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Submission + - Trump Revokes Biden Executive Order On Addressing AI Risks (msn.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday revoked a 2023 executive order signed by Joe Biden that sought to reduce the risks that artificial intelligence poses to consumers, workers and national security. Biden's order required developers of AI systems that pose risks to U.S. national security, the economy, public health or safety to share the results of safety tests with the U.S. government, in line with the Defense Production Act, before they were released to the public.

Submission + - The Powerful AI Tool Cops (Or Stalkers) Can Use To Geolocate Photos In Seconds (404media.co)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A powerful AI tool can predict with high accuracy the location of photos based on features inside the image itself—such as vegetation, architecture, and the distance between buildings—in seconds, with the company now marketing the tool to law enforcement officers and government agencies. Called GeoSpy, made by a firm called Graylark Technologies out of Boston, the tool has also been used for months by members of the public, with many making videos marveling at the technology, and some asking for help with stalking specific women. The company’s founder has aggressively pushed back against such requests, and GeoSpy closed off public access to the tool after 404 Media contacted him for comment.

Based on 404 Media’s own tests and conversations with other people who have used it and investors, GeoSpy could radically change what information can be learned from photos posted online, and by whom. Law enforcement officers with very little necessary training, private threat intelligence companies, and stalkers could, and in some cases already are, using this technology. Dedicated open source intelligence (OSINT) professionals can of course do this too, but the training and skillset necessary can take years to build up. GeoSpy allows essentially anyone to do it. “We are working on something for LE [law enforcement] but it’s ,” Daniel Heinen, the founder of Graylark and GeoSpy, wrote in a message to the GeoSpy community Discord in July.

GeoSpy has been trained on millions of images from around the world, according to marketing material available online. From that, the tool is able to recognize “distinct geographical markers such as architectural styles, soil characteristics, and their spatial relationships.” That marketing material says GeoSpy has strong coverage in the United States, but that it also “maintains global capabilities for location identification." [...] GeoSpy has not received much media attention, but it has become something of a sensation on YouTube. Multiple content creators have tested out the tool, and some try to feed it harder and harder challenges.

Submission + - Russian Disinformation Campaigns Eluded Meta's Efforts to Block Them (nytimes.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A Russian organization linked to the Kremlin’s covert influence campaigns posted more than 8,000 political advertisements on Facebook despite European and American restrictions barring companies from doing business with the organization, according to three organizations that track disinformation online. The Russian group, the Social Design Agency, evaded lax enforcement by Facebook to place an estimated $338,000 worth of ads aimed at European users over a period of 15 months that ended in October, even though the platform itself highlighted the threat, the three organizations said ina reportreleased on Friday.

The Social Design Agency has faced punitive sanctions in the European Union since 2023 and in the United States since April for spreading propaganda and disinformation to unsuspecting users on social media. The ad campaigns on Facebook raise “critical questions about the platform’s compliance” with American and European laws, the report said. [...] The Social Design Agency is a public relations company in Moscow that, according to American and European officials, operates a sophisticated influence operation known asDoppelganger. Since 2022, Doppelganger has created cartoon memes and online clones of real news sites, like Le Monde and The Washington Post, to spread propaganda and disinformation, often about the war in Ukraine.

[...] The organizations documenting the campaign — Check First, a Finnish research company, along with Reset.Tech in London and AI Forensics in Paris — focused on efforts to sway Facebook users in France, Germany, Poland and Italy. Doppelgänger has been also linked to influence operations in the United States, Israel and other countries, but those are not included in the report’s findings. [...] The researchers estimated that the ads resulted in more than 123,000 clicks by users and netted Meta at least $338,000 in the European Union alone. The researchers acknowledged that the figures provide only one, incomplete example of the Russian agency’s efforts. In addition to propagating Russia’s views on Ukraine, the agency posted ads in response to major news events, including theHamas attackon Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, anda terrorist attackin a Moscow suburb last March that killed 145 people. The ads would often appear within 48 hours, trying to shape public perceptions of events. After the Oct. 7 attacks, the ads pushed false claims that Ukraine sold weapons to Hamas. The ads reached more than 237,000 accounts over two to three days, “underscoring the operation’s capacity to weaponize current events in support of geopolitical narratives,” the researcher’s report said.

Comment Take my money! (Score 1) 59

by Geek_Cop (#63712238) Attached to: Spotify Hikes Prices of Premium Plans
I don't care, I listen to Spotify all day long, I have hundreds of playlists. I work from home and I use different playlists for different things, different moods. There is no way I could afford to buy all this. Nothing else even compares. They could raise it $5 and I'll still pay.

