A short-lived malware campaign, which distributed the DarkGate malware-as-a-service payload through the exploitation of Samba file shares, had hit Europe, North America, and certain parts of Asia between March and April this year.

Researchers from Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 have shed light on this incident. Security researchers Uday Pratap Singh, Vishwa Thothathri, Yijie Sui, Brad Duncan, and Anmol Maurya are the ones who made this discovery.

“This was a relatively short-lived campaign that illustrates how threat actors can creatively abuse legitimate tools and services to distribute their malware.”

About DarkGate

Written in Borland Delphi, DarkGate has been available since 2018 as a malware-as-a-service (MaaS) model. Simply put, this malware was available for purchase to other threat actors so that even those without coding or any technical skills could target their victims.

There were a number of ways to use DarkGate. Malicious actors could use it to launch reverse shells, mine cryptocurrency, execute codes, remotely control compromised hosts, or drop additional payloads.

Read more: FakeBat loader malware becomes #1 cyberthreat in 2024

About This Attack

The attack started in March 2024, first in North America and then spreading to Europe, Africa, and Asia. These attacks peaked on 9th April, where, in just one day, more than 2,000 samples were detected.

For this particular attack, the threat actors used Microsoft Excel files.

On top of that, it checked the host’s running processes and looked for the presence of reverse engineering tools, debuggers, or any virtualization software.

Last but not least, the researchers said, “DarkGate C2 traffic uses unencrypted HTTP requests, but the data is obfuscated and appears as Base64-encoded text.” This further helped it evade detection.

The post Researchers Shed Light on DarkGate Malware That Targeted Users from North America, Europe, and Asia appeared first on The Tech Report.

On Tuesday (July 16), Elon Musk announced that he’s moving the headquarters of his companies X and SpaceX from California to Texas. While SpaceX is moving to Starbase (a company town being built in the southern part of Texas), X’s HQ will be moved to Austin.

“This is the final straw. Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas.” – Elon Musk

In a few subsequent tweets, Elon Musk warned parents that California will take away their children from them.

He also added that after X moves to Austin, many other companies will follow. Whether by this Elon means his other ventures or other companies in general is unclear, but it’s safe to assume he meant the latter.

Read more: Elon Musk pledges $45 Million a month to support Trump’s presidential campaign

The SAFETY Act

The Act is two-pronged, as it also aims to protect teachers from retaliation from parents.

However, many, including me, feel that this is an overreach by the government and, quite frankly, an attempt to circumvent parents’ rights to determine how their child is raised.

“I was honestly surprised that Governor Newsom decided to sign this because this really is just a boldface attack on parents. Our concern is that the state of California, and many of these school districts, think that they know better than parents.” – Scott Davison, a parent from Sage Creek High School

Musk’s Stance on the LGBTQ+ Community

Elon Musk’s reaction to the SAFETY Act was not surprising. He has always been quite transparent about his extreme views on LGBTQ+ and is generally known for his controversial remarks.

For example:

Ironically, Elon Musk’s own daughter filed a petition in a Californian court in 2022, requesting it to recognize her new name and gender. She also said that she no longer wishes to live or be linked with her father in any way, shape, or form.

Other Possible Reasons

Although Musk cites the SAFETY Act as his primary motive for shifting the headquarters, a little digging found that he might have been planning to move well before the legislation was passed.

Also, in February this year, Musk revealed that he moved SpaceX’s incorporation from Delaware to Texas after a Delaware judge canceled his $56 billion pay package from Tesla. Perhaps there is a similar internal reason behind this move that Musk is currently hiding from the public view.

Regardless of his actual motive, moving headquarters isn’t that easy. It will affect thousands of employees who are currently working from their California homes.

Both companies require the people to be available in the office (there’s no remote work), which means that if someone wants to keep their position, they’ll have to migrate. That’s a lot to ask for from so many people.

The post Elon Musk to Move X and SpaceX Headquarters from California to Texas appeared first on The Tech Report.

AI startup Anthropic and its biggest investor Menlo Ventures are launching a $100 million startup fund that will be used to back new startups. Menlo will supply the cash to invest in the startups.

Note: Credits act like virtual tokens that you can use to request a certain action from the AI tool. One request costs one credit.

Also, since Anthropic is not investing in cash, it will not have any financial stake in the startups. It will benefit by establishing a feedback loop – the more developers interact with its products, the more it will be able to improve its product.

Anthropic is already backed by Amazon, with a $4 billion investment.

How to Apply?

For those interested in applying for funding, an online form has been created where you need to share the details of your company, product, founders, and the core team. Menlo will then use its proprietary machine-learning tool to score and rank applications.

