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Bitskrieg: The New Challenge of Cyberwarfare by Dr. John Arquilla

Since authoring the seminal Cyberwar is Coming! in 1993, Dr. John Arquilla has been on the forefront of thinking about the digital domain and the conflicts that now occurring on a daily basis. His expertise on the subject of “netwar” and “swarming” tactics have been revolutionary, serving as a military consultant and now teaching courses on national security and defense analysis. In Cyberwar is Coming!, Dr.…
DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) releases Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) Strategic Plan Amidst Flurry of USG-wide AI/ML RFIs

An artificial intelligence security strategy (see “Securing AI – Four Areas to Focus on Right Now”) should be the cornerstone of any AI and machine learning (ML) efforts within your enterprise. We also recently outlined the need for enterprises to further operationalize the logging and analysis of artificial intelligence (AI) related accidents and incidents based on an “AI Accidents”…
“AI Accidents” framework from the Georgetown University CSET

The Center for Security and Emerging Technology) (CSET) in a July 2021 policy brief, “AI Accidents: An Emerging Threat – What Could Happen and What to Do,” makes a noteworthy contribution to current efforts by governmental entities, industry, AI think tanks and academia to “name and frame” the critical issues surrounding AI risk probability and impact. For the current enterprise, as we pointed…
Black Hat and Def Con 2021 – Observations and Trends

The Black Hat and Def Con cybersecurity events are the most highly anticipated of the year. Each event had an in-person component this year and OODA CEO Matt Devost provides his observations from each event.
The Privatization of Cyber Tools and Operations Further Muddies Attribution Efforts

The recent exposure of NSO, the Israeli company that developed the Pegasus mobile phone spyware, has again brought to the forefront private companies that develop and sell their technology to “only” governments and licensed law enforcement entities for the purposes of spying and surveilling targets of interest. While ostensibly Pegasus can be used against criminal…
Elon Musk and his Five-Step Engineering Process Based on First Principles

If you have not discovered The Everyday Astronaut (a website and YouTube channel), it should be on your sensemaking radar. Gone are the days of dependence on traditional media outlets to watch seminal space launches or returns at a fixed time in an exclusively nation-state based space race. Everyday Astronaut is an example of the…
OODA Special Report: Megadrought 2021 and Scenario Planning – Step One (Scale and Scope)

A critical component of scenario planning is strategic communication. Interestingly, according to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS): “Drought communication is important not only for informing people about current drought conditions, but also for providing education and encouraging people to take adaptation action.” While drought conditions are traditionally…
The False Pundits of Cyber Will Lead Us Astray If We Let Them

They’re not cybersecurity experts, but they did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Because we have no common body of knowledge from which to explore and learn from prior art, you can predict like the seasons when another cohort of professionals from other disciplines will attempt to tell us what is good for…
At Black Hat 2021, CISA Director Jen Easterly launches CISA JCDC (Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative)

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has launched a new agency effort, the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC), to develop cyber defense operations strategies and to implement those plans in collaboration with partners to mitigate risk prior to incidents happening and to coordinate unified defensive actions in the event of a cyber-attack.
What the C-Suite needs to know about a Return to “Great Power Competition” and DoD Capabilities (per the Congressional Research Service)

This post provides insights into what the C-Suite needs to know about the rise of great power competition, based largely on a recently released report by the policy and legal research agency of the United States Congress, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), titled Renewed Great Power Competition: Implications for Defense—Issues for Congress. Great Power Competition: U.S. DoD…
Stark Vulnerabilities and Strong Recommendations continue in 2021 update to “Federal Cybersecurity: America’s Data at Risk” Report (2019)

In a follow-up to a 2019 report that found major cybersecurity vulnerabilities at eight government agencies, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has released a 2021 updated report. Entitled Federal Cybersecurity: America’s Data Still at Risk, the update does not mince words: “This report revisits those same eight agencies two years later. What this report finds is stark.”
What To Know And Do About The Coming Metaverse

In the early 1990’s SciFi fans were introduced to a concept called the Metaverse in Neal Stephenson’s book SnowCrash. In the book this described a future virtual reality beyond the universe that was populated by user-controlled avatars as well as AI and bots. Now decades later the age of the Metaverse is upon us. Most…
Will Cyber Breaches Start a Shooting War?

