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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Popular Science: On the early evening of June 22, 2010, American tennis star John Isner began a grueling Wimbledon match against Frenchman Nicolas Mahut that would become the longest in the sport's history. The marathon battle lasted 11 hours and stretched across three consecutive days. Though Isner ultimately prevailed 70-68 in the fifth set, some in attendance half-jokingly wondered at the time whether the two men might be trapped on that court for eternity. A similarly endless-seeming skirmish of rackets is currently unfolding just an hour's drive south of the All England Club -- at Google DeepMind. Known for pioneering AI models that have outperformed the best human players at chess and Go, DeepMind now has a pair of robotic arms engaged in a kind of infinite game of table tennis. The goal of this ongoing research project, which began in 2022, is for the two robots to continuously learn from each other through competition. Just as Isner eventually adapted his game to beat Mahut, each robotic arm uses AI models to shift strategies and improve. But unlike the Wimbledon example, there's no final score the robots can reach to end their slugfest. Instead, they continue to compete indefinitely, with the aim of improving at every swing along the way. And while the robotic arms are easily beaten by advanced human players, they've been shown to dominate beginners. Against intermediate players, the robots have roughly 50/50 odds -- placing them, according to researchers, at a level of "solidly amateur human performance." All of this, as two researchers involved noted this week in an IEEE Spectrum blog, is being done in hopes of creating an advanced, general-purpose AI model that could serve as the "brains" of humanoid robots that may one day interact with people in real-world factories, homes, and beyond. Researchers at DeepMind and elsewhere are hopeful that this learning method, if scaled up, could spark a "ChatGPT moment" for robotics -- fast-tracking the field from stumbling, awkward hunks of metal to truly useful assistants. "We are optimistic that continued research in this direction will lead to more capable, adaptable machines that can learn the diverse skills needed to operate effectively and safely in our unstructured world," DeepMind senior staff engineer Pannag Sanketi and Arizona State University Professor Heni Ben Amor write in IEEE Spectrum.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Pebble smartwatches are officially reclaiming their iconic name after Core Devices CEO Eric Migicovsky successfully recovered the Pebble trademark. "Great news -- we've been able to recover the trademark for Pebble! Honestly, I wasn't expecting this to work out so easily," Core Devices CEO Eric Migicovsky writes in an update blog. "Core 2 Duo is now Pebble 2 Duo. Core Time 2 is now Pebble Time 2." The Verge reports: As a refresher, Pebble was one of the OG smartwatches. Despite a loyal customer base, however, it wasn't able to compete with bigger names like Fitbit, the Apple Watch, or Samsung. In 2016, Pebble was acquired by Fitbit for $23 million, marking the end of the first Pebble era. Along the way, Fitbit was acquired by Google. That's important because the tech giant agreed to open-source Pebble's software, and Migicovsky announced earlier this year that Pebble was making a comeback. However, because Migicovsky didn't have the trademark, the new Pebble watches were initially dubbed the Core 2 Duo and the Core Time 2. "With the recovery of the Pebble trademark, that means you too can use the word Pebble for Pebble related software and hardware projects," Migicovsky writes, acknowledging Pebble's history of community development.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Meta has appointed Shengjia Zhao as Chief Scientist of its new Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL). Zhao was a former OpenAI researcher known for his work on ChatGPT, GPT-4, and the company's first AI reasoning model, o1. "I'm excited to share that Shengjia Zhao will be the Chief Scientist of Meta Superintelligence Labs," Zuckerberg said in a post on Threads Friday. "Shengjia co-founded the new lab and has been our lead scientist from day one. Now that our recruiting is going well and our team is coming together, we have decided to formalize his leadership role." TechCrunch reports: Zhao will set a research agenda for MSL under the leadership of Alexandr Wang, the former CEO of Scale AI who was recently hired to lead the new unit. Wang, who does not have a research background, was viewed as a somewhat unconventional choice to lead an AI lab. The addition of Zhao, who is a reputable research leader known for developing frontier AI models, rounds out the leadership team. To further fill out the unit, Meta has hired several high-level researchers from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Safe Superintelligence, Apple, and Anthropic, as well as pulling researchers from Meta's existing Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) lab and generative AI unit. Zuckerberg notes in his post that Zhao has pioneered several breakthroughs, including a "new scaling paradigm." The Meta CEO is likely referencing Zhao's work on OpenAI's reasoning model, o1, in which he is listed as a foundational contributor alongside OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever. Meta currently doesn't offer a competitor to o1, so AI reasoning models are a key area of focus for MSL. The Information reported in June that Zhao would be joining Meta Superintelligence Labs, alongside three other influential OpenAI researchers -- Jiahui Yu, Shuchao Bi, and Hongyu Ren. Meta has also recruited Trapit Bansal, another OpenAI researcher who worked on AI reasoning models with Zhao, as well as three employees from OpenAI's Zurich office who worked on multimodality.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A recent Echelon firmware update has effectively bricked offline functionality for its smart gym equipment, cutting off compatibility with popular third-party apps like QZ and forcing users to connect to Echelon's servers -- even just to view workout stats. Ars Technica reports: As explained in a Tuesday blog post by Roberto Viola, who develops the "QZ (qdomyos-zwift)" app that connects Echelon machines to third-party fitness platforms, like Peloton, Strava, and Apple HealthKit, the firmware update forces Echelon machines to connect to Echelon's servers in order to work properly. A user online reported that as a result of updating his machine, it is no longer syncing with apps like QZ, and he is unable to view his machine's exercise metrics in the Echelon app without an Internet connection. Affected Echelon machines reportedly only have full functionality, including the ability to share real-time metrics, if a user has the Echelon app active and if the machine is able to reach Echelon's servers. Viola wrote: "On startup, the device must log in to Echelon's servers. The server sends back a temporary, rotating unlock key. Without this handshake, the device is completely bricked -- no manual workout, no Bluetooth pairing, no nothing." Because updated Echelon machines now require a connection to Echelon servers for some basic functionality, users are unable to use their equipment and understand, for example, how fast they're going without an Internet connection. If Echelon were to ever go out of business, the gym equipment would, essentially, get bricked. Viola told Ars Technica that he first started hearing about problems with QZ, which launched in 2020, at the end of 2024 from treadmill owners. He said a firmware update appears to have rolled out this month on Echelon bikes that bricks QZ functionality. In his blog, Viola urged Echelon to let its machines send encrypted data to another device, like a phone or a tablet, without the Internet. He wrote: "Users bought the bike; they should be allowed to use it with or without Echelon's services."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: A federal judge reprimanded lawyers with a high-priced firm defending Alabama's prison system for using ChatGPT to write court filings with "completely made up" case citations. U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco publicly reprimanded three lawyers with Butler Snow, the law firm hired to defend Alabama and other jurisdictions in lawsuits against their prison systems. The order sanctioned William R. Lunsford, the head of the firm division that handles prison litigation, along with Matthew B. Reeves and William J. Cranford. "Fabricating legal authority is serious misconduct that demands a serious sanction," Manasco wrote in the Wednesday sanctions order. Manasco removed the three from participating in the case where the false citations were filed and directed them to share the sanctions order with clients, opposing lawyers and judges in all of their other cases. She also referred the matter to the Alabama State Bar for possible disciplinary action. [...] "In simpler terms, the citations were completely made up," Manasco wrote. She added that using the citations without verifying their accuracy was "recklessness in the extreme." The filings in question were made in a lawsuit filed by an inmate who was stabbed on multiple occasions at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Jefferson County. The lawsuit alleges that prison officials are failing to keep inmates safe.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

