News of the Cyber World

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Just a couple of days ago we learned about eBay letting go several of its employees without getting serious into why they'd need to start downsizing the company out of the blue.  Well, this article from earlier this month might have had a serious impact on its operations.

eBay Inc. to Pay $3 Million in Connection with Corporate Cyberstalking Campaign Targeting Massachusetts Couple

BOSTON – eBay Inc., the global ecommerce company, has agreed to pay a $3 million criminal penalty for an August 2019 harassment and intimidation campaign targeting a Massachusetts couple in retaliation for their online coverage of eBay, and for its obstruction of the investigation that followed.

eBay was charged criminally with two counts of stalking through interstate travel, two counts of stalking through electronic communications services, one count of witness tampering and one count of obstruction of justice and has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement. Pursuant to the agreement, eBay admitted to a detailed recitation of all the relevant facts about its conduct and agreed to pay a criminal penalty of $3 million, which is the statutory maximum fine for these six felony offenses. As part of this resolution, eBay will also be required to retain an independent corporate compliance monitor for a period of three years and to make extensive enhancements to its compliance program.

“eBay engaged in absolutely horrific, criminal conduct. The company’s employees and contractors involved in this campaign put the victims through pure hell, in a petrifying campaign aimed at silencing their reporting and protecting the eBay brand,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “We left no stone unturned in our mission to hold accountable every individual who turned the victims’ world upside-down through a never-ending nightmare of menacing and criminal acts. The investigation led to felony convictions for seven individuals, all former eBay employees or contractors, and the ringleader was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison.”
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“Today’s settlement holds e-Bay criminally and financially responsible for emotionally, psychologically, and physically terrorizing the publishers of an online newsletter out of fear that bad publicity would adversely impact their Fortune 500 company. It also puts in place some much needed checks and balances to ensure an overhaul of e-Bay’s corporate culture by requiring it to implement a revamped compliance and ethics program designed to prevent the recurrence of the appalling conduct we uncovered in this case,” said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Boston Division. “No one should ever feel unsafe in their own home, and while this settlement cannot erase the significant distress this couple suffered, we hope it will deter others from engaging in similar conduct.”

According to eBay’s admissions, between approximately Aug. 5, 2019 and Aug. 23, 2019, Jim Baugh, eBay’s former Senior Director of Safety and Security, and six other members of eBay’s security team targeted the victims for their roles in publishing a newsletter that reported on issues of interest to eBay sellers. Senior executives at eBay were frustrated with the newsletter’s tone and content, and with the comments posted beneath the newsletter’s articles. The harassment campaign arose from communications between those executives and Baugh. 

Baugh and his co-conspirators executed a harassment campaign intended to intimidate the victims and to change the content of the newsletter’s reporting. The campaign included sending anonymous and disturbing deliveries to the victims’ home, including a book on surviving the death of a spouse, a bloody pig mask, a fetal pig and a funeral wreath and live insects; sending private Twitter messages and public tweets criticizing the newsletter’s content and threatening to visit the victims in Natick; and traveling to Natick to surveil the victims and install a GPS tracking device on their car. The harassment also featured Craigslist posts inviting the public for sexual encounters at the victims’ home.

The victims spotted the surveillance team and contacted local police. After learning of the Natick Police Department’s investigation, Baugh made false statements to police and internal investigators, and he and his team deleted digital evidence related to the cyberstalking campaign and falsified records intended to throw the police off the trail.

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Microsoft critics accuse the firm of ‘negligence’ in latest breach

For the second time in six months, Microsoft has disclosed that spies affiliated with a foreign intelligence service breached the company’s systems, this time accessing the emails of senior company executives. And for the second time in as many months, officials in Washington along with security researchers and executives are arguing that the company simply isn’t doing enough to secure its systems.

“This is yet another wholly avoidable hack that was caused by Microsoft’s negligence,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a statement to CyberScoop.

Wyden is one of a growing number of Microsoft critics who argue that a series of breaches at the company raise questions about whether it is prioritizing and making sufficient investments in security. With Microsoft providing key computing infrastructure to the U.S. government, critics like Wyden argue that the company needs to be prodded to place security at the center of its work. “The U.S. government needs to reevaluate its dependence on Microsoft,” Wyden said.

The most recent breach involved the hacking group best known as Cozy Bear, which is believed to be a unit of Russia’s foreign intelligence service SVR. The group breached what Microsoft described as a “legacy non-production test tenant account” using a password spraying attack. Such an attack is among the most basic of ways to compromise a computing system and would typically be prevented by multi-factor authentication — the kind of simple security hygiene that companies like Microsoft have for years encouraged their users to adopt.
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In a statement, a spokesperson for Microsoft said that “the attack was not the result of a vulnerability in Microsoft products or services” and that “there is no evidence that the threat actor had any access to customer environments, production systems, source code, or AI systems.”

Eric Goldstein, CISA’s executive assistant director for cybersecurity, said in a statement to CyberScoop that the agency is “closely coordinating with Microsoft to gain additional insights into this incident and ensure necessary transparency so we can understand impacts from this compromise. As noted in Microsoft’s announcement, at this time we are not aware of impacts to Microsoft customer environments or products.”

US, UK, Australia sanction Russian national after major Australian ransomware attack

The U.S., U.K. and Australian governments on Tuesday sanctioned a Russian man for his role in the October 2022 ransomware attack on Medibank, Australia’s largest private health insurance provider.

Alexander Ermakov, a Russian national, “played a pivotal” role in the attack, which compromised health insurance data for nearly 4 million Australians and included more than 9.7 million stolen records, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

The move comes a day after the Australian government announced what the Sydney Morning Herald said was that country’s first use of cyber sanctions laws in this fashion. Australian authorities also said they are looking to arrest Ermakov and are investigating any of his known associates.

Ermakov is linked to the REvil ransomware operation, which, at one time, was “among the most notorious cybercrime gangs in the world,” having been deployed on approximately 175,000 computers worldwide and tied to at least $200 million paid in ransom, according to the U.S. Treasury statement.

Elon Musk Blames ‘Spam/Scam Bot’ for X/Twitter Censoring Normal Pictures as ‘Graphic Content’

Business Insider reports that over the weekend, many X/Twitter users reported that regular images, including innocent pictures of books, trees, and cars, were blurred and tagged as “graphic content” on the platform.  This issue is the latest in a series of technical glitches that X/Twitter has faced since Musk’s acquisition of the platform in October 2022.

In response to the issue, Musk acknowledged the problem in a post on his platform, stating that “an X spam/scam bot accidentally flagged many legitimate accounts today. This is being fixed.”

The social media site also addressed the issue through its “Safety” account, confirming that a bug had caused numerous posts to be incorrectly labeled and assuring users that the underlying problem was resolved and efforts were underway to remove the misapplied labels.

This glitch follows several other technical challenges faced by X/Twitter under Musk’s leadership. Notably, in December, the site experienced its largest outage since Musk’s takeover, with nearly 100,000 users reporting issues. Other notable incidents include a bug in August 2023 that temporarily disrupted all pictures and links posted before 2014, and a brief period in July when the site became largely unusable due to “rate limits” allegedly introduced to manage high levels of “data scraping.”

These repeated technical difficulties coincide with significant workforce reductions at X/Twitter

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How Venezuela Tried — and Failed — to Run a Crypto Scam

The Maduro regime unceremoniously killed its scam cryptocurrency, the “Petro,” in January.

The “Petro” was one of the many failed “brilliant” ideas that the regime imposed on the country for the supposed benefit of the people, only to allegedly use it to steal more from the country’s dwindling state coffers.

The socialist regime praised the Petro as this novelty, futuristic currency that would, somehow (don’t ask me how), solve all of our economic woes – all of which were caused by the socialist regime itself. Most Petro transactions took place within the regime’s Chinese-inspired Fatherland platform, which effectively functions as our Social Credit System. The platform disabled all Petro-related operations on January 15, killing this scam for good.

Cryptocurrencies, by now, are a tried and tested financial instrument for those tech-savvy enough to engage in its complexities. Latin America now has the cases of El Salvador, which adopted Bitcoin as a legal currency, and Argentina, which recently hosted its first rental lease contract in Bitcoin, thanks to President Javier Milei’s executive decree that wiped away hundreds of socialist regulations.

For Venezuelans, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin were one of the few ways that some were able to stay afloat amidst the collapse of socialism and infernal hyperinflation that consumed the country in the late 2010s. That much I can personally attest to, as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether have all saved me quite a few times in recent years.
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The “salvation” part of the Petro, and the one that would allegedly translate to benefits for Venezuelan citizens, was Maduro’s claim that the country’s minimum wage would always be worth “half a Petro,” namely, $30 per month. This, just like so many other things, was a complete lie, to the surprise of no one.

There's a footnote in this article that sounds very interesting.

A “math” equation the Venezuelan socialist government published as an explanation of how the “Petro” scam cryptocurrency was allegedly backed by the existence of natural resources on Venezuelan soil. The regime admitted shortly thereafter that they fixed the price of the Petro to $60 a unit randomly. (Government of Venezuela White Paper)

Tom Cotton: ‘Hell of a Coincidence’ Shou Zi Chew Became TikTok CEO Day After Inking Deal with China

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) on Wednesday said there was a “hell of a coincidence” in how Shou Zi Chew became the CEO of TikTok the day after he brokered a deal with China.

Cotton spoke during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on online child sexual exploitation, which included big tech companies such as Facebook, Snapchat, Discord, X, and TikTok.

During the hearing, Cotton noted the strong ties between TikTok and the Chinese Communist Party.

Cotton said that Shou Zi Chew used to be the chief financial officer (CFO) of Bytedance, the parent company of TikTok. He then noted that in 2021, while the [current head of] TikTok was the CFO of Bytedance, the China Internet Investment Fund, a Chinese government investment fund, took a “one percent stake” in the ByteDance technology company.

“In return for that one percent golden share, the party took one of three board seats at that subsidiary company, is that correct,” Cotton asked.

“It’s for the Chinese business, yes,” the TikTok CEO responded.

“That deal was finalized on April 30, 2021. Isn’t it true that you were appointed the CEO of TikTok the very next day on May 1, 2021?”

