The Download: our 35 young innovators and the “censorship-industrial complex”

Details

This issue of MIT Technology Review's The Download covers three distinct stories. The most AI-relevant is an 'unprecedented' AI-enabled cyberattack on Taiwan attributed to China-linked actors — a signal that AI is now being actively deployed in state-sponsored offensive cyber operations, though the article provides only a headline mention without technical detail. The 2026 Innovators Under 35 list previews a September 8 reveal: 35 selected from 550 nominated early-career researchers. MIT TR's annual forward-looking talent survey offers directional signal on where young researchers are focusing, useful for identifying emerging research areas. Montana's new right-to-try legislation — open to anyone willing to pay and give informed consent, not only terminal patients — creates a novel regulatory experiment with implications for longevity and rare disease biotech. The first experimental treatment clinics may open by year-end. As a newsletter digest, the piece lacks depth on any single story. The Taiwan AI cyberattack is the highest-signal item but receives only a sentence. Readers should follow up with primary reporting for details on the attack attribution, methods, and scope.