An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: OpenAI has fired an employee following an investigation into their activity on prediction market platforms including Polymarket, WIRED has learned. OpenAI CEO of Applications, Fidji Simo, disclosed the termination in an internal message to employees earlier this year. The employee, she said, "used confidential OpenAI information in connection with external prediction markets (e.g. Polymarket)." "Our policies prohibit employees from using confidential OpenAI information for personal gain, including in prediction markets," says spokesperson Kayla Wood. OpenAI has not revealed the name of the employee or the specifics of their trades.

Evidence suggests that this was not an isolated event. Polymarket runs on the Polygon blockchain network, so its trading ledger is pseudonymous but traceable. According to an analysis by the financial data platform Unusual Whales, there have been clusters of activities, which the service flagged as suspicious, around OpenAI-themed events since March 2023. Unusual Whales flagged 77 positions in 60 wallet addresses as suspected insider trades, looking at the age of the account, trading history, and significance of investment, among other factors. Suspicious trades hinged on the release dates of products like Sora, GPT-5, and the ChatGPT Browser, as well as CEO Sam Altman's employment status. In November 2023, two days after Altman was dramatically ousted from the company, a new wallet placed a significant bet that he would return, netting over $16,000 in profits. The account never placed another bet.

The behavior fits into patterns typical of insider trades. "The tell is the clustering. In the 40 hours before OpenAI launched its browser, 13 brand-new wallets with zero trading history appeared on the site for the first time to collectively bet $309,486 on the right outcome," says Unusual Whales CEO Matt Saincome. "When you see that many fresh wallets making the same bet at the same time, it raises a real question about whether the secret is getting out." [...] Though this is the first confirmed case of a large technology company firing an employee over trades in prediction markets, it's almost certainly not the last. Opportunities for tech sector employees to make trades on markets abound. "The data tells me this is happening all over the place," Saincome says.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/2342226/openai-fires-an-employee-for-prediction-market-insider-trading?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

joshuark shares a report from Ars Technica: Perplexity has introduced "Computer," a new tool that allows users to assign tasks and see them carried out by a system that coordinates multiple agents running various models. The company claims that Computer, currently available to Perplexity Max subscribers, is "a system that creates and executes entire workflows" and "capable of running for hours or even months."

The idea is that the user describes a specific outcome -- something like "plan and execute a local digital marketing campaign for my restaurant" or "build me an Android app that helps me do a specific kind of research for my job." Computer then ideates subtasks and assigns them to multiple agents as needed, running the models Perplexity deems best for those tasks. The core reasoning engine currently runs Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6, while Gemini is used for deep research, Nano Banana for image generation, Veo 3.1 for video production, Grok for lightweight tasks where speed is a consideration, and ChatGPT 5.2 for "long-context recall and wide search."

This kind of best-model-for-the-task approach differs from some competing products like Claude Cowork, which only uses Anthropic's models. All this happens in the cloud, with prebuilt integrations. "Every task runs in an isolated compute environment with access to a real filesystem, a real browser, and real tool integrations," Perplexity says. The idea is partly that this workflow was what some power users were already doing, and this aims to make that possible for a wider range of people who don't want to deal with all that setup.

People were already using multiple models and tailoring them to specific tasks based on perceived capabilities, while, for example, using MCP (Model Context Protocol) to give those models access to data and applications on their local machines. Perplexity Computer takes a different approach, but the goal is the same: have AI agents running tailor-picked models to perform tasks involving your own files, services, and applications. Then there is OpenClaw, which you could perceive as the immediate predecessor to this concept.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/2151236/perplexity-announces-computer-an-ai-agent-that-assigns-work-to-other-ai-agents?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Researchers at Cortical Labs used living human neurons grown on a chip to learn how to play Doom in about a week. "While its performance is not up to par with humans, experts say it brings biological computers a step closer to useful real-world applications, like controlling robot arms," reports New Scientist. From the report: In 2021, the Australian company Cortical Labs used its neuron-powered computer chips to play Pong. The chips consisted of clumps of more than 800,000 living brain cells grown on top of microelectrode arrays that can both send and receive electrical signals. Researchers had to carefully train the chips to control the paddles on either side of the screen. Now, Cortical Labs has developed an interface that makes it easier to program these chips using the popular programming language Python. An independent developer, Sean Cole, then used Python to teach the chips to play Doom, which he did in around a week.

"Unlike the Pong work that we did a few years ago, which represented years of painstaking scientific effort, this demonstration has been done in a matter of days by someone who previously had relatively little expertise working directly with biology," says Brett Kagan of Cortical Labs. "It's this accessibility and this flexibility that makes it truly exciting."

The neuronal computer chip, which used about a quarter as many neurons as the Pong demonstration, played Doom better than a randomly firing player, but far below the performance of the best human players. However, it learnt much faster than traditional, silicon-based machine learning systems and should be able to improve its performance with newer learning algorithms, says Kagan. However, it's not useful to compare the chips with human brains, he says. "Yes, it's alive, and yes, it's biological, but really what it is being used as is a material that can process information in very special ways that we can't recreate in silicon." Cortical Labs posted a YouTube video showing its CL1 biological computer running Doom. There's also source code available on GitHub, with additional details in a README file.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/2332219/human-brain-cells-on-a-chip-learned-to-play-doom-in-a-week?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Author Dan Simmons, best known for the epic sci-fi novel Hyperion and its sequels, has died at 77 following a stroke. Ars Technica's Eric Berger remembers Simmons, writing: Simmons, who worked in elementary education before becoming an author in the 1980s, produced a broad portfolio of writing that spanned several genres, including horror fiction, historical fiction, and science fiction. Often, his books included elements of all of these. This obituary will focus on what is generally considered his greatest work, and what I believe is possibly the greatest science fiction novel of all time, Hyperion.

Published in 1989, Hyperion is set in a far-flung future in which human settlement spans hundreds of planets. The novel feels both familiar, in that its structure follows Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and utterly unfamiliar in its strange, far-flung setting. Simmons' Hyperion appeared in an Ask Slashdot story back in 2008, when Slashdot reader willyhill asked for tips on how Slashdotters track down great sci-fi. If you're in the mood for a little nostalgia, or just want to browse the thread for book recommendations, it's well worth revisiting.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/2226234/hyperion-author-dan-simmons-dies-from-stroke-at-77?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

New submitter DeanonymizedCoward shares a report from TechCrunch: The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is reportedly in crisis following major budget cuts, layoffs, and furloughs under the Trump administration, says TechCrunch. The agency has now replaced its acting director, Madhu Gottumukkala, after a turbulent year marked by controversy and internal turmoil. During his tenure, Gottumukkala allegedly mishandled sensitive information by uploading government documents to ChatGPT, oversaw a one-third reduction in staff, and reportedly failed a counterintelligence polygraph needed for classified access. His leadership also saw the suspension of several senior officials, including CISA's chief security officer. Nextgov also reported that CISA lost another top senior official, Bob Costello, the agency's chief information officer tasked with overseeing the agency's IT systems and data policies. "Last month, CISA's acting director Madhu Gottumukkala reportedly took steps to transfer Costello, but other political appointees blocked it," added Nextgov.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/2215238/cisa-replaces-bumbling-acting-director-after-a-year?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

joshuark shares a report from Ars Technica: Perplexity has introduced "Computer," a new tool that allows users to assign tasks and see them carried out by a system that coordinates multiple agents running various models. The company claims that Computer, currently available to Perplexity Max subscribers, is "a system that creates and executes entire workflows" and "capable of running for hours or even months."