This startup fund is a direct inspiration from Apple’s collaboration with venture firm Kleiner Perkins in 2008. The fund started with $100 million and then doubled to $200 million after two years.

Matt Murphy, a partner at Menlo Ventures and a former partner at Kleiner Perkins himself admitted to it.

He said that the collaboration was “wildly successful and it really gave Apple a lens into a whole set of early developers, and what they need to be more attentive to.” It also gave the developers an insight into a lot of things that Apple was planning on selling.

However, there’s one major difference between the two arrangements. Compared to iPhones, AI is developing at a much faster rate. So naturally, investors are swarming towards the AI industry to make the most of this boom.

How Does It Affect Its Competition with OpenAI?

OpenAI is one of the leading companies in the AI industry and Anthropic is one of its biggest rivals. Anthropic has already launched its own version of AI chatbot Claude in Europe, which is in direct competition with ChatGPT.

So it’s good that Anthropic is finally catching up. An opportunity like this will not only help it improve its own products but it might happen that the companies it’s supporting today with its AI infrastructure go on to become really successful. The bigger the company becomes, the more likely it is to invest more in Anthropic’s products.

But Murphy put this in much better words. He says this is a unique opportunity for Anthropic to build a great community for everyone to learn and grow together and do something so innovative that it goes down in history.

The post AI Startup Anthropic and Menlo Ventures Join Hands to Launch a $100 Million Startup Fund appeared first on The Tech Report.

A Senate probe found that Amazon’s Prime Day is a major cause of injuries among workers. For those who don’t know, Amazon Prime Day is a 2-day annual event during which the company offers amazing discounts.

This is a great chance for Amazon Prime customers to bag a good deal but on the other hand, reports suggest it is hazardous for the staff of the warehouse.

The report comes after a year-long investigation conducted by the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, or HELP Committee.

This also includes injuries the company is not required to disclose to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. This means, almost half of the staff had been hurt in some way or the other.

The biggest reason behind this is poor resource planning on the company’s part. In simple words, there are just not enough people to handle the extra workload during that event.

Extra long hours also mean that most people are tired towards the end of their shifts which leads to negligence and ignorance of safety guidelines.

In the internal documents that were sent by the company for the probe, one that raised eyebrows is the “2021 Prime Day Lessons Learned”. This document reveals that between May and June of 2021, the company only met 71.2% of its hiring requirements.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent who chairs the HELP committee said that such behavior from the company is unacceptable and needs to change immediately.

”Amazon continues to treat its workers as disposable and with complete contempt for their safety and wellbeing” – Sen. Bernie Sanders

He even wrote a letter to Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos, asking him to stop pushing the workers past their limit just for the sake of profit.

What Does Amazon Have to Say About This?

Kelly Nantel, a spokesperson for the company said that the report ignores all the improvements it has made.

She also said that the documents that were sent in for the probe are quite old and are riddled with factual errors, unverified anecdotes, and faulty analysis. Naturally, any assumption made on this data is wrong.

She even said that the claim in the report that the company was not adequately staffed for the busy shopping period is false.

Last but not least, she said that the rest of the conclusions that have been drawn during the investigation are simply inaccurate and exaggerated. According to Nantel, the frequency of injuries at work has significantly gone down.

Also, in March the company announced that it is planning to invest more than $750 million in safety initiatives this year.

Some tasks are also being automated and handed over to robotic systems to improve safety standards. However, since automation will eventually lead to job cuts, it’s probably not the best way to address employee well-being.

The post Amazon Prime Days Lead to More Injuries Among Workers: Senate Probe Reveals appeared first on The Tech Report.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) emerged among the best-performing US Spot ETFs on July 16, recording $260 million in inflows. IBIT’s inflows accounted for over half of the total net inflows into the eight spot BTC ETFs on the day. 

Moreover, July 16 marked the eighth consecutive day of positive inflows for the ETFs, reaching $422.5 million, the highest since June 5, according to data from Farside Investors.  

Bitcoin ETFs Record Massive Inflows Retaining Positive Streak

Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund was second on the list, with an inflow of $61.1 million, while Ark 21Shares came third with $29.8 million. VanEck Bitcoin ETF and Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF recorded inflows above $20 million. However, Grayscale, WisdomTree, and Hashdex did not register inflows.

These Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows confirm positive investor sentiment in the market after a downtrend early in July. BlackRock’s holdings are now worth over $20 billion, thanks to its latest purchase of 4,004 Bitcoin and BTC’s price recovery.

iShares Bitcoin ETF now over $20bil in assets & taking in a quarter bil on a random Tuesday…

*$20bil*.

*6mos* after launch.

