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[>] First US Hub For Experimental Medical Treatments Is Coming
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2025-05-15 11:22:01


Montana has passed a bill allowing licensed clinics to offer experimental medical treatments that haven't been approved by the FDA, provided the drugs have passed phase I safety trials. MIT Technology Review reports: The bill, which was passed by the state legislature on April 29 and is expected to be signed by Governor Greg Gianforte, essentially expands on existing Right to Try legislation in the state. But while that law was originally designed to allow terminally ill people to access experimental drugs, the new bill was drafted and lobbied for by people interested in extending human lifespans -- a group of longevity enthusiasts that includes scientists, libertarians, and influencers. These longevity enthusiasts are hoping Montana will serve as a test bed for opening up access to experimental drugs. [...]

Supporters of the bill say it gives individuals the freedom to make choices about their own bodies. At the same event, bioethicist Jessica Flanigan of the University of Richmond said she was "optimistic" about the measure, because "it's great any time anybody is trying to give people back their medical autonomy." Ultimately, they hope that the new law will enable people to try unproven drugs that might help them live longer, make it easier for Americans to try experimental treatments without having to travel abroad, and potentially turn Montana into a medical tourism hub.

But ethicists and legal scholars aren't as optimistic. "I hate it," bioethicist Alison Bateman-House of New York University says of the bill. She and others are worried about the ethics of promoting and selling unproven treatments -- and the risks of harm should something go wrong. [...] At any rate, the clinics are coming to Montana, says [Dylan Livingston, founder and CEO of the Alliance for Longevity Initiatives]. "We have half a dozen that are interested, and maybe two or three that are definitively going to set up shop out there." He won't name names, but he says some of the interested clinicians already have clinics in the US, while others are abroad."

Mac Davis -- founder and CEO of Minicircle, the company that developed the controversial "anti-aging" gene therapy -- told MIT Technology Review he was "looking into it." "I think this can be an opportunity for America and Montana to really kind of corner the market when it comes to medical tourism," says Livingston. "There is no other place in the world with this sort of regulatory environment."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/05/14/2354249/first-us-hub-for-experimental-medical-treatments-is-coming?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] В кодовую базу Ruby принят новый JIT-компилятор ZJIT
lor.opennet
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2025-05-15 12:44:03


В кодовую базу эталонной реализации языка Ruby добавлен новый JIT-компилятор ZJIT, позиционируемый как следующее поколение Ruby JIT. ZJIT войдёт в состав следующего значительного выпуска Ruby 3.5, в котором будет доступен в качестве опции параллельно с JIT-компилятором YJIT, а в версии Ruby 3.6 возможно заменит его. Как и YJIT новый JIT-компилятор написан на языке Rust. Оба JIT-компилятора созданы командой разработчиков из компании Shopify в рамках инициативы по увеличению производительности Ruby-программ, использующих фреймворк Rails и вызывающих очень много методов.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63240

[>] Trump Tells Apple CEO To Avoid Manufacturing in India
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2025-05-15 13:22:01


U.S. President Donald Trump said he has told Apple CEO Tim Cook to stop expanding manufacturing operations in India despite New Delhi offering a "no-tariff deal" to the United States, a move that could impede India's aspirations to become a global technology manufacturing hub.

"I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday," Trump said during his state visit to Qatar, referring to the Apple chief executive. "He is building all over India. I don't want you building in India. India can take care of itself."

Apple has significantly increased its Indian manufacturing footprint, assembling $22 billion worth of iPhones in India during the 12 months through March. Apple said earlier this month a majority of its devices shipped into the U.S. in the June quarter will originate in India and Vietnam.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/0832215/trump-tells-apple-ceo-to-avoid-manufacturing-in-india?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] CoreWeave To Spend Up To $23 Billion This Year To Tap AI Demand Boom
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2025-05-15 14:22:01


Nvidia-backed CoreWeave plans to spend up to $23 billion this year on AI infrastructure and data center capacity, as it aims to meet the booming demand from clients. Reuters reports: The heavy spending plan weighed on its shares, which fell 5% after surging as much as 11% on better-than-expected revenue in its first results as a public company after debuting on the Nasdaq in March. The company's projected capital expenditure of between $3 billion and $3.5 billion for the second quarter was way above its revenue expectation of $1.06 billion to $1.1 billion. "While the revenue from Microsoft is likely secure for the next three years, CoreWeave represents overflow capacity for Microsoft, which may not need that capacity in the future," D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria said.

The company's revenue backlog was $25.9 billion as of March 31, with its five-year deal with OpenAI adding $11.2 billion to the pile up. As part of the deal signed in March, CoreWeave will provide AI infrastructure to OpenAI, while the ChatGPT maker will get a stake. CoreWeave expects annual revenue of $4.9 billion to $5.1 billion, above analysts' expectation of $4.61 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. It reported revenue of $981.6 million for the first quarter, beating the estimate of $852.9 million.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/001248/coreweave-to-spend-up-to-23-billion-this-year-to-tap-ai-demand-boom?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Языку программирования Rust исполнилось 10 лет
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-15 14:44:05


15 мая этого года [ исполнилось 10 лет ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/news/opensource/11609538 ) с момента выхода первой стабильной версии языка программирования Rust, разрабатываемого Mozilla совместно с сообществом.

Основные итоги за это время:



В 2015 году на новый браузерный движок [ servo ]( https://github.com/servo/servo ) возлагали большие надежды, которые, к сожалению, [ пока ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/news/opensource/16007121 ) [ не оправдались ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/forum/talks/17664414 ) .



В том же году [ на Rust написана ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/news/opensource/12444364 ) операционная система [ Redox ]( https://www.redox-os.org/ ) , до сих пор остающаяся экзотикой.



В 2017 году была [ продемонстрирована возможность разработки частей Linux на Rust ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/news/development/13460359 ) . Спустя 8 лет это вылилось в [ кризис при продвижении языка программирования Rust в ядро Linux ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/news/kernel/17876385 ) .



На Rust [ потихоньку переписывают ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/news/ubuntu/17966677 ) системные утилиты для Linux-систем.

Попытки собрать истории растового успеха: [ раз ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/forum/development/17158211 ) , [ два ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/forum/talks/15282317 ) .

https://www.linux.org.ru/news/opensource/17968832

[>] Microsoft Layoffs Hit Coders Hardest With AI Costs on the Rise
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2025-05-15 16:22:01


An anonymous reader shares a report: Microsoft's recently announced job cuts fell hardest on the people who build the company's products, showing that even software developers are at risk in the age of artificial intelligence.

In Microsoft's home state of Washington, software engineering was by far the largest single job category to receive layoff notices, making up more than 40% of the roughly 2,000 positions cut, according to state documents reviewed by Bloomberg. Microsoft on Tuesday said it would cut about 6,000 workers across the company. The Washington state data represents about a third of the total.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/0010228/microsoft-layoffs-hit-coders-hardest-with-ai-costs-on-the-rise?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] ChatGPT Diminishes Idea Diversity in Brainstorming, Study Finds
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2025-05-15 17:22:01


A new study published in Nature Human Behaviour reveals that ChatGPT diminishes the diversity of ideas generated during brainstorming sessions. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School found [PDF] that while generative AI tools may enhance individual creativity, they simultaneously reduce the collective diversity of novel content.