In a late July 2020 speech at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), President Biden stated that “if we end up in a war, a real shooting war with a major power, it’s going to be as a consequence of a cyber breach.” This definitive pronouncement comes at a time when the…
An Executive’s Guide to Scenario Planning for Strategic Decision-making

Scenario planning is an often overlooked aspect of corporate decision-making. But it is needed now more than ever. Scenario planning is a methodology for helping leaders think through alternative futures in a way that enables identification of issues. It raises potential outcomes and impacts and helps conceptualize potential risks and opportunities so organizations can be…
Dan Gerstein on how to shape the future of technology

“We are liable to see a very changed humanity as we look to the future. And so I’m very interested in a humanity that is, if you will, that is good for humans, not just one in which we sort of become the subjects of our technologies.” – Dan Gerstein Over the course of the…

Briefs

Russia says Ukraine had 15-minute warning on PoW flight; Kyiv demands international probe

There are conflict reports over which country’s forces shot down an Ilyushin Il-76 plane in Russia’s Belgorod region on Wednesday. The plane was carrying 74 passengers, 65 of whom were Ukrainian prisoners of war en route to a swap for Russian PoWs. A senior Russian lawmaker said Russian forces notified the Main Intelligence Directorate of…
Israeli tanks batter hospital districts in Gaza’s Khan Younis, displaced set to flee southward

Israeli forces have completely encircled Gaza’s most populated southern city, Khan Younis. Israel says it is still targeting Hamas militants hiding in civilian infrastructure, but Palestinians claim the operation is cutting off the city’s last remaining hospitals, Nasser and Al Amal. Rescue crews cannot reach the city to collect the dead or treat the wounded,…
Taiwan begins extended one-year conscription in response to China threat

Taiwanese military recruits will now serve one-year compulsory military service terms in lieu of the previous four-month requirement. The policy went into effect on Thursday after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen first announced the extension in late 2022. The extension is a direct response to China’s aggressive military posturing, as well as heightened diplomatic and economic…
China-based Hackers Hijack Software Updates to Implant “NSPX30” Spyware

Cybersecurity firm ESET released a report on a previously undiscovered China-based threat actor that conducted a series of adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) attacks. The AitM attacks targeted Chinese and Japanese manufacturing, trading, and engineering companies through legitimate update requests from software such as Tencent QQ, Sogou Pinyin, and WPS Office. The threat actor, called Blackwood, inserted a…
Cisco Patches Critical Vulnerability in Enterprise Collaboration Products

Cisco released patches for a recent critical-severity vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-20253, on Wednesday. The vulnerability affects Cisco’s Unified Communications and Contact Center Solutions products. The company explained that an attacker could have executed arbitrary commands and gained web services user privileges by sending specialized messages to the listening port of affected devices. With web services…
HPE Says Russian Government Hackers Had Access to Emails for 6 Months

Hewlett Packard Enterprise recently claimed that the Russian threat groups Midnight Blizzard and Cozy Bear illegally gained access to the company’s cloud-based email environment. After discovering the breach on December 12, HPE conducted an investigation that revealed the threat actors had gained access to their systems as early as May 2023. In a publicly released…
Humanoid robots will join BMW’s production line

BMW’s newest autoworker is 5’6,” 130 pounds, walks on two legs, uses five-fingered hands to assemble machines — and takes a break every five hours to stroll to a charging station and plug itself in. Under a first-of-its-kind deal, humanoid robots from a California company called Figure will begin working in BMW manufacturing plants, starting in…
British intelligence warns AI will cause surge in ransomware volume and impact

Ransomware attacks will increase in both volume and impact over the next two years due to artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, British intelligence has warned. In an all-source intelligence assessment published on Wednesday — based on classified intelligence, industry knowledge, academic material and open source — the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said it was “almost certain”…
OpenAI Quietly Scrapped a Promise to Disclose Key Documents to the Public

Wealthy tech entrepreneurs including Elon Musk launched OpenAI in 2015 as a nonprofit research lab that they said would involve society and the public in the development of powerful AI, unlike Google and other giant tech companies working behind closed doors. In line with that spirit, OpenAI’s reports to US tax authorities have from its…
Samsung’s EX1 wearable robot is designed to improve mobility in older adults

I tend to be wary when consumer electronics corporations dip their toes into the world of robotics. The category offers an attention grabbing shorthand for companies attempting to bolster their future outlook. More often than not, the systems rolled out on-stage are little more than vaporware. Samsung has mostly played it close to the belt…
Scammers can use AI tools to clone the voices of you and your family—how to protect yourself