I think we can safely put the “degen retail” narrative to bed.

Advisors & inst’l investors clearly showing up to this party. https://t.co/FkkBUlPHQz

— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) July 17, 2024

The President of the ETF store, Nate Geraci, commented on the value of iShares Bitcoin holdings rising above $20 billion. He noted that IBIT achieved this just six months after the ETF launch. Geraci also believes that institutional investors played a major role in IBIT’s surge in value.

Meanwhile, in an interview with CNBC, BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink referred to Bitcoin as a legitimate financial instrument. Fink believes Bitcoin can shield investors from currency devaluation and reward them with massive returns.

BTC’s price is $65,059, up 2% in the past 24 hours. The flagship cryptocurrency has shown remarkable resilience in bouncing back from the German Government’s massive sale of BTC coins.

Also, as expected, the Mt. Gox repayments have not negatively affected Bitcoin’s price, as it remains in an uptrend and approaches $66,000.

VanEck Set to Launch BTC ETN Exposure for French Retirement Saving Plans

Amid the positive ETF inflow streak, Bitcoin ETF issuer VanEck has partnered with asset manager Inter Invest. The partnership will focus on launching Bitcoin exposure in French retirement savings.

VanEck and Inter Invest partnered to launch the first #Bitcoin  ETN called $VBTC for French pension plans – regulated #Bitcoin  investment in retirement savings is starting. @vaneck_us making moves.https://t.co/hNhtavGlOU

— MartyParty (@martypartymusic) July 16, 2024

VanEck’s Bitcoin Exchange Traded Note (ETN) VBTC will be available as part of the retirement package for French investors. The VBTC ETN, with a total value of $407 million, will provide French Pension Savings Plan (PER) participants easy access to digital assets. 

Commenting on the development, Martijn Rozemuller, CEO of VanEck Europe, said Bitcoin is an innovative long-term asset. He noted that BTC’s current price volatility is typical of emerging assets.

Also, Rozemuller believes the ETN enables investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin through a regulated and easily accessible product.

In addition, Jean-Baptiste de Pascal, Inter Invest’s deputy CEO, noted that the partnership aligns with the company’s strategy of offering innovative digital assets.

According to Pascal, including crypto assets in the retirement saving plan responds to the growing market demand for diversification.

This partnership confirms the rising relevance of Bitcoin and its affiliated products in different regions worldwide. Bitcoin’s positive price action will likely attract more investors in the coming weeks, resulting in further price increases. 

The post BlackRock’s IBIT Records Massive Inflow of $260 Million as Bitcoin ETFs Record Eighth Day of Inflows appeared first on The Tech Report.

Elon Musk publicly pledged his support for Donald Trump, right after the latter narrowly survived a gunshot at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Trump was soon rushed off the stage by members of the Secret Service and is currently in the hospital. However, his spokesman has confirmed that he will be fine. Unfortunately, a spectator in the rally got hit and died on the spot, and another spectator is in critical condition.

While all of this was happening, Elon Musk took to his X account and posted, “I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery.”

In a separate tweet, Musk posted the iconic photo where Trump is seen pumping his fist into the air with the USA flag in the background and Secret Service members trying to get him off the stage.

Elon Musk also compared Donald Trump to Theodore Roosevelt, who also survived an assassination attempt while campaigning for the office of president in 1912. “Last time America had a candidate this tough was Theodore Roosevelt,” Musk said in a tweet.

It’s important to note, however, that prior to the assassination incident, Elon Musk did not openly support Trump. He did make it clear, though, that he doesn’t want Joe Biden to return to the White House.

At the same time, Musk declared that he wouldn’t donate to other candidates. This was no surprise at all because, for the longest time, he has identified himself as a “centrist.”

Why Is Musk Supporting Trump Now?

Elon Musk’s dislike for Joe Biden is one of the most open secrets and reasons for his support for Trump. However, that’s not all.

Now, it’s no secret that Elon Musk’s own EV car company, Tesla, has been struggling to compete with its Chinese rivals in the past few quarters. Recently, Tesla announce its fourth cybertruck recall.

Chinese car manufacturers are not only offering advanced technology, but they are also doing it for a much cheaper price. Naturally, people are getting drawn to these affordable alternatives, while Tesla is lagging behind.

So, if Trump wins the election this year and stays true to his promise, Tesla’s sales will get a massive boost.

Another major reason, I believe, is Elon Musk’s much-revered stance for freedom of speech. After the assassination attempt on Trump, he took to X and brutally attacked mainstream USA media for their pathetic display of journalism. The media houses didn’t mention words like “assassination” or “firing” in their coverage at all. This didn’t sit right with Musk.

