🛡️ Microsoft Engineer Thwarts Global Cyber Intrusion, AI's Role in Military Strategy, Google Plans AI Search Fees
Today’s pick
Did One Guy Just Stop a Huge Cyberattack?. A Microsoft engineer noticed something was off on a piece of software he worked on. He soon discovered someone was probably trying to gain access to computers all over the world. The internet, as anyone who works deep in its trenches will tell you, is not a smooth, well-oiled machine. It's a messy patchwork that has been assembled over decades, and is held together with the digital equivalent of Scotch tape and bubble gum. By Kevin Roose via The New York Times
𝕏: It’s been a while since we had a good tech caper, so allow me to tell you the story of the Microsoft database engineer who foiled what might have been one of the worst cyberattacks in history. - Kevin Roose (@kevinroose)
'Lavender': The AI machine directing Israel's bombing spree in Gaza. In 2021, a book titled “The Human-Machine Team: How to Create Synergy Between Human and Artificial Intelligence That Will Revolutionize Our World” was released in English under the pen name “Brigadier General Y.S.” In it, the author — a man who we confirmed to be the current commander of the elite Israeli intelligence unit 8200 — makes the case for designing a special machine that could rapidly process massive amounts of data to generate thousands of potential “targets” for military strikes in the heat of a war. By Yuval Abraham via +972 Magazine
𝕏: “The army also decided during the first weeks of the war that, for every junior Hamas operative that Lavender marked, it was permissible to kill up to 15 or 20 civilians.” And some people still think the conduct of this campaign is legitimate? Insane. - Charlie Herbert (@Charlie533080)
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Google considers charging for AI-powered search in big change to business model. Google is working on the biggest shake-up of its search business by charging for new “premium” features powered by generative artificial intelligence, the first time it would put any of its core product behind a paywall. The proposed the first time the company has put any of its core product behind a paywall, and shows it is still grappling with a technology that threatens its advertising business, almost a year and a half after the debut of ChatGPT. By Richard Waters via Financial Times
𝕏: v interesting if google decides to make GenAI in search a paid subscription service my guess would be that in their early tests rolled out to different people, GenAI results are reducing the amt of people viewing and clicking through on more ads - rat king (@MikeIsaac)
Elon Musk: OpenAI Is Poaching Tesla Engineers, So We Have to Pay Them More. Musk's rivalry with OpenAI continues as his companies compete with the Microsoft-backed AI firm for top talent. After The Information reported Wednesday that xAI is poaching Tesla's engineers, Musk responded on Twitter that Microsoft-backed OpenAI was actually trying to poach one of his machine learning scientists on Tesla's Autopilot team, Ethan Knight. But xAI managed to convince Knight to move over to its company, which is developing the Grok model, instead. By Kate Irwin via PCMag
𝕏: Ethan was going to join OpenAI, so it was either xAI or them. They have been aggressively recruiting Tesla engineers with massive compensation offers and have unfortunately been successful in a few cases. - Elon Musk (@elonmusk)
Apple Explores Home Robotics as Potential 'Next Big Thing' After Car Fizzles. The company has teams working on automated home devices The search is on for new growth sources after EV gets nixed Apple Inc. has teams investigating a push into personal robotics, a field with the potential to become one of the company's ever-shifting “next big things,” according to people familiar with the situation. By Mark Gurman via Bloomberg
𝕏: Apple is exploring home robotics as a potential Next Big Thing after its car project has fizzled. Inside the work on a robot that follows you around, a table-top robotics device and more - Mark Gurman (@markgurman)
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