“It’s a coincidence,” the TikTok CEO said.

Marsha Blackburn Tells TikTok CEO His Chinese Psyop Company Is Not Welcome in Tennessee

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) told China’s TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew during a senate hearing on Wednesday that Tennessee is not going to be rolling out “the welcome mat” for a proposed company HQ in Memphis.

“I know some of you had to be subpoenaed to get here,” Sen. Blackburn began during her opening statements at Wednesday’s Senate Hearing on Online Child Safety.

“Mr. Chew, I want to come to you first,” she continued. “We’ve heard that you’re looking at putting a headquarters in Nashville — what you’re going to find is that the welcome mat is not going to be rolled out for you in Nashville.”

“There are a lot of people in Tennessee that are very concerned about the way TikTok is basically building dossiers on our kids,” Sen. Blackburn said.

Elsewhere in her statement to the TikTok CEO, the senator asserted, “Children are not your priority. Children are your product.”

Executives from TikTok, Meta, X/Twitter, Snap, and Discord testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the exploitation of children online on Wednesday.

FTX Abandons Plans to Relaunch Crypto Exchange, Commits to Full Repayment of Customers and Creditors

Bloomberg reports that FTX, once a major player in the cryptocurrency exchange market, has made a major announcement in the wake of its bankruptcy proceedings. During a court hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, the company has committed to fully reimbursing its customers and creditors and abandoned plans to relaunch the exchange.

FTX’s lawyer, Andrew Dietderich, commented: “I would like the court and stakeholders to understand this not as a guarantee, but as an objective. There is still a great amount of work, and risk, between us and that result. But we believe the objective is within reach and we have a strategy to achieve it.”

In addition to this repayment plan, FTX has also decided to discontinue efforts to restart or sell its crypto exchange. This decision was based on the realization that the costs involved in reviving the platform were prohibitively high. The team overseeing FTX’s restructuring conducted an exhaustive search for potential investors to restart FTX.com, but the financial requirements for a revival proved too steep.

Since declaring bankruptcy, FTX has been actively working to locate assets and untangle a complex web of debts. This includes obligations to various creditors and customers who had invested cash and cryptocurrency on the trading platform. By the end of 2023, FTX’s four largest affiliates had nearly doubled the group’s cash reserves, reaching $4.4 billion, up from approximately $2.3 billion in late October.

Elon Musk Proposes Tesla Reincorporates in Texas After Delaware Judge Voids Pay Package

CNBC reports that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced a proposal to move Tesla’s incorporation from Delaware to Texas. The proposed change comes after a Delaware judge nullified Musk’s $56 billion pay package from 2018, raising questions about the fairness and negotiation process of such compensation plans.

Tesla, currently incorporated in Delaware, has faced scrutiny over its governance and compensation practices. Delaware, known for its business-friendly laws and courts that specialize in corporate law, has been a preferred state for incorporation for many major U.S. companies, however, the recent court ruling against Tesla’s compensation package for Musk has prompted the billionaire to reconsider the company’s state of incorporation.

In an informal poll posted on X/Twitter by Musk, over 80 percent of participants supported the idea of moving Tesla’s incorporation to Texas, where the company’s physical headquarters are already located.

The potential shift to Texas could have far-reaching implications for Tesla. Texas offers a more relaxed regulatory environment, particularly regarding executive compensation. This could allow Tesla greater flexibility in structuring pay packages and other corporate governance matters, potentially without the stringent fiduciary standards imposed by Delaware law.

However, legal experts — such as Columbia Law School professor Eric Talley — have highlighted potential challenges, including the possibility of shareholder lawsuits alleging that the move might be driven by Musk’s personal interests rather than the company’s best interest.

Elon Musk Announces Neuralink Has Implanted Its Brain Chip into a Human

BBC News reports that Neuralink, a neurotechnology company founded by Elon Musk in 2016, has developed a brain-machine interface consisting of thousands of electrodes attached to flexible threads that can be implanted in the brain. The goal is to create a wireless device capable of recording and stimulating brain activity as a way to potentially treat neurological conditions.

According to Musk, the first human implant of Neuralink’s brain chip has been completed and is showing positive results so far.

Musk stated on X (formerly Twitter) that the first Neuralink product will be called “Telepathy” and will allow users to control devices like phones or computers simply by thinking. While the technology is still in the early research stages, Musk envisions it could eventually help paralyzed patients communicate faster than typing or even allow for “symbiosis with artificial intelligence.”

Neuralink faces competition from other brain-machine interface companies such as Blackrock Neurotech and Precision Neuroscience. However, the high profile of Musk and Neuralink has brought more public attention to the concept of connecting the human brain to computers.
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A detailed investigation brought to light the unsettling circumstances surrounding the deaths of monkeys used in Neuralink’s preliminary experiments. Elon Musk has staunchly denied that the deaths were a direct consequence of the implants, maintaining that the chosen test subjects were “close to death already.” However, these assertions are contradicted by accounts revealing severe complications, including chronic infections, paralysis, and brain swelling, experienced by the test subjects, necessitating euthanasia.

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Ex-CIA Coder Joshua Schulte Sentenced to 40 Years in Prison for Leaking Hacking Tools to WikiLeaks

Former CIA officer Joshua Schulte faces 40 years in prison for leaking a trove of classified hacking tools to WikiLeaks, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York announced Thursday. He was also found guilty of possessing child abuse images.

Prosecutors accused the onetime coder of passing on the CIA’s “Vault 7” tools, which allow intelligence officers to hack smartphones and use them as listening devices in what was variously described as one of the most “brazen” leaks in U.S. history.

Schulte, 35, shared some 8,761 documents to WikiLeaks in 2017, the U.S. justice department found. It was the single largest data leak in the agency’s history.

He denied the allegations, but was convicted on the various counts of espionage at three separate federal trials in New York in 2020, 2022, and 2023.

On Thursday, he was sentenced for charges of espionage, computer hacking, contempt of court, making false statements to the FBI and possession of child abuse images.

Schulte defended himself at trial. An earlier trial ended in a hung jury in 2020.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement Schulte’s activities saw him “rightly punished not only for his betrayal of our country, but for his substantial possession of horrific child pornographic material,”...

Federal Agency Issues Security Warning for Apple Devices, Gives Three Weeks to Comply

This week, a federal agency sent a warning about a vulnerability that impacts iPhones, iPads, Macbooks, and other Apple devices, saying that it could lead to major security breaches.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), an arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said on Jan. 30 that the issue, marked as CVE-2022-48618, can bypass “pointer authentication.” It said that not fixing the bug could pose a “significant” risk to the U.S. “federal enterprise.”

The bulletin also said that it issued a “binding operational directive” to issue updates to fix the problem, requiring federal civilian agencies to “remediate identified vulnerabilities by the due date to protect” its “networks against active threats.”

According to CISA, the agencies were given about three weeks to patch the issue. The deadline was set for Feb. 21, 2024.

But CISA also warned that it “strongly urges all organizations,” such as companies, to respond to the bug.

On a separate website, officials say that the issue has been fixed in macOS Ventura 13.1, watchOS 9.2, iOS 16.2 and, iPadOS 16.2, and tvOS 16.2. “An attacker with arbitrary read and write capability may be able to bypass Pointer Authentication. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited against versions of iOS released before iOS 15.7.1,” the bulletin said.

In a separate instance last month, CISA sent out an advisory for iPhone and other iOS users to update their products for another security issue.

“Apple has released security updates for iOS and iPadOS, macOS, Safari, watchOS, and tvOS. A cyber threat actor could exploit some of these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system,” said the agency on Jan. 23. It then recommended that users update their software.

British Columbia Supreme Court Mulls Class-Action Against iPhone for Allegedly Slowing Older Phones

A judge in British Columbia will decide next month whether to approve a multimillion-dollar settlement of a class-action lawsuit against Apple for allegedly slowing down older model iPhones with its software updates.

Lawyers for the company and class members in a lawsuit originally filed in 2018 were in a Vancouver courtroom on Jan. 29, urging approval of the settlement, where consumers would receive between $17.50 and $150, depending on the number of claims that are successful.

Michael Peerless, a lawyer for the class, told Justice Sharon Matthews that the amounts will be paid out to those who can prove ownership of affected phones that include several iPhone 6 and 7 models.

He said the settlement was “hard fought” after “lengthy and difficult negotiations” with the company, and said the amounts proposed to be paid out is “in the range that a consumer should hope for.”

Mr. Peerless told the judge that similar litigation in the United States provided a “valuable road map” during settlement negotiations, which could see Apple pay out a maximum of about $14.4 million to class members.

Similar lawsuits were filed in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta. The settlement agreement would apply for residents in all provinces except Quebec.

The U.S. case in California saw the company settle with iPhone users whose devices were throttled by software updates, diminishing the phones’ performance and battery life.

The California case settlement range was between $310 million and $500 million.

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American Couple Sues Google Maps over ‘Deadly’ Directions

The Daily Express U.S. reports that Jason and Katharine Zoladz filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court on Tuesday, alleging that Google Maps led them into the Nyanga neighborhood of Cape Town while they were driving to the airport to return their rental car. The couple claims the app directed them onto the “Hell Run,” a stretch of congested highway where armed gangs routinely target tourists in rental cars.

According to the lawsuit, locals and officials have warned Google about the attacks in Nyanga and attempted to get the company to stop routing people through the area. But it was too late for the Zoladzes, who were set upon by gunmen after Google Maps led them into the neighborhood last October.

The assailants surrounded the couple’s car, smashed the driver’s side window, and pulled Jason and Katharine from the vehicle. The men then fired several gunshots, brutally beat Jason, and made off with the couple’s cash, credit cards, and cell phones.

Jason was left unconscious with severe facial injuries that required reconstructive surgery and left him with four metal plates in his jaw. He continues to suffer from pain, numbness, and mobility issues.

The Zoladzes say the attack could have been prevented if Google had heeded warnings about the deadly risks of sending tourists through Nyanga. Officials and residents had been petitioning the company to reroute directions for years prior to the incident, according to the lawsuit.