The idea is that the user describes a specific outcome -- something like "plan and execute a local digital marketing campaign for my restaurant" or "build me an Android app that helps me do a specific kind of research for my job." Computer then ideates subtasks and assigns them to multiple agents as needed, running the models Perplexity deems best for those tasks. The core reasoning engine currently runs Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6, while Gemini is used for deep research, Nano Banana for image generation, Veo 3.1 for video production, Grok for lightweight tasks where speed is a consideration, and ChatGPT 5.2 for "long-context recall and wide search."

This kind of best-model-for-the-task approach differs from some competing products like Claude Cowork, which only uses Anthropic's models. All this happens in the cloud, with prebuilt integrations. "Every task runs in an isolated compute environment with access to a real filesystem, a real browser, and real tool integrations," Perplexity says. The idea is partly that this workflow was what some power users were already doing, and this aims to make that possible for a wider range of people who don't want to deal with all that setup.

People were already using multiple models and tailoring them to specific tasks based on perceived capabilities, while, for example, using MCP (Model Context Protocol) to give those models access to data and applications on their local machines. Perplexity Computer takes a different approach, but the goal is the same: have AI agents running tailor-picked models to perform tasks involving your own files, services, and applications. Then there is OpenClaw, which you could perceive as the immediate predecessor to this concept.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/2151236/perplexity-announces-computer-an-ai-agent-that-assigns-work-to-other-ai-agent?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

South Korea has reversed a two-decade policy and approved the export of high-precision map data, paving the way for a fully functional Google Maps in the country. Reuters reports: The approval was made "on the condition that strict security requirements are met," the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. Those conditions include blurring military and other sensitive security-related facilities, as well as restricting longitude and latitude coordinates for South Korean territory on products such as Google Maps and Google Earth, it said.

The decision is expected to hurt Naver and Kakao -- local internet giants which currently dominate the country's market for digital map services. But it will appease Washington, which has urged Seoul to tackle what it says is discrimination against U.S. tech companies. South Korea, still technically at war with North Korea, had shot down Google's previous bids in 2007 and 2016 to be allowed to export the data, citing the risks that information about sensitive military and security facilities could be exposed. "Google can now come in, slash usage fees, and take the market," said Choi Jin-mu, a geography professor at Kyung Hee University. "If Naver and Kakao are weakened or pushed out and Google later raises prices, that becomes a monopoly. Then, even companies that rely on map services -- logistics firms, for example -- become dependent, and in the long run, even government GIS (geographic information) systems could end up dependent on Google or Apple. That's the biggest concern."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/2144239/south-korea-set-to-get-a-fully-functioning-google-maps?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

President Donald Trump has ordered all U.S. federal agencies to "immediately cease" using Anthropic's AI technology, escalating a standoff after the company sought limits on Pentagon use of its models. CNBC reports: The company, which in July signed a $200 million contract with Pentagon, wants assurances that the Defense Department will not use its AI models will not be used for fully autonomous weapons or mass domestic surveillance of Americans. The Pentagon had set a deadline of 5:01 p.m. ET Friday for Anthropic to agree to its demands to allow the Pentagon to use the technology for all lawful purposes. If Anthropic did not meet that deadline, Pete Hegseth threatened to label the company a "supply chain risk" or force it to comply by invoking the Defense Production Act.

"The Leftwing nut jobs at Anthropic have made a DISASTROUS MISTAKE trying to STRONG-ARM the Department of War, and force them to obey their Terms of Service instead of our Constitution," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. "Their selfishness is putting AMERICAN LIVES at risk, our Troops in danger, and our National Security in JEOPARDY."

"Therefore, I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic's technology," Trump wrote. "We don't need it, we don't want it, and will not do business with them again! There will be a Six Month phase out period for Agencies like the Department of War who are using Anthropic's products, at various levels," Trump said. On Friday, OpenAI said it would also draw the same red lines as Anthropic: no AI for mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/2138211/trump-orders-federal-agencies-to-stop-using-anthropic-ai-tech-immediately?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: The U.S. military used a laser Thursday to shoot down a "seemingly threatening" drone flying near the U.S.-Mexico border. It turned out the drone belonged to Customs and Border Protection, lawmakers said. The case of mistaken identity prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to close additional airspace around Fort Hancock, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of El Paso. The military is required to formally notify the FAA when it takes any counter-drone action inside U.S. airspace.

It was the second time in two weeks that a laser was fired in the area. The last time it was CBP that used the weapon and nothing was hit. That incident occurred near Fort Bliss and prompted the FAA to shut down air traffic at El Paso airport and the surrounding area. This time, the closure was smaller and commercial flights were not affected. The FAA, CBP and the Pentagon confirmed the incident in a joint statement, saying the military "employed counter-unmanned aircraft system authorities to mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace."

"At President Trump's direction, the Department of War, FAA, and Customs and Border Patrol are working together in an unprecedented fashion to mitigate drone threats by Mexican cartels and foreign terrorist organizations at the U.S.-Mexico Border," the statement said. The report notes that 27,000 drones were detected within 1,600 feet of the southern border in the last six months of 2024.

Illinois Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the ranking member on the Senate's Aviation Subcommittee, is calling for an independent investigation to look into the matter. "The Trump administration's incompetence continues to cause chaos in our skies," Duckworth said.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/2133209/us-military-accidentally-shoots-down-border-protection-drone-with-laser?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Weeks after the U.S. Congress rejected unprecedented cuts to science budgets that the administration of US President Donald Trump had sought for 2026, funding to several agencies that award research grants is still not freely flowing.

One reason is that the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has been slow to authorize its release. The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has so far not received approval to spend any of the research funding allocated in a budget bill signed into law on 3 February. The US National Science Foundation (NSF) was authorized to spend its funding just last week. And NASA has had its full funding authorized for release, but with an unusual restriction that limits spending on ten specific programmes -- many of which the Trump team had tried to cancel last year.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/207211/white-house-stalls-release-of-approved-us-science-budgets?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a column: I'm going to take the diplomatic hat off here and say with brutal honesty: basically everybody in the music business hates Spotify except for the people who work there. It's a platform that sucks artists for everything they have, it actively prevents community building, and, despite all of that, the platform still struggles to maintain a healthy profit margin.

The streaming business model is fundamentally broken. And eventually, its demise will become more and more obvious to recognize. I'll break down exactly why the DSP era is coming to a grinding halt, why the major labels are quietly terrified, and why the artists who don't pivot now are going to go down with the ship.