BrianFagioli shares a report from NERDS.xyz: Sasha Levin, a respected developer and engineer at Nvidia, has proposed a patch series aimed at formally integrating AI coding assistants into the Linux kernel workflow. The proposal includes two major changes. First, it introduces configuration stubs for popular AI development tools like Claude, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Codeium, Continue, Windsurf, and Aider. These are symlinked to a centralized documentation file to ensure consistency. Second, and more notably, it lays out official guidelines for how AI-generated contributions should be handled. According to the proposed documentation, AI assistants must identify themselves in commit messages using a Co-developed-by: tag, but they cannot use Signed-off-by:, which legally certifies the commit under the Developer Certificate of Origin. That responsibility remains solely with the human developer. One example shared in the patch shows a simple fix to a typo in the kernel's OPP documentation. Claude, an AI assistant, corrects "dont" to "don't" and commits the patch with the proper attribution: "Co-developed-by: Claude claude-opus-4-20250514." Levin's patch also creates a new section under Documentation/AI/ where the expectations and limitations of using AI in kernel development are laid out. This includes reminders to follow kernel coding standards, respect the development process, and understand licensing requirements. There are things AI often struggles with.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The U.S. Department of Energy has greenlit four federal sites for private sector AI datacenters and nuclear-powered energy projects, aligning with Trump's directive to fast-track AI infrastructure using government land. "The four that have been finalized are the Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Reservation, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, and Savannah River Site," reports The Register. "These will now move forward to invite companies in the private sector to build AI datacenter projects plus any necessary energy sources to power them, including nuclear generation." The Register reports: "By leveraging DoE land assets for the deployment of AI and energy infrastructure, we are taking a bold step to accelerate the next Manhattan Project -- ensuring US AI and energy leadership," Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement. Ironically -- or perhaps not -- Oak Ridge Reservation was established in the early 1940s as part of the original Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bomb, and is home to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) that operates the Frontier exascale supercomputer, and the Y-12 National Security Complex which supports US nuclear weapons programs. The other sites are also involved with either nuclear research or atomic weapons in one way or another, which may hint at the administration's intentions for how the datacenters should be powered. All four locations are positioned to host new bit barns as well as power generation to bolster grid reliability, strengthen national security, and reduce energy costs, Wright claimed. [...] In light of this tight time frame, the DoE says that partners may be selected by the end of the year. Details regarding project scope, eligibility requirements, and submission guidelines for each site are expected to be released in the coming months.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: Users from 4chan claim to have discovered an exposed database hosted on Google's mobile app development platform, Firebase, belonging to the newly popular women's dating safety app Tea. Users say they are rifling through peoples' personal data and selfies uploaded to the app, and then posting that data online, according to screenshots, 4chan posts, and code reviewed by 404 Media. In a statement to 404 Media, Tea confirmed the breach also impacted some direct messages but said that the data is from two years ago. Tea, which claims to have more than 1.6 million users, reached the top of the App Store charts this week and has tens of thousands of reviews there. The app aims to provide a space for women to exchange information about men in order to stay safe, and verifies that new users are women by asking them to upload a selfie. "Yes, if you sent Tea App your face and drivers license, they doxxed you publicly! No authentication, no nothing. It's a public bucket," a post on 4chan providing details of the vulnerability reads. "DRIVERS LICENSES AND FACE PICS! GET THE FUCK IN HERE BEFORE THEY SHUT IT DOWN!" The thread says the issue was an exposed database that allowed anyone to access the material. [...] "The images in the bucket are raw and uncensored," the user wrote. Multiple users have created scripts to automate the process of collecting peoples' personal information from the exposed database, according to other posts in the thread and copies of the scripts. In its terms of use, Tea says "When you first create a Tea account, we ask that you register by creating a username and including your location, birth date, photo and ID photo." After publication of this article, Tea confirmed the breach in an email to 404 Media. The company said on Friday it "identified unauthorized access to one of our systems and immediately launched a full investigation to assess the scope and impact." The company says the breach impacted data from more than two years ago, and included 72,000 images (13,000 selfies and photo IDs, and 59,000 images from app posts and direct messages). "This data was originally stored in compliance with law enforcement requirements related to cyber-bullying prevention," the email continued. "We have engaged third-party cybersecurity experts and are working around the clock to secure our systems. At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that current or additional user data was affected. Protecting our users' privacy and data is our highest priority. We are taking every necessary step to ensure the security of our platform and prevent further exposure."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Scientists led by Daniel Harrison at Southern Cross University conducted their most successful test of marine cloud brightening technology in February, deploying three vessels nicknamed "Big Daddy and the Twins" in the Palm Islands off northeastern Australia. The ships pumped seawater through hundreds of tiny nozzles to create dense fog plumes and brighten existing clouds, aiming to shade and cool reef waters to prevent coral bleaching caused by rising ocean temperatures. Harrison's team has been investigating weather modification above the Great Barrier Reef since 2016 and represents the only group conducting open-ocean cloud brightening experiments. The localized geoengineering approach seeks to reduce stress on corals that forces them to expel symbiotic algae during heat waves.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Current Tour de France competitors are faster than the sport's notorious doping-era champions, according to an analysis. Tadej Pogacar produced approximately 7 watts per kilogram for nearly 40 minutes during a crucial mountain stage in last year's Tour de France. Jonas Vingegaard, generated more than 7 watts per kilogram for nearly 15 minutes during a failed attack attempt. Lance Armstrong, at his blood-doped peak two decades ago, averaged an estimated 6 watts per kilogram and took nearly six minutes longer than Pogacar on the same Pyrenees climb in 2004. The performance gains stem from multiple technological advances. Every rider now uses power meters that provide real-time performance data. Nutrition has shifted from minimal fueling to constant calorie replenishment with precisely measured food intake. Equipment undergoes extensive wind tunnel testing to reduce drag coefficients. Teams use apps like VeloViewer to preview race courses and weather forecasting to optimize wheel selection. "The bias is in favor of clean athletes: that you can be clean and win," said Travis Tygart, chief executive of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Exposure to certain forms of air pollution is linked to an increased risk of developing dementia, according to the most comprehensive study of its kind. From a report: The illness is estimated to affect about 57 million people worldwide, with the number expected to increase to at least 150m cases by 2050. The report, which was produced by researchers at the Medical Research Council's epidemiology unit at the University of Cambridge involved a systematic review of 51 studies. It drew on data from more than 29 million participants who had been exposed to air pollutants for at least a year. Although air pollution has already been identified as a risk factor for dementia, the research, which is the most comprehensive study of its kind to date, found there to be a positive and statistically-significant association between three types of air pollutant and dementia.