A robocall impersonating President Joe Biden urged New Hampshire voters not to participate in Tuesday’s presidential primary — and it probably won’t be the last AI voice scam this election season. “Of course, this will be used by foreign nation states just like the trolling farms they already have. This is just another weapon in the…
Turkey parliament backs Sweden’s Nato membership

Turkish MPs have voted to ratify Sweden’s bid to join NATO, marking a significant step for Sweden’s path to membership. Sweden applied to join NATO in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Turkey had initially withheld approval, citing concerns about Sweden’s alleged support for Kurdish separatists. The recent vote by Turkish MPs (287-55 in favor)…
Myanmar’s army is losing – and facing fire from a militant monk

A monk associated with the ultra-nationalist fringe of the Buddhist clergy in Myanmar has publicly criticized the country’s military ruler, Min Aung Hlaing, and suggested that his deputy, General Soe Win, should take over. This monk, Pauk Ko Taw, is part of the same Buddhist clergy that has traditionally supported the military junta, but recent…
Russian jet crashes carrying Ukrainian PoWs – Moscow

A Russian Ilyushin-76 military transport plane has crashed in the southern Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border. Russia’s defence ministry said the plane was carrying 65 captured Ukrainian military personnel for a planned prisoner exchange. However, Ukraine’s general staff said the plane was transporting missiles for Russia’s S-300 air defence systems and made no mention…
Thailand: Reformist leader Pita overcomes first court hurdle

Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of Thailand’s Move Forward party, has won a trial and will be re-instated as an MP. Pita and his party had won the most votes in a significant election last year but faced legal challenges that supporters saw as attempts to end his political career. Pita had been suspended as an MP…
Amazon’s French Warehouses Fined Over Employee Surveillance

France’s data protection agency, CNIL, has fined Amazon’s French warehouses unit €32 million ($34.9 million) for implementing an “excessively intrusive” surveillance system to monitor employee performance. The CNIL found that Amazon France Logistique used data from scanners to monitor workers, even down to the second. Scanners would alert management to inactivity exceeding 10 minutes or…
PoC Code Published for Just-Disclosed Fortra GoAnywhere Vulnerability

Proof-of-concept (PoC) code targeting a critical vulnerability in Fortra’s GoAnywhere MFT (managed file transfer) product was published one day after the vendor’s advisory came out. The issue, tracked as CVE-2024-0204, is described as an authentication bypass flaw that could allow an unauthenticated attacker to create an administrator user for the application, via the administration portal.…
Cybercrime’s Silent Operator: The Unraveling of VexTrio’s Malicious Network Empire

VexTrio, a large and complex malicious traffic direction system (TDS) organization, has been tracked by Infoblox for nearly two years. The organization has over 60 affiliates that divert traffic into VexTrio, while it also operates its own TDS network. Each affiliate has its own TDS network, with some sending details to VexTrio and others using…
Major US, UK Water Companies Hit by Ransomware

Two major water companies, Veolia North America in the United States and Southern Water in the United Kingdom, have been targeted in ransomware attacks that resulted in data breaches. In the Veolia attack, the Municipal Water division was hit, leading the company to take down targeted backend systems and servers, disrupting online bill payment systems.…
2024 Cybersecurity Predictions: AI, IoT, EVs And More

As we turn the page on another year, it’s a great time to review what we’re likely to see in cybersecurity in 2024. From a high-level view, many things will remain the same—ransomware and data leakage will persist as the key concerns—but new technologies and threat vectors will ensure that security programs continue to be…
Tech execs say a type of AI that can outdo humans is coming, but have no idea what it looks like

Executives at some of the world’s leading artificial intelligence labs are expecting a form of AI on a par with — or even exceeding — human intelligence to arrive sometime shortly. But what it will eventually look like and how it will be applied remain a mystery. Leaders from the likes of OpenAI, Cohere, Google’s…
Myths Holding Smaller Manufacturers Back From Adopting Automation

For years, small and midsize manufacturers (SMM) have seen automation as out of reach. Between budget constraints, limited expertise and the perception that robots are only for the big players, many SMMs assume automation isn’t a viable option for them. However, today’s reality paints a different story. Advancements in robotics and modular automation platforms have…
Nvidia Alum Snags Funding for Startup That Fixes Broken AI

