The Download: our 35 Innovators Under 35 this year

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MIT Technology Review's annual 35 Innovators Under 35 for 2026 drew from 550 nominations evaluated by 44 expert judges, recognizing young researchers across biotechnology, AI, computing and robotics, and climate and energy — a snapshot of where the next wave of scientific progress is heading. The newsletter digest surfaces two significant AI developments. Anthropic's Claude reportedly produced a computer-verified formal proof of Fermat's Last Theorem in 11 days, generating a 13-million-line proof published in Nature. That marks one of the clearest demonstrations yet of AI contributing to original mathematical discovery, though the digest cites it briefly and primary sourcing is paywalled. Mistral closed a $3.5 billion equity round — the largest for any private European tech company — as it pivots toward AI infrastructure and data centers alongside its open-model strategy. The shift has drawn criticism from observers who see it as a departure from its original open-source positioning. The digest also flags that a blacklisted Chinese company continued accessing Nvidia's advanced AI chips via a US subsidiary shipping from outside China — highlighting persistent enforcement gaps in export controls that regulators and hardware suppliers will face increasing pressure to close.