News of the Cyber World

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AI is a Bigot!?

Google AI Lead’s Social Media Posts Expose Woke Bigotry

Google AI product lead Jack Krawczyk has expressed anti-white sentiments, which have resurfaced after Google’s Gemini AI chatbot generated politically correct but historically inaccurate images in response to user prompts.
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The New York Post reports that Google’s highly-touted AI chatbot Gemini has come under fire this week for producing ultra-woke and factually incorrect images when asked to generate pictures. Prompts provided to the chatbot yielded bizarre results like a female pope, black Vikings, and gender-swapped versions of famous paintings and photographs.

When asked by the Post to create an image of a pope, Gemini generated photos of a Southeast Asian woman and a black man dressed in papal vestments, despite the fact that all 266 popes in history have been white men.

Jack Krawczyk, the product lead on Google Gemini, apologized for the inaccurate images, stating: “We are aware that Gemini is offering inaccuracies in some historical image generation depictions, and we are working to fix this immediately.”

Google released a full statement on the situation stating that the AI has “missed the mark here.”

However, it appears Krawczyk has exhibited bias against white people in posts on X, formerly Twitter.

In a long thread, Krawczyk, he claimed many of his black colleagues faced discrimination...
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Google has since announced it is pausing its Gemini AI image generator, stating the tool has created historical photos with “inaccuracies.”

“We’re already working to address recent issues with Gemini’s image generation feature. While we do this, we’re going to pause the image generation of people and will re-release an improved version soon,” Google said in a Thursday X/Twitter post.

NVIDIA Gets Richer & Richer

Nvidia Revenue Soars 265% in Fourth Quarter

CNBC reports that Nvidia, the leading maker of graphics processing units (GPUs), posted blowout fourth quarter earnings, handily beating analysts’ forecasts. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $5.16, far surpassing the $4.64 expected. Revenue hit $22.1 billion, crushing the estimate of $20.62 billion.

The standout performer was Nvidia’s data center segment, which provides GPUs for AI workloads. Data center revenue skyrocketed a whopping 409 percent year-over-year to $18.4 billion, accounting for over 80 percent of total sales. Nvidia has been the primary beneficiary as major technology companies engage in an AI chip arms race, with models developed on the company’s high-performance hardware.

According to the earnings release, demand was driven by cloud service providers, enterprise software companies, and various verticals including automotive, financial services and healthcare. Nvidia said over half of its data center revenue came from large cloud customers.

CEO Jensen Huang addressed concerns that growth could slow, stating that conditions remain excellent for continued expansion into 2025 and beyond. He cited strong appetite for Nvidia’s GPUs thanks to generative AI and accelerators increasingly replacing CPUs.

While supply of the newest Hopper-architecture chips is improving, CFO Colette Kress warned that next-gen products will likely face constraints as demand still eclipses supply. She said Nvidia’s upcoming B100 chip expected to launch later this year will be in short supply.

AT&T, Verizon & T-Mobile Going Through Outages

AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile Customers Hit by Cell Network Outages Throughout Country

NBC News reports that widespread cell service outages impacted AT&T customers across the United States Thursday morning. The outages left thousands unable to make calls, access the internet, or reach 911 emergency services.

The issues began around 4:00 a.m. ET and surged just before 8:00 a.m., with over 71,000 reported outages, according to Downdetector. Most affected areas included major cities like Houston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. Verizon and T-Mobile also faced disruptions, though not as severe as AT&T.

“Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning,” AT&T acknowledged in a statement. “We are working urgently to restore service to them. We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.”

The outages meant some AT&T customers were briefly unable to contact 911 emergency services. The San Francisco Fire Department warned the public that “If you are an AT&T customer and cannot get through to 911, then please try calling from a landline. If that is not an option then please try to get ahold of a friend or family member who is a customer of a different carrier and ask them to call 911 on your behalf.” Police departments in Chicago, Virginia, and North Carolina issued similar alerts.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said that city is gathering information on the outage in an attempt to resole the issue. “Atlanta’s e-911 is able to receive inbound and make outbound calls. We have received calls from AT&T customers that their cellular phones are in SOS mode,” Dickens said.