Cape Town authorities finally succeeded in getting Google to stop directing people through Nyanga last November – three weeks after the attack on the Zoladzes.

Mark Zuckerberg to Receive $700 Million Annually as Meta Shares Jump 15%

Bloomberg reports Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg will receive an annual payout of approximately $700 million from the company’s new quarterly dividend, according to recent filings. This comes as Meta’s stock jumped 15 percent following strong fourth-quarter earnings results and the announcement of a 50 cent per share dividend starting in March.

The dividend, Meta’s first ever, will result in Zuckerberg receiving around $175 million every quarter based on his roughly 350 million share stake, reports Bloomberg.

This adds up to about $700 million per year that the tech mogul will gain from the payouts.

Meta exceeded revenue expectations in Q4 2023, bringing in $40.1 billion compared to forecasts of $39.18 billion. Earnings per share were $5.33 versus an expected $4.96, notes CNBC. The company also announced a $50 billion share repurchase program alongside the dividend.

Meta’s online advertising business continues to rebound after a difficult 2022, with Q4 revenue increasing 25 percent year-over-year. Expenses also fell eight percent annually to $23.73 billion as Meta’s cost-cutting measures improve profitability.

Elon Musk’s Tesla Recalls 2.2 Million EVs over Insufficient Warning Lights

AP News reports that the latest recall launched by Elon Musk’s Tesla covers a wide range of models sold over the past decade, including the S, X, 3, Y, and Cybertruck. According to the NHTSA documents, the brake, park, and anti-lock brake warning lights in most Tesla EVs violate standards because the font size on the instrument panel is too small. This makes the critical safety information harder to read for drivers.

Tesla will update the software on affected vehicles to increase the font size of the warning lights. The software update has already started rolling out over-the-air to vehicles. In addition to the online update, Tesla will mail letters notifying owners of the recall starting on March 30.

While Tesla only identified three related warranty claims, the recall affects almost every Tesla sold in the U.S. in recent years. NHTSA said the 2.2 million vehicles recalled represents “nearly all” Tesla cars sold domestically.

Brazil’s Socialist President Lula: ‘We Need to Dismantle the Criminal Fake News Machine’ Online

Brazil’s radical leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) Minister and “anti-fake news crusader” Alexandre de Moraes made calls on Thursday for the regulation of social media in the country.

Lula and de Moraes made the remarks in speeches at the opening of Brazil’s 2024 judicial year.

Lula, in his speech, stressed the importance of “democratic regulation” of social media and the need to criminalize those who “incite violence” on digital platforms. Lula also said that companies that host the offending content should be held responsible for crimes committed on their platforms.

“We need to criminalize those who incite violence on social networks. But it is also necessary to hold companies responsible for the crimes that are committed on their platforms – such as pedophilia, encouraging massacres in schools, and encouraging the self-mutilation of adolescents and children,” Lula said.

“We need to dismantle the criminal fake news machine, which during the pandemic spread unfounded suspicions about vaccines, causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Brazilians,” he continued.

Since the start of his third presidential term on January 1, 2023, Lula and members of his government have repeatedly made national and international calls for regulating social media in the name of fighting alleged “misinformation.”

Cleveland Brothers Posed as UAE Royalty to Run Crypto Scam, Other Frauds

Zubair Mehmet Abdur Razzaq Al Zubair, 41, and Muzzammil Muhammad Al Zubair, 30, were indicted in federal court in Cleveland, Ohio, on charges involving wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of government funds, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.

The brothers face one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 14 counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, four counts of money laundering, and one count of theft of government funds. Zubair also faces one count of harboring a fugitive.

Prosecutors said the men had engaged in multiple schemes, including investment fraud, a Small Business Administration (SBA) COVID-19 relief loan, cryptocurrency mining, a commercial real estate lease, and a residential real estate lease.

The Al Zubair brothers also lied about having extraordinary wealth and connections to politicians and foreign governments, with Zubair even falsely stating that he was married to a princess, and thus a member of a royal family in the UAE, federal prosecutors added.

Zubair even signed off with “His Excellency” when corresponding with people, the indictment noted.

Testing Suggests Highway Guardrails No Match for Heavy EVs

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Midwest Roadside Safety Facility ran a crash test examination using a nearly four-ton 2022 Rivian R1T.

When the pickup truck crashed through a metal guardrail and barely slowed down before hitting a concrete barrier, it reportedly came as little surprise to the researchers.

“We knew it was going to be an extremely demanding test of the roadside safety system,” Cody Stolle, a member of the facility, told the Associated Press. “The system was not made to handle vehicles greater than 5,000 pounds.”

The test crash was intended to see how guardrails, which line tens of thousands of miles of roads in the United States, would fare against EVs that weigh thousands of pounds more than an average gasoline-powered sedan.

The report concluded that the nation’s guardrails were simply not made to handle vehicles greater than 5,000 pounds.

The disparity is due to EVs typically weighing 20 percent to 50 percent more than conventionally-powered vehicles thanks to outsized batteries that can weigh almost as much as a small petrol or diesel-powered car.

And they have lower centers of gravity.

Israeli Firm Launches Probe into UNRWA After Recovering $90 Million in Hamas Cryptocurrency

Tel Aviv-based blockchain analysis company Lionsgate Network has helped the Israeli government recover $90 million in Hamas cryptocurrency since the October 7 attack.

The firm is now turning its attention to the digital wallets of the embattled United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), which is reeling from revelations that its staff is riddled with Hamas terrorists, and some of them actively participated in the October 7 atrocities.

Scrutiny of UNRWA intensified after the Hamas attack and exploded after Israel revealed employees of the U.N. agency were supportive of the terrorist atrocities, and even participated in them.
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Lionsgate Network plans to look at a UNRWA charity in the United States that partnered with a fundraising platform called Giving Block in late 2021, giving it the ability to accept cryptocurrency donations. Critics say such charities give wealthy donors a way to funnel “dark money” through UNRWA to terrorist organizations while remaining anonymous.

According to Lionsgate CEO Bezalel Raviv, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist groups have grown very fond of using hard-to-trace cryptocurrency to hide their funds in private, password-protected digital wallets. U.S. sanctions have locked down some of those accounts and Israeli authorities have seized others, but at least one massive Hamas digital wallet is currently active, with about $40 million in funds flowing through it.

FDA Links 561 Deaths to Recalled Philips Sleep Apnea Machines

CBS News reports that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reported that 561 deaths have been linked to recalled Philips respirators and ventilators used to treat sleep apnea and other breathing issues. This statistic comes as Philips agrees to pay $400 million to settle a lawsuit over the defective devices.

Philips initially recalled millions of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines and Bi-Level Positive Airway Pressure (BiPAP) devices in June 2021 after customers complained the foam inside was degrading and entering airways. The company later recalled repair kits meant to fix the problem as well.

According to the FDA, since April 2021 it has received over 116,000 reports of the recalled machines’ foam breaking down and releasing hazardous particles. This includes 561 reports of deaths potentially tied to use of the devices.

In a statement, Philips said it has “found no conclusive data linking these devices and the deaths reported.” However, the company will pay $400 million under a proposed legal settlement with the Justice Department and stop selling the machines in the U.S. until specific safety conditions are met.

The settlement also includes a $479 million payout to compensate affected U.S. customers. Individuals may file claims for financial losses related to purchasing or renting the recalled products. There is also a $100 return award for sending back a recalled device by August 2024.

Roughly 30 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea, which causes breathing to stop repeatedly during sleep. Patients rely on CPAP machines to deliver constant airflow to keep airways open.

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Country Singer and ‘Yellowstone’ Star Lainey Wilson Speaks Out Against AI Misuse of Artists’ Voices

Lainey Wilson, the country singer renowned for her hit “Heart Like a Truck” and her role in Yellowstone, took a stand in Washington, DC, last week, highlighting the growing concerns among artists over AI’s unauthorized use of their voices and likenesses.

The congressional hearing on AI and intellectual property opened on Friday with a jarring example that used Johnny Cash’s voice in an AI-generated rendition of “Barbie Girl” to the tune of “Folsom Prison Blues,” highlighting the bizarre and often unauthorized applications of AI in the entertainment industry.

Wilson’s testimony shed light on the personal and professional violations artists face when AI commandeers their unique identities without consent. She expressed how her music and voice serve as a bridge to connect with fans, emphasizing that the unauthorized use of her voice not only misrepresents her but also infringes on her personal rights.

“I use my music and my voice to tell stories, to connect to my fans and to help them to connect to each other. My art is uniquely and literally me, my name, my likeness, my voice,” she said. “I do not have to tell you how much of a gut punch it is to have your name, your likeness or your voice ripped from you and used in ways that you could never imagine or would never allow. It is wrong, plain and simple.”

White House Fury Over Tucker Carlson Interviewing Putin

The former Fox News host, a key ally of 2024 election candidate Donald Trump and a vocal opponent to US military aid for Kyiv, traveled to Moscow for Putin’s first interview with a Western journalist since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

“It should be very obvious to everybody what Mr Putin has done in Ukraine, and the completely bogus and ridiculous reasons for which he tried to justify it,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One.

“I don’t think we need another interview with Vladimir Putin to understand his brutality.”

Carlson has not said when the interview will be broadcast but mentioned it will be free to watch. After being sacked by Fox News last year, he started a show on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Carlson’s visit to Moscow has been covered heavily by Russian state media, which has long highlighted the US celebrity’s anti-Ukraine talking points.

Carlson’s access to Putin is a huge contrast with restraints on other foreign journalists in Russia, where two US citizens — Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Radio Free Europe’s Alsu Kurmasheva — are currently imprisoned.

The open doors for Carlson also come against the backdrop of the Kremlin’s two-decades-long dismantling of the free press, with prominent Russian journalists murdered and many more forced to live abroad under Putin.

The Kremlin however contradicted Carlson’s own claim that he was the only Western journalist who had “bothered” to request access to Putin since the invasion.

EU Politicians Threaten to Sanction Tucker Carlson for Interviewing Vladimir Putin

Despite the longstanding tradition of American journalists interviewing dictators of all stripes, including a leader of the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War, top Eurocrat Guy Verhofstadt has called for Tucker Carlson to face EU sanctions for sitting down with the Russian strongman.