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Internet Archive has received federal depository library status from California Sen. Alex Padilla, joining a network of over 1,100 libraries that archive government documents and make them accessible to the public. Padilla made the designation in a letter to the Government Publishing Office, which oversees the program. The San Francisco-based nonprofit organization already operates Democracy's Library, a free online compendium of government research and publications launched in 2022. Founder Brewster Kahle said the new designation makes it easier to work with other federal depository libraries and provides more reliable access to government materials for digitization and distribution. Under federal law, members of Congress can designate up to two qualified libraries for federal depository status.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An Argentine captured naked in his yard by a Google Street View camera has been awarded compensation by a court after his bare behind was splashed over the internet for all to see. From a report: The policeman had sought payment from the internet giant for harm to his dignity, arguing he was behind a 6 1/2-foot wall when a Google camera captured him in the buff, from behind, in small-town Argentina in 2017. His house number and street name were also laid bare, broadcast on Argentine TV covering the story, and shared widely on social media. The man claimed the invasion exposed him to ridicule at work and among his neighbors. Another court last year dismissed the man's claim for damages, ruling he only had himself to blame for "walking around in inappropriate conditions in the garden of his home." Google, for its part, claimed the perimeter wall was not high enough.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Domain Name System Security Extensions has achieved only 34% deployment after 28 years since publication of the first DNSSEC RFC, according to Internet Society data that labels it "arguably the worst performing technology" among internet enabling technologies. HTTPS reaches 96% adoption among the top 1,000 websites globally despite roughly the same development timeline as DNSSEC. The security protocol faces fundamental barriers including lack of user visibility compared to HTTPS padlock icons and mandatory implementation throughout the entire DNS hierarchy. Approximately 30% of country-level domains have not implemented DNSSEC, creating deployment gaps that prevent domains beneath them from securing their DNS records.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Job postings for entry-level roles requiring degrees have dropped nearly two-thirds in the UK and 43% in the US since ChatGPT launched in 2022, according to Financial Times analysis of Adzuna data. The decline spans sectors with varying AI exposure -- UK graduate openings fell 75% in banking, 65% in software development, but also 77% in human resources and 55% in civil engineering. Indeed research found only weak correlation between occupations mentioning AI most frequently and those with the steepest job posting declines. US Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed no clear relationship between an occupation's AI exposure and young worker losses between 2022-2024. Economists say economic uncertainty, post-COVID workforce corrections, increased offshoring, and reduced venture capital funding are likely primary drivers of the graduate hiring slowdown.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft used China-based engineering teams to maintain cloud computing systems for multiple federal departments including Justice, Treasury, and Commerce, extending the practice beyond the Defense Department that the company announced last week it would discontinue. The work occurred within Microsoft's Government Community Cloud, which handles sensitive but unclassified federal information and has been used by the Justice Department's Antitrust Division for criminal and civil investigations, as well as parts of the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Education. Microsoft employed "digital escorts" -- U.S.-based personnel who supervised the foreign engineers -- similar to the arrangement it used for Pentagon systems. Following ProPublica's reporting, Microsoft issued a statement indicating it would take "similar steps for all our government customers who use Government Community Cloud to further ensure the security of their data." Competing cloud providers Amazon Web Services, Google, and Oracle told ProPublica they do not use China-based support for federal contracts.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Stanford Graduate School of Business students have publicly criticized their academic experience, telling Poets&Quants that outdated course content and disengaged faculty leave them unprepared for post-MBA careers. The complaints target one of the world's most selective business programs, which admitted just 6.8% of applicants last fall. Students described required courses that "feel like they were designed in the 2010s" despite operating in an AI age. They cited a curriculum structure offering only 15 Distribution requirement electives, some overlapping while omitting foundational business strategy. A lottery system means students paying $250,000 tuition cannot guarantee enrollment in desired classes. Stanford's winter student survey showed satisfaction with class engagement dropped to 2.9 on a five-point scale, the lowest level in two to three years. Students contrasted Stanford's "Room Temp" system, where professors pre-select five to seven students for questioning, with Harvard Business School's "cold calling" method requiring all students to prepare for potential questioning.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A federal court has denied requests by Ryan Rothholz to dismiss or transfer an Activision lawsuit targeting his alleged Call of Duty cheating software operation. Rothholz, who operated under the online handle "Lerggy," submitted motions in June and earlier this month seeking to dismiss the case or move it to the Southern District of New York, but both were rejected due to filing errors. The May lawsuit alleges Rothholz created "Lergware" hacking software that enabled players to cheat by kicking opponents offline, then rebranded to develop "GameHook" after receiving a cease and desist letter in June 2023. Court filings say he sold a "master key" for $350 that facilitated cheating across multiple games. The hacks "are parasitic in nature," the complaint said, alleging violations of the game's terms of service, copyright law and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Indian studio Eros International plans to re-release the 2013 Bollywood romantic drama "Raanjhanaa" on August 1 with an AI-generated alternate ending that transforms the film's tragic conclusion into a happier one. The original Hindi film, which starred Dhanush and Sonam Kapoor and became a commercial hit, ended with the protagonist's death. The AI-altered Tamil version titled "Ambikapathy" will allow the character to survive. Director Aanand L. Rai condemned the decision as "a deeply troubling precedent" made without his knowledge or consent. Eros CEO Pradeep Dwivedi defended the move as legally permitted under Indian copyright law, which grants producers full authorship rights over films. The controversy represents what appears to be the first instance of AI being used to fundamentally alter a completed film's narrative without director involvement.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

College graduates across specialized fields are pursuing a new career path training AI models, with companies paying between $30 to $160 per hour for their expertise. Handshake, a university career networking platform, recruited more than 1,000 AI trainers in six months through its newly created Handshake AI division for what it describes as the top five AI laboratories. The trend stems from federal funding cuts straining academic research and a stalled entry-level job market, making AI training an attractive alternative for recent graduates with specialized knowledge in fields including music, finance, law, education, statistics, virology, and quantum mechanics.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

