{
  "id": 5086292,
  "title": "The Download: AI puzzles and a path to our nearest star system",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/02/the-download-ai-puzzles-and-a-path-to-our-nearest-star-system",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-02T12:10:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MIT Technology Review",
    "slug": "mit-technology-review",
    "url": "https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/09/02/1143283/the-download-ai-puzzles-alpha-centauri-mission/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "This is the latest installment of The Download, a daily newsletter that keeps readers up-to-date on the world of technology. In this edition, AI models have shown significant improvement in solving puzzles, but still struggle with human-level performance. The article includes a test for readers to see how they compare to AI in puzzle-solving.\n\nA nonprofit called the Fermi Explorer Mission plans to send a spacecraft to our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, by the end of 2029. An AI system developed by PSI, a physics research lab, discovered a novel trajectory to help achieve this ambitious goal, which could take up to 80,000 years to complete.\n\nThe article also delves into the evolving role of astronauts in space exploration, with space anthropologist Deana L. Weibel and former NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao sharing their perspectives on human space travel as a natural desire to explore and discover new worlds.\n\nIn cybersecurity news, OpenAI has warned that its next model, Astra, poses a \"critical\" cyber risk due to its ability to automate cyberattacks. The company plans to enhance security measures for the model. Meanwhile, the Pentagon's official overseeing military AI, Emil Michael, sold his Perplexity shares for up to $25 million following the Pentagon's adoption of Grok AI.\n\nOther news includes a data center backlash costing a Missouri councilman his seat, the potential discovery of dark matter particles, Google reportedly developing a coding model that could rival OpenAI and Anthropic, the US Army using a laser to shoot down drones near the Mexico border, and Google and Apple's differing approaches to implementing President Trump's \"Lake America\" order in map apps.",
  "summary": "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. AI models flub these intelligence tests. Can you fare any better? Puzzles and games have always been central to AI development. The term “machine learning” was popularized in a 1959 article…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}