The investigation responds to previous research that examined ChatGPT's impact on creativity. Their findings align with separate research published in Science Advances suggesting AI-generated content tends toward homogeneity. This phenomenon mirrors what researchers call the "fourth grade slump in creativity," referencing earlier studies on how structured approaches can limit innovative thinking.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/001250/chatgpt-diminishes-idea-diversity-in-brainstorming-study-finds?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Coinbase Offers $20 Million Bounty To Catch Data Thieves After Extortion Attempt
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2025-05-15 19:22:01


Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said Thursday it is offering a $20 million reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of criminals who attempted to extort the company for the same amount after stealing customer data.

The criminals bribed customer support agents in overseas markets to access records containing addresses, phone numbers, government IDs, and partial bank and Social Security details of more than 80,000 customers. "It sucks but when we see a problem like this we want to own it and make it right," Coinbase Chief Security Officer Philip Martin told Fortune.

The company will reimburse customers who fell victim to subsequent social engineering scams. No login credentials or wallet access were compromised in the breach. The extortionists had threatened to publish the stolen information unless paid $20 million in Bitcoin.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/1415242/coinbase-offers-20-million-bounty-to-catch-data-thieves-after-extortion-attempt?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] FTC Delays 'Click To Cancel' Rule Implementation To July
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2025-05-15 20:22:01


The Federal Trade Commission has postponed enforcement of its consumer-friendly "click to cancel" rule from May 14 to July 14, giving businesses two additional months to comply. The regulation requires companies to make subscription cancellations as straightforward as the sign-up process, prohibiting practices like forcing customers who subscribed online to navigate through chatbots or call centers to cancel.

The rule, established under former Democratic Chair Lina Khan, unsurprisingly has garnered support from consumer advocates while facing legal opposition from industry groups. A coalition including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and organizations representing major telecom and media companies -- Charter Communications, Comcast, Disney Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Discovery -- has sued to block implementation, claiming the agency exceeded its authority.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/147249/ftc-delays-click-to-cancel-rule-implementation-to-july?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Google Dominates AI Patent Applications
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2025-05-15 20:22:01


Google has overtaken IBM to become the leader in generative AI-related patents and also leads in the emerging area of agentic AI, according to data from IFI Claims. Axios: In the patents-for-agents U.S. rankings, Google and Nvidia top the list, followed by IBM, Intel and Microsoft, according to an analysis released Thursday.

Globally, Google and Nvidia also led the agentic patents list, but three Chinese universities also make the top 10, highlighting China's place as the chief U.S. rival in the field. In global rankings for generative AI, Google was also the leader -- but six of the top 10 global spots were held by Chinese companies or universities. Microsoft was No. 3, with Nvidia and IBM also in the top 10.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/140222/google-dominates-ai-patent-applications?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Apple Tags EU Apps Using Alternative Payments With Warning Symbols
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2025-05-15 21:22:01


Apple has implemented conspicuous warning labels featuring red exclamation marks on EU App Store listings that use external payment systems. The company's new tactic targets apps like Instacar, a popular Hungarian vehicle valuation tool with thousands of positive reviews, displaying ominous warnings that the app "does not support the App Store's private and secure payment system."

The associated support page cautions users that external payments require providing personal information directly to developers and third parties "based on their privacy and security controls." The move also follows the Epic vs Apple ruling that prohibits Apple from interfering with developers linking to alternative payment systems.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/1642216/apple-tags-eu-apps-using-alternative-payments-with-warning-symbols?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Baby Is Healed With World's First Personalized Gene-Editing Treatment
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2025-05-15 22:22:02


Scientists have successfully treated a 9.5-month-old boy with an ultra-rare genetic disorder using the world's first personalized gene-editing therapy. The patient, identified as KJ, has CPS1 deficiency -- a condition affecting just one in 1.3 million babies that prevents proper ammonia processing and is often fatal.

The breakthrough treatment, detailed in the New England Journal of Medicine, uses base editing technology to correct KJ's specific DNA mutation. The therapy delivers CRISPR components wrapped in fatty lipid molecules that protect them in the bloodstream until they reach liver cells, where they make the precise edit needed.

After three infusions, KJ now eats normal amounts of protein and has maintained stable ammonia levels even through viral illnesses that would typically cause dangerous spikes. His weight has increased from the 7th to 40th percentile. Dr. Peter Marks, former FDA official, called the approach "one of the most potentially transformational technologies" because it could be rapidly adapted for thousands of other rare genetic diseases without lengthy development cycles.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/1734220/baby-is-healed-with-worlds-first-personalized-gene-editing-treatment?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] American Schools Were Deeply Unprepared for ChatGPT, Public Records Show
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2025-05-15 22:22:02


School districts across the United States were woefully unprepared for ChatGPT's impact on education, according to thousands of pages of public records obtained by 404 Media. Documents from early 2023, the publication reports, show a "total crapshoot" in responses, with some state education departments admitting they hadn't considered ChatGPT's implications while others hired pro-AI consultants to train educators.

In California, when principals sought guidance, state officials responded that "unfortunately, the topic of ChatGPT has not come up in our circles." One California official admitted, "I have never heard of ChatGPT prior to your email." Meanwhile, Louisiana's education department circulated presentations suggesting AI "is like giving a computer a brain" and warning that "going back to writing essays - only in class - can hurt struggling learners."

Some administrators accepted the technology enthusiastically, with one Idaho curriculum head calling ChatGPT "AMAZING" and comparing resistance to early reactions against spell-check.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/1819231/american-schools-were-deeply-unprepared-for-chatgpt-public-records-show?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Uber Expects More Drivers Amid Robotaxi Push
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2025-05-15 23:22:01


Uber's autonomous vehicle chief Andrew Macdonald predicted this week that the company will employ more human drivers in a decade despite aggressively expanding robotaxi operations. Speaking at the Financial Times' Future of the Car conference, Macdonald outlined a "hybrid marketplace" where autonomous vehicles dominate city centers while human drivers serve areas beyond robotaxi coverage, handle airport runs, and respond during extreme weather events.

"I am almost certain that there will be more Uber drivers in 10 years, not less, because I think the world will move from individual car ownership to mobility as a service," Macdonald said. The ride-hailing giant has struck partnerships with Waymo, Volkswagen, Wayve, WeRide, and Pony AI. Robotaxis are already operational in Austin and Phoenix, with CEO Dara Khosrowshahi claiming Waymo vehicles in Austin are busier than "99%" of human drivers.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/193236/uber-expects-more-drivers-amid-robotaxi-push?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Telegram Bans $35 Billion Black Markets Used To Sell Stolen Data, Launder Crypto
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2025-05-16 00:22:01


An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Thursday, Telegram announced it had removed two huge black markets estimated to have generated more than $35 billion since 2021 by serving cybercriminals and scammers. Blockchain research firm Elliptic told Reuters that the Chinese-language markets Xinbi Guarantee and Huione Guarantee together were far more lucrative than Silk Road, an illegal drug marketplace that the FBI notoriously seized in 2013, which was valued at about $3.4 billion. Both markets were forced offline on Tuesday, Elliptic reported, and already, Huione Guarantee has confirmed that its market will cease to operate entirely due to the Telegram removal.