The former Belgian Prime Minister and strong Brexit opponent, who currently serves in the European Parliament, told Newsweek: “As Putin is a war criminal and the EU sanctions all who assist him in that effort, it seems logical that the External Action Service examine his case as well.”

The process for the EU to sanction an individual is typically a lengthy one, with evidence first needing to be presented to its External Action Service — the bloc’s diplomatic arm, run by Spanish socialist Josep Borrell — before being put to the European Council for a final decision.

However, before the interview with Putin, which the Kremlin confirmed on Wednesday, Verhofstadt also suggested that Carlson could face being banned from entering the EU, which could feasibly be imposed sooner, writing on Monday: “Tucker Carlson is surely on the path to being labelled a propagandist for the Russian regime. If he enables disinformation for Putin, the EU should explore a travel ban!”

Although the European Union, the United States and NATO are not officially at war with Russia, some, including former U.S. Congressmen Adam Kinzinger have accused Carlson of being a “traitor” for interviewing Putin. Verhofstadt, for his part, branded Carlson “an enemy of everything the US stands for” and a “mouthpiece” for the Kremlin.

Snap to Lay off 10% of Global Workforce to ‘Promote In-Person Collaboration’

Snap, the maker of the social media platform Snapchat, says it will lay off 10 percent of its global workforce, around 500 employees, to “promote in-person collaboration.”

The social media company, which laid off 20 percent of its staff in 2022 and a small number of product employees in November, made its announcement on Monday, amid its shares falling around one percent in morning trading, according to a report by CNBC.

“We are reorganizing our team to reduce hierarchy and promote in-person collaboration,” a Snap spokesperson told CNBC. “We are focused on supporting our departing team members.”

Snap reportedly expects to incur charges ranging from $55 million to $75 million, a regulatory filing reveals.

At the time of publishing, Snap stock is $16.52 a share, just below the company’s debut price of $17 a share, and well off its 2021 high of around $83 a share.

NYPD Subway Robot No Longer Working Its Beat

The Knightscope K5 Security Robot began its trial run in 2023, and its beat was the Times Square subway station, NBC New York reported Friday.

However, a police spokesperson recently told the outlet the 420-pound robot “has completed its pilot deployment in the NYC subway system.”

The robot has now reportedly been tucked away among some cardboard boxes in a vacant storefront. According to Fox 5, subway riders are still confused about its purpose. “It’s a joke; it’s a Roomba. I’m unclear what its purpose was,” one man told the outlet.

In September, Mayor Eric Adams (D) said deploying the robot would save the city money because officials were paying less an hour than its minimum wage to lease the contraption, according to Breitbart News:

“The population of men and women in law enforcement — in criminal justice — those numbers are decreasing,” Mayor Adams said in a Friday morning press briefing, announcing the deployment of the robot. “What we must do is look at existing technology and see — how do we continue to be innovative.”
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The robot initially gave people pause due to privacy concerns. “I mean, it’s scary, but I guess it’s expected,” one man told the outlet. However, the NBC report said the robot did not record audio or use facial recognition technology.

It is important to note that in April, when the New York Fire Department’s (FDNY) robot dog was sent to survey a collapsed parking garage, it fell over while on the job, Breitbart News reported.

“Last year, the FDNY became the first fire agency in the United States to purchase Spot robodogs from the robotics company Boston Dynamics, which cost a staggering $75,000 each, according to multiple reports,” the outlet said.

Seriously guys, it just looks like the lamest version of a  Dalek ever created to me.

Tesla Settles Hazardous Waste Lawsuit in California as Elon Musk Calls for Carbon Tax on the Rest of Us

Reuters reports that Tesla has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by 25 California counties accusing the electric vehicle manufacturer of mishandling hazardous waste at its facilities across the state.

The settlement was approved on Thursday in San Joaquin County state court, just two days after the counties sued Tesla. The lawsuit claimed that Tesla improperly labeled waste materials like paint, used batteries, and diesel fuel at its facilities in California. The company also allegedly sent hazardous materials to landfills not equipped to handle them.

While not admitting wrongdoing, Tesla agreed to pay a $1.3 million civil penalty and $200,000 to the counties to cover investigation costs. The company will also take steps to properly handle waste and hire an independent auditor to examine its waste practices over the next five years.

“While electric vehicles may benefit the environment, the manufacturing and servicing of these vehicles still generates many harmful waste streams,” said San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.

The counties said Tesla cooperated with the investigation and has already started quarantining and screening its waste.

London’s Khan Pouring £150 Million into Tech Capable of Implementing Pay-Per-Mile Tax

According to a series of Freedom of Information (FoI) requests from The Telegraph broadsheet, Transport for London (TfL) — at the direction of Mayor Khan — established a scheme to develop a “more sophisticated… new core technology platform for road-user charging”.

The scheme, dubbed “Project Detroit” in an apparent nod to the American automobile hub city hollowed out by decades of leftist governance and mismanagement, currently has 157 staff, some of whom are earning upwards of £100,000 per year. The paper reports that £21 million in taxpayer money has already been spent with the total cost slated to rise to “between £130 million to £150 million”.

Amid a tough re-election bid and steep public opposition to move to expand the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) which imposes a green tax on motorists driving in all of London, Mayor Khan has recently claimed that he does not have plans to impose a pay-per-mile scheme.

However, according to the FoI for Project Detroit, TfL stated that the scheme could be expanded to encompass all levies on driving under one umbrella and could include a tax on distances driven.

“The Detroit platform has the capability to be extended and we will be looking to build the system flexibly so that other forms of charging based on distance, vehicle type, etc could be catered for if a decision was made in future to do so,” the TfL stated.

The revelations have drawn criticism from opposition Conservative members of the London Assembly, with Peter Fortune, who represents Bexley and Bromley, saying:
“Sadiq Khan can deny it all he wants but it’s pretty clear he plans to introduce pay-per-mile road-user charges for every motorist if he wins a third term.”

Disney+ Loses 1.3 Million Subscribers After Hiking Prices More Than 25 Percent

The Disney+ streaming service lost 1.3 million subscribers worldwide during the last three months of 2023 as a steep price hike took a toll on fans’ wallets. In the U.S. and Canada alone, the streamer bid goodbye to 400,000 customers — Disney+’s largest-ever reported domestic decline.

The drop represents a major hit for Disney, which has been pouring billions of dollars into its streaming services without yet reaching profitability. Domestic Disney+ subscriptions have stagnated at around 46 million for the past year, an ominous sign for a streaming service that is only four years old.

The left-wing studio recently hiked Disney+’s monthly subscription price to $13.99 from $10.99 — a 27 percent increase. In 2022, the price rose to $10.99 from $7.99, which means Disney+ subscribers saw their monthly bill climb a total of 75 percent in less than two years.

The latest price increase took effect in October.

Like other streamers, Disney is trying to force subscribers to its ad-supported option, which costs $7.99 a month — the old price for Disney+ without commercials. Studios make more money from ad-supported streaming options due to the revenues from commercials on top of the monthly subscription fees.

Disney+ subscribers worldwide currently stand at 111.3 million, which doesn’t include HotStar customers in India. That’s still a long way off from Netflix, which boasts around 260 million customers around the world.

[kyonides]

Jim Jordan’s ‘Amazon Files’ Reveals Biden White House Pressure on Company to Censor Books

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) took to X/Twitter on Monday to post “never-before-released internal emails” subpoenaed by the House Judiciary GOP that he dubbed the “Amazon files,” which reveal “that the Biden White House pressured Amazon to censor books that expressed views the White House did not approve of.”

“Internal docs subpoenaed by @JudiciaryGOP & @Weaponization indicate that @amazon bowed down to Biden White House pressure to censor BOOKS,” Rep. Jordan announced at the start of his X/Twitter thread.

The congressman followed up with screenshots of the internal emails, one of which read, “Hi all — here are the notes for our Pre-brief discussion with the White House today.”

Beneath that was an item on an agenda, titled, “Books Curation and Guidelines 101,” and a bullet punt under it that asked, “Is the Admin asking us to remove books, or are they more concerned about search results/order (or both)?”

In another post, Rep. Jordan highlighted an internal email from March 2021, in which senior Biden White House official Andy Slavitt demanded to know who he and his Biden administration colleagues could talk to at Amazon about content they did not approve of on the website.

“Who can we talk to about the high levels of propaganda and misinformation and disinformation of Amazon?” the internal email read.

The congressman also noted that the Biden White House “ran keyword searches for controversial topics,” such as “vaccine,” and emailed Amazon when it didn’t like how the search results appeared.

Tesla Drivers Find Way to Make ‘Full Self-Driving’ More Dangerous – Wearing an Apple Vision Pro Headset

Mashable reports that multiple videos of Tesla drivers wearing the new Apple Vision Pro headset while driving using the vehicles “Full Self-Driving” feature has caused worries about potential safety issues. In one video, a 23-second clip shows a Tesla driver taking his hands off the steering wheel and concentrates on controlling the headset’s virtual reality display. The video was posted on February 2, the day the new Apple headset went on sale. It has amassed over 24 million views.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into Tesla last year after fatal crashes involving Autopilot. The probe found the system’s driver monitoring features to be inadequate. Tesla even acknowledged to regulators that Autopilot’s controls “may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse.”

Autopilot can steer, accelerate and brake automatically but cannot drive without human oversight. Apple specifically warns against using the Vision Pro headset while operating any vehicle.

The Tesla driver who made the video told Gizmodo it was a staged “skit.” He only wore the headset while driving for 30-40 seconds. Still, the video has raised fresh doubts about the safety of assisted driving technology.

However, other similar videos have also popped up online. One which has received 17.2 million views shows a Cybertruck driver using their headset.

Gina Carano Sues Disney over Firing from ‘The Mandalorian,’ Elon Musk Funding Lawsuit

Gina Carano filed the suit against Disney and its Lucasfilm division Tuesday in a California federal court. In a notable plot twist, her court case is being funded by Elon Musk’s X, which has pledged to finance lawsuits of those who claim to have been discriminated against by their employer because of their statements made on the social media platform.

