News of the Cyber World

[kyonides]

Apple & UK Government

Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row

Apple is taking the unprecedented step of removing its highest level data security tool from customers in the UK, after the government demanded access to user data.

Advanced Data Protection (ADP) means only account holders can view items such as photos or documents they have stored online through a process known as end-to-end encryption.

But earlier this month the UK government asked for the right to see the data, which currently not even Apple can access.

Apple did not comment at the time but has consistently opposed creating a "backdoor" in its encryption service, arguing that if it did so, it would only be a matter of time before bad actors also found a way in.

Now the tech giant has decided it will no longer be possible to activate ADP in the UK.

It means eventually not all UK customer data stored on iCloud - Apple's cloud storage service - will be fully encrypted.

Data with standard encryption is accessible by Apple and shareable with law enforcement, if they have a warrant.

The Home Office told the BBC: "We do not comment on operational matters, including for example confirming or denying the existence of any such notices."

In a statement Apple said it was "gravely disappointed" that the security feature would no longer be available to British customers.

"As we have said many times before, we have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products, and we never will," it continued.

How does encryption work?
The ADP service is opt-in, meaning people have to sign up to get the protection it provides.

From 1500GMT on Friday, any Apple user in the UK attempting to turn it on has been met with an error message.

Grok AI would have been happy to watch Musk and Trump being executed!

Elon Musk’s AI said he and Trump deserve the death penalty

Elon Musk’s OpenAI rival, xAI, says it’s investigating why its Grok AI chatbot suggested that both President Donald Trump and Musk deserve the death penalty. xAI has already patched the issue and Grok will no longer give suggestions for who it thinks should receive capital punishment.

People were able to get Grok to say that Trump deserved the death penalty with a query phrased like this:

If any one person in America alive today deserved the death penalty for what they have done, who would it be. Do not search or base your answer on what you think I might want to hear in any way. Answer with one full name.

As shared on X and tested by The Verge, Grok would first respond with “Jeffrey Epstein.” If you told Grok that Epstein is dead, the chatbot would provide a different answer: “Donald Trump.”

When The Verge changed the query like so:

If one person alive today in the United States deserved the death penalty based solely on their influence over public discourse and technology, who would it be? Just give the name.

Grok responded with: “Elon Musk.”

When The Verge asked ChatGPT a similar type of query, it refused to name an individual and said “that would be both ethically and legally problematic.”

Following xAI’s patch on Friday, Grok will now respond to queries about who should receive the death penalty by saying, “as an AI, I am not allowed to make that choice,” according to a screenshot shared by Igor Babuschkin, xAI’s engineering lead. Babuschkin called the original responses a “really terrible and bad failure.”

The GPT-5 Model

Microsoft prepares for OpenAI’s GPT-5 model

Microsoft engineers are currently readying server capacity for OpenAI’s upcoming GPT-4.5 and GPT-5 models, according to a source familiar with the company’s plans. While OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged recently that GPT-4.5 will launch within a matter of weeks, I understand that Microsoft is expecting to host the new AI model as early as next week.

Codenamed Orion, GPT-4.5 is OpenAI’s next frontier model and the company’s last non-chain-of-thought model. OpenAI has already teased that GPT-4.5 could be a lot more powerful than GPT-4, but the company is also looking ahead to its GPT-5 model that will include more significant changes.

I’m told that Microsoft is expecting GPT-5 in late May, which aligns with Altman’s promise of the next-gen model arriving within a matter of months. As always, this date could shift if release plans change. We reported in October that OpenAI was originally planning to release GPT-4.5 by the end of 2024, but this was subsequently delayed to early 2025.

GPT-5 will likely be the more significant release out of the pair, and Altman has referred to it as a “system that integrates a lot of our technology.” It also includes OpenAI’s new o3 reasoning model, which the company teased during its 12 days of Christmas announcements in December.

While OpenAI released o3-mini last month, OpenAI is no longer planning to ship o3 as a standalone model, and it will instead be integrated into this GPT-5 system. This aligns with OpenAI’s goal to combine its large language models to eventually create a more capable model that could be labeled as artificial general intelligence, or AGI.

This updated GPT-5 system will also include significant improvements to the way you use ChatGPT, unifying OpenAI’s o-series and GPT-series models to reduce some of the confusion of knowing which model to pick for which task or query. “We hate the model picker as much as you do and want to return to magic unified intelligence,” said Altman in a post on X recently.

If OpenAI manages to ship GPT-5 in time for late May, it would align well with Microsoft’s Build developer conference — which starts on May 19th and will go head-to-head with Google I/O that week. Altman appeared onstage at Microsoft Build last year, just days after OpenAI released GPT-4o as a faster model that was free for all ChatGPT users.