Submission + - AI Watches Millions of Cars and Tells Cops if You Might Be a Criminal (forbes.com)

Submitted by Geek_Cop
Geek_Cop writes: AI is being used to watch your trip habits and if you're stays are too short and you're using the route of known drug traffikers then the police are notified. A drug trafficking case in New York has uncloaked — and challenged — one of the biggest rollouts of the controversial technology to date.

Rekor’s big sell is that its software doesn’t require new cameras; it can be installed in already deployed ones, whether owned by the government, a business or a consumer. It also runs the Rekor Public Safety Network, an opt-in project that has been aggregating vehicle location data from customers for the last three years, since it launched with information from 30 states that, at the time, were reading 150 million plates per month.

Submission + - Hundreds of Drones Crash Into River During Display (abc.net.au)

Submitted by maxcelcat
maxcelcat writes: A fleet of some 500 drives were performing a display over Melbourne's Docklands in the lead up to the FIFA Women's World Cup. About 350 of them didn't come back and are now being fished out of the Yarra River, no doubt somewhat worse for wear.

According to the operators, the drones experienced some kind of malfunction or loss of signal, which triggered a fail safe — an automated landing. So hundreds of drones landed safely... on the surface of a river!

Comment Meh, I don't care, I want targeted advertising. (Score 1) 46

by Geek_Cop (#63530381) Attached to: Telly, the 'Free' Smart TV With Ads, Has Privacy Policy Red Flags
Call me stupid but I like targeted advertising for things that interest me. It's better than getting tampon and douche commercials, for which I do not have a vagina. And as far as all the other information....I'm like the most boring person in the world. I go nowhere, I spend $20 a month on gas. I don't really shop anyways. But I do some major Uber Eats. So if it is Uber Eats ads...send it! I can use some new restaurants.

Submission + - Bank may go bust due to FTX collapse (cnn.com)

Submitted by smooth wombat
smooth wombat writes: Late Wednesday night, Silvergate Capital informed the SEC it won't be able to file its annual report on time, and is determining if it can continue to operate. Unlike most traditional banks which have steered clear of crypto, Silvergate is a dominant lender to the crypto industry.

The La Jolla, Califorina-based bank reported a $1 billion loss for the fourth quarter as investors panicked over the collapse of FTX, the exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried that is now at the center of a massive federal fraud investigation.

FTX’s collapse in November rippled through the digital asset sector, forcing several firms to halt operations and even declare bankruptcy as liquidity dried up and investors fled.

But unlike FTX, BlockFi, Celsius, Voyager and other crypto companies that folded last year, Silvergate is a traditional, federally insured lender that has positioned itself as a gateway to the crypto sector.

Submission + - Artificial Sweetener Erythritol Linked To Heart Attack and Stroke, Study Finds (cbsnews.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Erythritol, a zero-calorie sugar substitute used to sweeten low-cal, low-carb and "keto" products, is linked to higher risk of heart attack, stroke and death, according to a new study. Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic studied over 4,000 people in the U.S. and Europe and found those with higher blood erythritol levels were at elevated risk of experiencing these major adverse cardiac events. The research, published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, also found erythritol made blood platelets easier to form a clot.

"Our study shows that when participants consumed an artificially sweetened beverage with an amount of erythritol found in many processed foods, markedly elevated levels in the blood are observed for days — levels well above those observed to enhance clotting risks," said Dr. Stanley Hazen, senior author of the study and chairman for the department of cardiovascular and metabolic sciences at Cleveland Clinic, in a press release.

While the study doesn't definitively show causation, CBS News medical contributor Dr. David Agus says there's "certainly enough data to make you very worried." "Most artificial sweeteners bind to your sweet receptors but aren't absorbed. Erythritol is absorbed and has significant effects, as we see in the study," Agus explains. Sweeteners like erythritol have "rapidly increased in popularity in recent years," Hazen noted, and the researchers say more in-depth study is needed to understand their long-term health effects. "Cardiovascular disease builds over time, and heart disease is the leading cause of death globally. We need to make sure the foods we eat aren't hidden contributors," he said.

Comment Coastal Waters Only? Like Only 12 Miles Out? (Score 0) 47

by Geek_Cop (#62846501) Attached to: Royal Caribbean Will Equip All Its Cruise Ships With Starlink Internet
So pay a premium to have internet for coastal waters only? That doesn't sound so good for me. I work from home aka anywhere there is Internet, but I have to have a decent connection. This does nothing for me if it is coastal waters only. I'd be better off using my hotspot.

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