[...] Jimmy Iovine put it bluntly: "The streaming services have a bad situation, there's no margins, they're not making any money." This model only works for Apple, Amazon, and Google, because they don't need their music platforms to be wildly profitable. Amazon uses music as a loss-leader to keep you paying for Prime. Apple uses it to sell $1,000 iPhones. As for Spotify, or any standalone music streaming company, they're kind of screwed. And guess what -- when the platform's margins are structurally squeezed, guess who gets squeezed first? The artists.

[...] What if Jimmy is right? If the DSPs are "minutes away from obsolete," what replaces them? Well, I'm not sure the DSPs are going to disappear overnight, but if you're an artist or a manager trying to sustain yourself in this evolving music economy, the answer is direct ownership. The artists who will survive the next five years are the ones who are quietly shifting their focus away from the "ATM Machine."

They are building their own cultural hangars. They are capturing phone numbers on Laylo. They are driving fans to private Discord servers. They are focusing on ARPF (Average Revenue Per Fan) through high-margin merch, vinyl, and hard tickets, rather than begging for fractions of a penny from a playlist placement. We are witnessing the death of the "Mass Audience" and the birth of the "Micro-Community."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/1941205/the-death-of-spotify-why-streaming-is-minutes-away-from-being-obsolete?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The $200 billion video game industry is caught between studios eager to cut ballooning development costs through AI and a player base that has grown openly hostile to the technology after a string of visible blunders.

As Bloomberg news, Arc Raiders, a surprise hit from Stockholm-based Embark Studios that sold 12 million copies in three months, was briefly vilified online for its robotic-sounding auto-generated voices -- even as CEO Patrick Soderlund insists AI was only used for non-essential elements. EA's Battlefield 6 and Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 both drew gamer anger this winter over thematically mismatched or poorly generated graphics, and Valve's Steam has added labels to flag games made using AI.

Some 47% of developers polled by research house Omdia said they expect generative AI to reduce game quality, and PC gamers -- now facing inflated hardware prices from AI-driven demand for graphics chips -- have turned reflexively antagonistic.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/1934258/ai-mistakes-are-infuriating-gamers-as-developers-seek-savings?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Worldwide smartphone shipments are forecast to decline 12.9% year-on-year (YoY) in 2026 to 1.1 billion units, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. This decline will bring the smartphone market to its lowest annual shipment volume in more than a decade. The current forecast represents a sharp decline from our November forecast amid the intensifying memory shortage crisis.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/1917219/smartphone-market-to-decline-13-in-2026-marking-the-largest-drop-ever-due-to-the-memory-shortage-crisis?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Nasa announced on Friday radical changes to its delayed Artemis III mission to land humans back on the moon, as the US space agency grapples with technical glitches and criticism that it is trying to do too much too soon. From a report: The abrupt shift in strategy was laid out by the space agency's recently confirmed administrator, Jared Isaacman. Announcing the changes on Friday, he said that Nasa would introduce at least one new moon flight before attempting to put humans back on the lunar surface for the first time in more than half a century, in 2028.

The new, more incremental approach would give the Nasa team a chance to test flight and refine its technology. As part of the changes, the Artemis II mission to fly humans around the moon this year, without landing, would also be pushed back from its latest scheduled launch on 6 March to 1 April at the earliest.

"Everybody agrees this is the only way forward," Isaacman told reporters at a news conference. "I know this is how Nasa changed the world, and this is how Nasa is going to do it again."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/1854230/nasa-announces-artemis-iii-mission-no-longer-aims-to-send-humans-to-moon?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

A sprawling Chinese influence operation -- accidentally revealed by a Chinese law enforcement official's use of ChatGPT -- focused on intimidating Chinese dissidents abroad, including by impersonating US immigration officials, according to a new report from ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. From a report: The Chinese law enforcement official used ChatGPT like a diary to document the alleged covert campaign of suppression, OpenAI said. In one instance, Chinese operators allegedly disguised themselves as US immigration officials to warn a US-based Chinese dissident that their public statements had supposedly broken the law, according to the ChatGPT user. In another case, they describe an effort to use forged documents from a US county court to try to get a Chinese dissident's social media account taken down.

The report offers one of the most vivid examples yet of how authoritarian regimes can use AI tools to document their censorship efforts. The influence operation appeared to involve hundreds of Chinese operators and thousands of fake online accounts on various social media platforms, according to OpenAI.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/185250/a-chinese-officials-use-of-chatgpt-accidentally-revealed-a-global-intimidation-operation?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: While some see AI as a tool to be used, its specific use and how it is deployed responsibly is being heavily debated online across a wide range of industries. In terms of journalistic content, and in this particular instance, reviews, review aggregator Metacritic has taken a firm stance on content published and submitted to their platform, that have been generated by artificial intelligence in some way.

In a statement by co-founder Marc Doyle, sent to Gamereactor, he says this: "Metacritic has been a reputable review source for a quarter century and has maintained a rigorous vetting process when adding new publications to our slate of critics. However, in certain instances such as a publication being sold or a writing staff having turned over, problems can arise such as plagiarism, theft, or other forms of fraud including AI-generated reviews. Metacritic's policy is to never include an AI-generated critic review on Metacritic and if we discover that one has been posted, we'll remove it immediately and sever ties with that publication indefinitely pending a thorough investigation."

So, what is this about specifically? Well, it's probably a sound guess, that this pertains to Videogamer's review of Resident Evil 9: Requiem, which was removed from the platform after a barrage of comments accusing the review of being AI-written, and for the author of being made up.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/1732218/metacritic-will-kick-out-media-attempting-to-submit-ai-generated-reviews?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote in a memo to staff that he will draw the same red lines that sparked a high-stakes fight between rival Anthropic and the Pentagon: no AI for mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons. If other leading firms like Google follow suit, this could massively complicate the Pentagon's efforts to replace Anthropic's Claude, which was the first model integrated into the military's most sensitive work. It would also be the first time the nation's top AI leaders have taken a collective stand about how the U.S. government can and can't use their technology.

Altman made clear he still wants to strike a deal with the Pentagon that would allow ChatGPT to be used for sensitive military contexts. Despite the show of solidarity, such a deal could see OpenAI replace Anthropic if the Pentagon follows through with its plan to declare the latter a "supply chain risk."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/1530218/sam-altman-says-openai-shares-anthropics-red-lines-in-pentagon-fight?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Опубликовано: Fri, 27 Feb 2026 15:53:42 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / DIY или Сделай сам / Хабр

Двое реверс-инженеров пробуют разобраться, почему в старой стиральной машине Miele перестал работать отжим. Устранить неполадку им так и не удается — зато они умудряются отреверсить закрытый диагностический протокол, вытащить прошивку управляющей платы и написать утилиту, которая делает то же, что и проприетарный сервисный софт Miele, только без лицензий и посредников.Детали этого эксперимента мы подробно разобрали в прошлой статье. Здесь история могла бы закончиться — но одной стиралки исследователям оказалось мало. Дальше они вскрыли посудомойку BSH, подключились к шине обмена данными D-Bus и нашли механизм доступа к памяти, позволяющий выгружать прошивку с любых устройств BSH через эту шину. А к финалу исследования ударились в откровенный инженерный троллинг и научили облачное приложение BSH управлять техникой бренда-конкурента.Продолжаем разбор доклада Hacking Washing Machines с конференции 39C3 и смотрим, как попытка разобраться в логике одной капризной стиралки превращается в операцию по стыковке двух закрытых экосистем бытовой техники. Читать далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/companies/bastion/articles/1004642/

Netflix is walking away from a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's studio and streaming assets after the WBD board on Thursday deemed a revised bid by Paramount Skydance to be a superior offer. From a report: Earlier this week, Paramount raised its bid to buy the entirety of WBD to $31 per share, up from $30 per share, all cash. It was the latest amendment to Paramount's multiple offers in recent months -- and since moving forward with a hostile bid to buy the company -- and it's now unseated a deal between WBD and Netflix to sell the legacy media company's studio and streaming businesses for $27.75 per share.

