Welcome to Tech Beat, your daily look at the stories shaping our digital world.
The machine-to-machine economy may be arriving faster than anyone expected. New figures from OpenRouter show AI agents consuming seven point three trillion tokens compared to just one point four trillion by human users. That's a five-to-one ratio, and analysts are projecting it climbs to ten-to-one and beyond. The implications for infrastructure costs, energy use, and who — or what — is actually driving internet traffic are only beginning to be understood.
On a very different note, the Vatican is weighing in on artificial intelligence, and the Pope isn't offering a blessing. The pontiff says algorithms lack what he calls the spark of humanity, and the Vatican is now actively seeking to rebuild alliances with artists and cultural institutions to protect human creative expression. It's a rare moment of theological and aesthetic critique aimed squarely at generative AI.
And in a story that blends history with modern technology, a new expedition is launching to find Amelia Earhart's plane. Purdue University is counting down to a search mission that will deploy advanced sonar and underwater imaging tools to probe the Pacific, nearly ninety years after her disappearance. It's a reminder that some of the most compelling uses of new technology are in service of very old questions.
Keep surfing. Tech Beat out.