The disruption of both markets will be "a big blow for online fraudsters," Elliptic confirmed, cutting them off from a dependable source for "stolen data, money laundering services, and telecoms infrastructure." [...] Elliptic reported that Telegram connected black markets with an audience of a billion users, noting that Telegram tried to remove several Huione Guarantee channels earlier this year, but "the marketplace was ready" with backups and remained online until this week. Wired suggested that Huione Guarantee "operated in plain sight" on Telegram for years. But Telegram suggested it just discovered it. Huione Guarantee is a subsidiary of Huione Group, which was recently sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for supporting "criminal syndicates who have stolen billions of dollars from Americans." According to Reuters, that included allegedly laundering "at least $37 million in crypto from cyber heists by North Korea and $36 million of crypto from so-called 'pig butchering' scams."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/205236/telegram-bans-35-billion-black-markets-used-to-sell-stolen-data-launder-crypto?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Выпуск Rust 1.87
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 00:44:03


В день празднования десятилетия с момента выпуска языка программирования Rust 1.0 (проект Rust был основан в 2006 году, выпуск 0.1 был сформирован в 2012 году, а первая стабильная версия предложена в 2015 году) опубликован релиз Rust 1.87. Язык сфокусирован на безопасной работе с памятью и предоставляет средства для достижения высокого параллелизма выполнения заданий, при этом обходясь без использования сборщика мусора и runtime (runtime сводится к базовой инициализации и сопровождению стандартной библиотеки).

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63242

[>] Google Restores File Permissions For Nexcloud
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2025-05-16 01:22:01


Longtime Slashdot reader mprindle writes: Nextcloud has been in an ongoing battle with Google over the tech giant revoking the All Files permission from the Nextcloud Android App, which prevents users from managing their files on their server. After a blog post and several tech sites reported on the issue, "Google reached out to us [Nexcloud] and offered to restore the permission, which will give users back the functionality that was lost." Nextcloud is working on an app update and hopes to have it pushed out within a week.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/208221/google-restores-file-permissions-for-nexcloud?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Meta Delays 'Behemoth' AI Model Release
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2025-05-16 02:22:01


According to the Wall Street Journal (paywalled), Meta is delaying the release of its largest Llama 4 AI model, known as "Behemoth," over concerns that it may not be enough of an advance on previous models. "It's another indicator that the AI industry's scaling strategy -- 'just make everything bigger' -- could be hitting a wall," notes Axios. From the report: The Journal says that Behemoth is now expected to be released in the fall or even later. It was originally scheduled to coincide with Meta's Llamacon event last month, then later postponed till June. It's also possible the company could speed up a more limited Behemoth release.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://meta.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/2022210/meta-delays-behemoth-ai-model-release?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Anthropic's Lawyer Forced To Apologize After Claude Hallucinated Legal Citation
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2025-05-16 02:22:01


An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: A lawyer representing Anthropic admitted to using an erroneous citation created by the company's Claude AI chatbot in its ongoing legal battle with music publishers, according to a filing made in a Northern California court on Thursday. Claude hallucinated the citation with "an inaccurate title and inaccurate authors," Anthropic says in the filing, first reported by Bloomberg. Anthropic's lawyers explain that their "manual citation check" did not catch it, nor several other errors that were caused by Claude's hallucinations. Anthropic apologized for the error and called it "an honest citation mistake and not a fabrication of authority." Earlier this week, lawyers representing Universal Music Group and other music publishers accused Anthropic's expert witness -- one of the company's employees, Olivia Chen -- of using Claude to cite fake articles in her testimony. Federal judge, Susan van Keulen, then ordered Anthropic to respond to these allegations. Last week, a California judge slammed a pair of law firms for the undisclosed use of AI after he received a supplemental brief with "numerous false, inaccurate, and misleading legal citations and quotations." The judge imposed $31,000 in sanctions against the law firms and said "no reasonably competent attorney should out-source research and writing" to AI.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/2031207/anthropics-lawyer-forced-to-apologize-after-claude-hallucinated-legal-citation?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Netflix Will Show Generative AI Ads Midway Through Streams In 2026
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2025-05-16 03:22:01


At its second annual Upfront 2025 event yesterday, Netflix announced that it has created interactive mid-roll ads and pause ads that incorporate generative AI. These new ad formats are expected to roll out in 2026. Ars Technica reports: "[Netflix] members pay as much attention to midroll ads as they do to the shows and movies themselves," Amy Reinhard, president of advertising at Netflix, said. Netflix started testing pause ads in July 2024, per The Verge. Speaking to advertisers, Reinhard claimed that ad subscribers spend 41 hours per month on Netflix on average. The new ad formats follow Netflix's launch of its own in-house advertising platform in the US in April. It had previously debuted the platform in Canada and plans to expand it globally by June, per The Verge.

Netflix considers its advertising business to be in its early stages, meaning customers can expect the firm's ad efforts to continue expanding at a faster rate over the coming years. The company plans to double its advertising revenue in 2025. "The foundations of our ads business are in place, and going forward, the pace of progress will be even faster," Reinhard said today. Further reading: Netflix Says Its Ad Tier Now Has 94 Million Monthly Active Users

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/2039216/netflix-will-show-generative-ai-ads-midway-through-streams-in-2026?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Microsoft May Have Killed the Surface Laptop Studio
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2025-05-16 04:22:01


Microsoft has stopped production of the Surface Laptop Studio 2 and will mark it as end-of-life in June, with no successor currently planned. Tom's Hardware reports: The Surface Laptop Studio 2 is being put out to pasture quietly, much like other devices that the company has sunset. The Surface Studio, a desktop PC that folded down into a creative studio for drawing, was formally discontinued in December without a successor. Microsoft's audio products, the Surface Headphones 2 and Surface Earbuds, have also quietly disappeared.

The Surface Laptop Studio's discontinuance comes at a hazy time for the Surface brand. On the one hand, two new devices -- the Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch -- were just announced and are set to release next week. On the other hand, the lineup lost its champion, former chief Panos Panay, who left Microsoft for Amazon in 2023, reportedly over budget issues and product cancellations. Panay was succeeded by Pavan Davuluri.

Since Panay's departure, the lineup has been cut down to just the Surface Laptop, Surface Pro, and the Surface Go 4, the latter of which is only sold to business customers at the moment. Without the Surface Laptop Studio, Microsoft has removed systems with discrete GPUs from its hardware lineup, potentially alienating creatives and gamers. Prior to the Surface Laptop Studio, Microsoft's powerhouse system was the Surface Book, which combined a tablet with a base featuring a discrete GPU.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/2133241/microsoft-may-have-killed-the-surface-laptop-studio?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] FBI: US Officials Targeted In Voice Deepfake Attacks Since April
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2025-05-16 04:22:01


The FBI has issued a warning that cybercriminals have started using AI-generated voice deepfakes in phishing attacks impersonating senior U.S. officials. These attacks, involving smishing and vishing tactics, aim to compromise personal accounts and contacts for further social engineering and financial fraud. BleepingComputer reports: "Since April 2025, malicious actors have impersonated senior U.S. officials to target individuals, many of whom are current or former senior U.S. federal or state government officials and their contacts. If you receive a message claiming to be from a senior U.S. official, do not assume it is authentic," the FBI warned. "The malicious actors have sent text messages and AI-generated voice messages -- techniques known as smishing and vishing, respectively -- that claim to come from a senior U.S. official in an effort to establish rapport before gaining access to personal accounts."