Carano is also alleging Disney defamed her by mischaracterizing her social media posts and her character, resulting in the loss of her agent and attorney as well as future employment opportunities.

“We rely on our leaders and people in positions of power to be just, cool- headed and steady-handed and to be able to listen to all sides of the story, keep the peace and act justly,” Carano said in a statement.

However, “some of us have been unjustly singled out, harassed, persecuted and had our livelihoods stripped away because we dared to encourage conversation, asked questions, and refused to go along with the mob.”

The actress played the recurring character Cara Dune during the first two seasons of the Disney+ streaming series The Mandalorian before she was fired in 2021.

Disney and Lucasfilm also reportedly scrapped plans to cast Carano as one of the stars of a planned spinoff Disney+ series, Rangers of the New Republic.

China Regulates Brain Chip Tech in Response to Elon Musk’s Neuralink

The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology released Friday “ethical guidelines” for brain-computer interfaces (BCI), seemingly in a hasty response to Tesla CEO Elon Musk announcing the first implantation of such a device into a human patient.

Musk announced in January that his company Neuralink had developed a BCI that implants thousands of electrodes in a human brain, giving doctors the ability to monitor and stimulate patients’ brain activity. Musk said the early results from the first implant were “promising.”

Musk said Neuralink’s technology was not only intended to serve as a brainwave monitoring and therapeutic device. He dubbed the new product “Telepathy” and said the ultimate goal was to allow humans to communicate with machines “just by thinking.”

The most urgent application of BCI technology would be giving superior prosthetic devices to people with severe physical disabilities. Neuralink is just beginning a six-year clinical trial to develop a device that could allow quadriplegics or people suffering from Lou Gehrig’s Disease to use their limbs by bypassing their damaged nervous systems.

“Initial users will be those who have lost the use of their limbs,” Musk said. “Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal.”

China’s state-run Global Times on Monday cited Musk’s Neuralink prototype as the reason for the Ministry of Science and Technology convening a committee to draft “basic principles to be followed in conducting BCI research.”

The guidelines allow “clinical trials of innovative BCI products” to be conducted for “rare diseases that seriously endanger life and have no other effective treatment methods.”

On the other hand, “research that replaces or weakens human judgment and decision-making abilities, significantly interferes with or blurs human autonomy and self-awareness should be avoided,” at least until those technologies are “fully proven to be superior to human capabilities and have gained social consensus.”

Well, gaining social consensus doesn't mean that the technology is safe or good for the average joe.

Microsoft Partners with Ben Smith’s Semafor to Create AI-Powered ‘Healthy Information Ecosystems’

The Financial Times reports that as part of the new partnership with Ben Smith’s Semafor, Microsoft is financing the creation of an AI-powered breaking news feed named “Signals,” aiming to deliver diverse global perspectives on major stories. Signals intends to publish around a dozen posts daily, crafted entirely by journalists, with AI serving as a sophisticated research tool.

The partnership is part of Microsoft’s broader engagement with the journalistic community, including alliances with the Craig Newmark School of Journalism, the Online News Association, and the GroundTruth Project.
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Today, Microsoft is launching several collaborations with news organizations to adopt generative AI. In a year where billions of people will vote in democratic elections worldwide, journalism is critical to creating healthy information ecosystems, and it is our mission, working with the industry, to ensure that newsrooms can innovate to serve this year and in the future.

Founded by notorious former Buzzfeed editor Ben Smith and Justin Smith, Semafor has quickly emerged as a significant player in the digital news sphere. Funded by influential investors and boasting over 500,000 newsletter subscriptions, the platform is on the brink of profitability.
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New York Times media columnist Ben Smith is leaving the outlet to create a global news start-up, but it remains uncertain if he plans to divest any controversial stock before working for the new outlet– an issue that lingered throughout his tenure at the Times.

The Times announced this week that Smith is leaving the outlet and teaming up with Bloomberg Media’s chief executive, Justin Smith, to create what has been described as a “new global news organization,” where he will serve as the top editor. According to the Times, the vision includes a newsroom that will break news and experiment “with new formats of storytelling.”

This move comes amidst growing apprehensions among news publishers regarding AI’s impact on content creation and distribution. The fear that AI-generated content could divert traffic and revenue from established news outlets has sparked debates on the future of journalism in the digital age.

Google Claims Government-Backed Hackers Targeted Apple iPhone Vulnerabilities

TechCrunch reports that in a recent article published by Google’s Threat Analysis Group — a team dedicated to investigating nation-backed cyber threats — a European startup named Variston has been identified at the core of a sophisticated espionage campaign targeting Apple iPhone users. The campaign reportedly leveraged three “zero-day” vulnerabilities — security flaws unknown to Apple at the time of exploitation—to install spyware on victims’ devices. This operation, detected in March 2023, specifically targeted individuals in Indonesia through a malicious SMS link.

Variston, which has previously come under Google’s scrutiny in 2022 and 2023, allegedly developed the hacking tools utilized in these campaigns. Despite losing multiple employees over the past year, as reported by former staff under conditions of anonymity to TechCrunch, Variston’s activities and client list, particularly its government customers, have remained shrouded in secrecy.

The company’s association with Protected AE, a UAE-based cybersecurity firm, highlights the collaborative and international nature of the spyware market. Protected AE integrates Variston’s Heliconia software into comprehensive spyware solutions, marketed directly to government entities.

Variston, founded in 2018 in Barcelona by Ralf Wegener and Ramanan Jayaraman, and the acquisition of Italian zero-day research company Truel IT, illustrates the rapid development and increasing influence of European firms in the global spyware market. Despite the focus on Israeli companies like NSO Group in recent years, Google’s report highlights the significant role of European entities like Variston, Cy4Gate, RCS Lab, and Negg in supplying surveillance tools to government customers worldwide.

Seattle Delivery App Fee Backfires Spectacularly, Hurting Gig Economy Workers

NBC KING 5 reports that a new $5 fee on food delivery app orders in Seattle was meant to ensure drivers receive a minimum wage of $26.40 per hour before tips. But drivers say the Pay Up legislation, enacted January 13, is slashing their wages and opportunities.

Groups of idled delivery drivers can now be seen waiting around popular restaurant areas. The areas that used to be “hotspots” for orders have lost their luster, according to delivery drivers like Gary Lardizabal.
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Driver Mia Shagen said her delivery opportunities have been severely limited since the ordinance went into effect. “I’ve got nothin’. I’m not gonna sit here for hours for one frickin’ order,” she said. The drivers say tips and overall earnings have gone down, despite claims by companies like DoorDash that drivers will make more money. One driver reported making $931 this week last year, but only $464 this week.

Drivers believe the fee has caused customers to order less frequently. Typical busy delivery days now end much earlier without explanation, Shagen said. Lardizabal said South Lake Union by Amazon used to be a top earning spot. But drivers there echoed that incomes have sunk. “We’re grinding. And we are for real not getting $26 an hour,” Lardizabal stated.

[kyonides]

OpenAI, Google, Microsoft Join Biden Administration ‘AI Safety’ Consortium

Mashable reports that the Biden administration has officially tapped major tech players and other AI stakeholders to address safety and trust in AI development. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the creation of the AI Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC).

The consortium, housed under the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will follow President Biden’s AI executive order mandates. This includes “developing guidelines for red-teaming, capability evaluations, risk management, safety and security, and watermarking synthetic content,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.

Over 200 participants have joined AISIC so far. This includes AI leaders like ChatGPT developer OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, and NVIDIA. Academics from MIT, Stanford, Cornell, and others are also participating. Additionally, industry researchers and think tanks like the Center for AI Safety, IEEE, and the Responsible AI Institute are involved.

The consortium stems from Biden’s sweeping executive order seeking to regulate AI development. “The government has a role in setting standards and tools to mitigate AI risks and harness its potential,” said Raimondo.

While the EU has worked on AI regulations, this marks a major U.S. government effort to formally oversee AI. “I understand this is a first step by the administration to work with industry on some of the hard problems. But it is an important first step and I think this is an area where industry and government collaboration is critical,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith.

Meta Bans Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei from Facebook, Instagram for Call to ‘Wipe Israel Off the Map’

The New York Post reports that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has permanently banned Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei from its platforms. The company stated this action was taken in response to Khamenei’s repeated calls to “wipe Israel off the map” and referring to Israel as a “cancerous tumor” that will be “uprooted and destroyed.”

Khamenei’s Persian and English-language Instagram accounts, which had over 5 million followers combined, along with his official Facebook page, were removed for violating Meta’s rules against dangerous individuals and organizations. Meta said Khamenei’s comments qualified as hate speech that justified the ban.

The Iranian despot has long used inflammatory language against Israel, which Iran considers its top adversary. In October 2022, following attacks between Israel and Hamas that left over 1,000 dead, Khamenei wrote on Twitter that “the cancer of the usurper Zionist regime will be eradicated at the hands of the Palestinian people and the Resistance forces throughout the region.”

While Twitter has not banned Khamenei, pro-Israel groups have been lobbying social media platforms to take down his accounts due to repeated calls for violence. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are all blocked within Iran, but Khamenei maintained accounts on these platforms to reach international audiences.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook, Instagram to Start Flagging AI-Generated Images as Elections Ramp Up

The Verge reports that the rise of AI-generated media has prompted Zuckerberg to roll out new labeling for AI content across his apps. In a blog post, Meta announced that in an effort to get ahead of potential misuse, the company will add watermarks to AI imagery on Facebook, Instagram and Threads. For more deceptive uses, Meta plans to penalize users who do not disclose realistic AI video or audio.

Meta President Nick Clegg announced the moves Tuesday as election seasons ramp up globally. “For those who are worried about video, audio content being designed to materially deceive the public on a matter of political importance in the run-up to the election, we’re going to be pretty vigilant,” Clegg said. “Do I think that there is a possibility that something may happen where, however quickly it’s detected or quickly labeled, nonetheless we’re somehow accused of having dropped the ball? Yeah, I think that is possible, if not likely.”

