📢 War Disinformation, Google Passkeys & Meta AI Protests

Today’s pick

PHOTOGRAPH: AL DRAGO/GETTY IMAGES

The Israel-Hamas War Is Drowning X in Disinformation. In the wake of Hamas' deadly attacks on Israel this weekend—and the Israeli military's response—journalists, researchers, open source intelligence (OSINT) experts, and fact-checkers rushed to verify the deluge of raw video footage and images being shared online by people on the ground. By David Gilbert via WIRED

This is the hardest time I’ve ever had covering a crisis on here. Credible links are now photos. On the ground news outlets struggle to reach audiences without an expensive blue check mark. Xenophobic goons are boosted by the platform’s CEO. - Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__)

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Google makes passkeys the default sign-in method for all users. Google has announced that passkeys, touted by the tech giant as the “beginning of the end” for passwords, are becoming the default sign-in method for all users. Passkeys are a phishing-resistant alternative to passwords that allow users to sign into accounts using the same biometrics or PINs they use to unlock their devices, or with a physical security key. By Carly Page via TechCrunch

Google makes passkeys the default sign-in method for all users - Infosec Alevski (@Alevskey)

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The best way to reach new readers is through word of mouth. If you click THIS LINK in your inbox, it’ll create an easy-to-send pre-written email you can just fire off to some friends.

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Protesters Decry Meta's 'Irreversible Proliferation' of AI. Efforts to make AI open source have become a lightning rod for disagreements about the potential harms of the emerging technology. Last week, protesters gathered outside Meta’s San Francisco offices to protest its policy of publicly releasing its AI models, claiming that the releases represent “irreversible proliferation” of potentially unsafe technology. By Edd Gent via IEEE

How in the world Effective Altruists went from supporting data-driven charitable impact like mosquito nets to organizing protests against open source is beyond me. This is no long altruism—this is ideological posturing that hurts, not helps, society. - Noah Giansiracusa (@ProfNoahGian)

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South Korean firms get waiver on US chip gear supplies to China.  Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS) will be allowed to supply U.S. chip equipment to their China factories indefinitely without separate U.S. approvals, South Korea's presidential office and the companies said on Monday. The U.S. had been expected to extend a waiver granted to the South Korean chipmakers on a requirement for licenses to bring U.S. chip equipment into China.  Reuters

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will be allowed to supply U.S. chip equipment to their China factories indefinitely without separate U.S. approvals, South Korea's presidential office and the companies said. - Lorenzo Lamperti (@LorenzoLamperti)

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Founder of Santa Cruz-based Joby Aviation says electric air taxis will be in service in 2025. The notion that hundreds or even thousands of electric-powered air taxis could be whisking people over jammed roads is inching away from science fiction and closer to reality. Battery technology is improving enough for eVTOLs – short for electric vertical takeoffs and landings, the name given to these aircraft that can act like helicopters near the ground but fly like small planes. By David Koenig via The Mercury News

Founder of Santa Cruz-based Joby Aviation says electric air taxis will be in service in 2025 - Mercury News (@mercnews)

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