News of the Cyber World

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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.