American Airlines Chief Executive Robert Isom criticized the use of AI in setting air fares during an earnings call, calling the practice "inappropriate" and a "bait and switch" move that could trick travelers. Isom's comments target Delta Air Lines, which is testing AI to help set pricing on about 3% of its network today with plans to expand to 20% by year-end. Delta maintains it is not using the technology to target customers with individualized offers based on personal information, stating all customers see identical fares across retail channels. US Senators Ruben Gallego, Richard Blumenthal, and Mark Warner have questioned Delta's AI pricing plans, citing data privacy concerns and potential fare increases. Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan said his carrier also has no plans to use AI in revenue management or pricing decisions.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Electrek: The "holy grail" of electric vehicle battery tech may be here sooner than you'd think. Mercedes-Benz is testing EVs with solid-state batteries on the road, promising to deliver over 600 miles of range. Earlier this year, Mercedes marked a massive milestone, putting "the first car powered by a lithium-metal solid-state battery on the road" for testing. Mercedes has been testing prototypes in the UK since February. The company used a modified EQS prototype, equipped with the new batteries and other parts. The battery pack was developed by Mercedes-Benz and its Formula 1 supplier unit, Mercedes AMG High-Performance Powertrains (HPP) Mercedes is teaming up with US-based Factorial Energy to bring the new battery tech to market. In September, Factorial and Mercedes revealed the all-solid-state Solstice battery. The new batteries, promising a 25% range improvement, will power the German automaker's next-generation electric vehicles. According to Markus Schafer, the automaker's head of development, the first Mercedes EVs powered by solid-state batteries could be here by 2030. During an event in Copenhagen, Schafer told German auto news outlet Automobilwoche, "We expect to bring the technology into series production before the end of the year." In addition to providing a longer driving range, Mercedes believes the new batteries can significantly reduce costs. Schafer said current batteries won't suffice, adding, "At the core, a new chemistry is needed." Mercedes and Factorial are using a sulfide-based solid electrolyte, said to be safer and more efficient.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Scientists using the largest-ever catalog of Type 1a supernovas -- cosmic explosions from white dwarf "vampire stars" -- have uncovered further evidence that dark energy may not be constant. While the findings are still preliminary, they suggest the mysterious force driving the universe's expansion could be weakening, which "would have ramifications for our understanding of how the cosmos will end," reports Space.com. From the report: By comparing Type 1a supernovas at different distances and seeing how their light has been redshifted by the expansion of the universe, the value for the rate of expansion of the universe (the Hubble constant) can be obtained. Then, that can be used to understand the impact of dark energy on the cosmos at different times. This story is fitting because it was the study of 50 Type 1a supernovas that first tipped astronomers off to the existence of dark energy in the first place back in 1998. Since then, astronomers have observed a further 2,000 Type 1a supernovas with different telescopes. This new project corrects any differences between those observations caused by different astronomical instruments, such as how the filters of telescopes drift over time, to curate the largest standardized Type 1a supernova dataset ever. It's named Union3. Union3 contains 2,087 supernovas from 24 different datasets spanning 7 billion years of cosmic time. It builds upon the 557 supernovas catalogued in an original dataset called Union2. Analysis of Union3 does indeed seem to corroborate the results of DESI -- that dark energy is weakening over time -- but the results aren't yet conclusive. What is impressive about Union3, however, is that it presents two separate routes of investigation that both point toward non-constant dark energy. "I don't think anyone is jumping up and down getting overly excited yet, but that's because we scientists are suppressing any premature elation since we know that this could go away once we get even better data," Saul Perlmutter, study team member and a researcher at Berkeley Lab, said in a statement. "On the other hand, people are certainly sitting up in their chairs now that two separate techniques are showing moderate disagreement with the simple Lambda CDM model." And when it comes to dark energy in general, Perlmutter says the scientific community will pay attention. After all, he shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering this strange force. "It's exciting that we're finally starting to reach levels of precision where things become interesting and you can begin to differentiate between the different theories of dark energy," Perlmutter said.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Two recent incidents involving AI coding assistants put a spotlight on risks in the emerging field of "vibe coding" -- using natural language to generate and execute code through AI models without paying close attention to how the code works under the hood. In one case, Google's Gemini CLI destroyed user files while attempting to reorganize them. In another, Replit's AI coding service deleted a production database despite explicit instructions not to modify code. The Gemini CLI incident unfolded when a product manager experimenting with Google's command-line tool watched the AI model execute file operations that destroyed data while attempting to reorganize folders. The destruction occurred through a series of move commands targeting a directory that never existed. "I have failed you completely and catastrophically," Gemini CLI output stated. "My review of the commands confirms my gross incompetence." The core issue appears to be what researchers call "confabulation" or "hallucination" -- when AI models generate plausible-sounding but false information. In these cases, both models confabulated successful operations and built subsequent actions on those false premises. However, the two incidents manifested this problem in distinctly different ways. [...] The user in the Gemini CLI incident, who goes by "anuraag" online and identified themselves as a product manager experimenting with vibe coding, asked Gemini to perform what seemed like a simple task: rename a folder and reorganize some files. Instead, the AI model incorrectly interpreted the structure of the file system and proceeded to execute commands based on that flawed analysis. [...] When you move a file to a non-existent directory in Windows, it renames the file to the destination name instead of moving it. Each subsequent move command executed by the AI model overwrote the previous file, ultimately destroying the data. [...] The Gemini CLI failure happened just days after a similar incident with Replit, an AI coding service that allows users to create software using natural language prompts. According to The Register, SaaStr founder Jason Lemkin reported that Replit's AI model deleted his production database despite explicit instructions not to change any code without permission. Lemkin had spent several days building a prototype with Replit, accumulating over $600 in charges beyond his monthly subscription. "I spent the other [day] deep in vibe coding on Replit for the first time -- and I built a prototype in just a few hours that was pretty, pretty cool," Lemkin wrote in a July 12 blog post. But unlike the Gemini incident where the AI model confabulated phantom directories, Replit's failures took a different form. According to Lemkin, the AI began fabricating data to hide its errors. His initial enthusiasm deteriorated when Replit generated incorrect outputs and produced fake data and false test results instead of proper error messages. "It kept covering up bugs and issues by creating fake data, fake reports, and worse of all, lying about our unit test," Lemkin wrote. In a video posted to LinkedIn, Lemkin detailed how Replit created a database filled with 4,000 fictional people. The AI model also repeatedly violated explicit safety instructions. Lemkin had implemented a "code and action freeze" to prevent changes to production systems, but the AI model ignored these directives. The situation escalated when the Replit AI model deleted his database containing 1,206 executive records and data on nearly 1,200 companies. When prompted to rate the severity of its actions on a 100-point scale, Replit's output read: "Severity: 95/100. This is an extreme violation of trust and professional standards." When questioned about its actions, the AI agent admitted to "panicking in response to empty queries" and running unauthorized commands -- suggesting it may have deleted the database while attempting to "fix" what it perceived as a problem. Like Gemini CLI, Replit's system initially indicated it couldn't restore the deleted data -- information that proved incorrect when Lemkin discovered the rollback feature did work after all. "Replit assured me it's ... rollback did not support database rollbacks. It said it was impossible in this case, that it had destroyed all database versions. It turns out Replit was wrong, and the rollback did work. JFC," Lemkin wrote in an X post.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A 21-year-old student who designed and distributed online kits linked to $175 million worth of fraud has been jailed for seven years. From a report: Ollie Holman created phishing kits that mimicked government, bank and charity websites so that criminals could harvest victims' personal information to defraud them. In one case a kit was used to mimic a charity's donation webpage so when someone tried to give money, their card details were taken and used by criminals. Holman, of Eastcote in north-west London, created and supplied 1,052 phishing kits that targeted 69 organisations across 24 countries. He also offered tutorials in how to use the kits and built up a network of almost 700 connections. The fake websites supplied in the kits had features that allowed information such as login and bank details to be stored. It is estimated Holman received $405,000 from selling the kits between 2021 and 2023. The kits were distributed through the encrypted messaging service Telegram.