The attackers can gain access to the accounts of U.S. officials by sending malicious links disguised as links designed to move the discussion to another messaging platform. By compromising their accounts, the threat actors can gain access to other government officials' contact information. Next, they can use social engineering to impersonate the compromised U.S. officials to steal further sensitive information and trick targeted contacts into transferring funds. Today's PSA follows a March 2021 FBI Private Industry Notification (PIN) [PDF] warning that deepfakes (including AI-generated or manipulated audio, text, images, or video) would likely be widely employed in "cyber and foreign influence operations" after becoming increasingly sophisticated.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/2138238/fbi-us-officials-targeted-in-voice-deepfake-attacks-since-april?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Apple Keeps Fortnite in App Store Limbo
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2025-05-16 05:22:01


Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said Thursday that Apple has "neither accepted nor rejected" Fortnite's second App Store submission, potentially delaying the game's major update planned for Friday.

Epic initially submitted Fortnite on May 9 following Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers' order for Apple to comply with the original 2021 injunction. After five days without response, Epic withdrew and resubmitted to accommodate the upcoming update. While Apple's guidelines state 90% of submissions are reviewed within 24 hours, this silence is unprecedented.

The legal context remains complex -- the judge's original ruling didn't require Apple to reinstate Fortnite, as she determined Epic had willingly violated agreed-upon rules. Meanwhile, Sweeney is actively pointing out on X that Fortnite knock-offs are flooding the App Store.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/2327216/apple-keeps-fortnite-in-app-store-limbo?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] YouTube Crackdowns on AI-Generated Fake Movie Trailers
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 06:22:01


YouTube has suspended ad revenue for two additional channels -- Screen Trailers and Royal Trailer -- as part of an ongoing effort to combat fake movie trailers using AI-generated content. These channels, alternative accounts of previously demonetized Screen Culture and KH Studio, splice actual movie footage with AI-generated material, often accumulating millions of views.

The action follows a recent Deadline investigation revealing Hollywood studios had requested YouTube redirect revenue from these misleading videos. Despite losing monetization, Screen Culture, which has 1.42 million subscribers, continues uploading content including a recent "Trailer 2 concept" for James Gunn's upcoming Superman film.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/2317224/youtube-crackdowns-on-ai-generated-fake-movie-trailers?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Do You Trust Mark Zuckerberg To Solve Your Loneliness With an 'AI Friend'?
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 08:22:01


An anonymous reader shares an opinion piece from The Guardian, written by columnist Emma Brockes: Mark Zuckerberg has gone on a promotional tour to talk up the potential of AI in human relationships. I know; listening to Zuck on friendship is a bit like taking business advice from Bernie Madoff or lessons in sportsmanship from Tonya Harding. But at recent tech conferences and on podcasts, Zuck has been saying he has seen the future and it's one in which the world's "loneliness epidemic" is alleviated by people finding friendship with "a system that knows them well and that kind of understands them in the way that their feed algorithms do." In essence, we'll be friends with AI, instead of people. The missing air quotes around "knows" and "understands" is a distinction we can assume Zuck neither knows nor understands.

This push by the 41-year-old tech leader would be less startling if it weren't for the fact that semi-regularly online now you can find people writing about their relationships with their AI therapist or chatbot and insisting that if it's real to them, then it's real, period. The chatbot is, they will argue, "actively" listening to them. On a podcast with Dwarkesh Patel last month Zuck envisaged a near-future in which "you'll be scrolling through your feed, and there will be content that maybe looks like a Reel to start, but you can talk to it, or interact with it and it talks back." The average American, he said, has fewer than three friends but needs more. Hey presto, a ready solution.

The problem, obviously, isn't that chatting to a bot gives the illusion of intimacy, but that, in Zuckerberg's universe, it is indistinguishable from real intimacy, an equivalent and equally meaningful version of human-to-human contact. If that makes no sense, suggests Zuck, then either the meaning of words has to change or we have to come up with new words: "Over time," says Zuckerberg, as more and more people turn to AI friends, "we'll find the vocabulary as a society to be able to articulate why that is valuable." ... The sheer wrongness of this argument is so stark that it puts anyone who gives it more than a moment's thought in the weird position of having to define units of reality as basic as "person." To extend Zuckerberg's logic: a book can make you feel less alone and that feeling can be real. Which doesn't mean that your relationship with the author is genuine, intimate or reciprocated in anything like the way a relationship with your friends is.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/2056257/do-you-trust-mark-zuckerberg-to-solve-your-loneliness-with-an-ai-friend?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Student Demands Tuition Refund After Catching Professor Using ChatGPT
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 09:22:01


A Northeastern University student demanded her tuition money back after discovering her business professor was secretly using AI to create course materials. Ella Stapleton, who graduated this year, grew suspicious when she noticed telltale signs of AI generation in her professor's lecture notes, including a stray ChatGPT citation in the bibliography, recurring typos matching machine outputs, and images showing figures with extra limbs.

"He's telling us not to use it, and then he's using it himself," Stapleton told the New York Times. After filing a formal complaint with Northeastern's business school, Stapleton requested a tuition refund of about $8,000 for the course. The university ultimately rejected her claim. Professor Rick Arrowood acknowledged using ChatGPT, Perplexity AI, and presentation generator Gamma. "In hindsight, I wish I would have looked at it more closely," he said.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/2335227/student-demands-tuition-refund-after-catching-professor-using-chatgpt?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] STATS 2025-05-15
spnet.stats
root(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 11:11:01


TOP10 VISITORS:

[1] 45.135.180.x point=226 web=0 up=18.9MB (31%) <--- yesterlink (9/hr)
[2] 37.252.14.x point=144 web=0 up=17.7MB (29%) <--- ake (6/hr)
[3] PetalBot point=128 web=1000 up=7.4MB (12%) <--- PetalBot (5/hr)
[4] TikTok point=0 web=929 up=6.8MB (11%)
[5] Google point=1 web=808 up=4.0MB (6%) <--- Google
[6] Facebook point=0 web=207 up=1.7MB (2%)
[7] 24.130.121.x point=16 web=2 up=1.3MB (2%) <--- spnet (1/hr)
[8] 217.114.158.x point=22 web=0 up=0.8MB (1%) <--- fox (1/hr)
[9] Yandex point=0 web=27 up=0.2MB (<1%)
[10] 47.128.121.x point=0 web=32 up=0.1MB (<1%)

TOTAL TRAFFIC: 59MB

[>] Dark Matter Formed When Fast Particles Slowed Down and Got Heavy, New Theory Says
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 11:22:01


Dartmouth researchers propose that dark matter originated from massless, light-like particles in the early universe that rapidly condensed into massive particles through a spin-based interaction. Phys.Org reports: [T]he study authors write that their theory is distinct because it can be tested using existing observational data. The extremely low-energy particles they suggest make up dark matter would have a unique signature on the cosmic microwave background, or CMB, the leftover radiation from the Big Bang that fills all of the universe. "Dark matter started its life as near-massless relativistic particles, almost like light," says Robert Caldwell, a professor of physics and astronomy and the paper's senior author. "That's totally antithetical to what dark matter is thought to be -- it is cold lumps that give galaxies their mass," Caldwell says. "Our theory tries to explain how it went from being light to being lumps."

