The Download: open model trade-offs and geothermal power’s promise

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. Open models have real benefits. Do they outweigh the risks? Anthropic recently released a report arguing that a powerful new model released by the Chinese company Z.ai, poses a major cyberattack risk. Its core concern was that it is freely available for anyone to download and modify. The warning was the latest flashpoint in a debate over whether frontier AI models should be open or kept behind the doors of frontier labs. Safety advocates warn that open models can be misused by bad actors, while supporters argue they could prevent a handful of companies from controlling this powerful technology. Here’s why the debate over open AI is more complicated than it seems. —Grace Huckins This story is part of MIT Technology Review Explains, our series untangling the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next. Read more from the series here. 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: Fervo Energy and its plan to streamline geothermal power Fervo Energy is one of MIT Technology Review’s10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch 2026, available exclusively to subscribers. Fervo Energy wants to expand geothermal power beyond the handful of places where it has traditionally been practical. The company uses horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to open pathways through underground rock, potentially making geothermal development possible in far more places. Now, Fervo is betting that AI’s power boom will help scale up enhanced geothermal energy. With a $2.2 billion public offering and an expanded agreement with Google, it plans to build larger plants and drive down costs. But can its approach work beyond Utah and Nevada? Read the full story to find out. —Eshan Raul Subscribers can now access the full 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch, spanning everything from sustainable cement to shipping containers packed with old EV b