Last week, Netflix granted WBD a seven-day waiver to reengage with Paramount, resulting in the higher bid. Paramount's offer is for the entirety of WBD, including its pay-TV networks, such as CNN, TBS and TNT. Netflix had four business days to make changes to its own proposal in light of Paramount's superior bid, the WBD board said in a statement Thursday. Instead, the decision by the streaming giant to walk away puts a pin in a drawn-out saga that saw amended offers from both bidders.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/1027259/netflix-ditches-deal-for-warner-bros-discovery-after-paramounts-offer-is-deemed-superior?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

theodp writes: On Tuesday, Microsoft GM of Education and Workforce Policy (and former Code.org Chief Academic Officer) Pat Yongpradit posted an obituary of sorts for coders. "Computer programmers and software developers are codified differently in the BLS [Bureau of Labor Statistics] data," Yongpradit wrote. "The modern AI-infused world needs less computer programmers (coders) and more software developers (more holistic and higher level). So when folks say that there is less hiring of computer programmers, they are right. But there will be more hiring of software developers, especially those who have adopted an AI-forward mindset and skillset. [...] The number of just pure computer programming roles has already been declining due to reasons like outsourcing, AI will just accelerate the decline."

On Wednesday, Yongpradit's colleague Allyson Knox, Senior Director of Education and Workforce Policy at Microsoft, put another AI nail in the coder coffin, testifying before the House Committee on Education -- the Workforce Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education on Building an AI-ready America: Teaching in the Age of AI. "Thank you to Chairman Tim Walberg, Ranking Member Bobby Scott, Chair Kevin Kiley, Ranking Member Suzanne Bonamici and members of the Subcommittee for the opportunity to share Microsoft perspective and that of the educators and parents we hear from every day across the country," Knox wrote in a LinkedIn post.

"Three themes continue to emerge throughout these discussions: 1. Educators want support to build AI literacy and critical thinking skills. 2. Schools need guidance and guardrails to ensure student data is protected and adults remain in control. 3. Teachers want classroom-ready tools, and a voice in shaping them. If we focus on these priorities, we can help ensure AI expands opportunity for every student across the United States."

Yongpradit and Knox report up to Microsoft President Brad Smith, who last July told Code.org CEO Hadi Partovi it was time for the tech-backed nonprofit to "switch hats" from coding to AI as Microsoft announced a new $4 billion initiative to advance AI education. Smith's thoughts on the extraordinary promise of AI in education were cited by Knox in her 2026 Congressional testimony. Interestingly, Knox argued for the importance of computer programming literacy in her 2013 Congressional testimony at a hearing on Our Nation of Builders: Training the Builders of the Future. "Congress needs to come up with fresh ideas on how we can continue to train the next generation of builders, programmers, manufacturers, technicians and entrepreneurs," said Rep. Lee Terry said to open the discussion. So, are reports of computer programming's imminent death greatly exaggerated?

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/1335243/microsoft-computer-programming-is-dying-long-live-ai-literacy?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Bright Data, a company that operates one of the world's largest residential proxy networks, has been running an SDK inside smart TV apps that turns those devices into nodes for web crawling -- collecting data used by AI companies, among other clients -- and most consumers have had no idea it was happening.

The company has published more than 200 first-party apps to LG's app store alone and still lists Samsung's Tizen OS and LG's webOS as supported platforms, though LG says the SDK is "not officially supported" and its operation on webOS "is not guaranteed." Google, Amazon, and Roku have all since adopted policies restricting or banning background proxy SDKs, and Bright Data no longer supports those platforms.

Several Roku apps still running the SDK disappeared from the store after a journalist with The Verge behind this reporting contacted the company.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/1254229/your-smart-tv-may-be-crawling-the-web-for-ai?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Опубликовано: Fri, 27 Feb 2026 15:07:22 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / Программирование микроконтроллеров / Хабр

Есть утилита для автоматического выравнивания отступов в исходных кодах. Называется astyle.exe. В этом тексте я покажу, как работать с утилитой Astyle. Читать далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/articles/1004610/

OpenAI has closed what is now the largest private financing in history -- a $110 billion round at a $730 billion pre-money valuation that more than doubles the $40 billion raise it completed just a year ago, itself a record for a private tech company at the time.

Amazon invested $50 billion, SoftBank put in $30 billion, and Nvidia committed $30 billion, and additional investors are expected to join as the round progresses. The valuation is a sharp jump from the $500 billion OpenAI commanded in a secondary financing in October, and the round dwarfs recent raises by rivals Anthropic ($30 billion) and xAI ($20 billion).

The company has been telling investors it is now targeting roughly $600 billion in total compute spend by 2030, a more measured figure than the $1.4 trillion in infrastructure commitments CEO Sam Altman had touted months earlier. OpenAI is projecting more than $280 billion in total revenue by 2030, split roughly equally between consumer and enterprise. ChatGPT now has over 900 million weekly active users and more than 50 million paying subscribers.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/1355236/openai-raises-110-billion-in-the-largest-private-funding-round-ever?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

26 февраля состоялся выпуск 26.3.0 кроссплатформенного мультиформатного электронного словаря [ GoldenDict-ng ]( https://xiaoyifang.github.io/goldendict-ng ) – форка словаря [ GoldenDict ]( https://github.com/goldendict/goldendict ) .

Возможности словаря:

• Поддержка [ локальных словарей в форматах ]( https://xiaoyifang.github.io/goldendict-ng/dictformats/#local-dictionaries-sources ) : MDict, StarDict, ABBYY Lingvo DSL и .lsa/.dat, XDXF, Zim, Aard и Aard 2 (Slob), DictD, Epwing, SDictionary, Babylon и Babylon glossary builder, файлов со звуками в директориях и объединённых в архив zip.

• Поддержка [ сетевых источников ]( https://xiaoyifang.github.io/goldendict-ng/dictformats/#network-sources ) : Wikipedia и Wiktionary, протокол DICT, LinguaLibre и Forvo, любые сайты, поддерживающие поиск слов, заданных в адресной строке.

