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The convergence of exponential technological disruption with digital self-sovereignty could lead to a redefinition of personal and collective agency – and will likely profoundly transform industries and societies. In this post: an OODA Loop Original Analysis of the implications of this convergence and future scenarios.
Coinbase has a new crypto wallet which is incredibly easy to use but also very powerful. And it has security features backed up by a consortium of some of the greatest security engineers on the planet. The result is an easy to use crypto financial tool that provides powerful capabilities to anyone with a smartphone…
At the 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference, we introduced Apple Intelligence, a personal intelligence system integrated deeply into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. Apple Intelligence is comprised of multiple highly-capable generative models that are specialized for our users’ everyday tasks, and can adapt on the fly for their current activity. The foundation models built into…
After just one interdisciplinary, cross-sector, cross-matrixed, and/or whole-of-government engineering or scientific touchpoint/experience on a complex project – a singular, breathtaking takeaway is always that material science is a fascinating discipline – just super cool and exciting – and THE cross-sector, interdisciplinary driver of global, strategic, competitive advantage across all exponential, deep, frontier and emerging technologies.…
Recent insights from Chris Ward’s (Senior Advisor at OODA LLC and an OODA Network Member) – “Decoding of DoD’s Pacific Missions” – have converged with our recent deep dive into The Digital Residency Program of the Pacific Island Nation of Palau and our previous tracking of activity in Guam. Following is what is blipping on…
The title of this post says it all: you will find here an OODA Loop original analysis of Artificial Intelligence, The Metaverse, Compute, and The Future of Digital Identity Frameworks as part of our Digital Self-Sovereignty Research Initiative.
Discord’s server-based community and communications were central to the 2023 Airman Jack Texeira case. Still, by all accounts, Discord-based comms usually run parallel to multi-player gaming activity amongst this age cohort. Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox? All are current building blocks of the future metaverse. The Global Gaming Ecosystem is all at once an attack surface…
The blockchain-based Root Name System (RNS) leverages blockchain technology to manage domain names in a decentralized manner – and is the core design and technical element of our recent blockchain-based use case, The Digital Residency Program of the Pacific Island Nation of Palau. Find an overview of RNS here.
In the first of our case studies in the OODA Loop Digital Self-Sovereignty Research Initiative, we turn to the digital residency program of the Pacific Island nation of Palau. Add digital residency platforms to the list – along with non-nation-state APT hacking groups and non-nation-state drone armies – as an at-work mechanism in the potential…
In February 2024, The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) attributed an increase in volume and structural changes in “interagency support” as the reasons behind a backlog of vulnerabilities analyzed in the National Vulnerability Database (NVD), which NIST operates, as “the organization struggled to process waves of new vulnerabilities.” Following is a tick-tock of…
Assessing materiality of a breach sounds easy. But in reality it will require many corporations to re-think the governance processes they have in place. This post provides insights which can help accelerate improvement of the quality and compliance of materiality decisions. It is based on decades of work in cybersecurity governance and a deep understanding…
The United States is making significant progress with respect to cybersecurity, but much of that is federally focused.
Digital self-sovereignty is the new “build” as legacy systems get swapped out in a sometimes violent, always exponential fashion. To be clear, we are positioning digital self-sovereignty as a solution to our current problem set that will “still stand” even if this current geopolitical, exponential technology-driven inflection point manifests – for a prolonged period –…
Following the initial discussion at the April 2024 OODA Network Monthly Meeting of Domain-Specific Large Language Model Development and Use Cases, and the follow-up discussion on Exponential Technology Disruption, Global Risk, and Geopolitical Futures, the spoofing capabilities of AI creating new threats and issues began a discussion that gradually focused on and distilled more granular insights…
The weaponization of cyberspace has been a legitimate concern as nation states aggressively build capabilities to project power, retaliate, and become more offensively minded.
Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip has continued on the first day of the Muslim Eid holidays. Amid the violence, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip continues to deteriorate as Israel has halted the delivery of aid into Gaza since early March. Meanwhile, prospects for a breakthrough in ceasefire talks seem remote. On Sunday,…
Entities in Ukraine have been targeted as part of a phishing campaign designed to distribute a remote access trojan called Remcos RAT. The activity has been attributed with moderate confidence to a Russian hacking group known as Gamaredon. The threat actor, assessed to be affiliated with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), is known for its…
A threat actor has published approximately 270,000 customer records allegedly stolen from Samsung Germany’s ticketing system, cybersecurity firm Hudson Rock reports. The threat actors behind the leak gained access using the stolen credentials of a Spectos GmbH account, which were compromised in 2021. The login information was never rotated and, while dormant for four years,…
Mozilla says Firefox developers have determined that their browser is affected by a critical vulnerability that is similar to the Chrome zero-day disclosed a few days ago. The issue, described as an incorrect handle, can allow a compromised child process to cause the parent process to “return an unintentionally powerful handle, leading to a sandbox…
Blockchain developer platform Gelato is launching a new blockchain-as-a-service solution on Avalanche to meet the growing demand for sovereign blockchain infrastructure during a crucial “tipping point” for institutional adoption. Gelato, which previously developed blockchain solutions for companies such as Kraken and Animoca Brands, unveiled the new upgrade that aims to let developers deploy fully sovereign…
The U.S. has blacklisted approximately 80 foreign entities, citing heightened national security concerns. The majority are Chinese companies suspected of procuring American hardware to aid the development of military technologies. Eleven entities based in China and one in Taiwan now face trade restrictions for “engaging in the development of advanced AI, supercomputers, and high-performance AI…
Nothing is certain in the quantum realm. A particle, for example, can exist in multiple quantum states simultaneously. The same goes for a quantum bit, or qubit — the basic unit of information used in quantum computing. The act of measurement causes these objects to collapse into a single state, and usually the best you…
Imagine if a doctor could remotely do a non-invasive, highly precise medical procedure on her patients using a tiny robot, or microrobot. With a device researchers from SMU and George Washington University created, that is one step closer to reality. “Using what we call a magnetic tweezer system, an operator will be able to precisely…
China and the United States accounted for 75 per cent of all venture capital investment in the robotics space over the past six years, allowing them to build a formidable lead in a crucial emerging industry, according to a study by the analytics firm GlobalData. The scale of investment into US and Chinese robotics start-ups…
The other day, my daughter was pondering a medical question. Naturally, like many young people do nowadays, she turned to AI for answers. The chatbot’s response? A mix of useful information, some questionable recommendations, and a completely made-up fact about vitamin C. We had a good laugh, but it was also an important reminder. Just…
Alibaba Cloud launched Thursday its latest artificial intelligence model in its “Qwen series,” as large language model competition in China continues to heat up following the “DeepSeek moment.” The new “Qwen2.5-Omni-7B” is a multimodal model, which means it can process inputs, including text, images, audio and videos, while generating real-time text and natural speech responses,…
Israel’s parliament has approved parts of a proposed judicial overhaul. Israel’s parliament has approved a bill which changes how individuals are appointed to the Supreme Court. The bill shifts the balance of power on the judicial selection committee towards political appointees. Critics say the law will undermine the indepedence of the judicial branch and weaken…
South Sudan’s opposition has said that the peace agreement with the government has collapsed. South Sudan’s opposition has said that the peace agreement with the government has collapsed due to the arrest of their leader. Clashes between government forces and various groups have increased in the past few days. The UN has warned that a…
Australia has scheduled its general election for May 3rd. The Australian Prime Minister has annouced that the general election will be held on May 3rd. The Labor party is seeking to be reelected for a 3 year term. The opposition Liberal Party is seeking to return to government. Read more: https://apnews.com/article/australia-elections-may-albanese-dutton-02913607505793ad3436342c237317e3
Brazilian prosectors have ended one of several cases against former President Bolsonaro. Brazilian prosectors have dropped one of several cases currently being brough against former President Jair Bolsonaro. The dropped case concered allegations that the former President had falsified his COVID-19 vaccination status. Officials had alledged that he had tampered with official government health records…