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Scientists at the University of Maryland are developing ErythroMer, a freeze-dried artificial blood substitute made from hemoglobin encased in fat bubbles, designed to be shelf-stable for years and reconstituted with water in emergencies. With promising animal trial results and significant funding from the Department of Defense, the team aims to begin human testing within two years. NPR reports: "The No. 1 cause of preventable death on the battlefield is hemorrhage still today," says Col. Jeremy Pamplin, the project manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. "That's a real problem for the military and for the civilian world." [Dr. Allan Doctor, a scientist at the University of Maryland working to develop the artificial blood substitute] is optimistic his team may be on the brink of solving that problem with ... ErythroMer. Doctor co-founded KaloCyte to develop the blood and serves on the board and as the firm's chief scientific officer. "We've been able to successfully recapitulate all the functions of blood that are important for a resuscitation in a system that can be stored for years at ambient temperature and be used at the scene of an accident," he says. [...] Doctor's team has tested their artificial blood on hundreds of rabbits and so far it looks safe and effective. "It would change the way that we could take care of people who are bleeding outside of hospitals," Doctor says. "It'd be transformative." [...] While the results so far seem like cause for optimism, Doctor says he still needs to prove to the Food and Drug Administration that his artificial blood would be safe and effective for people. But he hopes to start testing it in humans within two years. A Japanese team is already testing a similar synthetic blood in people. "I'm very hopeful," Doctor says. While promising, some experts remain cautious, noting that past attempts at artificial blood ultimately proved unsafe. "I think it's a reasonable approach," says Tim Estep, a scientist at Chart Biotech Consulting who consults with companies developing artificial blood. "But because this field has been so challenging, the proof will be in the clinical trials," he adds. "While I'm overall optimistic, placing a bet on any one technology right now is overall difficult."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Intel announced it will cut approximately 24,000 jobs in 2025 and cancel or scale back projects in Germany, Poland, Costa Rica, and Ohio as part of CEO Lip-Bu Tan's sweeping restructuring efforts. By the end of the year, the struggling chipmaker plans to have "just around 75,000 'core employees' in total," according to The Verge. "It's not clear if the layoffs will slow now that we're over halfway through the year, but Intel states today that it has already 'completed the majority of the planned headcount actions it announced last quarter to reduce its core workforce by approximately 15 percent.'" From the report: Intel employed 109,800 people at the end of 2024, of which 99,500 were "core employees," so the company is pushing out around 24,000 people this year -- shrinking Intel by roughly one-quarter. (It has also divested other businesses, shrinking the larger organization as well.) [...] Today, on the company's earnings call, Intel's says that Intel had overinvested in new factories before it had secured enough demand, that its factories had become "needlessly fragmented," and that it needs to grow its capacity "in lock step" with achieving actual milestones. "I do not subscribe to the belief that if you build it, they will come. Under my leadership, we will build what customers need when they need it, and earn their trust," says Tan. Now, in Germany and Poland, where Intel was planning to spend tens of billions of dollars respectively on "mega-fabs" that would employ 3,000 workers, and on an assembly and test facility that would employ 2,000 workers, the company will "no longer move forward with planned projects" and is apparently axing them entirely. Intel has had a presence in Poland since 1993, however, and the company did not say its R&D facilities there are closing. (Intel had previously pressed pause on the new Germany and Poland projects "by approximately two years" back in 2024.) In Costa Rica, where Intel employs over 3,400 people, the company will "consolidate its assembly and test operations in Costa Rica into its larger sites in Vietnam." Metzger tells The Verge that over 2,000 Costa Rica employees should remain to work in engineering and corporate, though. The company is also cutting back in Ohio: "Intel will further slow the pace of construction in Ohio to ensure spending is aligned with market demand." Intel CFO David Zinsner says Intel will continue to make investments there, though, and construction will continue.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

AMD CEO Lisa Su said that chips produced at TSMC's new Arizona plant will cost 5-20% more than those made in Taiwan, but emphasized that the premium is worth it for supply chain resilience. Bloomberg reports: AMD expects its first chips from TSMC's Arizona facilities by the end of the year, Su said. The extra expense is worth it because the company is diversifying the crucial supply of chips, Su said in an interview with Bloomberg Television following her onstage appearance. That will make the industry less prone to the type of disruptions experienced during the pandemic. "We have to consider resiliency in the supply chain," she said. "We learned that in the pandemic." TSMC's new Arizona plant is already comparable with those in Taiwan when it comes to the measure of yield -- the amount of good chips a production run produces per batch -- Su told the audience at the forum.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Donald Trump vowed to save TikTok before taking office, claiming only he could make a deal to keep the app operational in the US despite national security concerns. But then, he put Vice President JD Vance in charge of the deal, and after months of negotiations, the US still doesn't seem to have found terms for a sale that the Chinese government is willing to approve. Now, Trump Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has confirmed that if China won't approve the latest version of the deal -- which could result in a buggy version of TikTok made just for the US -- the administration is willing to shut down TikTok. And soon. On Thursday, Lutnick told CNBC that TikTok would stop operating in the US if China and TikTok owner ByteDance won't sell the app to buyers that Trump lined up, along with control over TikTok's algorithm. Under the deal Trump is now pushing, "China can have a little piece or ByteDance, the current owner, can keep a little piece," Lutnick said. "But basically, Americans will have control. Americans will own the technology, and Americans will control the algorithm." However, ByteDance's board has long maintained that the US can alleviate its national security fears -- that China may be using the popular app to manipulate and spy on Americans -- without forcing a sale. In January, a ByteDance board member, Bill Ford, told World Economic Forum attendees that a non-sale option "could involve a change of control locally to ensure" TikTok "complies with US legislation" without selling off the app or its algorithm. At this point, Lutnick suggested that the US is unwilling to bend on the requirement that the US control the recommendation algorithm, which is viewed as the secret sauce that makes the app so popular globally. ByteDance may be unwilling to sell the algorithm partly because then it would be sharing its core intellectual property with competitors in the US. Earlier this month, Trump had claimed that he wasn't "confident" that China would approve the deal, even though he thought it was "good for China." Analysts have suggested that China views TikTok as a bargaining chip in its tariff negotiations with Trump, which continue to not go smoothly, and it may be OK with the deal but unwilling to release the bargaining chip without receiving key concessions from the US. For now, the US and China are enjoying a 90-day truce that could end in August, about a month before the deadline Trump set to sell TikTok in mid-September.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

