The Download: the agentic web arrives and the drive for safer roads

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

In 2001, a decade after inventing the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee articulated a new vision: an internet navigated by autonomous software agents that address our every need, without requiring us to muck about with browsers and search engines ourselves.

At the time, the idea seemed far-fetched. But a quarter-century on, AI agents are beginning to make it a reality. They can triage your inbox, do your grocery shopping, and even access your bank accounts.

This new era is being called the agentic web. It will inevitably transform the internet—and whether the human web survives this transition is anyone’s guess.

Find out how AI agents are transforming the internet, and what we stand to lose in the process.

Are we there yet? Eliminating traffic deaths

Every year, traffic crashes kill more than 1 million people worldwide. …