The FBI has annouced that it disrupted a crypto-funding scheme used by Hamas. The FBI has annouced that it has disrupted and crypto-funding shceme used by Hamas to suppor its operations. The FBI said that the operation invovled individuals donating funds to accounts that would then launder the funds and transfer them to Hamas. The…
Ukrainian Railways attacked by russian forces twice in a row. The Ukrainian state-run railway has annouced that it has again been the victim of a Russian cyber attack. This attack come just hours after the organiziation annouced it had partially restored service after an earlier cyber attack. The attacks have significantly impacted the railraods operations…
Fake DeepSeek ads have been used to spread malware. Fake ads for DeepSeek AI have been found to be spreading malware on Google. The ads prompt users to click a link to visist a fake DeepSeek website. Once a user visists the site and clicks a download link, that triggers the downloading of the malware.…
The FBI is investigating a cyberattack at Oracle which may have comprimosed heathcare records. The FBI has launched an investigation into a cyberattack at Oracle. Oracle had altereted authorities about the cyberattack and informed healthcare clients that patient records may have been compromised. No group or individual has taken responsiblity for the attack. It is…
In a new paper in Nature, a team of researchers from JPMorganChase, Quantinuum, Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and The University of Texas at Austin describe a milestone in the field of quantum computing, with potential applications in cryptography, fairness and privacy. Using a 56-qubit quantum computer, they have for the first time…
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test of suicide drones with artificial intelligence (AI) technology and said unmanned control and AI capability must be the top priorities in modern arms development, state media reported on Thursday. Kim inspected new upgraded reconnaissance drones that are capable of detecting various tactical targets and enemy activities…
Somewhere out there, Jeeves is raising his teacup to the AI revolution. The tuxedoed internet butler of the late ’90s couldn’t really answer every question, but now? That’s the entry-level gig of generative-AI chatbots. Jeeves is smiling in retirement. Google’s starting to wonder about its job security. Over the past month, I quit Google Search.…
American robotics companies are pushing for a national robotics strategy, including establishing a federal office focused on promoting the industry at a time when China is making intelligent robots a national priority. Representatives of companies — including Tesla, Boston Dynamics and Agility Robotics — on Wednesday met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to show off…
OpenAI is integrating new image generation capabilities directly into ChatGPT starting today — this feature is dubbed “Images in ChatGPT.” Users can now use GPT-4o to generate images within ChatGPT itself. This initial release focuses solely on image creation and will be available across ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Team, and Free subscription tiers. The free tier’s…
One of China’s largest server makers, H3C, has flagged potential shortages of Nvidia’s H20 chip, the most advanced AI processor legally available domestically under U.S. export controls, in a client notice seen by Reuters. The potential supply crunch could create obstacles for China’s artificial intelligence ambitions at a time when its tech firms are aggressively…
There’s a new release from Google Gemini this morning: the first in the Gemini 2.5 series. Google call it “a thinking model, designed to tackle increasingly complex problems”. It’s already sat at the top of the LM Arena leaderboard, and from initial impressions looks like it may deserve that top spot. I just released llm-gemini…
Protests have taken place in Gaza calling for an end of the war. Protests have taken place in Gaza calling for an end of the war. Protests are very rare due to fears of retribution from Hamas. Protesters demanded that all sides work to bring an end to the war as quickly as possible. Renewed…
The main opposition leader in South Sudan has been arrested. The leader of the main opposition faction in South Sudan has been arrested. The opposition has said that his condition is unknown. The UN has warned that the sitution in the country is quickly worsening and that a civil war may begin. Violence has been…
Peru’s Presiednt has called for a general election in April 2026. Peru’s President has called for a general election to be held in April 2026. The election will see the Presidency and both houses of the legislature be up for grabs. Peru’s current president is deeply unpopular and she has not said if she will…
An exposed database has comprimised the data of thousands of customers of Sydney Tools. Researchers have found that the company Sydeny Tools had failed to properly secure a database which contained information on millions of orders. The database also contained the personal information of thousands of cusomters. The Researchers have not been able to reach…
