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Researchers have uncovered serious security flaws with the Unitree G1 humanoid robot, a machine that is already being used in laboratories and some police departments. They discovered that G1 can be used for covert surveillance and could potentially launch a full-scale cyberattack on networks.It sounds like the stuff of science fiction nightmares, robots that are secretly spying on you and could be controlled by remote hackers. However, the concern is real, as these types of robots are becoming increasingly common in homes, businesses, critical infrastructure and public spaces.When robots go rogueIn a new study available on the arXiv preprint server,...

FeatureTilly Norwood and the Illusion of RealityHollywood fears job losses from AI actors. But the greater threat may be to truth itself.By The HermitNot long ago, a new name appeared in Hollywood chatter: Tilly Norwood. She looks the part of a rising young actress, the kind casting directors might call “a natural.” But Tilly is no actress at all. She is an AI-generated creation — a digital performer assembled from algorithms, capable of smiling, speaking, and captivating an audience without ever setting foot on a soundstage.Tilly is part of a new wave of “synthetic talent.” AI agencies now maintain rosters...

Elon Musk wants H-1B visas because he says America needs more tech workers. The real reason for these visas is our schools aren’t teaching math well enough. By law, H-1B visas go to foreigners who do specialized jobs, mostly in tech. Every year, 65,000 regular visas are handed out, plus 20,000 for advanced degrees. A 2023 federal report showed 65% of H-1B jobs are computer-related, but less than 1% go to social sciences. America’s math problem is getting worse. In 2024, a staggering 72% of eighth-graders failed to score at the proficient level in math, which is up from 66%...

In Abilene, Texas—in the heart of what locals call the Big Country, long defined by ranching, farming, shale oil exploration, and now dotted with wind turbines—OpenAI and Oracle staged a carefully crafted media showcase on Tuesday to talk about the latest boom underway... In Abilene alone, a crew of 6,400 workers have already moved massive amounts of soil to flatten the hills, and laid down enough fiber optic cable to wrap the Earth 16 times.... The five new Stargate projects—in Texas, New Mexico, Ohio, and in an undisclosed Midwest location—will bring Stargate’s current pipeline to nearly 7 gigawatts and more...

A peaceful Wisconsin city has been thrown into a frenzy as a mysterious company plans to build a $1.6billion data center on hundreds of acres of farmland. Menomonie is facing the largest development plans the historic city has ever seen - and its residents are fighting back. Known for its stunning landscapes and small-town feel, Menomonie may be home to a massive data center that citizens fear will drain the area of not only its charm, but its resources.

After his first arrest for sex crimes, Jeffrey Epstein tried to get into a new line of work: surveillance. In 2015, he partnered with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to invest in a security tech startup called Reporty Homeland Security, now known as Carbyne. Leaked emails show that Epstein was using Barak to seek out opportunities in the surveillance industry and build connections with powerful figures around the globe, including American businessman Peter Thiel, the former director of Israeli signals intelligence, and two people in Russian President Vladimir Putin's circle. After he was first caught sexually exploiting teenage girls,...

Back Truth Details 3016 replies Avatar Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump As the President of the United States, I will stand up to Countries that attack our incredible American Tech Companies. Digital Taxes, Digital Services Legislation, and Digital Markets Regulations are all designed to harm, or discriminate against, American Technology. They also, outrageously, give a complete pass to China's largest Tech Companies. This must end, and end NOW! With this TRUTH, I put all Countries with Digital Taxes, Legislation, Rules, or Regulations, on notice that unless these discriminatory actions are removed, I, as President of the United States, will impose substantial...

As H-1B visa holders navigate mounting uncertainty under Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, foreign tech workers now face a new threat: mass sabotage of the PERM process—crucial for securing U.S. green cards. A post on Team Blind, an anonymous professional forum, warns that organized groups are targeting labor market tests required for PERM certification by flooding job postings with bogus applications. The goal: derail visa applicants' chances by making it appear that qualified American workers are readily available. “This has created a big crisis for Indian H-1Bs,” the original poster wrote, citing “massive unexpected spikes” in labor market test failures, leading...

Wall Street's largest hedge funds, Bridgewater Associates, Tiger Global Management and Discovery Capital, increased their exposure to Big Tech in the second quarter amid a generational boom in the growth of artificial intelligence. During the June quarter, hedge funds cut their exposure to laggards in industries like aerospace and defense, and consumer and retail, as part of a broader move back to momentum investing. It marks a big shift from earlier this year when bets on Big Tech had soured for top money managers due to tariff-fueled volatility in financial markets, with investor concerns around rising inflation and fears of...

RUBAYA, Democratic Republic of Congo - Under the watchful eye of M23 rebels in the hills around the Congolese town of Rubaya, a line of men in rubber boots ferry sacks full of crushed rocks up winding paths cut into the slopes.The laborers are hauling coltan ore, a mineral that powers the modern world. The ore will be loaded onto motorbikes and eventually shipped thousands of kilometers away to Asia. There it’s processed into tantalum, a heat-resistant metal that fetches more than $300 a kilogram and is in high demand by makers of mobile phones, computers, aerospace components and gas...