Hot, fast-moving particles dominated the cosmos after the burst of energy known as the Big Bang that scientists believe triggered the universe's expansion 13.7 billion years ago. These particles were similar to photons, the massless particles that are the basic energy, or quanta, of light. It was in this chaos that extremely large numbers of these particles bonded to each other, according to Caldwell and Guanming Liang, the study's first author and a Dartmouth senior. They theorize that these massless particles were pulled together by the opposing directions of their spin, like the attraction between the north and south poles of magnets. As the particles cooled, Caldwell and Liang say, an imbalance in the particles' spins caused their energy to plummet, like steam rapidly cooling into water. The outcome was the cold, heavy particles that scientists think constitute dark matter.
The findings have been published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/2311254/dark-matter-formed-when-fast-particles-slowed-down-and-got-heavy-new-theory-says?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Google добавит в Android режим расширенной защиты
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 11:44:03


Компания Google объявила о включении в состав будущего выпуска Android 16 дополнительных возможностей для обеспечения защиты устройства. В настройках платформы появится режим.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63244

[>] Выпуск Grml 2025.05, Live-дистрибутива для системных администраторов
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 12:44:02


Представлен выпуск Live-дистрибутива grml 2025.05, предлагающего подборку программ для выполнения работ, возникающих в практике системных администраторов, таких как восстановление данных после сбоя и разбор инцидентов. Дистрибутив основан на пакетной базе Debian GNU/Linux и в прошлом году отметил своё двадцатилетие. Графическое окружение построено с использованием оконного менеджера Fluxbox. По умолчанию предлагается командная оболочка Zsh. Размер полного iso-образа 960 МБ, сокращённого - 536 МБ.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63246

[>] China Launches First of 2,800 Satellites For AI Space Computing Constellation
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 14:22:01


China launched 12 satellites on Wednesday as part of the âoeThree-Body Computing Constellation,â the worldâ(TM)s first dedicated orbital computing network led by ADA Space and Zhejiang Lab. SpaceNews reports: A Long March 2D rocket lifted off at 12:12 a.m. Eastern (0412 UTC) May 14 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. Insulation tiles fell away from the payload fairing as the rocket climbed into a clear blue sky above the spaceport. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced a fully successful launch, revealing the mission to have sent 12 satellites for a space computing constellation into orbit. Commercial company ADA Space released further details, stating that the 12 satellites form the "Three-Body Computing Constellation," which will directly process data in space, rather than on the ground, reducing reliance on ground-based computing infrastructure. The constellation will be capable of a combined 5 peta operations per second (POPS) with 30 terabytes of onboard storage.

The satellites feature advanced AI capabilities, up to 100 Gbps laser inter-satellite links and remote sensing payloads -- data from which will be processed onboard, reducing data transmission requirements. One satellite also carries a cosmic X-ray polarimeter developed by Guangxi University and the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC), which will detect, identify and classify transient events such as gamma-ray bursts, while also triggering messages to enable followup observations by other missions. [...] The company says the constellation can meet the growing demand for real-time computing in space, as well as help China take the lead globally in building space computing infrastructure, seize the commanding heights of this future industry. The development could mark the beginning of space-based cloud computing as a new capability, as well as open a new arena for strategic competition with the U.S. You can watch a recording of the launch here.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/2326249/china-launches-first-of-2800-satellites-for-ai-space-computing-constellation?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] US, UAE Unveil Plan For New 5GW AI Campus In Abu Dhabi
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 17:22:01


An anonymous reader quotes a report from Patently Apple: It's being reported in the Gulf region that a new 5GW UAE-US AI Campus in Abu Dhabi was unveiled on Thursday at Qasr Al Watan in the presence of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and US. President Donald Trump, who is on a state visit to the UAE. The new AI campus -- the largest of its kind outside the United States -- will host US hyperscalers and large enterprises, enabling them to leverage regional compute resources with the capability to serve the Global South. The UAE-US AI Campus will feature 5GW of capacity for AI data centers in Abu Dhabi, offering a regional platform through which US hyperscalers can provide low-latency services to nearly half of the global population.

Upon completion, the facility will utilize nuclear, solar, and gas power to minimize carbon emissions. It will also house a science park focused on advancing innovation in artificial intelligence. The campus will be built by G42 and operated in partnership with several US companies including NVIDIA, OpenAI, SoftBank, Cisco and others. The initiative is part of the newly established US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership, a bilateral framework designed to deepen collaboration on artificial intelligence and advanced technologies. The UAE and US will jointly regulate access to the compute resources, which are reserved for US hyperscalers and approved cloud service providers. An official press release from the White House can be found here.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/05/15/2333259/us-uae-unveil-plan-for-new-5gw-ai-campus-in-abu-dhabi?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Clean Energy Just Put China's CO2 Emissions Into Reverse For First Time
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 18:22:01


For the first time, the growth in China's clean power generation has caused the nation's carbon dioxide emissions to fall despite rapid power demand growth. From a report:The new analysis for Carbon Brief shows that China's emissions were down 1.6% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025 and by 1% in the latest 12 months. Electricity supply from new wind, solar and nuclear capacity was enough to cut coal-power output even as demand surged, whereas previous falls were due to weak growth.

The analysis, based on official figures and commercial data, shows that China's CO2 emissions have now been stable, or falling, for more than a year. However, they remain only 1% below the latest peak, implying that any short-term jump could cause China's CO2 emissions to rise to a new record.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/16/052233/clean-energy-just-put-chinas-co2-emissions-into-reverse-for-first-time?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Montana Becomes First State To Close the Law Enforcement Data Broker Loophole
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 19:22:01


Montana has enacted SB 282, becoming the first state to prohibit law enforcement from purchasing personal data they would otherwise need a warrant to obtain. The landmark legislation closes what privacy advocates call the "data broker loophole," which previously allowed police to buy geolocation data, electronic communications, and other sensitive information from third-party vendors without judicial oversight.

The new law specifically restricts government access to precise geolocation data, communications content, electronic funds transfers, and "sensitive data" including health status, religious affiliation, and biometric information. Police can still access this information through traditional means: warrants, investigative subpoenas, or device owner consent.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/16/0711214/montana-becomes-first-state-to-close-the-law-enforcement-data-broker-loophole?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Broadcom Employee Data Stolen By Ransomware Crooks Following Hit on Payroll Provider
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 20:22:01


Broadcom employees have had their personal data compromised following a September 2024 ransomware attack on Business Systems House (BSH), a Middle Eastern subsidiary of payroll company ADP.

