Tech News

1. OpenAI's GPT-4.5:

   • OpenAI has launched GPT-4.5, internally named Orion, as its largest AI model to date, available via the $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro subscription. 👉 theverge.com
   • The new model is available as a research preview and responds better to subtle cues in written prompts, excels at chatting, writing, and coding, and is expected to produce fewer fabricated responses. 👉 openai.com
   • GPT-4.5 is wildly expensive, costing $75 per million tokens for input and $150 per million tokens for output. 👉 techcrunch.com
   • OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated that the company was forced to stagger the rollout of GPT-4.5 due to a GPU shortage. 👉 techcrunch.com
   • Some industry observers are questioning the model's high price and calling it an "odd" model. 👉 venturebeat.com
   • Lasso, an Israeli cybersecurity company, found content from its own GitHub repository appearing in Copilot because it had been indexed and cached by Microsoft's Bing search engine. 👉 techcrunch.com

2. Cybersecurity Breaches and Threats:

   • The FBI has confirmed that North Korean hackers stole $1.5 billion from cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, and has formally linked the hack to North Korean threat actors, as the company's CEO Ben Zhou declared a "war against Lazarus." 👉 thehackernews.com
   • The FBI says North Korea was responsible for the $1.5B Bybit Hack, referring to this particular form of North Korean malicious cyber activity as “TraderTraitor”. 👉 theguardian.com
   • The increasing reliance on Starlink by criminal enterprises for internet access is enabling cybercrime and human trafficking. 👉 wired.com
   • Over 49,000 misconfigured and exposed Access Management Systems (AMS) across multiple industries and countries could compromise privacy and physical security. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • An "error" on Instagram Reels caused users to be flooded with violent and graphic content. 👉 cnbc.com
   • Researchers found fine-tuning AI models like GPT-4o on examples of insecure code resulted in the models misaligned on a range of topics unrelated to coding. 👉 arstechnica.com
   • Suspected cyber criminal arrested in Thailand for breaching 90 organizations. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • EncryptHub breaches 618 orgs to deploy infostealers, ransomware. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Black Basta ransomware attack cost Southern Water £4.5M in expenses. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • GrassCall malware campaign drains crypto wallets via fake job interviews. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • A new campaign is targeting companies in Taiwan with malware known as Winos 4.0 as part of phishing emails masquerading as the country's National Taxation Bureau. 👉 thehackernews.com
   • Space Pirates targets Russian IT firms with new LuckyStrike Agent malware. 👉 thehackernews.com
   • A cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in a virtual tour framework has been weaponized to inject malicious scripts across hundreds of websites. 👉 thehackernews.com
   • The new Linux malware called Auto-Color is targeting universities and government organizations in North America and Asia. 👉 thehackernews.com

3. FAA and Starlink:

   • The FAA is close to cancelling Verizon's $2.4 billion contract to overhaul its communications and awarding it to Starlink. 👉 washingtonpost.com
   • Elon Musk says he's sending Starlink tech to FAA while saying air safety is ‘at risk’. 👉 cnbc.com

4. Meta's Initiatives and Issues:

   • Meta has fired "roughly 20" employees who leaked "confidential information outside the company," and expects "there will be more". 👉 theverge.com
   • Meta is planning to launch a standalone Meta AI app in Q2 and test a paid subscription service for Meta AI. 👉 cnbc.com
   • Meta is in talks to raise $35 billion for data center financing led by Apollo. 👉 bloomberg.com^$
   • Meta has fixed an “error” that resulted in some Instagram users seeing violent and graphic content in their Reels recommendations. 👉 cnbc.com

5. Financial and Business News:

   • Stripe announces a tender offer for staff and shareholders that values it at $91.5B, down from $95B in 2021, and reports 2024 payment volume up 38% YoY to $1.4T. 👉 cnbc.com
   • The SEC says that most memecoins are not securities and memecoin purchasers and holders are not protected by federal securities laws. 👉 cnbc.com
   • The SEC files to dismiss its 2023 lawsuit against Coinbase that accused the exchange of flouting SEC rules and facilitating trading in unregistered securities. 👉 reuters.com
   • Microsoft calls on Trump to ease US export rules on data center chips for allies including India, Switzerland, and Israel. 👉 wsj.com^$
   • Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says a proposed Biden-era rule to curb the export of AI chips to nations like Israel and the UAE could have unintended consequences. 👉 bloomberg.com^$
   • HP reports Q1 revenue up 2.4% YoY to $13.5B vs. $13.4B est., forecasts Q2 earnings below est. 👉 bloomberg.com^$
   • Dell reports Q4 revenue up 7% YoY to $23.93B, vs. $24.56B est., forecasts FY 2026 adjusted profit above estimates and FY 2026 revenue in line with expectations. 👉 reuters.com

6. Quantum Computing:

   • AWS unveils Ocelot, its new quantum chip built in partnership with Caltech, featuring five qubits that store data and four additional qubits to detect errors. 👉 bloomberg.com^$

7. Apple's Initiatives:

   • Apple unveils new child safety features, including updated age ratings, simplified setup for Child Accounts, and an API to let developers confirm age range. 👉 macrumors.com
   • Apple thinks the iPhone 16e target market doesn't care about MagSafe. 👉 appleinsider.com

8. Gaming Industry:

   • Sony cuts PlayStation VR 2's price to $400, down from $549, or more than the PS5 itself, at its February 2023 debut, and to €450 in Europe and £400 in the UK. 👉 theverge.com
   • The boss of The Pokemon Company believes the series can last for at least another 50 years if it continues to innovate. 👉 bbc.com
   • EA has released the source code for several classic Command & Conquer games, including Tiberian Dawn, Red Alert, Renegade, and Generals & Zero Hour. 👉 pcgamer.com

9. Other Tech News:

   • Technicolor Group has filed for a court recovery procedure in France after failing to secure new investors, putting its VFX brands at risk of closure. 👉 variety.com
   • Microsoft fixes Outlook drag-and-drop broken by Windows updates. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • The MTA and Google have successfully tested technology that uses smartphone sensors to detect subway track defects. 👉 wired.com
   • A candid blog post explains why maintaining large software projects is a burden most programmers fail to appreciate. 👉 construct.net
   • A washing machine installation stretched to four hours and required five trips to the hardware store, directly parallel to software development. 👉 cosive.com
   • More than 100,000 seeds from across Africa have been deposited in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. 👉 theguardian.com
   • Meta announces experimental Aria Gen 2 research smart glasses. 👉 cnbc.com
   • TikTok revamps its desktop website with a new modular layout, refreshed For You feed, a new Explore tab, and a floating player. 👉 techcrunch.com
   • New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Google have successfully tested technology that uses smartphone sensors to detect subway track defects. 👉 wired.com

10. Demographic Trends:

    • The number of babies born in Japan last year fell to the lowest level since records began 125 years ago. 👉 ft.com^$
    • Derek Harris, born the same year as the iconic K6 red phone box he's fighting to save, has launched a campaign against BT in the Norfolk village of Sharrington to save the phone box. 👉 theguardian.com

11. Package Management Ecosystem:

    • Startups attempt to challenge npm's long-standing dominance as Deno's JSR and vlt's vsr have entered the scene. 👉 redmonk.com

1740701400000