Police have broken up a large protest in Turkey’s capital. Turkish Police have used force to brake up a large protest in the capital. Protests have been on going in several cities accross the country following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor and opposition party leader Ekrem Imamoğlu. The Justice Minister has said that over 100…
FacePass has exposed the data of millions of users. The Brazilian app FacePass has exposed the data of millions of users. Researchers found that the app had exposed the personal data of users due to vulnerabilities in the app. FacePass is an identification app used in Brazil to control admitance to events. The app requires…
The cyber espionage group RedCurl has expanded its operations to include ransomware. The Russian cyber espionage group RedCurl has expanded its operations to include ransomware attacks. The group in the past has focused mostly on social engineering and phishing attacks. Researchers believe that the group has turned to ransomware as a way to ensure the…
A security firm has crippled the operations of a ransomware gang by attacking its website. A security firm has crippled the operations of the ransomware group BlackLock Ransomware after exploiting a vulnerability in its website. The firm was able to conduct its attack after its research found several vulnerabilities in the websites. The firm has…
Amazon, in an effort to infuse generative artificial intelligence across a wider swath of its e-commerce universe, recently began testing a shopping assistant and a health-focused chatbot with a subset of users. AI has become a major area of investment across Amazon, including in its retail, cloud computing, devices and health-care businesses. Within the retail…
At a conference dedicated to energy technology that I attended this week, I noticed an outward attitude of optimism and excitement. But it’s hard to miss the current of uncertainty just underneath. The ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit, held this year just outside Washington, DC, gathers some of the most cutting-edge innovators working on everything from…
Before the advent of GPS, especially at sea, navigation meant finding your position by looking up at the stars. Today, when the Global Positioning System isn’t working—or gets jammed by electronic warfare—drones are learning to do something similar, orienting themselves by looking down at the Earth instead. This concept underpins a growing wave of efforts…
Artificial intelligence company Anthropic convinced a California federal judge on Tuesday to reject a preliminary bid to block it from using lyrics owned by Universal Music Group and other music publishers to train its AI-powered chatbot Claude. U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee said that the publishers’ request was too broad and that they failed to…
In January, Chinese President Xi Jinping gathered the country’s most powerful corporate chieftains including Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei and Alibaba’s Jack Ma in a highly publicised meeting. Among them was Wang Xingxing, the 35-year-old CEO of little-known robotics startup Unitree Robotics. His ascendancy to the country’s top industrial ranks underscores the sector’s rising importance in…
After Google and OpenAI offered up AI news on Tuesday, Microsoft has followed with announcements of its own, including details of two “deep reasoning” agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot that it claims are the first of their kind, dubbed Researcher and Analyst, as well as new capabilities for custom AI agents. Researcher relies on OpenAI’s…
Google’s game-changing “Project Astra” live camera and screen sharing AI features are slated to roll out this month, and at least one user now claims to already have access to these powerful new functions in Gemini Live, the company’s live AI chatbot. Two main features have now been seen in the wild, as revealed in…
With President Trump’s recent efforts to take over Greenland, the world’s largest island, his administration will now send Vice President JD Vance to visit a military base there. Officials in Greenland have made clear that they do not want the visit to occur, and have branded it as “aggressive.” Anti-Trump sentiment has been steadily increasing…
The U.S. announced yesterday that both Russia and Ukraine have agreed to stop attacks on vessels in the Black Sea. Additionally, they will halt military strikes on energy infrastructure. These agreements are the most significant step in the war thus far towards a larger ceasefire. However, it is not yet clear when the partial truce…
Reports came out this week revealing that the Indian government had meddled in Canada’s 2022 general election. Canadian intelligence officials have discovered that Indian agents and proxies organized support for Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative Party leader. The officials said that there is no evidence that Poilievre or those close to him were aware of the…
This week, the U.S. lifted multimillion-dollar bounties which had been out for three senior Taliban officials. The move represents a significant shift by the current administration towards the militants, who were part of deadly attacks during the U.S. war in Afghanistan but have now refashioned themselves as more moderate within the Taliban. The move was…