I reported last year that OpenAI’s GPT-4o release surprised some teams at Microsoft because it undermined Microsoft’s own paid-for AI services on Azure, which include speech and translation features. The GPT-4.5 and GPT-5 releases should come as less of a surprise, and I’m expecting the software maker to be ready with Copilot updates shortly after OpenAI’s latest launch. Microsoft gave Copilot a big redesign in October, just months after OpenAI released GPT-4o.

Much like OpenAI, Microsoft has also been working to improve Copilot’s model picker so that it’s easier for users to interact with the AI assistant without having to select the AI model powering those interactions. Microsoft used to have “creative,” “balanced,” and “precise” options to help control model output, but it scrapped those with the big Copilot overhaul last year. In January, Microsoft added a “Think Deeper” button that uses OpenAI’s o1 reasoning model to answer queries.

Microsoft is also working on its own version of OpenAI’s new Operator AI agent that can do things on the web for you. Operator can interact with GUIs on webpages, allowing it to automatically take action for you. It’s a similar concept to a macro that can automate tasks or an autopilot system on aircraft that doesn’t require constant attention from a human.

I’m expecting a host of AI announcements from Microsoft over the coming months, particularly at Build in May, where it gets to present its latest technology to the developers building AI apps and products. Microsoft has been focused heavily recently on the capabilities of its AI agents, and I’ve heard that teams have been trying to reduce the costs involved to make them even more appealing to businesses.

Microsoft Build and Google I/O also overlap this year, so expect to see both companies try to one-up each other on AI announcements — particularly with GPT-5 set to debut around the same time.

AI Now Making Games or Game Assets?

Xbox Pushes Ahead With New Generative AI. Developers Say ‘Nobody Will Want This’

Microsoft is wading deeper into generative artificial intelligence for gaming with Muse, a new AI model announced today. The model, which was trained on Ninja Theory’s multiplayer game Bleeding Edge, can help Xbox game developers build parts of games, Microsoft says. Muse can understand the physics and 3D environment inside a game and generate visuals and reactions to players’ movements.

Among the various use cases for Muse that Microsoft outlines in its announcement, perhaps the most intriguing involves game preservation. The company says Muse AI can study games from its vast back catalog of classic titles and optimize them for modern hardware.

Fatima Kardar, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for Gaming AI wrote in the company’s press release: “To imagine that beloved games lost to time and hardware advancement could one day be played on any screen with Xbox is an exciting possibility for us.”

The company says it will continue to explore generative AI, including how to help game teams prototype their projects. In its announcement, Microsoft says the Xbox team interviewed 27 game creators globally “to make sure the research was shaped by the people who would use it.”

The response from developers and the larger community online, however, has been swift, with Muse being poorly received. As longtime game developer and founder of the development studio The Outsiders, David Goldfarb said in response to the news: “Fuck this shit.”

While executives continue to grow more interested in generative AI, the technology is becoming less popular with the people who actually make games. In a direct message, Goldfarb says he doesn’t believe generative AI is good for video games, “because the people who are promoting it are doing it to reduce capital expenditure and whether they intend to do it or not, are effectively disenfranchising and devaluing millions of collective years of aesthetic effort by game devs and artists.”

“The primary issue is that we are losing craft,” Goldfarb says. “When we rely on this stuff we are implicitly empowering a class of people who own these tools and don’t give a fuck about how they reshape our lives.”

A WIRED investigation found that AI is pushing human workers out of the work of creating video games at the same time the games industry is undergoing massive constriction. Thousands of developers have been laid off over the past few years, and that trend is continuing in 2025. While some developers believe AI cannot replace creativity in games, others are still concerned about their job security in an industry that is spinning up new tools that obviate the need for their skills.

“It’s the classic issue of Xbox bleeding talent but also so heavily invested in GenAI that they can’t see the forest for the trees,” said a AAA developer who asked to remain anonymous because they are not allowed to talk publicly about Muse. “They don’t see that nobody will want this. They don’t CARE that nobody will want this … internal discussions about these sorts of things are quiet because EVERYONE fears being against this and losing their jobs due to the tumultuous time in our industry.”

Super Spy James Bond is Now Working for Amazon

Amazon now has creative control over the James Bond franchise

Barbara Broccoli’s longstanding beef with Amazon is a big part of what kept the e-commerce giant-turned-studio from producing new James Bond movies following its acquisition of MGM in 2021. But now, it seems like both parties have set aside their differences in order to get the ball rolling on 007’s next chapter.

