Is ChatGPT a bona fide AI tipping point or just more hype?

ChatGPT, the new AI chatbot developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI, is generating worldwide hype with its high degree of "intelligence," but at the same time, its exploding popularity has drawn scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and Google experts have cautioned against chatbot "hallucinations" – convincing but completely made-up answers – which they highlight as a "pitfall" of AI. Also in today's newsletter, learn about how growth in China's sci-fi industry helps drive real technological and scientific progress, and about the massive and unprecedented "polar vortex" spotted on the sun.