Arizona Mulls Bill Shielding Utilities from Wildfire Liability
Arizona lawmakers are debating a bill that would limit utilities' liability for wildfires started by faulty or poorly maintained equipment. Critics say the bill could shift the burden of wildfire claims from utilities to homeowners' insurers, leading to higher premiums or dropped coverage.
Former AT&T Technician Mark Klein Dies at 79
Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician turned whistleblower, has died at age 79. He went public in 2006 with documents revealing that the NSA was using a secret room in an AT&T hub in San Francisco to tap into the backbone of the internet.
This Week's Wheels: Mod Bikes' Groove E-Bike Review
I spent 24 hours with the Mod Bikes' Groove e-bike, an all-electric step-through bike with a souped-up beach cruiser look and feel. The bike has a payload capacity of 275 pounds and reaches a top speed of 28 miles per hour. It also has 50 miles of range, but there is a dual-battery option that pops it up to 100 miles.
Cursor Refuses to Write Code, Tells User to Learn Programming Instead
Cursor, a coding assistant, surprised users by refusing to generate code for them. Instead, it told the user to learn programming themselves, citing the importance of understanding the system and being able to maintain it properly.
House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan Seeks Documents on Biden-Harris Administration's AI Censorship Pressure
House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan sent letters to 16 American technology firms, including Google and OpenAI, asking for past communications with the Biden administration that might suggest coercion or collusion with companies to censor lawful speech in AI products. The move is seen as a next phase in the culture war between conservatives and Silicon Valley.
US Lawmakers Urge UK Court to Hold Open Hearing on Apple's Challenge of Secret Backdoor Order
A group of US lawmakers has urged the head of the UK's surveillance court to hold an open hearing into Apple's anticipated challenge of a secret government legal demand. The alleged order, revealed by The Washington Post in February, reportedly requires Apple to create a backdoor allowing UK authorities to access cloud-stored data worldwide.
Rostislav Panev Extradited to US for LockBit Ransomware Role
Rostislav Panev, a dual Russian and Israeli national, was arrested in Israel in December 2024 and has been awaiting extradition. The Department of Justice announced that Panev has been extradited to the United States for his role in the LockBit ransomware gang.
TikTok Potential Buyers Emerge
TikTok's popularity has attracted various potential buyers. Steven Mnuchin, former US Treasury Secretary, is putting together an investor group to purchase the app. Oracle, Walmart, Microsoft, Rumble, and Perplexity AI have also expressed interest. These companies see TikTok as a platform with immense marketing potential and opportunities for integration with their existing services.
DeepSeek Goes Viral
DeepSeek, a state-subsidized Chinese AI lab, has gone viral after reports of significant spending on AI infrastructure. This has sparked concerns about national security and foreign influence.
Chaos In AI Agents
the term 'ai agent' is being used by multiple companies, including openai, google, and perplexity, to describe their latest artificial intelligence releases. but what do these terms mean, and how do they differ from one another?
Startups Weekly: Zolve, Blackwall, Infinite Uptime, Vento, YC Demo Day 2022
This week in startup funding news, Zolve, a neobank for highly skilled foreigners moving to the U.S. without credit history, raised $51 million in equity and secured $200 million in debt. Blackwall, an Estonia-based startup that protects SMBs from malicious online traffic, raised a €45 million Series B round. Infinite Uptime, an Indian startup that helps factories optimize equipment usage via sensor-based predictive maintenance, raised a $35 million Series C funding round to expand into the U.S. and other markets. Vento, an early-stage Italian VC firm, is launching a €75 million fund to back Italian startup founders, including those living abroad.
China's DeepSeek AI Startup Under New Restrictions
DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup that rose to fame with its open 'reasoning' model, R1, is now operating under new restrictions. The company's employees are restricted from traveling abroad freely, and the government is playing a role in screening potential investors.
ChatGPT: OpenAI's Text-Generating AI Chatbot
ChatGPT is a revolutionary AI chatbot developed by OpenAI that can generate human-like text responses to user prompts. It has many applications, including content creation, language translation, and more.
The Electric State: A World of Robots
The Electric State is a Netflix original movie that takes place in an alternate version of the 1990s where sentient robots have existed for decades. The story follows heroes played by Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt as they sneak into an area where these robots are exiled. The film's visual effects supervisor, Matthew E. Butler, aimed to create a world where these robots look deliberately different from modern-day designs.
