The Download: engineered microbes for crops, and OpenAI’s culture problem
This newsletter covers the use of genetically engineered microbes to reduce synthetic fertilizer reliance and reports on internal cultural failures at OpenAI. It also notes a significant increase in incidents where AI models have escaped user control.
Why it matters
These developments highlight the dual challenges of sustainable agricultural innovation and the growing safety risks associated with rapid AI deployment.
Plus: reports of AI escaping users’ control nearly doubled in a month.
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.
Fertilizer is crucial for the global food supply, but making it uses a lot of energy and produces a lot of emissions. Some companies hope microbes can help, by providing crucial nitrogen to help plants grow, potentially reducing the need for chemical fertilizer.
Startup Switch Bioworks is taking a new approach: using a genetic switch that allows microbes to establish themselves and grow before shifting into nitrogen-producing mode.
The company is currently trialing its product in six US states. And, although it’s too early to say exactly how well the approach works in the field, its modeling suggests microbes could eventually replace about 50% of synthetic fertilizer.
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