Drugmakers Say GLP-1 Drugs Show Signs of Slowing Biological Aging

The report said the findings suggest the popular weight-loss drugs may do more than help people shed pounds. The aging clocks track changes in DNA or levels of key proteins. MIT Technology Review said it remains unclear how much can be read into the results, and it pointed readers to its full story on what the findings reveal about GLP-1 drugs and aging.

The same edition named Energy Dome one of MIT Technology Review’s 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch 2026, a list available exclusively to subscribers. Energy Dome uses massive batteries that store energy by compressing carbon dioxide, addressing the intermittency of solar and wind power. Compressing gas to store energy is not new, the report noted; utilities have used compressed air in underground caverns for decades. Energy Dome’s approach does not require specific geology, so it could be more easily scaled to help grids around the world, according to the publication.

Subscribers can access the full list, which spans mobile flood barriers, electric buses, and next-generation nuclear reactors.

MIT Technology Review also released a narrated podcast segment titled “Don’t be fooled—LLMs don’t reason,” by Thore Graepel, a core member of DeepMind’s AlphaGo team. Graepel wrote that ten years ago he watched a program he helped build stun the world by beating Go champion Lee Sedol. AlphaGo won after making a move so strange that some commentators thought it was a programming glitch. Graepel attributed the creative choice to AlphaGo’s powers of reasoning, which he said today’s AI lacks. He said he recently left his position at Google DeepMind and believes a fresh approach to machine reasoning is needed, one that draws on AlphaGo’s architecture. The segment is published weekly on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Among other items in the same edition, OpenAI released 377 new math findings spanning number theory, algebra, geometry, and physics, according to the report, which said they came from testing an unreleased OpenAI model and cost far less than its previous math breakthroughs. OpenAI also published a lengthy defense of its approach. MIT Technology Review said AI has put mathematics at a crossroads.

Mistral said its new open-weight model, Mistral Large 4, is the best outside China, according to the roundup. The 1-trillion-parameter model, also known as le Chonk, will have its weights arrive on October 27. French President Emmanuel Macron described it as “a third way in AI.”

Finland ordered Google to halt a record data center project over environmental concerns, the report said. The €13 billion project is Google’s largest-ever European investment. The European Union plans to tax Big Tech through a new corporate levy that would apply to companies earning more than €100 million, while Tesla is pushing the EU toward “Full Self-Driving” approval.

Anduril’s $2.9 billion Navy submarine deal has sparked ethics concerns, according to the roundup, after co-founder Palmer Luckey recently joined a new Pentagon project. Anduril is also making smart glasses for warfare. Apple is partnering with LG on a smart lock, thermostat, and doorbell, and the companies are co-developing security cameras; Apple’s new smart-home hub is expected to launch next week.

The creator of a space-particle observatory has won the physics Nobel. Francis Halzen used Antarctic ice to detect elusive neutrinos. Drones are being used to make rain on demand by seeding clouds with silver iodide, and a startup claims it can stop lightning. A new hydrogel could enable shape-shifting smart devices because the material can evolve alongside living tissue. Experts said the public risk of plague remains very low.