The breach, claimed by the Russian-speaking El Dorado ransomware group, wasn't fully identified until December when stolen data appeared online, according to The Register. Broadcom only received details of affected employees on May 12, 2025. Compromised information potentially includes national ID numbers, financial account numbers, health insurance details, dates of birth, salary information, and contact details.

Five employee accounts were initially compromised, ultimately affecting 560 users. ADP has distanced itself from the incident, stating only "a small subset of ADP clients" in "certain countries in the Middle East" were affected.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/16/1422227/broadcom-employee-data-stolen-by-ransomware-crooks-following-hit-on-payroll-provider?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Vision Pro Owners Face Weight of Buyer's Remorse
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 20:22:01


Early adopters of Apple's $3,500 Vision Pro mixed-reality headset report widespread disappointment a year after its February 2024 launch, with many devices now unused due to physical discomfort and social awkwardness, according to customers who spoke with WSJ.

"It's just collecting dust," said Dustin Fox, a Virginia realtor who has used his headset only four times in the past year. "It's way too heavy. I can't wear it for more than 20 or 30 minutes without it hurting my neck." Customers told the paper that the device's one-pound weight causes neck strain. The device is also reeling from limited app selection and negative public reactions as primary complaints.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/05/16/1357258/vision-pro-owners-face-weight-of-buyers-remorse?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] MIT Says It No Longer Stands Behind Student's AI Research Paper
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 21:22:01


MIT said Friday it can no longer stand behind a widely circulated paper on AI written by a doctoral student in its economics program. The paper said that the introduction of an AI tool in a materials-science lab led to gains in new discoveries, but had more ambiguous effects on the scientists who used it. WSJ: MIT didn't name the student in its statement Friday, but it did name the paper. That paper, by Aidan Toner-Rodgers, was covered by The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets. In a press release, MIT said it "has no confidence in the provenance, reliability or validity of the data and has no confidence in the veracity of the research contained in the paper."

The university said the author of the paper is no longer at MIT. The paper said that after an AI tool was implemented at a large materials-science lab, researchers discovered significantly more materials -- a result that suggested that, in certain settings, AI could substantially improve worker productivity. But it also showed that most of the productivity gains went to scientists who were already highly effective, and that overall the AI tool made scientists less happy about their work.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/05/16/1640206/mit-says-it-no-longer-stands-behind-students-ai-research-paper?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Apple Denies Blocking 'Fortnite' From EU Stores in Epic Dispute
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 22:22:02


Apple and Epic Games sparred over whether the iPhone maker was obstructing access to the hit game Fortnite, the latest tussle in a long-running feud over Apple's control of game distribution revenue. From a report: The game developer said that Apple "blocked" its latest Fortnite app submission so that it can't be released in the US or on the third-party Epic Games Store in the EU.

"Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it," the company wrote on its X account. An Apple spokesperson responded later on Friday, saying that the company "did not take any action to remove the live version of Fortnite from alternative distribution marketplaces" in the EU. Apple said that it asked the game company's European division, Epic Sweden, to "resubmit the app update without including the US storefront of the App Store so as not to impact Fortnite in other geographies."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/05/16/175234/apple-denies-blocking-fortnite-from-eu-stores-in-epic-dispute?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Data Shows Boys and Young Men Are Falling Behind
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 22:22:02


Boys and young men in the United States are experiencing declining outcomes in education, mental health, and transition to adulthood compared to their female counterparts, according to comprehensive data analyzed by researchers. High school graduation rates for boys stand at 83% versus 89% for girls, while college enrollment of recent male high school graduates has barely increased to 57% from 54% in 1960, compared to women's surge to 66% from 38% in the same period.

Mental health indicators show 28% of boys ages 3-17 have mental, emotional, behavioral or developmental problems versus 23% of girls. Male suicide rates for ages 15-24 have nearly doubled to 21 per 100,000 in 2023 from 11 in 1968. Labor force participation among men ages 25-54 has declined to 89% from 94% in 1975, while women's participation rose to 78% from 55%. Additionally, 19% of men ages 25-34 now live with parents, compared to 13% of women. "The contemporary American economy is not rewarding a lot of the characteristics associated with men and masculinity," said Robb Willer, professor of sociology at Stanford.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/16/1746241/data-shows-boys-and-young-men-are-falling-behind?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Covid-19 Spikes in Hong Kong, Singapore as New Wave Spreads
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-16 23:22:02


Health authorities in densely-populated Hong Kong and Singapore have warned that Covid-19 cases are spiking, as a resurgent wave spreads through Asia. Bloomberg: The virus' activity in Hong Kong is now "quite high," Albert Au, head of the Communicable Disease Branch of the city's Center for Health Protection, told local media this week. The percentage of respiratory samples testing Covid-positive in Hong Kong recently reached its highest in a year.

Severe cases -- including deaths -- also reached its highest level in about a year to 31 in the week through May 3, the center's data shows. While the resurgence is yet to match the infection peaks seen in the past two years, rising viral load found in sewage water and Covid-related medical consultations and hospitalizations suggest the virus is actively spreading in the city of over 7 million people.

Rival financial hub Singapore is also on Covid alert. The city-state's health ministry released its first update on infection numbers in almost a year this month, as the estimated number of cases jumped 28% to 14,200 in the week through May 3 from the previous seven days while daily hospitalization rose around 30%. Singapore now only provides case updates when there is a noticeable spike.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/05/16/1728214/covid-19-spikes-in-hong-kong-singapore-as-new-wave-spreads?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Charter To Buy Cox For $21.9 Billion Amid Escalating War With Wireless
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-17 00:22:02


Charter Communications announced a $21.9 billion deal Friday to acquire Cox Communications, combining two major cable providers as they face mounting competition from wireless carriers offering 5G home internet. The transaction merges Charter's 31.4 million customers with Cox's 6.3 million, creating a larger entity to defend against aggressive expansion from Verizon and T-Mobile.

Charter lost 60,000 internet customers in the March quarter, underscoring the industry's vulnerability as traditional cable broadband growth stalls. Wireless carriers have successfully marketed their fixed wireless access services at lower price points while delivering competitive speeds, turning what was once cable's most profitable segment into contested territory.

The combined company, which will be headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, plans to adopt the Cox Communications name within a year of closing while retaining Spectrum as its consumer-facing brand.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/05/16/1855254/charter-to-buy-cox-for-219-billion-amid-escalating-war-with-wireless?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Verizon Secures FCC Approval for $9.6 Billion Frontier Acquisition
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-17 00:22:02


The Federal Communications Commission has approved Verizon's $9.6 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications, valuing the Dallas-based company at $20 billion including debt. The approval comes after Verizon agreed to scale back diversity initiatives to comply with Trump administration policies.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who previously threatened to block mergers over DEI practices, praised the deal for its potential to "unleash billions in new infrastructure builds" and "accelerate the transition away from old, copper line networks to modern, high-speed ones." The acquisition positions America's largest phone carrier to expand its high-speed internet footprint across Frontier's 25-state network. Verizon plans to deploy fiber to more than one million U.S. homes annually following the transaction.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/05/16/194255/verizon-secures-fcc-approval-for-96-billion-frontier-acquisition?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Meta Argues Enshittification Isn't Real
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-17 02:22:01


An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Meta thinks there's no reason to carry on with its defense after the Federal Trade Commission closed its monopoly case, and the company has moved to end the trial early by claiming that the FTC utterly failed to prove its case. "The FTC has no proof that Meta has monopoly power," Meta's motion for judgment (PDF) filed Thursday said, "and therefore the court should rule in favor of Meta." According to Meta, the FTC failed to show evidence that "the overall quality of Meta's apps has declined" or that the company shows too many ads to users. Meta says that's "fatal" to the FTC's case that the company wielded monopoly power to pursue more ad revenue while degrading user experience over time (an Internet trend known as "enshittification"). And on top of allegedly showing no evidence of "ad load, privacy, integrity, and features" degradation on Meta apps, Meta argued there's no precedent for an antitrust claim rooted in this alleged harm.