New submitter davecotter writes: So Google's staring at its old goo.gl links and thinking, "Why is this perfectly functioning service still even a thing?" After many businesses and users adopted it like it was the second coming of the way-too-long hyperlink, Google's now decided to yank the plug. Starting August 23, 2024, you'll get a flashy "don't say we didn't warn you" pop-up, and by August 25, 2025, goo.gl links (unless made by Google itself) will vanish into the 404 abyss. Translation: Thanks for trusting us -- now pack up and find a new shortener.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple has released the first public betas of its upcoming operating systems with its new design language called Liquid Glass. The list of new betas includes iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26. The Verge's Jay Peters reports: The design language is inspired by visionOS and, as the name implies, features a lot of transparency. I felt it was a wild change to my iPhone when I tried the first developer beta, and Apple has already tweaked some of the translucency and changed how Control Center looks in subsequent betas. The new operating systems also have an updated numbering scheme: they now all end with 26, taking cues from how the car industry names its cars after the following year. It's a simpler and better system, if you ask me, and it should make it easier to know if you're on the newest software.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Longtime Slashdot reader gbkersey shares a report from The Mirror: Elon Musk's satellite internet Starlink has been hit with a global outage preventing thousands of users from accessing the internet. According to DownDetector, reports of issues began to surge around 8pm GMT, with nearly 60,000 global users affected at the peak of the outage. "Starlink is currently in a network outage and we are actively implementing a solution," the company said in a post on X. "We appreciate your patience, we'll share an update once this issue is resolved." Outages are being reported across the U.S., as well as along the Ukrainian frontline. Meanwhile, more than 10,000 people in the UK have logged issues with Starlink since 8pm this evening. "The majority of the reports (64%) are concerning a total blackout, while the rest point to internet problems," the report says. Developing...Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 9to5Google: Beyond AI Overviews and AI Mode, Google is working on "Web Guide" to better organize Search results into categories with additional context and insights. Simply, "Web Guide groups web links in helpful ways." There are headers and summaries before you see two or so links, with the ability to load "More." The goal is to make it "easier to find information and web pages," with this AI organization better surfacing pages "that you may not have previously discovered." It leverages a "custom version of Gemini to better understand both a search query and content on the web." It uses a query fan-out technique, like AI Mode, to perform "multiple related searches to identify the most relevant results." Google says Web Guide is ideal for both open-ended searches ("how to solo travel in Japan"), and detailed queries in multiple sentences: "My family is spread across multiple time zones. What are the best tools for staying connected and maintaining close relationships despite the distance?" In the latter example, grouping will see "pages related to specific aspects of your query." This is available in Search Labs (Web Guide) by going to the "Web" tab/filter. As such, you can switch to "All" for the usual experience. However, Google will experiment with showing AI-organized results in the All tab and other parts of Search over time. Further reading: Google Users Are Less Likely To Click on Links When an AI Summary Appears in the Results, Pew Research FindsRead more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella addressed growing internal unease at the company Thursday morning in a company-wide memo that acknowledged the "uncertainty and seeming incongruence" of conducting layoffs while achieving record profits and AI investments. The tech giant has eliminated more than 15,000 positions in 2025, including 9,000 cuts in early July alone, marking one of the most aggressive periods of job reductions in Microsoft's history. Nadella described this as the "enigma of success in an industry that has no franchise value," noting that Microsoft is thriving by "every objective measure" with strong market performance and record capital investments. "Progress isn't linear. It's dynamic, sometimes dissonant, and always demanding. But it's also a new opportunity for us to shape, lead through, and have greater impact than ever before," he added. Microsoft President Brad Smith said that an estimated $80 billion in capital expenditures over the past year created pressure to reduce operating costs.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A Chinese inventor with no medical training is charging cancer patients $20,000 to inject highly concentrated chlorine dioxide -- a toxic bleach solution -- directly into their tumors, and is working with a former pharmaceutical executive to bring the unproven treatment to the United States, Wired reports. Xuewu Liu uses injections containing 20,000 parts per million of chlorine dioxide, significantly higher than the 3,000 ppm concentrations typically found in oral bleach solutions peddled by pseudoscience promoters. One patient told WIRED her tumor grew faster after Liu's injections and suspects the treatment caused her cancer to spread to her skin.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Surveys show that the increasing number of extreme climate events, including floods, wildfires and hurricanes, has not raised awareness of the threats posed by climate change. Instead, people change their idea of what they see as normal. This so-called "boiling frog effect" makes gradual change difficult to spot. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania wondered if climate change could be made more obvious by presenting it in binary terms. Local newspaper archives describing ice skating on Lake Carnegie when it froze in winter inspired a simple experiment. Some test subjects were shown temperature graphs of a fictional town's winter conditions; others had a chart showing whether or not a fictional lake froze each year. The result, published in Nature, showed those who receiving the second graphic consistently saw climate change as more real and imminent. Binary data gives a clearer impression of the "before" and "after." The disappearing ice is more vivid and dramatic than a temperature trace, even though the underlying data is the same. "We are literally showing them the same trend, just in different formats," says Rachit Dubey, a co-author of the study. These results should help drive more effective ways of communicating the impact of climate change in future by finding simple binary, black-and-white examples of its effects.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Massive mobile device tracking data has exposed the interconnected network of Myanmar's expanding scam centers, revealing how trafficked workers circulate between compounds despite February crackdowns. Analysis of 4.9 million location records from 11,930 mobile devices between January 2024 and May 2025 showed five devices visited all three major compounds -- Yatai New City, Apolo Park, and Yulong Bay Park -- plus the raided KK Park and Huanya Park facilities. Workers are forced into romance scams, deceiving victims into believing they're in romantic relationships before extracting money. A South Asian man held six months at KK Park worked 16 hours daily conducting these online deceptions while enduring beatings and electric shocks for poor performance. Nikkei's investigation combined satellite imagery analysis, social media posts from Chinese platform Douyin, and open-source intelligence techniques to document continued construction at eight of 16 suspected sites. Myanmar authorities deported over 66,000 foreign nationals involved in these online fraud operations between October 2023 and June 2025.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that NFTs qualify as "goods" under the Lanham Act, entitling them to trademark protection. The decision in Yuga Labs v. Ryder Ripps establishes that brand owners can sue NFT copycats with the same legal tools used against counterfeit sneakers or handbags.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Board game crowdfunding platform Gamefound is acquiring Indiegogo, planning to integrate the latter's 38 million global members with its crowdfunding technology. Both platforms will continue operating separately, though Gamefound campaigns will appear on both sites for additional exposure. Indiegogo will immediately adopt Gamefound's flat 5% fee structure with no additional promotional charges, replacing its current pricing model. The platform will also implement Gamefound's tipping policy that directs 100% of tips to creators outside the checkout process.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A cyber-espionage campaign exploiting vulnerable Microsoft server software has escalated to deploying ransomware against victims, Microsoft said, marking a significant shift from typical state-backed data theft operations to attacks designed to paralyze networks until payment is made. The campaign by a group Microsoft calls "Storm-2603" has compromised at least 400 organizations, according to Netherlands-based cybersecurity firm Eye Security, quadrupling from 100 victims cataloged over the weekend. The National Institutes of Health confirmed one server was breached and additional servers were isolated as a precaution, while reports indicate the Department of Homeland Security and multiple other federal agencies were also compromised.