OpenAI's ChatGPT can easily be coaxed into leaking your personal data — with just a single "poisoned" document. As Wired reports, security researchers revealed at this year's Black Hat hacker conference that highly sensitive information can be stolen from a Google Drive account with an indirect prompt injection attack. In other words, hackers feed a document with hidden, malicious prompts to an AI that controls your data instead of manipulating it directly with a prompt injection, one of the most serious types of security flaws threatening the safety of user-facing AI systems. ChatGPT's ability to be linked to a Gmail...

From flamethrowers to hot pants, Elon Musk has already released a range of weird and wacky products. Now, the billionaire is taking on the likes of McDonald's, Wendy's, and IHOP, with his very first diner. The Tesla Diner is described as a 'retro-futuristic diner and drive-in charging experience.'

There are many weird and wonderful humanoid robots out there, but one of the most eye-catching machines launched this year can change its own battery pack — making it capable of running autonomously for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Walker S2 robot, made by the Chinese company UBTECH, is 5 foot 3 inches (162 centimeters) tall and weighs 95 pounds (43 kilograms) — making it the size and weight of a small adult. Using a 48-volt lithium battery in a dual-battery system, the robot can walk for two hours or stand for four hours before its...

Researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) School of Engineering say they have invented the world’s brightest and most energy-efficient quantum rod LEDs (QRLEDs). Designed to maximize energy efficiency while delivering highly bright, deep green emissions “at the top of the color triangle,” these potentially breakthrough QRLEDs could replace organic LEDs (OLEDs) and quantum dot LEDs (QLEDs), and even in-development phosphorescent light emitting diodes (PHOLEDS), as the state-of-the-art LED architecture for smartphones, Televisions, and AR/VR devices by offering unprecedented color purity and a maximized color gamut. In a statement announcing the breakthrough design, team leader Professor...

He walks with a cane and is a bit hard of hearing. Yet Boris Chertok, 95, a former deputy chief designer in the Soviet bureau that put the first Sputnik satellite into orbit 50 years ago, still has strong opinions on the evolution of the country's space program. Chertok says the free-market changes instituted by President Boris Yeltsin after the Soviet Union fell apart were disastrous for Russian science. "We need to restore what we have lost over 15 years of destructive reforms," said Chertok, whose very name was once a state secret. "The market economy is incapable of fulfilling...

Not sure what to make of this, perhaps people more knowledgeable about computers than I can add some insight: I opened up my Lenovo laptop, I had not shut it down over night, just closed the screen. I could faintly hear music and some background noise. It sounded as if I was listening to a phone, that had been left off the hook with the line open. I had no programs running. I then shut down and restarted. Problem went away. I do subscribe to a computer help system that has in the past come into my computer to resolve...

Walmart is reportedly laying off more than 100 employees in its technology offices in Silicon Valley, part of larger corporate layoffs across the country. The company’s tech workers in the San Francisco Bay Area are being axed as part of Walmart’s plan to lay off around 1,500 corporate employees across the country, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle. Positions within Walmart’s global technology, U.S. e-commerce fulfillment, and advertising divisions will reportedly also be hit as a result of the company being restructured. The company, however, did not disclose all of the locations that will be affected.

Reporting Highlights Temp to Permanent: There’s periodic debate over the 120,000 foreigners annually awarded temporary H-1B visas, but almost no attention to the process by which many receive green cards. Filled, Then Verified: Foreign workers are eligible for permanent residency only when no U.S. citizens can do the job — but companies confirm that after foreigners have been employed as temps. Lost in Print: The law also requires that companies advertise these jobs in the classified ads of Sunday print newspapers, decreasing the chances that U.S. applicants see the listing. It’s a tough time for the rank-and-file tech worker or...

I have been using this TP-Link router for 9 years. In the beginning years, it ran without any problems or freezes. Last 6 months, it froze once every day like clockwork. Every morning I had to reboot by unplugging and plugging power. Usually it only froze once every day. On rare occasions it froze twice in a day but that was rare. I was getting ready to buy a new one thinking it is just getting old.. But.... Strangely, during last two weeks it has not frozen or crashed even once! Nothing has changed. Same PC's and phones and security...

Tax bods characterize it more as a brainstorming session, says Elon's unit wasn't involvedCongressional Democrats are again demanding answers from a federal agency over whether DOGE's latest tech makeover could put taxpayer data at risk. The latest please-explain-this-DOGE-activity letter letter [PDF] landed yesterday on the desk of the Internal Revenue Service's acting inspector general, Heather Hill. It is from Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA), the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and perennial DOGE gadfly. This time, Connolly is demanding answers about a 30-day "hackathon" reportedly launched last month by DOGE staffers embedded at the IRS, in...