Meta is joining the companies by implementing content protection measures similar to Adobe’s Content Credentials metadata system. Google also recently expanded its SynthID watermark feature to include audio. Meta will soon require users to transparently note realistic AI video or audio. Violators face “warnings through to removal,” per Clegg. Highlighting examples of viral AI-generated political posts, Clegg believes widespread deception is unlikely. “I just don’t think that’s the way that it’s going to play out,” he said.

Internally, Meta has started testing large language models trained on its content policies to effectively identify violations. Clegg called it an efficient triage mechanism for human moderators. “It appears to be a highly effective and rather precise way of ensuring that what is escalated to our human reviewers really is the kind of edge cases for which you want human judgment,” Clegg said.

Driverless Car from Google’s Waymo Strikes Cyclist in San Francisco

The Verge reports that a self-driving car built by Google’s Waymo struck and injured a cyclist in San Francisco on the afternoon of Tuesday February 6. The incident occurred at the intersection of 17th and Mississippi Streets in the Potrero Hill neighborhood. According to the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), the autonomous vehicle collided with a person on a bicycle, causing non-life threatening injuries.

The Waymo vehicle was stopped at a four-way stop when a large truck began turning into the intersection, according to a statement from Waymo spokesperson Julia Ilina. The Waymo car waited for its turn and then proceeded into the intersection, failing to identify the cyclist who was traveling behind the truck.

“The cyclist was occluded by the truck and quickly followed behind it, crossing into the Waymo vehicle’s path,” Ilina explained. “When they became fully visible, our vehicle applied heavy braking but was not able to avoid the collision.”

Waymo contacted the police, but the injured cyclist left the scene on their own, reporting only minor scratches. The passenger inside the Waymo vehicle was unharmed. The SFPD says the incident remains under investigation.

[kyonides]

5 VC Firms Invested $3 Billion in Chinese AI and Semiconductors

Five U.S. venture capital firms have invested more than $3 billion in critical technology projects in communist China, according to the results of a congressional investigation.

That sum includes direct investments into companies with ties to China’s military, surveillance apparatus, and ongoing human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

The findings stem from a bipartisan investigation into U.S. venture capital funding in China by the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

These firms’ investments directly aided the CCP’s strategic goals against the United States, according to a Feb. 8 select committee statement shared with The Epoch Times.

“The lawmakers found that these firms invested at least $3 billion in, and provided expertise and other benefits to, People’s Republic of China (PRC) critical technology companies, including many aiding the Chinese military, surveillance state, or the CCP’s genocide in Xinjiang,” the statement reads.

The select committee’s report, also shared with The Epoch Times, details the investigation into investments made by GGV Capital, GSR Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Sequoia Capital China, and Walden International.

The committee specifically investigated the five firms’ investments in two sectors: artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors.

“Both technologies have civilian and military applications,” the report states. “Both will drive the future of war-fighting, and both are necessary components of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Orwellian surveillance state and human rights abuses.”
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The vast bulk of the investments, totaling some $1.9 billion, was made to Chinese AI firms, according to the report. Another $1 billion went to semiconductor corporations, including those owned by the state.
Of that, some $190 million went into AI companies that are now blacklisted by the U.S. government for directly supporting the PLA, and another $140 million went to AI companies with known links to the PLA.

“U.S. investments were critical to the early growth and success of some of the PRC’s largest and most notorious AI and semiconductor companies, many of which are now blacklisted by the U.S. government over national security concerns, and many of which are supported by the PRC government,” the report states.

Importantly, the investigation found that the investments advanced the strategic goals of the CCP while directly undercutting the United States’ position internationally, according to the report.

This article mentioned some sanctions imposed by the US government on New Year's Eve. Here's the related article on that topic.

Pentagon Blacklists New Chinese Tech Firms Linked to Chinese Military

The Pentagon on Jan. 31 added over a dozen Chinese tech firms to its backlist of companies with ties to the Chinese military.

Among new companies added include memory chip maker YMTC, artificial intelligence company Megvii, drone maker Chengdu JOUAV, lidar maker Hesai Technology, and tech company NetPosa, according to the Department of Defense (DOD).

Updating the list is “an important continuing effort in highlighting and countering” the Chinese Communist Party’s military-civil fusion strategy, the Pentagon stated in a press release.

This “strategy supports the modernization goals of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) by ensuring it can acquire advanced technologies and expertise” developed by Chinese companies, universities, and research programs that appear to be civilian entities, the DOD added.

The latest additions have brought the total to over 70 Chinese firms on the list designated by the United States as Chinese military companies. The list has already included major Chinese companies, such as Huawei, chipmaker SMIC, aviation company AVIC, BGI Genomics Co, China Mobile, energy company CNOOC, and China Railway Construction Corp.

The designation is required by Section 1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act, which directs the Secretary of Defense to update a list of Chinese military companies annually until Dec. 31, 2030. The Pentagon started the list in June 2020.

Earlier, on Jan. 29, GOP senators sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, pushing the DOD to publish the list. The letter raised concerns over DOD’s failure to release the list as required. It also asked the Pentagon to “update on the process for determining how the Department of Defense develops, updates, and publishes the list.”

For some reason, we didn't learn about this updated list till early February 2024.

OpenAI Boss Sam Altman Seeks *Trillions* to Fund AI Chip Production

The Wall Street Journal reports that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is in talks with investors, including the United Arab Emirates government, to raise massive amounts of capital for a project aimed at boosting the world’s ability to produce AI chips. The initiative could require accumulating between $5 and $7 trillion, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The fundraising plans are intended to solve constraints to OpenAI’s growth, particularly the limited supply of graphics processing units (GPUs) needed to train large AI models like ChatGPT. Altman has complained there simply aren’t enough GPUs available to power OpenAI’s quest for artificial general intelligence.

Realizing Altman’s goals would require convincing governments, industry partners, and investors around the globe to participate. So far, Altman has met with the UAE’s Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed al Nahyan, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, and chipmakers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC).

Under the current vision, investors would provide capital to build new chip foundries that would be operated by existing manufacturers and OpenAI would be a major customer, buying large volumes of chips from the new plants. The effort would likely utilize substantial debt financing and could take years to come to fruition.

The amount of investment required would eclipse the current size of the semiconductor industry. TSMC, a potential partner, is aware of the plans and open to participation if allowed by the U.S. government, which considers domestic chip production strategically important. Altman has also discussed the idea with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, whose company relies on AI advances to drive growth. Microsoft already provides the computing power for OpenAI’s AI development.

Instagram, Threads to Stop Recommending Political Content

Mark Zuckerberg’s Instagram and Threads will no longer recommend political content on their social media platforms, the company announced on Friday. Zuckerberg’s latest move to control the national conversation will include attempting to quiet down the popular Breitbart News Instagram account.

“If you decide to follow accounts that post political content, we don’t want to get between you and their posts, but we also don’t want to proactively recommend political content from accounts you don’t follow,” Instagram announced in a Friday press release.

The Meta-owned social media platform suggested that this change is being made because, “We want Instagram and Threads to be a great experience for everyone.”

Instagram added that the change is also an extension to “our existing approach to how we treat political content.”

“We don’t proactively recommend content about politics on recommendation surfaces across Instagram and Threads,” the company said. “If you still want these posts recommended to you, you will have a control to see them.”

The areas of Instagram that will be affected by this change are Explore, Reels, In-Feed Recommendations and Suggested Users, the social media platform said.

Instagram added that this will not affect how users are shown content from accounts they have chosen to follow.

“If political content — potentially related to things like laws, elections, or social topics — is posted by an account that is not eligible to be recommended, that account’s content can still reach their followers in Feed and Stories,” Instagram explained.

The company also noted that professional accounts will be able to “check their eligibility to be recommended based on whether they recently posted political content,” and are encouraged to “edit or remove recent posts, request a review if they disagree with our decision, or stop posting this type of content for a period of time,” if they want to be “eligible” for recommendation again.

 How dare they! Now you as a content creator have to adapt to their policies on political content to be recommended by their systems! That's blatant case of manipulation by Meta!

If Joe Biden Can’t Win in 2024, Maybe AI Can Win for Him

This is an opinion piece based of a couple of Microsoft's recent publications available online.

A February 5 headline from Microsoft’s own site sends the signal: “Here’s how we’re working with journalists to create the newsrooms of the future with AI.” That’s the intended future: The marriage of Big Tech and Big Journalism, with a hybrid offspring coming soon to a screen near you.

Highlighting new “partnerships” with various publications and non-profits, Microsoft tells us, “We are helping these organizations identify and refine the procedures and policies to use AI responsibly in newsgathering and business practices,” adding that the goal is to “identify ways AI can help create efficient business practices and help build sustainable newsrooms for generations to come.”
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Yet, so far, at least, AI journalism has not been a success. Most obviously, reporters realize that AI could send them down the same automated chute as bobbin turners and hod carriers. So they’ve been calling out AI when it’s gotten too flagrant, as in the recent case of Sports Illustrated. That was a victory for journos, although, of course, soon thereafter, the publication shut down.

Without a doubt, the cost-cutters and spread-sheeters will keep slicing, and at the same time, AI will keep improving, even if it might always have problems in the uncanny valley.

According to Wikipedia, the uncanny valley hypothesis predicts that an entity appearing almost human will risk eliciting eerie feelings in viewers.

Yet Microsoft charges ahead, unspooling a slew of botwords—“responsible,” “sustainable,” “efficient”—that seem half cyborg. Of course, it’s all a cloak for the woke. Such wokeness should be no surprise, given that AI is being built in places such as Seattle and San Francisco. (This blue-state-origin problem will be endemic until red states figure out how to make their own AI.)

This announcement from Microsoft is not just about the news business in general. It is also about “democratic elections worldwide.” The Microsoft February 5 announcement makes this explicitly clear:

Today, Microsoft is launching several collaborations with news organizations to adopt generative AI. In a year where billions of people will vote in democratic elections worldwide, journalism is critical to creating healthy information ecosystems, and it is our mission, working with the industry, to ensure that newsrooms can innovate to serve this year and in the future.

How convenient for President Joe Biden and the Democrats that Microsoft is creating this “healthy information ecosystem” in time for the 2024 election.