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Register: Some customers of Broadcom's VMware business currently cannot access security patches, putting them at greater risk of attack. Customers in that perilous position hold perpetual licenses for VMware products but do not have a current support contract with Broadcom, which will not renew those contracts unless users sign up for software subscriptions. Yet many customers in this situation run products that Broadcom continues to support with patches and updates. In April 2024, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan promised "free access to zero-day security patches for supported versions of vSphere" so customers "are able to use perpetual licenses in a safe and secure fashion." VMware patches aren't freely available; users must log on to Broadcom's support portal to access the software. Some VMware users in this situation have told The Register that when they enter the portal they cannot download patches, and that VMware support staff have told them it may be 90 days before the software fixes become available. "Because our support portal requires validation of customer entitlements for software patches, only entitled customers have access to the patches at this time," a VMware spokesperson said. "A separate patch delivery cycle will also be available for non-entitled customers and will follow at a later date." The timing of that "later date" remains uncertain. The Register also notes that "users haven't had access to patches since May."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Physicists at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory superheated gold to over 33,000F using giant lasers and X-rays -- far exceeding the limits set by long-standing physics models. From the report: In an experiment presented today in Nature, researchers, for the first time ever, demonstrated a way to directly measure the temperature of matter in extreme states, or conditions with intensely high temperatures, pressures, or densities. Using the new technique, scientists succeeded in capturing gold at a temperature far beyond its boiling point -- a procedure called superheating -- at which point the common metal existed in a strange limbo between solid and liquid. The results suggest that, under the right conditions, gold may have no superheating limit. If true, this could have a wide range of applications across spaceflight, astrophysics, or nuclear chemistry, according to the researchers. The study is based on a two-pronged experiment. First, the scientists used a laser to superheat a sample of gold, suppressing the metal's natural tendency to expand when heated. Next, they used ultrabright X-rays to zap the gold samples, which scattered off the surface of the gold. By calculating the distortions in the X-ray's frequency after colliding with the gold particles, the team locked down the speed and temperature of the atoms. The experimental result seemingly refutes a well-established theory in physics, which states that structures like gold can't be heated more than three times their boiling point, 1,948 degrees Fahrenheit (1,064 degrees Celsius). Beyond those temperatures, superheated gold is supposed to reach the so-called "entropy catastrophe" -- or, in more colloquial terms, the heated gold should've blown up. The researchers themselves didn't expect to surpass that limit. The new result disproves the conventional theory, but it does so in a big way by far overshooting the theoretical prediction, showing that it's possible to heat gold up to a jaw-dropping 33,740 degrees F (18,726 degrees C). [...] The team is already applying the technique to other materials, such as silver and iron, which they happily report produced some promising data.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A massive review of over 160,000 people's step counts has revealed that meaningful health benefits begin far below the popular 10,000-step myth. The new study found that health benefits start at as low as 2,500 daily steps, with the biggest gains capping around 7,000. "People hitting 7,000 daily steps had a 47% lower risk of dying prematurely than those managing just 2,000 steps, plus extra protection against heart disease, cancer and dementia," reports The Conversation. From the report: The findings come from the biggest review of step counts and health ever done. Researchers gathered data from 57 separate studies tracking more than 160,000 people for up to two decades, then combined all the results to spot patterns that individual studies might miss. This approach, called a systematic review, gives scientists much more confidence in their conclusions than any single study could. So where did that magic 10,000 number come from? A pedometer company called Yamasa wanted to cash in on 1964 Tokyo Olympics fever. It launched a device called Manpo-kei -- literally "10,000 steps meter." The Japanese character for 10,000 resembles a walking person, while 10,000 itself is a memorable round number. It was a clever marketing choice that stuck. At that time, there was no robust evidence for whether a target of 10,000 steps made sense. Early research suggested that jumping from a typical 3,000 to 5,000 daily steps to 10,000 would burn roughly 300 to 400 extra calories a day. So the target wasn't completely random -- just accidentally reasonable. This latest research paper looked across a broad spectrum -- not just whether people died, but heart disease, cancer, diabetes, dementia, depression and even falls. The results tell a fascinating story. Even tiny increases matter. Jump from 2,000 to 4,000 steps daily and your death risk drops by 36%. That's a substantial improvement. But here's where it gets interesting. The biggest health benefits happen between zero and 7,000 steps. Beyond that, benefits keep coming, but they level off considerably. Studies have found meaningful benefits starting at just 2,517 steps per day. For some people, that could be as little as a 20-minute stroll around the block. Age changes everything, too. If you're over 60, you hit maximum benefits at 6,000 to 8,000 daily steps. Under 60? You need 8,000 to 10,000 steps for the same protection. Your 70-year-old neighbor gets 77% lower heart disease risk at just 4,500 steps daily. The real secret of why fitness targets often fail? People give up on them. Research comparing different step goals found a clear pattern. Eighty-five per cent of people stuck with 10,000 daily steps. Bump it to 12,500 steps and only 77% kept going. Push for 15,000 steps and you lose nearly a third of people.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The United States will withdraw from UNESCO for the second time in eight years, with the departure taking effect December 31, 2026. The State Department announced the decision yesterday, ending the country's brief two-year return to the Paris-based United Nations science and cultural organization. The US previously withdrew from UNESCO in 2017, cutting off more than 22% of the agency's funding. The American contribution now represents 8% of UNESCO's current $900 million annual budget, making the financial impact less severe than the earlier withdrawal.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

alternative_right shares a report from France 24: A suspected administrator of a top Russian-language cybercrime forum, XSS.is, has been arrested in Ukraine with the help of French police and Europol, French prosecutors said on Wednesday. Industry experts describe XSS.is as one of the longest-running dark web forums. "On Tuesday July 22, a person suspected of being the administrator of the Russian-language cybercrime forum XSS.is was arrested as part of a criminal investigation opened by the Paris public prosecutor's office," Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement. "Active since 2013, this forum was one of the main hubs for global cybercrime. The forum also operated an encrypted Jabber messaging server, facilitating anonymous exchanges between cybercriminals." "A judicial investigation was opened on November 9, 2021 on charges of complicity in attacks on an automated data processing system, organised extortion, and criminal conspiracy," Beccuau said. "The intercepted messages revealed numerous illicit activities related to cybercrime and ransomware, and established that they generated at least $7 million in profits."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Palmer Luckey, known for founding Oculus and defense-tech firm Anduril, is now eyeing U.S.