Mercedes-Benz Forgets About Making EVs

Mercedes-Benz Scraps Plans to Make Only Electric Vehicles Due to ‘Market Conditions’

Mercedes-Benz has backtracked on their plan to transition to selling only electric vehicles after 2030, with company officials saying that “market conditions” have not allowed that to happen.

It was just three years ago when the German luxury vehicle manufacturer announced that it would go “all-electric,” the Verge reported at the time.

The company said it would commit $47 billion to electrifying its fleet, with CEO and board chair Ola Källenius saying, “We are convinced, we can do it with strong profitability, and we believe that focus on electrical is the right way to build a successful future and to enhance the value of Mercedes Benz.”

Those plans were scrapped this week in the company’s fourth quarter earnings statement:

“Customers and market conditions will set the pace of the transformation. The company plans to be in a position to cater to different customer needs, whether it’s an all-electric drivetrain or an electrified combustion engine, until well into the 2030s.”

The automobile giant went on to state that its electric vehicle sales are expected to only reach a maximum of 50 percent of the overall sales in the second half of this decade.

The business model change comes after multiple highly-publicized instances of Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles catching on fire and causing massive damage.

An EQB model caught ablaze while being charged in a car showroom in Malaysia on New Year’s Eve 2023, with video footage showing the terrifying moment a portion of the building went up in flames.

The fire destroyed “about 90 percent of the car, five percent of the showroom building structure, and 20 percent of the electric vehicle charging bay” the local fire and rescue operation commander told the Star.

Block Chinese EVs in US?

Commerce Secretaryy: ‘I Have National Security Concerns’ About EVs — ‘Probably’ Need to Do More to Block Chinese EVs

[CNBC’s Closing Bell: Overtime] Co-host Morgan Brennan asked, “Stellantis’ CEO saying low-cost Chinese EVs are, going to be an ‘existential problem’, just a few days ago. We know Europe’s grappling with this problem. In the U.S., we already have a tariff on Chinese EV imports. Do more actions need to be taken?”

Raimondo responded, “Probably, yes. I share the concern. By the way, I have national security concerns about electric vehicles. An electric vehicle has sensors and semiconductors. They know who’s driving it, where they’re driving, huge amounts of data. Chinese EVs on our road, is that data going back to Beijing in ways that undermine our national security? We’re looking hard at that. Additionally, what you say, listen, I have always maintained Americans can compete if there’s a level playing field. And you have a situation where China is distorting the market dynamics due to subsidies and low costs of capital. And so, I know the president is deeply concerned about both of these issues, and the administration is being thoughtful. We want to get it right, but have our eye, certainly, on the ball of thinking about what can we do, what must we do to protect Americans.”

BYD Threatens US Security?

China’s BYD Threatens US National Security

China’s BYD is the world’s biggest electric vehicle (EV) maker by number of cars sold. According to a Nikkei report published on Feb. 14, a BYD subsidiary expressed “eagerness for a plant” in Mexico.

BYD is looking at the northern Mexican state of Nuevo León for a possible site, close to the Texas border and a straight shot to San Antonio via Highway 35.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Feb. 16 that sources claim that BYD would “consider” exporting to the United States from its planned factory in Mexico. That’s an understatement. BYD can barely contain itself over the prospect of selling in the United States, the second-largest vehicle market in the world after China itself.
There are serious national security implications to admitting into the United States billions of dollars worth of cheap Chinese cars. They could further harm the U.S. auto industry, thus hurting the U.S. economy, tax revenues, and the military. Simultaneously, expanded BYD sales would enhance China’s economy and tax revenues, therefore funding the United States’ greatest military adversary.

In October 2023, Europe initiated a probe into China’s EV subsidies. The United States could do the same in the near future. Either probe could result in increased restrictions on China’s exports. But Washington and Brussels are reacting in slow motion based on liberal economic attitudes to trade with China that never should have continued after its 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
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If the embattled U.S. industry is again hit by cheap imports—most imminently BYD EVs that sell for as low as $11,000 in China—the results could be disastrous. As Elon Musk said in January, without trade barriers against Chinese cars, they will “pretty much demolish most other car companies in the world.”

