The Download: whole-body rejuvenation drugs and five things to know about AI

David Sinclair, a biologist at Harvard Medical School, is preparing to initiate human trials for a "reprogramming" drug aimed at achieving whole-body rejuvenation. These tests will be conducted as part of the XPrize Foundation's $101 million competition, which seeks to restore individuals to an earlier apparent age. Success will be measured by improvements in immune, cognitive, and muscle function, with a grand prize awarded to teams demonstrating a 10-year or greater relative age improvement after one year of treatment. Sinclair intends to administer an oral drug mixture to volunteers, seeking evidence of age restoration in humans through chemical reprogramming. Separately, Will Douglas Heaven outlined five critical themes regarding the current state of artificial intelligence. These themes include AI's pervasive presence across all sectors, its escalating capabilities that are raising concerns, the emergence of a growing backlash against its development and deployment, and its increasing significance in scientific research. Heaven presented these insights during a talk at SXSW London, drawing from MIT Technology Review's first AI10 list, an annual guide to top trends in the field.