A startup's bold antiaging claim and the lowdown on virtual power plants
MIT Technology Review's newsletter highlights a startup that claims to have found a drug combination to reverse aging but refuses to disclose the ingredients. It also provides guidance on joining virtual power plants, where utilities remotely control home devices to cut peak electricity use in exchange for bill savings. Additionally, a court ruling blocked the Pentagon's blacklisting of AI company Anthropic.
Generation Lab's antiaging claim rests on founder Irina Conboy's earlier research linking young blood to improved healing in older mice. The company now says two existing drugs can replicate those effects, but its refusal to name them leaves the treatment unverifiable and raises questions about how consumers could evaluate safety or efficacy.
Virtual power plants aggregate home devices like thermostats and EV chargers, letting utilities remotely reduce electricity draw during peak demand. Participants typically earn bill discounts or bonuses. The arrangement requires weighing potential savings against surrendering some control over home energy use to the utility.
This story highlights growing tensions between technological promise and transparency. The antiaging claim could influence consumers seeking treatments without scientific validation, potentially encouraging risky self-experimentation. Virtual power plants may reshape household energy economics, but could also raise privacy and control concerns as utilities gain remote access to home devices. The Anthropic ruling suggests courts may push back on government overreach, potentially affecting how agencies regulate AI companies.