Researchers have alerted to a critical vulnerability that was recently found in Next.Js, an open-source JavaScript framework. The exploit allows attackers to bypass authorization, gaining access to targeted systems. A patch for the zero-day was released last week, but Vercel, the company that created and maintains Next.js, says that they are not aware of any…
Numotion, the U.S.’s largest provider of wheelchairs and other mobility solutions, has been the victim of a data breach. Almost 500,000 people have been impacted by the incident. Numotion recently discovered that some email accounts of employees were hacked between September and November 2024. Emails in the compromised accounts were determined to contain customer information,…
Chinese state-sponsored hackers have allegedly spent four years inside of the systems of an undisclosed major Asian telecommunications company. Cybersecurity company Sygnia discovered the breach and is tracking the activity under the name Weaver Ant. The company has described the malicious actor as being stealthy and persistent in their act of cyber espionage. This discovery…
New Jersey may not have the best reputation, perhaps sullied by inevitable comparisons to MTV’s Jersey Shore or the Sopranos. But what it does have is its critical role—albeit underrated—as a biotech hub. Competing with South San Francisco and Boston, New Jersey is among the leading global centers for biomedical research, home to some of…
Chinese artificial intelligence start-ups are overhauling their business models as they fight to remain competitive following the widespread adoption of rival DeepSeek’s technology across the country. Zhipu, once considered China’s most prominent large language model start-up, has pinned its hopes on an initial public offering to sustain its cash-intensive growth as it focuses on building…
Quantum computing startup PsiQuantum is raising at least $750 million at a $6 billion pre-money valuation, according to two people familiar with the matter. BlackRock is leading the fundraising effort, which has not yet been completed, one of the people said. Unlike some quantum computing startups using exotic materials, PsiQuantum is aiming to modify traditional…
The second big open weight LLM release from China today – the first being DeepSeek v3-0324. Qwen’s previous vision model was Qwen2.5 VL, released in January in 3B, 7B and 72B sizes. Today’s Apache 2.0 licensed release is a 32B model, which is quickly becoming my personal favourite model size – large enough to have…
Agibot, a Shanghai-based robotics start-up co-founded by former Huawei Technologies “Genius Youth” recruits, is targeting production of up to 5,000 robots this year, according to a senior executive, matching Elon Musk’s Optimus plans. The company, also known as Zhiyuan Robotics, plans to deliver between 3,000 and 5,000 robots this year, a significant increase from the…
Microsoft launched its AI-powered Security Copilot a year ago to bring a chatbot to the cybersecurity space, and now it’s expanding it with AI agents that are designed to autonomously assist overwhelmed security teams. Microsoft is unveiling six of its own AI agents for its Security Copilot, as well as five that have been created…
China has narrowed the AI development gap with the United States to just three months in some areas, because firms such as DeepSeek have worked out how to use chips and apply algorithms more efficiently, the CEO of Chinese startup 01.AI Lee Kai-fu said. Lee, a prominent figure in the global artificial intelligence space and…
Jeffrey Goldberg, a journalist from the Atlantic magazine, was accidentally included in a top-secret chat on Signal, an encrypted messaging app, where Trump administration officials discussed upcoming attacks on the Houthis in Yemen. The Trump administration has confirmed the breach in a statement shared with the media by the National Security Council. Critics are calling…
The United Nations is significantly reducing its international work force in Gaza as a result of Israeli strikes, one of which hit a U.N. compound. The U.S. will reduce its workforce by about one-third in what will be its first drawdown since the start of the Israeli-Hamas war in 2023. Over 280 U.N. staff members…
The U.S. and Russia have completed a 12-hour round of talks in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, attempting to secure a partial ceasefire in Ukraine. A joint statement is expected to be released with the results of the talks on Tuesday. U.S. officials will hold more talks with Ukrainian negotiators soon. President Trump stated that he…
President Trump has announced that any country purchasing oil or gas from Venezuela will be subject to a 25-percent tariff in trade with the United States. These tariffs were announced on Monday morning and will be enacted on April 2. In the announcement, Trump criticized Venezuela for enabling migration to the U.S., additionally attacking the…
In an Interpol-led crackdown, over 300 suspects were arrested across seven African countries in a crackdown on cybercriminal rings. These cybercriminals had been targeting businesses and individuals, affecting over 5,000 entities. The crackdown effort was called Operation Red Card and ran from November 2024 to February 2025. In the operation, almost 2,000 devices were seized.…
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