RagaAI has secured funding to develop a tool that aims to diagnose and fix flaws with artificial intelligence systems, responding to an increasing emphasis on safety and reliability during the AI boom. The startup founded by Gaurav Agarwal, an alumnus of chipmakers Nvidia Corp. and Texas Instruments Inc., has come out of stealth-mode to close…
Why Every Modern Leader Is Now A Chief AI Officer

AI is no longer just a technological tool. It’s a significant societal influencer, reshaping the way we work, communicate and interact. As it becomes increasingly accessible, its transformative power is being recognized by organizations worldwide, leading to the introduction of a new leadership role: the Chief AI Officer. However, the evolution of AI impacts every…
Israel, Czech Republic Reinforce Cyber Partnership Amid Hamas War

The director general of the Israel National Cyber Directorate singed a memorandum with the Czech Republic National Cyber and Information Security Agency to formally improve the cybersecurity relationship between the two countries. The two countries met to discuss threats in cyberspace, including those caused by the Gaza conflict, along with related cybersecurity challenges. Israel’s Gaby…
Turkey’s parliament set to vote on Sweden’s NATO bid this week

The Turkish parliament is set to debate Sweden’s NATO membership bid with a vote expected this week. The debate in the Grand National Assembly is due to take place on Tuesday, with a vote likely in the same day, or on Thursday. Turkey’s ratification of Sweden’s membership bid would leave Hungary as the last holdout…
Civilians killed in missile strikes on Kyiv and Kharkiv

Six people were killed and dozens wounded in the Russian missile attacks targeting Kyiv and Kharkiv in Ukraine, according to officials. Residential buildings were hit early on Tuesday in Kharkiv, leading 5 people killed and 42 injured. The city mayor reported a block of flats were destroyed and rescuers were looking through the rubble for…
IDF says 24 soldiers killed in Gaza in one day

The Israel army reports that 24 of its soldiers were killed in Gaza on Monday, which would be the deadliest day for its forces since the beginning of their ground operation. The 24 soldiers include 21 reservists who died in an explosion likely caused by mines that Israel forces placed in two buildings to demolish…
North Korea’s ScarCruft Attackers Gear Up to Target Cybersecurity Pros

ScarCruft is the North Korea-sponsored advanced persistent threat group and it is gearing up to target cybersecurity researchers and other members of the threat intelligence community in future attacks. The future attacks are likely a bid to steal nonpublic threat intel and improve its operational playbook. The analysis by SentinelLabs shows ScarCruft targeting media organizations…
Microsoft Falls Victim to Russia-Backed ‘Midnight Blizzard’ Cyberattack

Microsoft’s corporate systems were compromised in late November by the same Russian attacker behind the 2020 SolarWinds Orion software cyberattack. The Russian nation-state actor is known to Microsoft threat researchers as Midnight Blizzard. The breach was not detected until January 12. The actor used a simple password-spray attack to access a test account. The attack…
Terraform Labs files for bankruptcy protection in the U.S.

Terraform Labs, the company behind the stablecoin Terra, which collapsed and roiled cryptocurrency markets in 2022, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States, according to court papers filed on Sunday. Singapore-based Terraform Labs, in a filing with the bankruptcy court in Delaware, listed assets and liabilities in the range of $100-$500 million. Terraform…
New MIT CSAIL study suggests that AI won’t steal as many jobs expected

Will AI automate human jobs, and — if so — which jobs and when? That’s the trio of questions a new research study from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), out this morning, tries to answer. There’s been many attempts to extrapolate out and project how the AI technologies of today, like large language models,…
OpenAI’s Sam Altman in talks with Middle East backers over chip venture

Sam Altman is in discussions with Middle Eastern investors and chip fabricators including TSMC about launching a new chip venture, as the OpenAI chief executive seeks to satisfy his company’s growing need for semiconductors while reducing its reliance on Nvidia. Altman has spoken to some of the wealthiest investors in the region about funding the…
Google DeepMind Scientists in Talks to Leave and Form AI Startup

A pair of scientists at Google DeepMind, the Alphabet Inc. artificial intelligence division, have been talking with investors about forming an AI startup in Paris, according to people familiar with the conversations. The team has held discussions with potential investors about a financing round that may exceed $220 million — a large sum, even for…
Blockchain, the tech behind bitcoin, may have found its ‘killer use case’ by keeping AI in check