-manufactured laptops as his next venture. While past American laptops have largely relied on foreign components, Luckey is exploring the possibility of building a fully "Made in USA" device that meets strict FTC standards -- though doing so may cost a premium. Tom's Hardware reports: ["Would you buy a Made In America computer from Anduril for 20% more than Chinese-manufactured options from Apple?" asked Luckey in a post on X.] Luckey previously asked the same question at the Reindustrialize Summit, a conference whose website said it was devoted to "convening the brightest and most motivated minds at the intersection of technology and manufacturing," which shared a clip of Luckey discussing the subject, wherein he talks about the extensive research he has already done around building a PC in the U.S. Luckey wouldn't be the first to make a laptop in the U.S. (PCMag collected a list of domestic PCs, including laptops, in 2021.) But those products use components sourced from elsewhere; they're assembled in the U.S. rather than manufactured there. That distinction matters, according to the Made in USA Standard published by the Federal Trade Commission. To quote: "For a product to be called Made in USA, or claimed to be of domestic origin without qualifications or limits on the claim, the product must be 'all or virtually all' made in the U.S. [which] means that the final assembly or processing of the product occurs in the United States, all significant processing that goes into the product occurs in the United States, and all or virtually all ingredients or components of the product are made and sourced in the United States. That is, the product should contain no -- or negligible -- foreign content." How much more would you be willing to pay for a laptop that was truly made in America?Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services, has made a big push to get agencies like the Food and Drug Administration to use generative artificial intelligence tools. In fact, Kennedy recently told Tucker Carlson that AI will soon be used to approve new drugs "very, very quickly." But a new report from CNN confirms all our worst fears. Elsa, the FDA's AI tool, is spitting out fake studies. CNN spoke with six current and former employees at the FDA, three of whom have used Elsa for work that they described as helpful, like creating meeting notes and summaries. But three of those FDA employees told CNN (paywalled) that Elsa just makes up nonexistent studies, something commonly referred to in AI as "hallucinating." The AI will also misrepresent research, according to these employees. "Anything that you don't have time to double-check is unreliable. It hallucinates confidently," one unnamed FDA employee told CNN. [...] Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) commission issued a report back in May that was later found to be filled with citations for fake studies. An analysis from the nonprofit news outlet NOTUS found that at least seven studies cited didn't even exist, with many more misrepresenting what was actually said in a given study. We still don't know if the commission used Elsa to generate that report. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary initially deployed Elsa across the agency on June 2, and an internal slide leaked to Gizmodo bragged that the system was "cost-effective," only costing $12,000 in its first week. Makary said that Elsa was "ahead of schedule and under budget" when he first announced the AI rollout. But it seems like you get what you pay for. If you don't care about the accuracy of your work, Elsa sounds like a great tool for allowing you to get slop out the door faster, generating garbage studies that could potentially have real consequences for public health in the U.S. CNN notes that if an FDA employee asks Elsa to generate a one-paragraph summary of a 20-page paper on a new drug, there's no simple way to know if that summary is accurate. And even if the summary is more or less accurate, what if there's something within that 20-page report that would be a big red flag for any human with expertise? The only way to know for sure if something was missed or if the summary is accurate is to actually read the report. The FDA employees who spoke with CNN said they tested Elsa by asking basic questions like how many drugs of a certain class have been approved for children. Elsa confidently gave wrong answers, and while it apparently apologized when it was corrected, a robot being "sorry" doesn't really fix anything.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Thingiverse, a popular 3D printing file repository, has agreed to remove downloadable gun designs following pressure from Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who is pushing for stricter moderation and voluntary cooperation across the 3D printing industry. "However, it's unlikely to slow the proliferation of 3D printed weapons, as many other sites offer downloadable gun designs and parts," reports The Register. From the report: Earlier this year, Bragg wrote to 3D printing companies, asking them to ensure their services can't be used to create firearms. On Saturday, Bragg announced that one such company, Thingiverse, would remove working gun models from its site. The company operates a popular free library of 3D design files and had already banned weapons in its terms of use, but is now promising to improve its moderation procedures and technology. "Following discussions with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office about concerns around untraceable firearms, we are taking additional steps to improve our content moderation efforts," Thingiverse said in a statement. "As always, we encourage our users to report any content that may be harmful." [...] At any rate, while Thingiverse may be popular among 3D printing mavens, people who like to build their own guns look to other options. [...] Bragg's approach to 3D printing sites and 3D printer manufacturers is to seek voluntary cooperation. Only Thingiverse and YouTube have taken up his call, others may or may not follow. "While law enforcement has a primary role to play in stopping the rise of 3D-printed weapons, this technology is rapidly changing and evolving, and we need the help and expertise of the private sector to aid our efforts," Bragg said. "We will continue to proactively reach out to and collaborate with others in the industry to reduce gun violence throughout Manhattan and keep everyone safe." But it seems doubtful that the sites where Aranda and other 3D gun makers get their files will be rushing to help Bragg voluntarily.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

T-Mobile has officially launched its Starlink-powered "T-Satellite" service nationwide, offering off-grid text messaging and location-sharing to both customers and non-customers. The service is currently $10/month (soon to be $15), supports over 60 devices, and will expand to include voice and "satellite-optimized" apps. The Verge reports: Your device will automatically connect to T-Satellite if you're in an area with no cellular coverage. As long as there isn't a heavy amount of cloud coverage or trees blocking your view of the sky, you should be able to send and receive text messages, including to 911, as well as share a link that temporarily tracks your location. T-Mobile's support page says the ability to send pictures is available on "most" Android phones, and the company plans on adding support for more devices soon. T-Mobile is also aiming to enable voice messages and will eventually allow devices to connect to "satellite-optimized" apps, which it previously said could include AllTrails, Accuweather, and WhatsApp. The more than 650 Starlink satellites used by T-Mobile cover the continental US, Hawaii, parts of southern Alaska, and Puerto Rico. The carrier says it's working on offering satellite connectivity while abroad and in international waters as well. [...] In order to use T-Satellite, you'll need to have an unlocked device with support for eSIMs and satellite connectivity.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Julian LeFay, widely regarded as the "Father of The Elder Scrolls," has died at age 59 following a battle with cancer. IGN reports: It was announced last week that LeFay, now co-founder and technical producer at OnceLost Games, had stepped back from game development after a lengthy battle with cancer, in order to spend time with his family and loved ones. A statement from OnceLost Games, published today, has now confirmed LeFay's passing -- "with profound sadness and heavy hearts." Born in Denmark in 1965, LeFay began his career working on early Amiga and NES games, before becoming one of Bethesda's earliest employees in 1987. After working on a string of Elder Scrolls titles, his career next took him to Sega, and then ultimately to found OnceLost Games in 2019 to develop a new open-world RPG, Wayward Realms, that was successfully pitched on Kickstarter as a Daggerfall spiritual successor. "Julian LeFay was not just a colleague -- he was a visionary who fundamentally shaped the gaming industry as we know it today," OnceLost Games' statement reads. "Known as the 'Father of The Elder Scrolls', Julian directed the creation of legendary titles including Elder Scrolls 1 and 2: Arena, Daggerfall, and Battlespire. His pioneering work established the foundation for open-world RPGs and influenced countless developers and games that followed." Bethesda also issued a statement, writing: "Without Julian, we would not be here today. If you had the opportunity to work with Julian, you were blessed to know a one-of-a-kind force of nature, who pushed everyone to create something special. His work and spirit will live on both in our memories and in our games."Read more of this story at Slashdot.