-yard lawns…
SpaceX Is the New East India Company by Alessio Terzi & Stefano Marcuzzi
Although SpaceX is not about to rule over foreign subjects, as the chartered companies founded in the early modern era…
The Pope and the AI Profiteers by Antara Haldar
Innovation Jun 5, 2026 Antara Haldar In his first encyclical, Pope Leo XIV rightly rejects the idea that markets alone…
AI Must Not Encroach on Human Dignity by Michael R. Strain
In a world captivated by technological advances, Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical seeks to shift attention away from the marvels…
Using AI to Test Policy Language by Monica de Bolle
Policymakers have long understood that language affects economic behavior, but until recently, there were few tools capable of systematically analyzing…
Democracy vs. Data Centers by Angela Huyue Zhang
As tech companies race to build data centers, communities and lawmakers across the United States are pushing back. Industry leaders…
The Intelligence That AI Is Missing
For AI to simplify humans’ complex social and professional lives, it cannot just give tidy answers based on whatever the…
The Tech-MAGA Breakup Is Coming
Donald Trump has managed to fuse a backward-looking populist movement with a Silicon Valley vanguard whose guiding assumption is that…
India’s External Shock Is an Economic Opportunity by Gaurav Dalmia & Chetan Aggarwal
Despite strong fundamentals, India’s economy has major vulnerabilities stemming from its external account. With energy flows contested, shipping routes under…
Taking Women Farmers Seriously by Ruth Khasaya Oniang’o & Peter Kelly
Rather than designing solutions for half the farming population, agricultural researchers, policymakers, and others must consider the specific needs and…
Industrial Policy for an Age of Uncertainty by Yuen Yuen Ang
With industrial policy back in fashion worldwide, the question is not whether governments should intervene (they already do), but how…
How to Build a Sovereign AI Stack by Jayant Sinha
Paradoxically, no economy can build the architecture of AI sovereignty alone. Coalitions of countries must work together to regulate the…
A Cold Shower for the AI Mania
Although generative AI tools have improved rapidly and now outperform humans across many tasks, the market’s current euphoria may not…
The US and China Must Learn to Coexist by Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg
The Beijing summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping showed that competition between the United States and China need not…
HSBC Launches $4 Billion Credit Facility to Help China Clean Tech Firms Expand Globally
HSBC’s $4 billion facility will support mainland Chinese companies in sustainable and transition technologies, including clean power, data centres, EVs…
The Global Water Cycle Is Critical Infrastructure by Erik Berglöf
Governments and financial institutions urgently need to align on restoring and maintaining the planet’s life-support system. By harnessing recent advances…
What went right this week: the life-saving malaria jab, plus more
Malaria vaccine ‘significantly reducing’ child deaths African countries that were first to roll out a breakthrough malaria vaccine have seen…
America’s Autism Obsession by Ivan Ascher
The American public’s fascination with neurodivergence has increased significantly in recent years. One possibility for this newfound obsession is that…
Living Without an AI Kill Switch
With the arrival of Anthropic’s scarily powerful Mythos model, the tech titans that have long argued against any kind of…