• Поддержка [ других источников ]( https://xiaoyifang.github.io/goldendict-ng/manage_sources ) : из других приложений, текст-в-речь, словари морфологии, транслитерация.

• Поиск сразу по нескольким источникам.

• Полнотекстовый поиск в локальных словарях с использованием библиотеки [ Xapian ]( https://xapian.org ) .

• [ Интеграция ]( https://xiaoyifang.github.io/goldendict-ng/topic_anki ) с [ Anki ]( https://apps.ankiweb.net ) .

• И многое другое.

Словарь написан на языке C++ с использованием фреймворка Qt 6 и распространяется по лицензии GNU GPL 3.

( [ читать дальше... ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/news/opensource/18230317#cut ) )

Ондржей Cури (Ondřej Surý), директор по инжинирингу DNS в организации ISC, в прошлом создавший проект CZ.NIC Labs, развивающий DNS-сервер Knot, подвёл итоги экспериментов по использованию больших языковых моделей для анализа, исправления и модернизации кодовой базы DNS-сервера BIND 9, создания прототипов новых проектов и подготовки материалов для обучения студентов. Впечатления от использования AI свелись к тому, что большие языковые модели хорошо подходят для быстрого создания прототипов, понимания незнакомого кода и автоматизации простых рутинных задач, но при их использовании для решения больших задач сомнительно, что они экономят время, так как много времени уходит на постановку задачи, изучение и проверку результата, а также последующую доработку.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64884

Опубликовано: Fri, 27 Feb 2026 12:30:36 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / DIY или Сделай сам / Хабр

Продолжаю разрабатывать DIY голосового ассистента на SOC-платформе Rockchip.В первой части смы соединили в единый конвейер вызов распознавания речи, локального чат-бота и синтез ответа.Если еще не читали, то вам сюда.Во второй части поговорим об улучшениях работы с синтезом речи. Научим нашего ИИ-помощника произносить текст, содержащий сложные для моделей сущности, а также сделаем его более плавным. Читать далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/companies/ru_mts/articles/1004144/

Опубликовано: Fri, 27 Feb 2026 13:01:40 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / DIY или Сделай сам / Хабр

Картинка: xb100, freepik.comИногда так бывает, что известные всем по одной из областей идеи не оставляют учёных, заставляя исследовать возможность применения этих идей в абсолютно иной области, и ярким примером такого подхода является изобретение так называемых «акустических диодов»... Читать далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/companies/ruvds/articles/1002480/

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Register: Ballooning memory prices are forecast to kill off entry-level PCs, leading to a decline in global shipments this year -- and a similar effect is going to hit smartphones. Analyst biz Gartner is projecting a drop in PC shipments of more than 10 percent during 2026, and a decline of around 8 percent for smartphones, all due to the AI-driven memory shortage. Some types of memory have doubled or quadrupled in price since last year, and Gartner believes DRAM and NAND flash used in PCs and phones is set for a further 130 percent rise by the end of 2026.

The upshot of this is that the budget PC will disappear, simply because vendors won't be able to build them at a price that will satisfy cost-conscious buyers, according to Gartner research director Ranjit Atwal. "Because the price of memory is increasing so much, vendors lose the ability to provide entry-level PCs -- those below about $500," he told The Register. PC makers could just raise the price of their cheap and cheerful boxes to above that level to compensate for the memory hike, however, price-sensitive buyers simply won't bite, he added.

Another factor expected to add to declining fortunes of the PC industry this year is AI devices -- systems equipped with special hardware for accelerating AI tasks, typically via a neural processing unit (NPU) embedded in the CPU. These systems were predicted to take the market by storm, but they require more memory to support AI processing and vendors like to mark them up to a premium price. "Historically, downgrading specifications was the way to go when prices were being squeezed, but that's difficult here," Atwal said. "The thinking was that the average price [of AI PCs] would fall this year, and lead to more adoption," said Atwal, "but that's not happening." The lack of killer applications isn't helping either.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/008259/memory-price-hikes-will-kill-off-budget-pcs-and-smartphones-analyst-warns?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Опубликовано: Fri, 27 Feb 2026 12:30:36 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / DIY или Сделай сам / Хабр

Продолжаю разрабатывать DIY голосового ассистента на SOC-платформе Rockchip.В первой части смы соединили в единый конвейер вызов распознавания речи, локального чат-бота и синтез ответа.Если еще не читали, то вам сюда.Во второй части поговорим об улучшениях работы с синтезом речи. Научим нашего ИИ-помощника произносить текст, содержащий сложные для моделей сущности, а также сделаем его более плавным. Читать далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/companies/mts_ai/articles/1004144/

sciencehabit quotes a report from Science Magazine: For decades, planetary scientists have pored over a mystery hidden within the Moon rocks retrieved by Apollo astronauts in the 1960s and '70s. Minerals in the rocks record the imprint of a magnetic field, nearly as powerful as Earth's, that existed more than 3.5 billion years ago and seemed to persist for millions of years. But generating a magnetic field requires a dynamo -- a churning, molten core -- and most researchers believed the Moon's tiny core would have long since cooled off, 1 billion years after it formed. Corroborating that picture are other ancient Moon rocks of about the same age that suggest the field was weak -- leaving planetary scientists baffled.

Now, researchers are proposing a new way to solve the puzzle. A paper published today in Nature Geoscience theorizes that between 3.5 billion and 4 billion years ago, blobs of titanium-rich magma melted episodically just above the core, rising in plumes that drove volcanic eruptions on the surface. By intermittently stirring up the Moon's core, these bouts of melting would have caused the Moon's magnetic field to flicker on in short, powerful bursts. The paper "links a few different concepts that people were thinking about separately, but hadn't actually brought together," says Sonia Tikoo, a planetary geophysicist at Stanford University who was not involved in the study.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/02/26/2356249/moons-ancient-magnetic-field-may-have-flickered-on-and-off?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Опубликовано: Fri, 27 Feb 2026 09:33:24 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / Программирование микроконтроллеров / Хабр

Конкурс лучших статей Хабра «Технотекст-8» в разгаре. Подать заявку можно до 17 апреля 2026 года включительно. Уже третий год YADRO выступает хранителем номинации «Железо: проектирование и технологии производства». Сегодня расскажем, какие статьи ждем и что за призы подготовили для победителей (спойлер: на этот раз за 1 и 2 место вручим комплект из 3D-принтера, платы, цифрового осциллографа и не только). Заодно вспомним статьи, которые вышли в топ в прошлом году, — сможете посмотреть примеры и усилить свои работы. Погнали! Читать далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/companies/yadro/articles/1004470/

TOP20 VISITORS:

[1] ChatGPT point=0 web=38 up=10.5MB (24%)
[2] AhrefsBot point=1 web=1061 up=8.3MB (19%) <--- AhrefsBot
[3] PetalBot point=7 web=1474 up=7.0MB (16%) <--- PetalBot
[4] ClaudeBot point=0 web=305 up=5.9MB (13%)
[5] 216.244.66.x point=0 web=91 up=2.6MB (6%)
[6] 37.252.14.x point=145 web=0 up=2.4MB (5%) <--- ake (6/hr)
[7] Amazon point=0 web=69 up=1.6MB (3%)
[8] 217.114.158.x point=26 web=0 up=1.0MB (2%) <--- fox (1/hr)
[9] TikTok point=0 web=31 up=0.5MB (1%)
[10] Google point=0 web=59 up=0.4MB (<1%)
[11] 74.7.229.x point=0 web=3 up=0.3MB (<1%)
[12] Facebook point=0 web=15 up=0.1MB (<1%)
[13] 74.7.242.x point=0 web=3 up=0.1MB (<1%)
[14] 57.129.81.x point=0 web=12 up=0.1MB (<1%)
[15] 57.129.69.x point=0 web=11 up=89KB
[16] 74.7.228.x point=0 web=3 up=71KB
[17] 51.77.211.x point=0 web=9 up=61KB
[18] 43.173.182.x point=0 web=3 up=55KB
[19] 46.250.172.x point=0 web=4 up=50KB
[20] 149.232.130.x point=0 web=2 up=43KB

TOTAL TRAFFIC: 43MB

Объявлено о формировании некоммерческого фонда Open Source Endowment, нацеленного на предоставление грантов значимым открытым проектам. В отличие от существующих фондов, занимающихся распределением поступающих пожертвований, Open Source Endowment основан на идее формирования целевого капитала (эндаумент), позволяющего организовать бесперебойное финансирование, не зависящее от колебаний рынка, урезания бюджета и объёма поступающих в моменте пожертвований.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64883

Longtime Slashdot reader ArchieBunker shares a report from NBC News: NASA revealed that astronaut Mike Fincke was the crew member who suffered a medical incident at the International Space Station in January, which prompted the agency to carry out the first evacuation due to a medical issue in the space station's 25-year history. The rare decision to cut a mission short and bring Fincke and three other crew members home early made for a dramatic week in space early this year.

In a statement released by NASA "at the request of Fincke," the veteran astronaut said he experienced a medical event on Jan. 7 "that required immediate attention" from his space station crew members. "Thanks to their quick response and the guidance of our NASA flight surgeons, my status quickly stabilized," Fincke, 58, said in the statement. [...] In his statement, Fincke thanked his Crew-11 colleagues, along with NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, who were also aboard the space station at the time and are still in space. Fincke also thanked the teams at NASA, SpaceX and the medical professionals at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. "Their professionalism and dedication ensured a positive outcome," he said.

Fincke ended his statement by saying he is "doing very well" and still actively involved with standard post-flight reconditioning at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "Spaceflight is an incredible privilege, and sometimes it reminds us just how human we are," he said. "Thank you for all your support."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/02/27/002252/nasa-reveals-identity-of-astronaut-who-suffered-medical-incident-aboard-iss?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Опубликовано: Fri, 27 Feb 2026 07:05:44 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / DIY или Сделай сам / Хабр

Sparkwriter4Так исторически сложилось, что я питаю слабость к генераторам разных типов, и сегодня мы рассмотрим ещё один любопытный образец, в котором реализован достаточно красивый способ генерации электроэнергии — безлопастной ветрогенератор. Вообще говоря, когда видишь словосочетание «безлопастной», да ещё и «ветрогенератор», то это вызывает своеобразный когнитивный диссонанс, так как мы привыкли к абсолютно другому, и в нашем понимании, ветрогенератор частенько представляет собой огромную конструкцию, с внушительного размера лопастями… Однако, как выясняется, для генерации электроэнергии вовсе не обязательны такие менструозные конструкции, и, генератор может выглядеть (в самом простом варианте) — как просто, грубо говоря, вертикально установленная палка и пластина, причём, без каких-либо лопастей! При этом, какая-либо привычная нам механика, совершающая некое движение отсутствует! Читать далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/companies/beget/articles/1002354/

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said Thursday the artificial intelligence company "cannot in good conscience accede" to the Pentagon's demands to allow wider use of its technology. The maker of the AI chatbot Claude said in a statement that it's not walking away from negotiations, but that new contract language received from the Defense Department "made virtually no progress on preventing Claude's use for mass surveillance of Americans or in fully autonomous weapons."

The Pentagon's top spokesman has reiterated that the military wants to use Anthropic's artificial intelligence technology in legal ways and will not let the company dictate any limits ahead of a Friday deadline to agree to its demands. Sean Parnell said Thursday on social media that the Pentagon "has no interest in using AI to conduct mass surveillance of Americans (which is illegal) nor do we want to use AI to develop autonomous weapons that operate without human involvement."

Anthropic's policies prevent its models, such as its chatbot Claude, from being used for those purposes. It's the last of its peers -- the Pentagon also has contracts with Google, OpenAI and Elon Musk's xAI -- to not supply its technology to a new U.S. military internal network. Parnell said the Pentagon wants to "use Anthropic's model for all lawful purposes" but didn't offer details on what that entailed. He said opening up use of the technology would prevent the company from "jeopardizing critical military operations." "We will not let ANY company dictate the terms regarding how we make operational decisions," he said. In a post on X, Parnell said Anthropic will "have until 5:01 PM ET on Friday to decide. Otherwise, we will terminate our partnership with Anthropic and deem them a supply chain risk for DOW."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/02/26/2352217/anthropic-ceo-says-ai-company-cannot-in-good-conscience-accede-to-pentagon?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

A Greek court has convicted four individuals linked to the marketing of Predator spyware in the wiretapping scandal that shook the country in 2022. The BBC reports: In what became known as "Greece's Watergate," surveillance software called Predator was used to target 87 people -- among them government ministers, senior military officials and journalists. The four who had marketed the software were found guilty by an Athens court of misdemeanours of violating the confidentiality of telephone communications and illegally accessing personal data and conversations.

The court sentenced the four defendants to lengthy jail sentences, suspended pending appeal. Although they each face 126 years, only eight would be typically served which is the upper limit for misdemeanors. One in three of the dozens of figures targeted had also been under legal surveillance by Greece's intelligence services (EYP). Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who had placed EYP directly under his supervision, called it a scandal, but no government officials have been charged in court and critics accuse the government of trying to cover up the truth.

The case dates back to the summer of 2022, when the current head of Greek Socialist party Pasok, Nikos Androulakis - then an MEP - was informed by the European Parliament's IT experts that he had received a malicious text message containing a link. Predator spyware, marketed by the Athens-based Israeli company Intellexa, can get access to a device's messages, camera, and microphone. Its use was illegal in Greece at that time but a new law passed in 2022 has since legalised state security use of surveillance software under strict conditions. Androulakis also discovered that he had been tracked for "national security reasons" by Greece's intelligence services. The scandal has since escalated into a debate over democratic accountability in Greece.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/02/26/2242230/four-convicted-over-spyware-affair-that-shook-greece?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Colorado lawmakers are proposing SB26-051, a bill that would require operating systems to register a user's age bracket and share it with apps via an API. PCMag reports: The bill comes from state Sen. Matt Ball and Rep. Amy Paschal, both Democrats. "The intent is to create thoughtful safeguards for kids online through a privacy-forward framework for age assurance," Ball told PCMag. "Unlike some laws in other states, SB 51 doesn't require users to share personally identifiable information or use facial recognition technology."

