News of the Cyber World

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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.