Mexican labor costs far less than U.S. labor, which faces unsustainable risks from a wave of United Automobile Workers of America (UAW) strikes last year. Higher wages for UAW workers are great for the very few who win them. But the strikes hurt the unemployed, bogged down free labor markets, and chilled investment in the United States because of increased costs to business, including the risk of debilitating strikes. Because of eroding conditions for manufacturing in the United States, companies are fleeing to Mexico, Vietnam, and India, where labor unions pose less of a problem.

Cyberattack Against Pharmacies

Pharmacies Face Delays amid Cyberattack on Prescription Processor

Pharmacies across the country are facing delays in the wake of a cyberattack against the healthcare tech giant Change Healthcare, a leading prescription processor, which said it was “experiencing a network interruption related to a cyber security issue” on Wednesday.

“Once we became aware of the outside threat, in the interest of protecting our partners and patients, we took immediate action to disconnect our systems to prevent further impact,” Change Healthcare announced.

“At this time, we believe the issue is specific to Change Healthcare and all other systems across UnitedHealth Group are operational,” the tech company added. “The disruption is expected to last at least through the day.”

Change Healthcare, one of the largest healthcare technology companies in the United States that handles orders and patient payments throughout the country, did not disclose the specific nature of the cyberattack.

Pharmacies, meanwhile, have experienced outages due to the incident, according to a report by the Huron Daily Tribune.
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A medical group in McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas, meanwhile, said Wednesday, “We are experiencing a temporary pharmacy outage,” adding, “We understand the inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience as we work diligently to resolve the issue.”
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The Michigan-based Canadian Lakes Pharmacy also announced Wednesday that it “the issue that has been going yesterday and starting today that is affecting MOST pharmacies.”
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The issue is expected to last until Friday, but at the time of publishing, Change Healthcare has not yet provided a timeline for when it will return to its original service.

China Censors the World... With US Tech!?

CCP Expands Its Censorship Efforts Across the Globe, With the Help of US Technology

Assistance by US Technology

The CCP uses censorship as a tool to attain its monopoly on political legitimacy and control its citizens’ behaviors, according to the report.

However, much of its rigid control of the internet was built on American technology and expertise. According to the report, China historically “relied heavily on hardware component parts and software sourced from the United States to construct and operate its online censorship.”

One example, the report said, was that China allegedly used routers, firewalls, and antivirus products from U.S. companies like Cisco and Symantec in the early 2000s, which enabled the regime to carry out advanced censorship.

While the regime has been pushing for industrial self-reliance over recent years, the CCP’s “censorship apparatus is still reliant on U.S. imports, especially those used in emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning, and big data applications,” the researchers noted.

“Many of these AI-enabled ‘public opinion guidance’ tools rely on off-the-shelf components imported from the United States, such as general processing units (GPUs) and cloud computing infrastructure,” the report said. It cited a 2019 report suggesting that American tech giants such as Google and IBM may work with Chinese companies to contribute to the CCP’s censorship regime.

Some of the U.S. firms may inadvertently support the regime’s censorship apparatus, but in many cases, the report found, “foreign companies working in China deliberately conceal their connections to China’s security services which complicates due diligence to avoid contributing to the censorship apparatus.”
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To counter the regime’s censorship, the report, prepared by Exovera’s Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis, a Virginia-based think tank, provided a series of recommendations to U.S. policymakers, such as increasing cooperation with private companies and supporting “the development and spread of tools geared toward preventing common ‘information saturation’ techniques such as using botnets to hijack and algorithmically manipulate online conversations on sensitive topics.”

It suggested the United States issue a “public advisory list” of China-based companies that contributed to the CCP’s censorship, including their subsidiaries and shell companies. “Doing so will greatly assist due diligence by U.S.-based technology firms and will enable them to avoid inadvertently supporting China’s censorship regime.”