Blockchain could be used to prevent bias in the data that artificial intelligence models are being trained on — and that could be a “killer use case” for the technology, executives told CNBC. One of the concerns about the AI models — the kind that underpin applications like ChatGPT — is that the data they…
Egypt’s El-Sisi says Cairo will not Allow Any Threat to Somalia

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has said Cairo stands shoulder to shoulder with Somalia and has slammed Ethiopia’s agreement with Somaliland to obtain access to the sea and establish a marine force base. Somaliland, a region strategically located by the Gulf of Aden, broke away from Somalia in 1991 as the country collapsed into a…
Netanyahu Rejects Hamas Deal to End War, Release Captives

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a proposal by Hamas to end the war and release captives in exchange for withdrawing Israeli forces, releasing prisoners and accepting the armed group’s governance of Gaza. Netanyahu earlier repeated his opposition to an independent Palestinian state, insisting he would not compromise on “full Israeli security control over…
U.S. and European Officials Push for Gaza Aid to Pass Through an Israeli Port

American, British, and European officials are pressuring Israel to let aid for Gaza transit through the Israeli port of Ashdod to help alleviate a metastasizing humanitarian crisis. Israel allows limited amounts of aid into the enclave through two border points, one in Israel and the other in Egypt, but those deliveries have been bogged down…
As U.S. and Militias Engage, White House Worries About a Tipping Point

The number of attacks on American troops in the Middle East increases the risk of deaths, a red line that could lead to a wider war. The latest attack on American troops in the region over the weekend resulted in no deaths, but President Biden and his advisers worry that it is only a matter…
Attackers can Steal NTLM Password Hashes via Calendar Invites

A recently patched vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook (CVE-2023-35636) that can be used by attackers to steal users’ NTLM v2 hashes can be exploited by adding two headers to an email carrying a specially crafted file, security researcher Dolev Taler has shared on Friday. NTLM v2 is used by Microsoft Windows to authenticate users to remote…
Jaw-Dropping New Hack Turns your Phone Screen into Covert Spy Camera

In a new study published in Science Advances, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory have revealed how hackers can turn your smartphone into a spying device. Light sensors, used to adjust screen brightness, are capable of covertly capturing user interactions thanks to a newly developed computational imaging algorithm.…
Poorly Secured PostgreSQL, MySQL Servers Targeted By Ransomware Bot

Users exposing poorly secured PostgreSQL and MySQL servers online are in danger of getting their databases wiped by a ransomware bot, Border0 researchers are warning. The attackers ask for a small sum to return / not publish the data, but those who pay will not get their data back, as the bot takes only a…
OpenAI announces first partnership with a university

OpenAI on Thursday announced its first partnership with a higher education institution. Starting in February, Arizona State University will have full access to ChatGPT Enterprise and plans to use it for coursework, tutoring, research and more. The partnership has been in the works for at least six months, when ASU Chief Information Officer Lev Gonick first…
AI-enabled Valkyrie drone teases future of US Air Force fleet

The testing of sophisticated software aboard an XQ-58A Valkyrie drone will influence how the U.S. Air Force develops and deploys autonomous technology in the near future, according to a service official. The Kratos-made UAV flew a three-hour sortie in July near Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, relying for the first time on artificial intelligence algorithms.…
$2 Billion Self-Hack Highlights DeFi’s Slow Crisis Reaction Problem

Decentralized finance has a control problem it must solve if it is to become the economic force supporters believe — and opponents fear — that it can become. And fear they do. In March, Deloitte wrote that in DeFi “traditional financial services face a potentially existential moment that may challenge traditional business models,” adding that it “represents…
NASA’s robotic, self-assembling structures could be the next phase of space construction

Bad news if you want to move to the moon or Mars: housing is a little hard to come by. Fortunately, NASA (as always) is thinking ahead, and has just shown off a self-assembling robotic structure that might just be a crucial part of moving off-planet. Published today in Science Robotics, the paper from NASA Ames…
Mark Zuckerberg’s new goal is creating artificial general intelligence

OpenAI’s stated mission is to create this artificial general intelligence, or AGI. Demis Hassabis, the leader of Google’s AI efforts, has the same goal. Now, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is entering the race. While he doesn’t have a timeline for when AGI will be reached, or even an exact definition for it, he wants to…
US Gov Publishes Cybersecurity Guidance for Water and Wastewater Utilities