"Meta knows of no case finding monopoly power based solely on a claimed degradation in product quality, and the FTC has cited none," Meta argued. Meta has maintained throughout the trial that its users actually like seeing ads. In the company's recent motion, Meta argued that the FTC provided no insights into what "the right number of ads" should be, "let alone" provide proof that "Meta showed more ads" than it would in a competitive market where users could easily switch services if ad load became overwhelming. Further, Meta argued that the FTC did not show evidence that users sharing friends-and-family content were shown more ads. Meta noted that it "does not profit by showing more ads to users who do not click on them," so it only shows more ads to users who click ads.

Meta also insisted that there's "nothing but speculation" showing that Instagram or WhatsApp would have been better off or grown into rivals had Meta not acquired them. The company claimed that without Meta's resources, Instagram may have died off. Meta noted that Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom testified that his app was "pretty broken and duct-taped" together, making it "vulnerable to spam" before Meta bought it. Rather than enshittification, what Meta did to Instagram could be considered "a consumer-welfare bonanza," Meta argued, while dismissing "smoking gun" emails from Mark Zuckerberg discussing buying Instagram to bury it as "legally irrelevant." Dismissing these as "a few dated emails," Meta argued that "efforts to litigate Mr. Zuckerberg's state of mind before the acquisition in 2012 are pointless."

"What matters is what Meta did," Meta argued, which was pump Instagram with resources that allowed it "to 'thrive' -- adding many new features, attracting hundreds of millions and then billions of users, and monetizing with great success." In the case of WhatsApp, Meta argued that nobody thinks WhatsApp had any intention to pivot to social media when the founders testified that their goal was to never add social features, preferring to offer a simple, clean messaging app. And Meta disputed any claim that it feared Google might buy WhatsApp as the basis for creating a Facebook rival, arguing that "the sole Meta witness to (supposedly) learn of Google's acquisition efforts testified that he did not have that worry." In sum: A ruling in Meta's favor could prevent a breakup of its apps, while a denial would push the trial toward a possible order to divest Instagram and WhatsApp.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/05/16/2047234/meta-argues-enshittification-isnt-real?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] OpenAI Launches Codex, an AI Coding Agent, In ChatGPT
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-05-17 02:22:01


OpenAI has launched Codex, a powerful AI coding agent in ChatGPT that autonomously handles tasks like writing features, fixing bugs, and testing code in a cloud-based environment. TechCrunch reports: Codex is powered by codex-1, a version of the company's o3 AI reasoning model optimized for software engineering tasks. OpenAI says codex-1 produces "cleaner" code than o3, adheres more precisely to instructions, and will iteratively run tests on its code until passing results are achieved.

The Codex agent runs in a sandboxed, virtual computer in the cloud. By connecting with GitHub, Codex's environment can come preloaded with your code repositories. OpenAI says the AI coding agent will take anywhere from one to 30 minutes to write simple features, fix bugs, answer questions about your codebase, and run tests, among other tasks. Codex can handle multiple software engineering tasks simultaneously, says OpenAI, and it doesn't limit users from accessing their computer and browser while it's running.

Codex is rolling out starting today to subscribers to ChatGPT Pro, Enterprise, and Team. OpenAI says users will have "generous access" to Codex to start, but in the coming weeks, the company will implement rate limits for the tool. Users will then have the option to purchase additional credits to use Codex, an OpenAI spokesperson tells TechCrunch. OpenAI plans to expand Codex access to ChatGPT Plus and Edu users soon.

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[>] MIT Asks arXiv To Take Down Preprint Paper On AI and Scientific Discovery
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2025-05-17 02:22:01


MIT has formally requested the withdrawal of a preprint paper on AI and scientific discovery due to serious concerns about the integrity and validity of its data and findings. It didn't provide specific details on what it believes is wrong with the paper. From a post: "Earlier this year, the COD conducted a confidential internal review based upon allegations it received regarding certain aspects of this paper. While student privacy laws and MIT policy prohibit the disclosure of the outcome of this review, we are writing to inform you that MIT has no confidence in the provenance, reliability or validity of the data and has no confidence in the veracity of the research contained in the paper. Based upon this finding, we also believe that the inclusion of this paper in arXiv may violate arXiv's Code of Conduct.

"Our understanding is that only authors of papers appearing on arXiv can submit withdrawal requests. We have directed the author to submit such a request, but to date, the author has not done so. Therefore, in an effort to clarify the research record, MIT respectfully request that the paper be marked as withdrawn from arXiv as soon as possible." Preprints, by definition, have not yet undergone peer review. MIT took this step in light of the publication's prominence in the research conversation and because it was a formal step it could take to mitigate the effects of misconduct. The author is no longer at MIT. [...]

"We are making this information public because we are concerned that, even in its non-published form, the paper is having an impact on discussions and projections about the effects of AI on science. Ensuring an accurate research record is important to MIT. We therefore would like to set the record straight and share our view that at this point the findings reported in this paper should not be relied on in academic or public discussions of these topics." The paper in question, titled "Artificial Intelligence, Scientific Discovery, and Product Innovation" and authored by Aidan Toner-Rodgers, investigated the effects of introducing an AI-driven materials discovery tool to 1,018 scientists in a U.S. R&D lab. The study reported that AI-assisted researchers discovered 44% more materials, filed 39% more patents, and achieved a 17% increase in product innovation. These gains were primarily attributed to AI automating 57% of idea-generation tasks, allowing top-performing scientists to focus on evaluating AI-generated suggestions effectively. However, the benefits were unevenly distributed; lower-performing scientists saw minimal improvements, and 82% of participants reported decreased job satisfaction due to reduced creativity and skill utilization.

The Wall Street Journal reported on MIT's statement.

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[>] Apple's New CarPlay 'Ultra' Won't Fix the Biggest Problem of Phone-Connected Cars
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2025-05-17 03:22:02


An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: Apple's next step for CarPlay is a version you'll only get to try if you're a fan of luxury cruisers or a popular spy film franchise. CarPlay Ultra, with its new suite of exclusive features like custom gauges, is coming first to Aston Martin vehicles with the largest, most blaring dash screens. The more advanced version of CarPlay won't necessarily fix the lingering issues the software has with some modern vehicles. Segmenting CarPlay into newer and older systems may make things worse for those with aging cars. Apple's CarPlay Ultra includes a new kind of dashboard alongside real-time information that can include car diagnostics -- like tire pressure -- or dashboard gauges. You should be able to control temperature and other car-based features as well. The new version of the software includes options for dashboards or console screens, and it will work with on-screen controls, Siri, and "physical buttons."

