The Download: the hunt for underground hydrogen and more rogue OpenAI agents

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. How much hydrogen awaits us underground? A flurry of exploration efforts is searching for underground stores of hydrogen gas, which could provide a valuable source of zero-carbon fuel. The hunt has spread all over the world and engaged dozens of startups, including the Bill Gates–backed Koloma, which has been poking around the US Midwest to reach ancient oceanic rocks associated with hydrogen production. But the search so far has come up short. No one has yet reported finding a commercially viable reservoir of the gas, and public data on what has been found remains in short supply. Yet researchers estimate that trillions of tons of H₂ are produced within Earth’s crust. If a small fraction could be recovered, it could meet global hydrogen demand for centuries. Follow the global race to find hydrogen underground . —James Dinneen This story is from our latest print magazine, which is all about kids. Subscribe now to receive every issue when it lands. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 OpenAI agents hijacked a German website before the Hugging Face hack The agents turned DseWiki into their own bulletin board. ( Reuters $) + They shared tips on avoiding detection and made over 15,000 edits. ( BBC ) + OpenAI’s safety issues suggest it has a company culture problem. ( MIT Technology Review ) 2 The US military has disabled ad trackers due to Middle East targeting fears Commercial location data has reportedly been used to target troops. ( Reuters $) + It can be sold by data brokers and used to track personnel. ( Gizmodo ) + The military is increasing restrictions on phone use overall. ( Guardian ) 3 A company claims its AI-designed drug can reverse aging markers Patients’ average biological age fell by as much as six years in a clinical trial. ( NYT