Annals of Technology

How WhatsApp Took Over the Global Conversation

The platform has become a core technology around the world, relied on by governments and extended families alike. What are we all doing there?

Tim Berners-Lee Invented the World Wide Web. Now He Wants to Save It

In 1989, Sir Tim revolutionized the online world. Today, in the era of misinformation, addictive algorithms, and extractive monopolies, he thinks he can do it again.

The Inside Story of Microsoft’s Partnership with OpenAI

The companies had honed a protocol for releasing artificial intelligence ambitiously but safely. Then OpenAI’s board exploded all their carefully laid plans.

The World-Changing Race to Develop the Quantum Computer

Such a device could help address climate change and food scarcity, or break the Internet. Will the U.S. or China get there first?

America’s Favorite Pickup Truck Goes Electric

Ford’s F-series trucks make up the best-selling vehicle line in the U.S. Can its new F-150 Lightning compete with Tesla in the E.V. market?

The Science of Mind Reading

Researchers are pursuing age-old questions about the nature of thoughts—and learning how to read them.

How to Negotiate with Ransomware Hackers

Kurtis Minder finds the cat-and-mouse energy of outsmarting criminal syndicates deeply satisfying.


Dressing for the Surveillance Age

As cities become ever more packed with cameras that always see, public anonymity could disappear. Can stealth streetwear evade electronic eyes?