Prince Harry Settles Tabloid Phone Hacking Claim With British Newspaper

Prince Harry said Friday that his “mission” to rein in the British media continues, after he accepted costs and damages from a tabloid publisher that invaded his privacy with phone hacking and other illegal snooping.

Harry’s attorney, David Sherborne, said at a court hearing that Mirror Group Newspapers had agreed to pay all of the prince’s legal costs, plus “substantial” damages, and would make an interim payment of 400,000 pounds ($505,000) within 14 days. The final tab will be assessed later.

Harry said he had been vindicated, and vowed: “Our mission continues.”

“We have uncovered and proved the shockingly dishonest way in which the Mirror acted for so many years, and then sought to conceal the truth,” the 39-year-old royal said in a statement read outside the High Court in London by his lawyer.

Harry was awarded 140,000 pounds ($177,000) in damages in December, after a judge found that phone hacking was “widespread and habitual” at Mirror Group Newspapers in the late 1990s, went on for more than a decade and that executives at the papers covered it up. Judge Timothy Fancourt found that Harry´s phone was hacked “to a modest extent.”

The settlement avoids new trials over 115 more tabloid articles that Harry says were the product of hacking or other intrusions.

Mirror Group said in a statement that it was “pleased to have reached this agreement, which gives our business further clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago and for which we have apologized.”

Harry´s case against the publisher of the Daily Mirror is one of several that he has launched in a campaign against the British media, which he blames for blighting his life and hounding both his late mother Princess Diana and his wife Meghan.

State Attorneys General Combat Joe Biden’s Move to Use AI to Censor ‘Disinformation’

The 20 attorneys general, led by Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, said in a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo:

The Executive Order seeks — without Congressional authorization — to centralize governmental control over an emerging technology being developed by the private sector. In doing so, the Executive Order opens the door to using the federal government’s control over AI for political ends, such as censoring responses in the name of combatting ‘disinformation.’

The Biden executive order sets new standards for artificial intelligence safety; the Biden administration said that the move would help protect Americans from fraud enabled by AI.

However, the attorneys general said the move established a “gatekeeping function” for the Commerce Department to oversee AI development and force developers to go through an “opaque and undemocratic process.”

“We are further concerned that the Executive Order’s bureaucratic and nebulous supervisory process will discourage AI development, further entrench large tech incumbents, and do little to protect citizens,” the attorneys general said.

A House Judiciary Committee report on Tuesday found that AI tools being developed by the Biden administration could be used to censor alleged disinformation on an industrial scale.

The Republican-led Judiciary Committee said the Biden administration is spending millions of dollars on AI tools to combat alleged misinformation, which could then be utilized by big tech companies.

Grants from the National Sciences Foundation are going to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Michigan for a program called “Trust & Authenticity in Communication Systems.”

Although the program could help remove child sex abuse material (CSAM) and deep fake photos, lawmakers such as House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) believe these tools could be used by censor-happy platforms such as YouTube, Reddit, and Facebook to censor free speech.

Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen wrote last June how AI could be used to stifle free speech.

Multinational Firm Loses $25 Million to Sophisticated AI Deepfake Zoom Heist

CNN reports that the scam unfolded as the unsuspecting employee was invited into a video conference with individuals he believed were his colleagues. However following an investigation, the Hong Kong police discovered that the entire video call setup was fabricated using deepfake technology. Senior Superintendent Baron Chan Shun-Ching detailed to RTHK, Hong Kong’s public broadcaster, how the finance worker was tricked by artificial recreations of several senior executives, marking a new era in the sophistication of cyber fraud.

The employee was initially suspicious after receiving an email about a secretive transaction from the company’s UK-based CFO, but these doubts were put to rest during a video call. The deepfake representations were convincing enough to mimic the appearance and voice of known colleagues, leading the worker to authorize a transfer of approximately $25.6 million (200 million Hong Kong dollars).

This incident is part of a growing trend where criminals exploit deepfake technology to commit fraud. Hong Kong police announced the arrest of six individuals connected to similar schemes. From July to September of the previous year, these criminals utilized eight stolen Hong Kong identity cards to apply for 90 loans and register 54 bank accounts, employing AI deepfakes to deceive facial recognition systems on at least 20 occasions.

The fraudulent transaction was only uncovered after the employee verified the details with the company’s headquarters, leading to a police investigation. The identities of the company and the victim have not been disclosed by the authorities.

[kyonides]

China’s Premier Automaker Plans Factory in Mexico to Flood U.S. Market with Cheap Electric Vehicles

The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) premier automaker, BYD, is reportedly planning to build a new factory in Mexico for the sole goal of flooding the United States market with cheap electric vehicles (EVs) while avoiding U.S. tariffs on China.

According to media in Japan, Automotive News reports, BYD has plans for a new EV factory in Mexico in the hopes of exporting the cheap cars to the U.S. for sale without having to be hit with U.S. tariffs placed on China.

“China’s BYD Co. will set up a new electric vehicle factory in Mexico … as the EV maker aims to establish an export hub to the United States,” Automotive News reports.

In Mexico, auto workers often earn $3 to $3.25 an hour. Taking advantage of the low wages in Mexico, BYD is looking to build cheaply made EVs that can very competitively compete against EVs made in the U.S. by Tesla, General Motors (GM), and Ford.

Last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk warned lawmakers that if the U.S. does not put hefty tariffs on foreign-made cars, the American auto industry will be decimated:

The Chinese car companies are the most competitive car companies in the world. So, I think they will have significant success outside of China depending on what kind of tariffs or trade barriers are established … frankly, I think, if there are not trade barriers established, they will pretty much demolish most other companies in the world.”

Already, China has become the world’s top exporter of cars — surpassing Japan. Similarly, BYD has become the world’s biggest seller of EVs, beating U.S.-based Tesla for the top honor.

Evidence Indicates Slaves Built Giant Volkswagen Test Track in China-Occupied Uyghur Region

A mountain of evidence including corporate documents, contractor websites, and photos of the work in question published on Tuesday indicates that a Volkswagen test track built in Turpan, East Turkistan, was constructed with the use of Uyghur slaves.

East Turkistan, a region west of China and north of Afghanistan, has been occupied by the Chinese Communist Party since 1949. China administers it as the “Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region” (XUAR). Under current dictator Xi Jinping, the Communist Party began a campaign of genocide against the majority Uyghur population of the region and other Turkic minorities living there, fueled most overtly by the imprisonment of up to 3 million people in concentration camps and the mass sterilization of entire villages of women of childbearing age.

The genocide has included a slavery component. The Chinese government denies that it is engaging in genocide and refers to the concentration camps as “vocational and education training” facilities. Survivors of the camps are sent to engage in slave labor – anywhere from cotton fields in East Turkistan to tech factories all over the country – when they “graduate” from their “vocational and education training,” according to Beijing.

In reality, the concentration camp prisoners are sold online in “batches of 50 to 100” people to willing companies, a report by Sky News revealed in 2021.

Temu Super Bowl Ad Spotlights Biden Admin’s Inaction Against Slave-Linked Chinese Companies

Chinese e-commerce company Temu launched a campaign targeting American consumers reportedly worth tens of millions of dollars this weekend, spearheaded by massive spending on Super Bowl advertising.

Temu – a subsidiary of the parent company of Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo – sells household goods, clothing, and other items at steep discounts. It is able to do so, a congressional investigation revealed in June, because it has no meaningful safeguards to ensure that its products are not made by slaves and manufactures its products in a country engaging in arguably the largest state-sponsored slavery operation in the world.

The sudden ubiquity of the company in the United States, and its ability to compete with top American retailers, has alarmed human rights groups and members of Congress, some of whom have openly lamented the White House’s inaction to prevent Americans from being exposed to slave-made goods.

Speaking to Breitbart News, lawmakers lamented that a key piece of legislation – the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act – is failing to keep slave-made goods out of American hands because of loopholes that allow companies such as Temu to thrive. Others criticized the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for failing to blacklist companies like Temu for their “support for slave labor.”

Marco Rubio Urges ‘Extraordinary’ SEC Scrutiny of Fast Fashion Giant Shein: ‘Subject to the Whim’ of China

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent a letter on Thursday to Gary Gensler, the commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in response to news reports that Shein, a Chinese online retailer that sells women’s clothing at steep discounts, is seeking an initial public offering (IPO) on the U.S. stock market, warning that the company is “subject to the whim” of Beijing and thus a threat to investors.

“Investors deserve to know the truth about SHEIN. As a China-based issuer, SHEIN is subject to enhanced disclosure requirements and review by the SEC,” Sen. Rubio wrote in the letter.  He continued:

As you consider SHEIN’s registration statement and related documents, I ask that you require SHEIN to make additional disclosures about its operations, ties to the PRC [People’s Republic of China] and CCP [Chinese Communist Party], and the serious risks of doing business in the PRC.

Shein became the world’s largest online-only fashion vendor in 2022, raking in $100 billion in sales that year, and has only grown in influence – and profitability – since then. As of 2023, the company is responsible for the most “fast fashion,” or cheap mass-produced clothing, purchases in America. It markets heavily to younger American women, maintaining a large presence on social media sites such as Instagram and pursuing “native” advertising by inviting Instagram and TikTok “influencers” to tour its Chinese facilities and generate positive content about the company.

The company has dwarfed its competition, extensive evidence suggests, through a combination of intellectual property theft, slave labor, and abuse of American shipping regulation loopholes – all made possible thanks to collaboration with the Communist Party.

Early Tesla Cybertruck Buyers Report Rusty EVs After Rain Exposure

Business Insider reports that within days of receiving their new Cybertrucks, some owners have noticed rust spots forming on the stainless steel body panels of the much-hyped electric pickup. Posts on online Tesla forums describe finding the rust marks after washing the Cybertruck exterior, despite Tesla CEO Elon Musk previously boasting the exterior is “literally bulletproof” due to its ultrahard stainless steel construction.

According to forum member Raxar, their Cybertruck began developing noticeable rust spots just two days after exposure to rain. They claim to have been warned by Tesla staff during pickup that rain could cause rust spots that would need buffing out. Another owner, Vertigo3pc, brought their Cybertruck to a service center after finding similar corrosion following Los Angeles rain. They say staff acknowledged the issue and can repair the damage. Both owners posted photos online showing speckled orange rust marks across the cybertruck body panels.