However, I mention this as a possible reason and not a definite one because Musk’s outrage towards the media could very well be a subtle way to promote news on X.

Mutual Support for Cryptocurrency

In addition to the above, both Trump and Musk are ardent supporters of cryptocurrency. Just this May, the duo was involved in a discussion about cryptocurrency policy.

Musk was also supposed to speak at the Republican convention, according to an unnamed source. However, nothing has been confirmed about this yet.

Moreover, Trump has announced that he will be willing to accept donations for his campaign in the form of cryptocurrency. His cryptocurrency fundraising has already crossed $3 million in the second quarter.

Elon Musk has also been quite open about his fascination with cryptocurrency in the past few years. He has also not shied away from showing his influence on his preferred “Dogecoin.”

Read more: Donald Trump’s assassination attempt fuels Bitcoin recovery above $63K & Tesla $DOGE payments rallies meme coins

The Bottom Line

For Musk, supporting a presidential candidate who shares similar views and might contribute to the development of crypto in the USA (as Trump has promised) makes complete sense.

For Donald Trump, on the other hand, the friendship and support of the richest and one of the most influential people on the planet sounds like a good offer, doesn’t it?

The post Elon Musk Pledges $45 Million a Month to Support Trump’s Presidential Campaign appeared first on The Tech Report.

Microsoft’s recent hiring of Mustafa Suleyman (co-founder of AI startup Inflection) and a number of other former employees who were a part of the core team have come under investigation.

The matter has been referred to Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority for an initial merger investigation.

On Tuesday, the agency explained the cause behind the investigation and said that since Microsoft has hired a large portion of Inflection’s staff, it’s important to evaluate whether this move can be considered a merger under UK laws.

And if it’s indeed a merger, they have to check whether it’s hindering competition in the AI industry.

It looks like Microsoft is not too worried about the investigation. A spokesperson from the company said that it is “confident that the hiring of talent promotes competition and should not be treated as a merger. ”

They also added that the company will cooperate with the authorities and provide them with all the information they need during the probe.

More About the Hirings

The hirings were announced by Microsoft in March. Suleyman was appointed as the executive vice president and CEO of Microsoft AI—a newly formed unit of the company that focuses on AI products.

The hirings aren’t the only reasons why the authorities are probing. Just this March, Microsoft also signed a $650 million deal with Inflection that would allow it to sell Inflection’s AI products through the Microsoft Azure platform.

The pattern is very clear here. The tech giant is heavily investing in AI firms which might suggest that it’s trying to take away its top competitors and get them on its own team, essentially reducing competition. Taking this into account, it’s not too surprising that the authorities are wary of Microsoft.

The post Microsoft Faces Antitrust Probe in the UK for Mass Hiring from AI Startup Inflection appeared first on The Tech Report.

Germany is the latest country to have decided to ban Huawei and ZTE components, followed by the US, UK, Japan, and Australia.

The process of phasing out components developed by these Chinese companies will take place over the next 5 years.

By the end of 2029, these components will also be purged from the physical components of the 5G network, such as towers and transmission lines.

Why Is Germany Removing Chinese Companies?

China doesn’t have the best reputation right now, especially in the West—take the massive U.S. TikTok ban, for example, or China’s decision to ban AMD and Intel chips from its government offices.

However, without directly pointing fingers at China, Germany said it’s important to:

What Does Huawei and ZTE Have to Say about This?

Huawei said that Germany’s concerns are baseless, as there’s no evidence to prove that its components, or the company in itself, can pose a cybersecurity risk to Germany.

Huawei has decided to cooperate with its customers and partners, keep working on improving its technology and cybersecurity, and contribute to the advancement of digitalization in Germany.

The Chinese embassy in Germany is also unhappy with this decision and wants necessary actions to be taken to protect the interests of Chinese companies.

Germany’s move will “seriously damage mutual trust between the two sides, and will also affect future cooperation between China and Europe in related fields.” – Chinese embassy in Germany

The relationship between China and Germany is quite strained right now. Just last week, Berlin blocked the sale of a Volkswagen subsidiary to a Chinese state-owned company on national security grounds. This decision was heavily criticized by Beijing.

So, now that Germany is banning Huawei and ZTE from its 5G network industry, the relationship between the two nations is expected to get even sour.

Brief History of US’s Ban on Huawei & ZTE

Among all the countries, the U.S. perhaps has the strictest bans against the aforementioned companies.

It all started in 2019 after Trump passed an execution order banning the use of chips from foreign companies. Although it didn’t specifically talk about Huawei, the “Entity List” created back then had Huawei’s name on it.