The legislation also promises to centralize the age check through the OS, rather than mandating that each app enforce their own age-verification mechanism, which can involve scanning the user's official ID, thus raising privacy and security concerns. The bill also forbids the sharing of the age-bracket data for any other purpose. But it looks like it's easy to bypass the age check proposed by SB26-051. The legislation itself doesn't mention any state ID check to verify the owner's age. In addition, the bill doesn't seem to cover websites, only apps and app stores. The report notes that the legislation was based on California's bill AB 1043, which was passed last year and expected to take effect January 1, 2027.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/02/26/233213/colorado-lawmakers-push-for-age-verification-at-the-operating-system-level?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Jack Dorsey's Block is cutting more than 4,000 jobs, or nearly half its workforce, as part of a deliberate shift toward becoming a smaller, "intelligence-native" company built around AI. The Verge reports: "We're not making this decision because we're in trouble," Dorsey says. "Our business is strong. Gross profit continues to grow, we continue to serve more and more customers, and profitability is improving. But something has changed. We're already seeing that the intelligence tools we're creating and using, paired with smaller and flatter teams, are enabling a new way of working which fundamentally changes what it means to build and run a company. And that's accelerating rapidly."

Dorsey opted to do a big layoff instead of gradual cuts because "I'd rather take a hard, clear action now and build from a position we believe in than manage a slow reduction of people toward the same outcome." The layoffs were announced on Thursday as part of the company's Q4 2025 earnings. In a shareholder letter (PDF), Dorsey says that "We believe Block will be significantly more valuable as a smaller, faster, intelligence-native company. Everything we do from here is in service of that."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/26/02/26/2250206/jack-dorseys-block-cuts-nearly-half-of-its-staff-in-ai-gamble?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: There's a new agentic AI called Einstein that will, according to its developers, live the life of a student for them. Einstein's website claims that the AI will attend lectures for you, write your papers, and even log into EdTech platforms like Canvas to take tests and participate in discussions. Educators told me that Einstein is just one of many AI tools that can do homework for students, but should be seen as a warning to schools that are increasingly seen by students as a place to gain a diploma and status as opposed to the value of education itself.

If an AI can go to school for you what's the point of going to school? For Advait Paliwal, Brown dropout and co-creator of Einstein, there isn't one. "I think about horses," he said. "They used to pull carriages, but when cars came around, I'd argue horses became a lot more free," he said. "They can do whatever they want now. It would be weird if horses revolted and said 'no, I want to pull carriages, this is my purpose in life.'" But humans aren't horses. "This is much bigger than Einstein," Matthew Kirschenbaum told 404 Media. "Einstein is symptomatic. I doubt we'll be talking about Einstein, as such, in a year. But it's symptomatic of what's about to descend on higher ed and secondary ed as well."

[...] The attractiveness of agentic AIs is a symptom of a decades-long trend in higher education. "Universitiesby and large adopted a transactive model of education," Kirschenbaum said. "Students see their diploma as a credential. They pay tuition and at the end of four years, sometimes five years, they receive the credential and, in theory at least, that is then the springboard to economic stability and prosperity." Paliwal seems to agree. He told 404 Media that he attempted to change the university from the inside while working as a TA, but felt stymied by politics. "The only way to force these institutions to evolve is to bring reality to their face. And usually the loudest critics are the ones who can't do their own job well and live in fear of automation," he said. "I think we really need to question what learning even is and whether traditional educational institutions are actually helping or harming us," said Paliwal. "We're seeing a rise in unemployment across degree holders because of AI, and that makes me question whether this is really what humans are born to do. We've been brainwashed as a society into valuing ourselves by the output of our productive work, and I think humanity is a lot more beautiful than that. Is it really education if we're just memorizing things to perform a task well?"

Kirschenbaum added: "What we're finding is that if forms of education can be transacted then we've just about arrived at the point where autonomous software AI agents are capable of performing the transaction on your behalf," he said. "And so the whole educational paradigm has come back to essentially bite itself in the ass."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/02/26/2154237/whats-the-point-of-school-when-ai-can-do-your-homework?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Google has launched Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image), a faster, more realistic image generation model that becomes the default across Gemini, Search, Lens, and Flow. TechCrunch reports: The new Nano Banana 2 retains some of the high-fidelity characteristics of the Pro model but produces images faster. The company says you can create images with a resolution ranging from 512px to 4K, in different aspect ratios. Nano Banana 2 can maintain character consistency for up to five characters and fidelity of up to 14 objects in one workflow for better storytelling. Users can also issue complex requests with detailed nuances for image generation, Google says. In addition, users can create media with more vibrant lighting, richer textures, and sharper detail.

[...] On Google's higher-end plans, Google AI Pro and Ultra, subscribers can continue to use Nano Banana Pro for specialized tasks by regenerating images via the three-dot menu. [...] The company said that all images created through the new model will have a SynthID watermark, which is Google's mark to denote AI-generated images. The images are also interoperable with C2PA Content Credentials, created by an industry body consisting of companies like Adobe, Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, and Meta. Google said that since launching the SynthID verification in the Gemini app in November, people have used it over 20 million times.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/02/26/2145253/google-launches-nano-banana-2-model-with-faster-image-generation?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

New submitter sabbede shares a report from CNN Politics: A sprawling Chinese influence operation -- accidentally revealed by a Chinese law enforcement official's use of ChatGPT -- focused on intimidating Chinese dissidents abroad, including by impersonating US immigration officials, according to a new report from ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. The Chinese law enforcement official used ChatGPT like a diary to document the alleged covert campaign of suppression, OpenAI said. In one instance, Chinese operators allegedly disguised themselves as US immigration officials to warn a US-based Chinese dissident that their public statements had supposedly broken the law, according to the ChatGPT user. In another case, they describe an effort to use forged documents from a US county court to try to get a Chinese dissident's social media account taken down. "This is what Chinese modern transnational repression looks like," Ben Nimmo, principal investigator at OpenAI, told reporters ahead of the report's release. "It's not just digital. It's not just about trolling. It's industrialized. It's about trying to hit critics of the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] with everything, everywhere, all at once."

Michael Horowitz, a former Pentagon official focused on emerging technologies, said the report from OpenAI "clearly demonstrates the way that China is actively employing AI tools to enhance information operations. US-China AI competition is continuing to intensify. This competition is not just taking place at the frontier, but in how China's government is planning and implementing the day-to-day of their surveillance and information apparatus."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/02/26/2045225/chinese-officials-use-of-chatgpt-revealed-a-global-intimidation-opperation?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Apple's iPhone and iPad running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 have become the first consumer mobile devices cleared for NATO-restricted classified data. No special software or settings are required. MacRumors reports: Apple's devices are the first and only consumer mobile products that have reached this government certification level after security testing and evaluation by the German government. iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 are now certified for use with classified data in all NATO nations.

