Softbank bets $2 billion on Intel having a future
Japanese tech investment concern SoftBank has made a $2 billion investment in Intel.…
Browser wars are back, predicts Palo Alto, thanks to AI
Brace for a new round of browser wars, according to Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora.…
P2P payment service Zelle sued for enabling payment fraud hell
Infosec In Brief New York State is suing bank-owned peer-to-peer payment app Zelle, claiming that the banks behind it knew fraud was rampant on the platform but allowed scammers to conduct business with impunity.…
China sends an AI to its space station, where Taikonauts use it to prep for spacewalk
Taikonauts aboard China’s Tiangong space station used an AI model to prepare for a spacewalk.…
Molten salt nuclear reactors slated to power Google datacenters in 2030
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, could be home to a molten salt reactor once again if Google-backed Kairos Power has its way.…
Facial recognition works better in the lab than on the street, researchers show
Facial recognition technology has been deployed publicly on the basis of benchmark tests that reflect performance in laboratory settings, but some academics are saying that real-world performance doesn't match up.…
Microsoft crams Copilot AI directly into Excel cells
Microsoft, in its ongoing effort to AI-ify every product it has, is now adding it right into the cells of Excel. Available on Monday to beta users of Microsoft 365 Copilot, a new COPILOT function allows you to task Redmond's AI with performing generative tasks right in, for example, C2 or B23.…
Physicist models new use for nuclear waste: Turning it into super-rare fusion fuel
Tritium is ridiculously rare, incredibly expensive, and central to most fusion energy reactor designs. If research out of Los Alamos National Lab proves to hold true, it might soon become easier to obtain.…
Pot calls kettle black as China dubs US 'surveillance empire' over chip tracking
Comment Chinese state media called the US an aspiring "surveillance empire" over its proposed use of asset tracking tags to crack down on black-market GPU shipments to the Middle Kingdom.…
GenAI FOMO has spurred businesses to light nearly $40 billion on fire
US companies have invested between $35 and $40 billion in Generative AI initiatives and, so far, have almost nothing to show for it.…
List or get off the pot: Auditors demand gov’t improve IT reporting or give it up
The US federal government first planned to standardize its categorization of IT costs, resources, and solutions back in 2017. Eight years later, the project has mostly stalled, say auditors, and now they're demanding that it either get priority or get the axe.…
Microsoft's Nuance coughs up $8.5M to rid itself of MOVEit breach suit
Microsoft-owned talk-to-text outfit Nuance has agreed to cough up $8.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit over the sprawling MOVEit Transfer mega-breach – although it admits no liability.…
No more Blocktoberfest? German court throws book at ad blockers
UPDATED A recent ruling by the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has reopened the possibility that using ad blocking software could violate copyright law in Germany.…
Everybody needs good neighbors – especially ones who sell you solar energy
Boffins looking into the Australian solar energy ecosystem say that sharing really is caring – and potentially profitable when homes with solar panels can sell their excess energy to neighbors at a preferential rate.…
UK drafts AI to help Joe Public decipher its own baffling bureaucracy
The UK government has leapt into the AI hype with a raft of "Exemplar" programs it claims will deliver billions in value – including a Clippy-style assistant to help citizens navigate complex forms and legal jargon, rather than simply making them clearer in the first place.…
Workday warns of CRM breach after social engineers make off with business contact details
Workday has admitted that attackers gained access to one of its third-party CRM platforms, but insists its core systems and customer tenants are untouched.…
SpaceX prepares itself for a tenth Starship flight test
SpaceX is gearing up for another Starship launch, blaming a previous failure on structural issues and fuel pressurization problems.…
Minority Report: Now with more spreadsheets and guesswork
The UK government has unveiled a scheme to use AI to "help police catch criminals before they strike."…
From PAYE to P45: HMRC staff fired for prying into taxpayer data
The UK tax authority has been forced to clean house after dozens of staff were caught helping themselves to taxpayer records.…
Boffins say tool can sniff 5G traffic, launch 'attacks' without using rogue base stations
Security boffins have released an open source tool for poking holes in 5G mobile networks, claiming it can do up- and downlink sniffing and a novel connection downgrade attack - plus "other serious exploits" they're keeping under wraps, for now.…