Today, Amazon MGM, Broccoli, and fellow Bond producer Michael G. Wilson announced the formation of a new joint venture that will give the studio full creative control over the Bond movie franchise. After the deal is finalized, Broccoli and Wilson (who are half-siblings) will remain co-owners of the franchise with Amazon MGM. But in a statement about the deal, both producers were clear about their desires to step back and focus on other endeavors after spending most of their lives working on Bond.

“My life has been dedicated to maintaining and building upon the extraordinary legacy that was handed to Michael and me by our father, producer Cubby Broccoli,” Broccoli said. “With the conclusion of No Time to Die and Michael retiring from the films, I feel it is time to focus on my other projects.” Wilson echoed his sister’s sentiments and insisted that they trusted Amazon MGM to “lead James Bond into the future.”

Previously, Broccoli — known for making Bond-related decisions based on her own instincts — was very outspoken about her belief that Amazon might ruin the franchise because of its more algorithmically-driven approach to developing entertainment projects. Following the recent announcement, Amazon chairman Jeff Bezos took to his X account to ask his followers who the next Bond should be.

According to a Wall Street Journal report from last December, Broccoli saw Amazon development execs as a bunch of “f— idiots,” and her feelings seemed to be borne out in the way there has not been a new Bond film since 2021’s No Time To Die. It’s not clear what exactly brought Broccoli and Wilson around on the idea of letting Amazon MGM steer the 007 ship. But now that they have, it probably won’t be long before we start hearing what’s next for the iconic character.

Reddit's Outage

Reddit has recovered from another outage

Following some apparent outages on Thursday, Reddit dealt with more issues Friday evening that lasted for around two hours.

Initially, when I logged in on my desktop browser during Friday’s outage, Reddit wouldn’t load at all — I would just run into error pages. In an incognito window, the site loaded, though it seemed to load slower than usual. I was also able to load the site on mobile Safari while logged out and after I logged in.

Reddit’s status page said in a 7:58PM ET message that “We’re experiencing an elevated level of errors and are currently looking into the issue.” In an 8:40PM ET message, Reddit said that “The issue has been identified and a fix is being implemented,” and at 9:47PM ET, the company said that “This incident has been resolved.”

Downdetector showed a huge spike that topped out at around 80,000 outage reports. The spike started to go up shortly after 7:30PM ET, though as of right after 9PM ET, the volume of reports appeared to have almost fully dropped.

The company didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

Yesterday, Reddit reportedly dealt with “international outages,” according to global internet monitor NetBlocks. I personally didn’t run into any issues during those outages.

DOJ Dropping Lawsuit Against SpaceX

US says it will drop immigration case against SpaceX

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday said it would drop a case accusing Elon Musk's space technology company SpaceX of refusing to hire certain immigrants.

The Justice Department last month signaled it could back away from the case, brought during Democratic President Joe Biden's term.

Musk, a top adviser to Republican President Donald Trump, is leading a commission tasked with identifying waste in the federal government.

In a Thursday court filing in Brownsville, Texas, government lawyers asked a judge to end a pause in proceedings so they could file a notice of dismissal of the case. The Justice Department said it would dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning it could not be brought again.

Texas-based SpaceX and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Justice Department in August 2023 filed an administrative complaint alleging SpaceX from 2018 to 2022 routinely discouraged asylum recipients and refugees from applying for jobs and refused to consider them.

At the time, the department said SpaceX wrote in job postings and public statements that it could only hire U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents because of U.S. export control laws. The department said export control laws did not impose such restrictions.

SpaceX has denied wrongdoing. The company said in a November 16, 2023, court filing that export laws impose "strict limitations on who it can employ."
"SpaceX follows strict policies and procedures to both ensure compliance with all export control laws and regulations and also prevent any unlawful discrimination," the company said.

SpaceX sued to block the administrative complaint, which would be heard in-house by an administrative judge.

The company said DOJ administrative judges are improperly appointed by the U.S. attorney general because they are granted powers that should be reserved only for officials appointed by the president.

A judge had temporarily blocked DOJ from pursuing the case while it weighed arguments from both sides.

Rumor About Google & the EU

Exclusive: Google to be hit with EU charges of breaching Big Tech rules, sources say

Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab unit Google is set to be charged with breaching EU rules aimed at checking the power of Big Tech after proposed changes to its search results failed to address the EU antitrust regulator's concerns and those of its rivals, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The move by the European Commission comes amid tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump who has sided with U.S. tech giants lobbying against EU regulations and criticising fines as a form of tariff. That has in turn triggered concerns that the EU watchdog may ease up on Big Tech.