CarPlay Ultra was supposed to launch in 2024, but Apple missed its release date by close to half a year. The new feature suite was first revealed at WWDC in 2022, where Apple promised a "unified and consistent" suite of informational dashboards offering more control over radio and AC "without ever leaving the CarPlay experience." Last year, Apple showed off "the next generation" of its car-focused app that included custom gauges and other layouts made for a variety of automakers. It lacked much of the full-width, busy design of the initial iteration from two years prior. [...]

To entice more manufacturers, CarPlay Ultra is supposed to adapt to multiple screen sizes thanks to a modular layout system with more options for companies to adhere to their own brand identity. Apple promised carmakers they could resize and reorient gauges on a dashboard like you do widgets on your iPhone. Users can change up various gauges on the dash and bring up apps like Apple Music or Maps in between your temperature gauge and speedometer. Aston Martin showed off these features on an Aston Martin DBX, a luxury SUV that costs more than $250,000. Apple said these features should be coming to the U.S. and Canada first, with more Aston Martins getting these features through software updates from local dealerships. Apple said its still trying to bring these features to brands like Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. Maybe we'll see Ultra on a vehicle regular folk can afford. "The customizable dashboards are a way for Apple to let each carmaker have their say in how their vehicles look, but they won't help all those who are stuck with regular CarPlay on their aging beaters," concludes Gizmodo's Kyle Barr. "The new version will inevitably create a distinction between those with new software and others with legacy software..."

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[>] Linux Swap Table Code Shows The Potential For Huge Performance Gains
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2025-05-17 04:22:01


A new set of 27 Linux kernel patches introduces a "Swap Tables" mechanism aimed at enhancing virtual memory management. As Phoronix's Michael Larabel reports, "the hope is for lower memory use, higher performance, dynamic swap allocation and growth, greater extensibility, and other improvements over the existing swap code within the Linux kernel." From the report: Engineer Kairui Song with Tencent posted the Swap Table patch series today for implementing the design ideas discussed in recent months by kernel developers. The results are very exciting so let's get straight to it: "With this series, swap subsystem will have a ~20-30% performance gain from basic sequential swap to heavy workloads, for both 4K and mTHP folios. The idle memory usage is already much lower, the average memory consumption is still the same or will also be even lower (with further works). And this enables many more future optimizations, with better defined swap operations." "The patches also clean-up and address various historical issues with the SWAP subsystem," notes Larabel.

Context: In Linux, swap space acts as an overflow for RAM, storing inactive memory pages on disk to free up RAM for active processes. Traditional swap mechanisms are limited in flexibility and performance. The proposed "Swap Tables" aim to address these issues by allowing more efficient and dynamic management of swap space, potentially leading to better system responsiveness and resource utilization.

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[>] UK Needs More Nuclear To Power AI, Says Amazon Boss
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2025-05-17 04:22:01


In an exclusive interview with the BBC, AWS CEO Matt Garman said the UK must expand nuclear energy to meet the soaring electricity demands of AI-driven data centers. From the report: Amazon Web Services (AWS), which is part of the retail giant Amazon, plans to spend 8 billion pounds on new data centers in the UK over the next four years. Matt Garman, chief executive of AWS, told the BBC nuclear is a "great solution" to data centres' energy needs as "an excellent source of zero carbon, 24/7 power." AWS is the single largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world and has funded more than 40 renewable solar and wind farm projects in the UK.

The UK's 500 data centres currently consume 2.5% of all electricity in the UK, while Ireland's 80 hoover up 21% of the country's total power, with those numbers projected to hit 6% and 30% respectively by 2030. The body that runs the UK's power grid estimates that by 2050 data centers alone will use nearly as much energy as all industrial users consume today.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Matt Garman said that future energy needs were central to AWS planning process. "It's something we plan many years out," he said. "We invest ahead. I think the world is going to have to build new technologies. I believe nuclear is a big part of that particularly as we look 10 years out."

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[>] Walmart Prepares for a Future Where AI Shops for Consumers
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2025-05-17 05:22:01


Walmart is preparing for a future where AI agents shop on behalf of consumers by adapting its systems to serve both humans and autonomous bots. As major players like Visa and PayPal also invest in agentic commerce, Walmart is positioning itself as a leader by developing its own AI agents and supporting broader industry integration. PYMNTS reports: Instead of scrolling through ads or comparing product reviews, future consumers may rely on digital assistants, like OpenAI's Operator, to manage their shopping lists, from replenishing household essentials to selecting the best TV based on personal preferences, according to the report (paywalled). "It will be different," Walmart U.S. Chief Technology Officer Hari Vasudev said, per the report. "Advertising will have to evolve." The emergence of AI-generated summaries in search results has already altered the way consumers gather product information, the report said. However, autonomous shopping agents represent a bigger transformation. These bots could not only find products but also finalize purchases, including payments, without the user ever lifting a finger. [...]

Retail experts say agentic commerce will require companies to overhaul how they market and present their products online, the WSJ report said. They may need to redesign product pages and pricing strategies to cater to algorithmic buyers. The customer relationship could shift away from retailers if purchases are completed through third-party agents. [...] To prepare, Walmart is developing its own AI shopping agents, accessible through its website and app, according to the WSJ report. These bots can already handle basic tasks like reordering groceries, and they're being trained to respond to broader prompts, such as planning a themed birthday party. Walmart is working toward a future in which outside agents can seamlessly communicate with the retailer's own systems -- something Vasudev told the WSJ he expects to be governed by industry-wide protocols that are still under development. [...]

Third-party shopping bots may also act independently, crawling retailers' websites much like consumers browse stores without engaging sales associates, the WSJ report said. In those cases, the retailer has little control over how its products are evaluated. Whether consumers instruct their AI to shop specifically at Walmart or ask for the best deal available, the outcomes will increasingly be shaped by algorithms, per the report. Operator, for example, considers search ranking, sponsored content and user preferences when making recommendations. That's a far cry from how humans shop. Bots don't respond to eye-catching visuals or emotionally driven branding in the same way people do. This means retailers must optimize their content not just for people but for machine readers as well, the report said. Pricing strategies could also shift as companies may need to make rapid pricing decisions and determine whether it's worth offering AI agents exclusive discounts to keep them from choosing a competitor's lower-priced item, according to the report.

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[>] Microsoft's Command Palette is a Powerful Launcher For Apps, Search
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2025-05-17 06:22:01


Microsoft has released Command Palette, an enhanced version of its PowerToys Run launcher introduced five years ago. The utility, aimed at power users and developers, provides quick access to applications, files, calculations, and system commands through a Spotlight-like interface.

Command Palette integrates the previously separate Window Walker functionality for switching between open windows and supports launching command prompts, executing web searches, and navigating folder structures. Unlike its predecessor, the new launcher offers full customization via extensions, allowing users to implement additional commands beyond default capabilities. Available through the PowerToys application since early April, Command Palette can be triggered using Win+Alt+Space after installation

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