Stainless steel is prone to rusting in certain conditions, especially with water exposure over time. According to apparent Cybertruck owner’s manual pages posted online, the exterior lacks a protective clear coat finish which can help prevent corrosion. The manual warns owners to promptly remove substances like rain, grease and bird droppings to avoid exterior damage.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has previously suggested an optional tungsten carbide coating could be offered to provide extra scratch and corrosion resistance. But the company has not confirmed if or when this might be available.

DOJ Backs Down from Massive Fraud Case Against Dem Megadonor Dish CEO, BlackRock

FCC insiders are raising concerns over the Justice Department’s sudden push to settle a multi-billion dollar fraud lawsuit against Democratic megadonor Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network and BlackRock, just before they were set to be deposed.

Last year, Elon Musk tweeted that Dish Network CEO and major political donor Charlie Ergen “is trying steal” wireless internet through his lobbying.  He previously accused Ergen of engaging in “sneaky moves” at the FCC. Musk was criticizing Ergen’s failed lobbying and lawfare efforts to have the government punish SpaceX who was competing for spectrum.

A Senior FCC official told Breitbart News he is raising alarm bells over what he calls “a suspicious reversal by the Justice Department” to protect Ergen, as well as executives at Blackrock, to prevent them from testifying about allegedly fraudulent conduct in a wireless auction.

Under FCC regulations, the agency grants discounted “bidding credits” to small businesses called “designated entities” in wireless spectrum auctions. In 2015, Dish Networks — hardly a small business with a valuation over $25 billion at the time — with backing from BlackRock-financed Northstar Wireless and SNR Wireless who went on to win the auctions, describing themselves as “”very small businesses”. These credits were worth $3.3 billion dollars and pushed out legitimate smaller businesses out of the auction.

Northstar and SNR disclosed they received financing from Dish but claimed to act independently. After the FCC further reviewed the arrangements, then Chairman Ajit Pai determined Dish and its “shell bidders want this spectrum at a taxpayer-funded discount” and Dish had “de facto control” over the companies and denied the credits.

The FCC and Justice Department also endorsed a False Claims Act qui tam which VermonTel, a smaller company pushed out by Dish, filed in 2015. The suit has alleged the entire bidding process was fraudulent. Qui tam actions allow certain private parties to litigate fraud cases on behalf of the U.S. government.

‘You Are Dead to Me:’ Elon Musk Rages at ‘Twitter Files’ Journo Matt Taibbi in Leaked Messages

Mediaite reports that journalist Matt Taibbi has published a series of unhinged direct messages from billionaire Tesla CEO and X/Twitter owner Elon Musk. The posts shed light on Musk’s mounting frustration over his former  ally’s coverage on Substack. Taibbi, who collaborated with Musk on the “Twitter Files,” publicly posted screenshots of private conversations on Thursday with messages dating back to January 2023, revealing the deteriorating relationship between the two over the past year.

At the heart of Musk’s ire for Taibbi is the journalist’s use of Substack for posting his articles. Musk started a war with Substack in 2023.

In one exchange Taibbi asks if his posts are being “shadowbanned” on Twitter, to which Musk responds: “We went on lockdown after discovering that Substack had stolen a massive amount of our data to prepopulate their Twitter rip-off. Looks like there is still a blanket search ban. Should be fixed by tomorrow.”

In another exchange, Taibbi asks: “Elon, I’ve repeatedly declined to criticize you and have nothing to do with your beef with Substack. Is there a reason why I’m being put in the middle of things? This really seems crazy,” to which Musk replied: “You are dead to me. Please get off Twitter and just stay on Substack.”

The posts highlight Musk’s short fuse when it comes to any perceived criticism, even from a longtime supporter like Taibbi. Once hailed as a “free speech absolutist,” Musk has grown increasingly intolerant of dissenting voices on the platform he paid $44 billion to acquire. Taibbi initially emerged as a vocal advocate of Musk’s vision for a less-regulated X/Twitter, but he adopted a more critical tone in recent Substack articles, blasting Musk’s “chaotic” management style and “tone-deaf” policy changes.

UK Successfully Tests ‘DragonFire’ Laser Weapon Against Aerial Target

The British Ministry of Defence hailed a “milestone” on Friday after a successful test of its “DragonFire” high-powered laser weapon that it hopes will increase the military’s accuracy in targeting aerial targets such as drones while reducing the need for ammunition.

The laser-directed energy weapon (LDEW) is claimed to have the ability to hit a precision target the size of a coin from a kilometre away. Although the exact range of the weapon is classified, the ministry said that it can engage with any visible target.

The MoD said that the average cost of firing the laser is around £10 per shot, meaning that the weapon has the “potential to be a long-term low-cost alternative to certain tasks missiles currently carry out.”

Both the British Army and the Royal Navy are currently considering adopting the weapons system as a part of their future air defence apparatus, the ministry said.
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The DragonFire system was developed under a £100 million joint investment from the Ministry of Defence and private industry at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).

Warehouse With 900 Tonnes of Recycled Lithium Car Batteries Bursts Into Flames

The town of Viviez in the department of Aveyron in Southern France was shrouded by black clouds of smoke after a fire broke out at a warehouse used to hold hybrid and electric car lithium batteries. Overall, the site held an estimated 900 tonnes of lithium batteries, however, officials claimed that the cause of the fire has still not been determined, Le Figaro reports.

A “preventive confinement over a radius of 500 meters” was initially put in place surrounding the site on Saturday afternoon but it was later lifted in the evening after it was determined that the smoke did not present a danger.

Local authorities claimed that an analysis of the thick smoke from the fire found that its toxicity levels were not a risk to the general public.
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However, Météo France, France’s national meteorological service, has been tasked with modelling the spread of the smoke and determining any possible atmospheric effects of the pollution.

Around sixty firefighters were needed to contain the blaze on Saturday, including a specialised team due to the technological risk posed by the large quantities of lithium batteries at the site.

Although the fire largely subsided by Sunday morning, some thirty firefighters remained at the location to surveil the area and to stamp out any more fires if necessary.

ChatGPT Developer OpenAI Unveils AI Tool to Generate Video Clips

CNBC reports that OpenAI, the company behind AI chatbot ChatGPT, announced on Thursday that it is expanding into video generation capabilities with Sora. Sora allows users to type out descriptions of desired video scenes, and it will generate high-definition video clips based on the text prompts.

According to OpenAI, Sora can not only generate videos from scratch, but also extend existing videos or fill in missing frames. The AI model is able to produce videos up to one minute in length currently.

Sora represents OpenAI’s efforts to offer multimodal AI systems that can work with text, images, and now video. As OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap stated, “The world is multimodal. If you think about the way we as humans process the world and engage with the world, we see things, we hear things, we say things — the world is much bigger than text.”

Axios reported that a representative from OpenAI emphasized that the company currently has no intention of releasing Sora to the general public. This is because OpenAI is still working on addressing safety concerns such as reducing the spread of misinformation, hateful content, and biased output from the model. Additionally, OpenAI is working on clearly labeling the output as generated by AI.

The launch of Sora positions OpenAI in direct competition with other tech giants working on similar video AI generators, including Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, Google, and Adobe. Meta and Google have showcased comparable models that turn text into video clips.

Sora is based on a diffussion AI architecture, like ChatGPT and OpenAI’s image generator DALL-E. The company said Sora serves as a foundation for models that can simulate and understand the real world.

Tech Giant Cisco Lays Off 4,000+ Employees to Concentrate on AI

The New York Post reports that Cisco, the multinational technology conglomerate, announced plans to cut more than 4,000 jobs across its global workforce in order to redirect resources into AI initiatives. The layoffs account for approximately five percent of Cisco’s 85,000 employees and are expected to cost the company $800 million in severance packages.

In an earnings call, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins stated that the company would be focusing on “high-growth areas such as AI and software development.” He emphasized Cisco’s goal to “capitalize on the multibillion-dollar AI infrastructure opportunity” through partnerships with companies like Nvidia. Cisco recently collaborated with Nvidia to develop AI products for enterprise use.

The announcement comes alongside Cisco’s quarterly earnings report, which showed adjusted profits of $0.87 per share and revenues of $12.79 billion. However, Cisco also trimmed its annual revenue forecast from a high of $55 billion down to a range of $51.5-$52.5 billion. Robbins cited “weak demand with our telco and cable service provider customers” as a factor in the adjusted projections.

Cisco joins a growing list of tech companies that have conducted layoffs in 2024, including Snap, Google, eBay, Microsoft, Amazon, and SAP. These workforce reductions highlight an industry-wide slowdown as economic volatility persists.

Early Apple Vision Pro Adopters Are Returning Headsets for Discomfort, Lack of ‘Killer Apps’

The Verge reports that the Apple Vision Pro hit store shelves just 14 days ago, but already some of the first buyers are boxing up the $3,500 headset and returning it. User reports on social media indicate discomfort wearing the headset is one of the primary reasons for returns. Sources describe issues like headaches, eye strain, and overall heaviness of the device. One Verge employee told the outlet that the Vision Pro led to a burst blood vessel in his eye.

This isn’t a huge surprise — wearable comfort varies widely between users based on individual anatomy. Factors like head size, nose bridge shape, and more impact how well a headset fits and feels. Even seasoned VR users report dry eyes and discomfort when using the devices, and with a starting price of $3,500, Apple is targeting affluent consumers instead of purely tech enthusiasts who might be more experienced with headsets.

Beyond just comfort, early adopters also cite lack of compelling use cases as a reason for returns. While technologically impressive, the Vision Pro currently doesn’t have a killer app driving adoption. Productivity use remains limited — multitasking is clumsy and many file types aren’t supported. Engineers have reported headaches when coding, and for entertainment, there aren’t enough quality games and media yet.
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Many who returned the Vision Pro say they still eagerly await future versions. This first-gen device may simply have fallen short of comfort and software maturity needed for some adopters, but the feedback underscores the challenges of launching an entirely new product category.