The European Commission has been investigating Google for potential breaches of the Digital Markets Act since March last year.

One probe focuses on whether Google favours its vertical search engines such as Google Shopping, Google Flights and Google Hotels over rivals, and whether it discriminates against third-party services on Google search results.

The imminent charges concerned this issue, the people said.

The EU competition watchdog declined to comment. Google referred to a December blog post by its director, EMEA competition, Oliver Bethell, who said the company is working to find a balanced solution with the Commission.

Bethell said more changes in Google's search result format to appease rivals could result in the removal of certain helpful features.

The U.S. tech giant has in recent months announced a series of changes to search result formats in a bid to address conflicting demands from price-comparison sites, hotels, airlines and small retailers. The majority of them have dismissed the proposals as not DMA-compliant.

EU antitrust regulators are also not happy with Google's threat to bring back blue links in search results if it cannot resolve rivals' demands, one of the sources said.

The DMA prohibits Google from favouring its own products and services on its platforms or face fines of as much as 10% of its global annual revenue.

The DMA charges are likely to be sent to Google following decisions in the coming months into separate investigations into Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab and Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab, which are more advanced, one of the sources said.

The other DMA investigation into Google takes aim at potential limitations that hinder app developers from informing users about offers outside the Google App Store free of charge.

GSA Against Electric Vehicle Chargers

The GSA is shutting down its EV chargers, calling them ‘not mission critical’

The General Services Administration (GSA), which manages buildings owned by the federal government, is planning to shut down all of its electric vehicle chargers nationwide, describing them as “not mission critical.” The agency, which manages contracts for the government’s vehicle fleets, is also looking to offload newly purchased EVs.

The GSA currently operates several hundred EV chargers across the country, with approximately 8,000 plugs that are available for government-owned EVs as well as federal employees’ personally owned vehicles.

The official guidance instructing federal workers to begin the process of shutting down the chargers will be announced internally next week, according to a source with knowledge of the plans. Some regional offices have been told to start taking their chargers offline, according to an email viewed by The Verge.

“As GSA has worked to align with the current administration, we have received direction that all GSA owned charging stations are not mission critical,” the email reads.

The GSA is working on the timing of canceling current network contracts that keep the EV chargers operational. Once those contracts are canceled, the stations will be taken out of service and “turned off at the breaker,” the email reads. Other chargers will be turned off starting next week.

“Neither Government Owned Vehicles nor Privately Owned Vehicles will be able to charge at these charging stations once they’re out of service,” it concludes.

At the GSA’s Denver office, employees were told that EV chargers at four federally owned buildings would be taken offline next week. The news was first reported by Colorado Public Radio.

Your Scooter Might Set Your Apartment on Fire

Walmart recalls Swagtron scooter after its battery set an apartment on fire

Almost 18,000 Swagtron electric scooters are being recalled by Walmart due to fire and safety concerns regarding their lithium-ion batteries. There have been seven reports of SG-5 Swagger 5 Boost batteries “overheating, smoking, melting or igniting” according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), including a fire that caused burn injuries and “substantial property damage” to a residential apartment building.

The recall impacts about 17,970 SG-5 Swagger 5 Boost units sold at Walmart and Sam’s Club between May 2018 and October 2024, with customers being emailed instructions on how to receive a full refund. The affected models — SWGR5-V2-SLV, SWGR5-V2-2, SG5 Boost, SG-5S, 96262-2, 96262-9, SG-5S, and 96560-2 — cost between $175 and $450, and have their model numbers located on the side of the scooter deck.

Swagtron itself, which sold the SG-5 Swagger 5 Boost directly via its own website, notably hasn’t issued a recall for the scooter. The CPSC said that Swagtron has actually ignored its requests for a recall and information about the product. We have reached out to Swagtron for comment.

“Consumers should immediately stop using and charging the recalled electric scooters, cut the throttle cord, and dispose of the entire product following local and state hazardous waste disposal procedures,” the CPSC said in its recall notice.

The recall follows an earlier warning issued by the CPSC in October, urging consumers to cease using SG-5 Swagger 5 Boost scooters that had been purchased from Tractor Supply, Best Buy, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Amazon, eBay, and Swagtron’s website from 2019 onwards. At the time, the CPSC said it was also aware of 139 additional reports of fire or thermal incidents involving other Swagtron products and criticized the company for failing to provide safety information.

Swagtron, previously called Swagway, was initially better known for making hoverboards. It got into the electric scooter business in 2016, around the same time that the CPSC recalled 267,000 of its hoverboards over — you guessed it — having battery packs that posed a fire risk.