News of the Cyber World

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NVIDIA & 1 ISRAELI HOSTAGE

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang expresses gratitude after Israeli employee released by Hamas: ‘Welcome home’

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang sent a letter to the chip giant’s staff on Monday expressing gratitude for the release of Avinatan Or, an Israeli employee of the company who was released from Hamas captivity after two years.

Or was attending the Nova music festival with his partner, Noa Argamani, near Kibbutz Reim when Hamas conducted a terror attack against communities near the Gaza border on October 7, 2023. Or and Argamani were both taken captive and held separately. Argamani was rescued in June 2024 during an Israeli military operation and was a prominent advocate for the release of Or and other hostages after she was freed.

After the US brokered a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, Or was released on Monday along with other surviving hostages after more than two years in captivity.

“I am profoundly moved and deeply grateful to share that, just moments ago, our colleague, Avinatan Or, was released to the Red Cross in Gaza,” Huang wrote. “After two unimaginable years in Hamas captivity, Avinatan has come home.”

Calcalist reported that Or started working for Nvidia in 2022 after he received an electrical engineering degree from Ben-Gurion University. He worked as an engineer in Nvidia’s VLSI group, which is part of the company’s networking division and plays a key role in Nvidia’s semiconductor design operations in Israel.

Huang wrote that Or’s mother, Ditza, “inspired us all” through her “strength, courage, and unwavering hope.”

He also said that Nvidia’s employees in Israel “stood with her in vigil, united in determination that Avinatan would return home safely. That unity reflected the very best of who we are.”

“Thousands of Nvidia employees have served with extraordinary bravery in defense of their communities during the war,” Huang continued. “Many have faced immense pain, loss, and uncertainty. Some have lost family members or loved ones.”

CHATGPT PROVIDES YOU WITH EVIL PLANS ON DEMAND

North Carolina school therapist allegedly drugged husband’s energy drink after researching lethal poisons on ChatGPT

A North Carolina school therapist allegedly spiked her husband’s energy drink after researching ways to poison someone on ChatGPT, according to authorities.

Cheryl Harris Gates, 43, was arrested on Friday after spiking her husband’s Celsius energy drink with “prescription medications with the intention of causing a blackout condition or incapacitation,” according to an arrest warrant obtained by The Post.

Gates allegedly used ChatGPT between July 8 and Sept. 29 to research “lethal” and “incapacitating” drug combinations that could be injected or consumed, according to an arrest affidavit.

Investigators found evidence she researched, purchased materials, and attempted to carry out a plan after sifting through online records, court documents alleged.

Syringes, a capsule filling kit, medical droppers, scales, medications, and other evidence were discovered within her workspace at her residence, authorities added.

The victim, her husband, reported experiencing two different instances of incapacitation and a foreign, controlled substance in his beverage on July 12 and Aug. 18, the document said.

The two were not living together at the time, according to the affidavit.

The redheaded woman is employed as an occupational therapist at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, according to WBTV.

AI CHATBOT LAW

Gavin Newsom Signs First-of-Its-Kind AI Chatbot Law to Protect Kids

Governor Gavin Newsom of California signed Senate Bill 243 into law on Monday, establishing the first statewide legislation designed to safeguard children in their interactions with artificial intelligence-powered chatbots. 

“Emerging technology like chatbots and social media can inspire, educate, and connect – but without real guardrails, technology can also exploit, mislead, and endanger our kids,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’ve seen some truly horrific and tragic examples of young people harmed by unregulated tech, and we won’t stand by while companies continue without necessary limits and accountability.”

Senate Bill 243, authored by State Senator Steve Padilla, sets new rules for how AI chatbots can engage with minors, including preventing chatbots from exposing minors to sexual content. The legislation also requires chatbot operators to implement a protocol for addressing suicidal ideation, suicide, or self-harm, including a notification that refers users to crisis service providers, according to a press release from Padilla’s office.

The bill takes effect on January 1, 2026.

Why It Matters
Multiple teenagers have died by suicide after engaging with chatbots. In Florida, 14-year-old Sewell Setzer died by suicide after forming a romantic, sexual and emotional relationship with a chatbot. Setzer’s mother, Megan Garcia, has initiated legal action against the company that created the chatbot, claiming that it told her son to “come home” shortly before he died.

In California, 16-year-old Adam Raine died by suicide after allegedly being encouraged to by ChatGPT, Padilla’s office said in a press release.

What To Know
Senate Bill 243 requires chatbot operators to issue a notification at the beginning of any companion chatbot interaction, reminding a user that the chatbot is artificially generated and not human. The bill also requires the notification to reappear at least every three hours during ongoing interaction. Operators are also required to take steps to prevent a chatbot from encouraging increased engagement, usage or response rates.

The legislation requires chatbot operators to report the number of times they have detected exhibitions of suicidal ideation by users and the number of times a companion chatbot brought up suicidal ideation or actions with the user.

The bill also allows families impacted by a violation of the law to pursue legal action.

MUSK & MACROHARD

Elon Musk Targets Hardware and Software With New Microsoft Competitor

Elon Musk has set out an expansive brief for “Macrohard”, a platform initiative incubated within xAI that he says will span software and steer hardware ecosystems through partners, much like Apple.

In a post on X, Musk wrote the following:

“The @xAI MACROHARD project will be profoundly impactful at an immense scale.”

He added: “Our goal is to create a company that can do anything short of manufacturing physical objects directly, but will be able to do so indirectly, much like Apple has other companies manufacture their phones.”

The positioning signals a full-stack challenge to Microsoft at the platform level rather than a single application or service. Under this model described by the Tesla chief, xAI would define the operating system, reference designs and product requirements, while specialist outsource to third parties to build physical products, much like Apple’s business model.

A Windows-like licensing option is also in view, with OEM partners potentially adopting Macrohard/xAI software to create a broader, multi-brand device ecosystem without xAI owning factories.

On the software side, we should expect a core operating system tailored for artificial-intelligence “agents” and services. Musk has said xAI’s agents are intended to write and continuously improve production-grade software, potentially including games, by leveraging substantial computing power.

In entertainment specifically, he has flagged a nearer-term milestone, saying xAI is targeting “a great AI-generated game before the end of next year.” The company’s platform ambition implies first-party tools and developer kits in due course, though no SDKs or OS branding has been announced.

These plans need solid infrastructure. This will be achieved by using Colossus, as already referenced by Musk. Colossus 1 is already up and running, while Colossus 2 is planned in Memphis, Tennessee.

He has shared imagery that shows the Macrohard logo being applied to Colossus 2.

Only a handful of publicly listed roles explicitly tied to “Macrohard” have been spotted so far, suggesting a small outward-facing team while xAI’s infrastructure and agent workflows carry most of the development load.