In an announcement of the security clearance, Apple touted its security features: "Apple designs security into all of its products from the start, ensuring the most sophisticated protections are built in across hardware, software, and Apple silicon. This unique approach allows Apple users to benefit from industry-leading security protections such as best-in-class encryption, biometric authentication with Face ID, and groundbreaking features like Memory Integrity Enforcement. These same protections are now recognized as meeting stringent government and international security requirements, even for restricted data."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/26/02/26/2036231/iphone-and-ipad-are-first-consumer-devices-cleared-for-nato-classified-data?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Mozilla has released Firefox 148 for Windows, macOS and Linux, bringing a new AI Settings section that lets users disable all of the browser's AI-powered features in one click and then selectively re-enable the ones they actually want, such as the local translation tool that works locally rather than in the cloud.

The update also patches more than 50 security vulnerabilities -- none known to be under active exploitation -- over half of which Mozilla classifies as high risk, including five sandbox escape flaws and eight use-after-free bugs in the JavaScript engine that could allow code execution.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/02/26/182239/firefox-148-lets-you-kill-all-ai-features-in-one-click?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Исследователи из Калифорнийского университета в Риверсайде разработали (PDF) новый класс атак на беспроводные сети - AirSnitch. Атаки дают возможность обойти механизмы изоляции клиентов в Wi-Fi сети, не позволяющие клиентам напрямую обращаться друг к другу. При наихудшем сценарии атаки позволяют злоумышленнику перенаправить через себя трафик жертвы (MITM) для анализа или модификации незашифрованных запросов, а также подменить обращения к сайтам через отравление DNS-кэша.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64881

OpenZFS — это продвинутая файловая система и менеджер томов, первоначально разработанная для Solaris и теперь поддерживаемая сообществом OpenZFS.

Поддерживаемые платформы:

• Linux: совместимость с версиями ядер 4.18 - 6.19

• FreeBSD: совместим начиная с версии 13.3+, 14.0+

В этом выпуске:

• исправлен учет доступного пространства для записей special/dedup;

• совместимость с Linux 6.19: сборка из дерева исходного кода: исправление дублирующихся функций сборки GCM;

• zfs_vnops_os.c: вызов vput() перемещен после zfs_setattr_dir();

• Исправлена ​​ошибка активации large_microzap при получении данных;

• Исправлено разрешение send:raw для команды send -w -I;

• Всего более 80 исправлений.

https://www.linux.org.ru/news/opensource/18229581

Speaking of the Citrini's blog post, which imagines a near-future AI-driven economic collapse, and which ended up help triggering the S&P 500's worst single-day drop in nearly two weeks on Monday, FT Alphaville decided to track how US stock markets have moved on the release days of notable dystopian speculative fiction throughout history. The story adds: You may contend that this is facile. We would agree. You might contend that the comparisons make no sense because it's possible to read a blog post during a single work shift, but it's tricker to complete a whole novel (or sneak out to watch a movie). We would contend: do you really think traders read? Let's begin. The methodology -- tracking S&P 500 daily moves for post-1986 releases and DJIA moves for pre-1986 ones -- crowned The Matrix as the all-time leader, its March 1999 US debut coinciding with a 1.11% drop in the index. Citrini's "The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis" came in a close second at -1.04%. On the positive end, the 2013 release of Her, a film about a man falling in love with an AI agent, coincided with the largest gain in the set at +1.66%.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/26/02/26/1744240/which-piece-of-speculative-fiction-had-the-greatest-single-day-stock-market-impact?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: It might look like something from the early days of the internet, with its aggressively grey color scheme and rectangles nested inside rectangles, but FPDS.gov is one of the most important resources for keeping tabs on what powerful spying tools U.S. government agencies are buying. It includes everything from phone hacking technology, to masses of location data, to more Palantir installations.

Or rather, it was an incredible tool and the basis for countless of my own investigations and others. Because on Wednesday, the government shut it down. Its replacement, another site called SAM.gov with Uncle Sam branding, frankly sucks, and makes it demonstrably harder to reliably find out what agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), are spending tax payers dollars on.

"FPDS may have been a little clunky, but its simple, old-school interface made it extremely functional and robust. Every facet of government operations touches on contracting at one point, and this was the first tool that many investigative journalists and researchers would reach for to quickly find out what the government is buying and who is selling it, and how these contracts all fit together," Dave Maass, director of investigations at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told me.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/02/26/1722205/the-government-just-made-it-harder-to-see-what-spy-tech-it-buys?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

A fictional memo set in June 2028, published by short seller Citrini Research, wiped roughly $10 billion off Indian IT stocks in a single trading session on February 24 and sent the Nifty IT index down as much as 5.3% -- its worst single-day fall since August 2023 -- on the argument that AI coding agents have collapsed the cost advantage of Indian developers to the price of electricity. The index has shed more than $68 billion in market value in February alone, its worst month since 2003.

But the core claim that India's entire $205 billion software export industry rests on cheap labor is roughly 15 years out of date, an analysis argues, custom application maintenance alone accounts for about 35% of a typical Indian IT firm's revenue, per HSBC, and enterprise platforms require deterministic outputs that probabilistic AI systems cannot wholesale replace. HSBC estimates gross AI-led revenue deflation for the sector at 14-16%, a measured headwind rather than an extinction event. The story adds: 24 years of software export data that has never posted a decline, $200 billion in annual revenue, partnerships with the very AI labs whose products are supposed to be the instrument of the sector's destruction, possibly a new $1.5 trillion market category emerging at the intersection of services and software, and the largest U.S. corporates in the middle of mapping their entire workforces into process architectures that require technology partners to modernise. I think India's IT is going to be fine.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/26/02/26/1714241/the-ai-case-against-indian-it-ignores-what-indian-it-actually-does?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

New York state has filed a lawsuit against Valve alleging that randomized loot boxes in games like Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress 2, and Dota 2 amount to a form of unregulated gambling, letting users "pay for the chance to win a rare virtual item of significant monetary value." From a report: While many randomized video game loot boxes have drawn attention and regulation from various government bodies in recent years, the New York suit calls out Valve's system specifically for "enabl[ing] users to sell the virtual items they have won, either through its own virtual marketplace, the Steam Community Market, or through third-party marketplaces."

The vast majority of Valve's in-game loot boxes contain skins that can only be resold for a few cents, the suit notes, while the rarest skins can be worth thousands of dollars through marketplaces on and off of Steam. That fits the statutory definition of gambling as "charging an individual for a chance to win something of value based on luck alone," according to the suit.

The Steam Wallet funds that users get through directly reselling skins "have the equivalent purchasing power on the Steam platform as cash," the suit notes. But if a user wants to convert those Steam funds to real cash, they can do so relatively easily by purchasing a Steam Deck and reselling it to any interested party, as an investigator did while preparing the lawsuit.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/02/26/168257/new-york-sues-valve-for-enabling-illegal-gambling-with-loot-boxes?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.