The US government, through the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), FBI, and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has published new guidance to help organizations in the water and wastewater (WWS) sector enhance their cyber resilience and incident response capabilities. The guidance outlines federal roles, resources, and responsibilities involved in incident response throughout the lifecycle. The…
VF Corp Says Data Breach Resulting From Ransomware Attack Impacts 35 Million

Apparel and footwear brands owner VF Corporation disclosed that personal information of approximately 35.5 million customers was stolen in a ransomware attack in December 2023. The Denver-based company, which owns popular brands such as Dickies, The North Face, Smartwool, Timberland, and Vans, previously announced the ransomware attack, revealing that certain systems were taken offline. VF…
US Charges Russian Involved in 2013 Hacking of Neiman Marcus, Michaels

The US Justice Department has announced charges against two Russian nationals, Aleksey Timofeyevich Stroganov and Tim Stigal, accusing them of cybercriminal activities, including Stroganov’s alleged involvement in the 2013 hacking of retailers Michaels and Neiman Marcus. Stroganov and his accomplices are accused of hacking into companies and individuals’ computers to steal personal information, including credit…
Critical Vulnerabilities Found in Open Source AI/ML Platforms

Over the past month, security researchers on the Huntr bug bounty platform for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have identified multiple severe vulnerabilities in popular AI/ML solutions such as MLflow, ClearML, and Hugging Face. The most severe of these are four critical vulnerabilities in MLflow, a platform for streamlining ML development. These include…
North Korea Touts ‘Underwater Nuclear Weapons System’, Blasts US Drills

North Korea has tested a nuclear-capable underwater attack drone in response to joint naval exercises involving South Korea, the United States and Japan, state media say. The allies announced the drills after Pyongyang said on Sunday that it had tested a new solid-fuel missile fitted with a hypersonic warhead. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have…
‘Credibility at Stake’: Why did Iran Strike Inside Pakistan amid Gaza War?

In just two days this week, Iran launched missiles – first into Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region and Syria, and then into Pakistan – in attacks that could further inflame tensions in a region on edge. These rapid attacks by Iran on three different neighbors have sparked concerns of a regional escalation and triggered questions over…
War Is on the Agenda in Davos, but the Focus Is Elsewhere

The leaders and executives gathering at the World Economic Forum are overwhelmingly focused on artificial intelligence and populist politics rather than the current two wars happening. Gaza and Ukraine have made daily appearances on the public agenda in Davos, however, they were not able to hold the collective attention of the gathering. Everyone wants to…
What Might Happen Next in the Genocide Case Against Israel

Last week, the International Court of Justice heard initial arguments in the case brought by South Africa, which accuses Israel of “acts and omissions” that are “genocidal in character” against Palestinians in Gaza. South Africa cited the scale of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which has killed roughly one in every 100 residents of the…
DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman warns AI is a ‘fundamentally labor replacing’ tool over the long term

DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman is a heavyweight in the AI space. The Oxford dropout worked as a negotiator for the United Nations and the Dutch government early in his career, but then pivoted to AI and founded DeepMind in 2010 alongside Demis Hassabis and Shane Legg. The machine learning lab grew like a weed under Suleyman,…
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF Is First to Cross $1 Billion Threshold in Inflows

BlackRock Inc.’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund passed $1 billion in investor inflows, making it the first in the group of nine new ETFs directly holding the cryptocurrency to surpass the milestone since the funds started trading last week. Investors deposited $371 million in the fund on Wednesday, pushing IBIT past the milestone, data compiled by Bloomberg…
The latest AI gadget frenzy wants to do away with phones

AI-washing has reached consumer tech. Dozens of internet-connected devices are now described as powered by artificial intelligence. But amid the AI grills and mattress toppers, the gadget attracting most attention is a smartphone replacement that looks like a Playmobil toy. The R1 is an AI “pocket companion” that costs $199 and claims to have sold…
BMW taps humanoid startup Figure to take on Tesla’s robot

Robotics startup Figure said it has signed a partnership with BMW Manufacturing to deploy its humanoid robots in the car maker’s facility in the U.S., as more companies turn to human-like robots to take on certain physical tasks. This marks the first commercial deal Figure has signed since it was founded in 2022. While the…
Google Deepmind AI makes breakthrough in one of hardest tests for artificial intelligence

Google Deepmind says that a new artificial intelligence system has made a major breakthrough in one of the most difficult tests for AI. The company says that it has created a new AI system that can solve geometry problems at the level of the very top high-school students. Geometry is one of the oldest branches…