Following this, Google declared that it’ll also be cutting ties with Huawei to comply with this executive order. Then in 2022, the U.S. banned the sale and import of new communication equipment from five companies, including ZTE and Huawei.

Lastly, in 2024, the U.S. revoked the license of companies that allowed them to ship tech equipment, such as chips to Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE.

The post Germany Will Phase Out Huawei & ZTE Components from Its 5G Network appeared first on The Tech Report.

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is allegedly planning to buy cybersecurity startup Wiz for $23 billion. If this deal goes through, it will be the company’s biggest acquisition ever after it purchased Motorola for $12.5 billion in 2012.

We don’t know when this deal will be finalized but according to certain reports, it might happen soon. Also, it’s expected that most of the payments will be made in cash.

However, there’s one major obstacle that stands in the way of the deal – interference from the US regulators. Lately, the US government and the FTC have been investigating large firms to ensure they are not violating the antitrust regulations.

The reason for this is obvious – to prevent any one company from gaining too much power in the industry.

So at a time like this, an acquisition this huge can trigger the authorities. Especially because it looks like Google is making this acquisition to strengthen its position in the cloud computing industry.

This is evident from the fact that it has made quite a few noteworthy acquisitions in the last few years.

Multiple high-profile acquisitions from the same industry are definitely going to draw attention from the regulators.

Apart from the interest of authorities, this deal will also draw attention from Google’s competitors, especially Microsoft. The two companies have been the biggest rivals forever.

Microsoft is facing trouble of its own. Its deal with UAE-based company G42 has also come under scrutiny for the latter’s alleged ties with Chinese companies and authorities.

About Wiz

Wiz is a popular cybersecurity platform that was originally founded in Israel and is now headquartered in New York. It was founded in January 2020 by Assaf Rappaport, Yinon Costica, Roy Reznik, and Ami Luttwak, who are also the founders of Adallom. Currently, the company has about 900 employees.

The last we heard from Wiz is that it was planning to acquire Lacework in April this year. But in May, the deal fell through.

The post Google Set to Acquire Cybersecurity Firm Wiz for $23 Billion: Its Biggest-Ever Acquisition appeared first on The Tech Report.

AT&T customers have been hit by yet another data breach. The telecommunications company announced that data of more than 109 million customer accounts has been compromised, which is nearly all of its users.

In addition to that, the miscreants also stole call records from January 2, 2023. This one, however, affects only a small number of customers.

The only silver lining in this case is that the content of the calls and texts has not been leaked. The threat actors have also not managed to get their hands on personal information such as social security numbers, addresses, or dates of birth of the customers.

According to reports, the names of the customers will also remain anonymous—unless, of course, the miscreants used a third-party tool to divulge their identities.

What Is AT&T Doing about the Attack?

AT&T first discovered the attack in April (between April 14 and April 25, to be precise) this year, when it realized that a huge chunk of its customers’ data had been downloaded from its workspace to a third-party cloud platform.

Soon after that, the company contacted the FBI and an investigation was launched to understand the full scope of the attack. It is believed that an arrest has also been made in this case.

However, most of the details regarding the investigation have been under wraps. The FBI has also declined any requests for comment.

Additionally, AT&T is also taking security measures to ensure that such an attack doesn’t happen again in the future. For starters, it’s looking for and closing down unlawful access points in its workspace. It also assured the customers that this data is in all likelihood not publicly available, so they have nothing to worry about.

Last but not least, AT&T said that this attack has had no material impact on its business.

Cause of the Attack

Not much is known about the cause of the latest attack on AT&T. However, the company confirmed that it did not receive any evidence to suggest that this attack is connected to another incident (the data breach affecting 73 million AT&T users)—which it discovered in March this year—or even the latest breach at Snowflake.

Regardless of the cause, AT&T’s share prices fell by 2% in premarket trading following the news, likely due to the company’s recent disappointing cybersecurity performance. This is certainly not acceptable for a company of this magnitude and stature, let alone its importance.

The post 109 Million AT&T Customers’ Call & Text Records Compromised appeared first on The Tech Report.

Elon Musk-owned social media platform X (Twitter) has been accused of breaching the EU’s Digital Services Act, with the number one accusation being “misleading users.”

Margrethe Vestager, a senior official at the European Commission, read a statement on Friday addressing the issue and said:

“In our view, X does not comply with the DSA in key transparency areas, by using dark patterns and thus misleading users, by failing to provide an adequate ad repository, and by blocking access to data for researchers.”

Questions were also raised on how the company chose to handle account verification. The agency said that X’s criteria for offering the coveted blue check mark do not meet industry standards. So, in a way, it’s deceiving its users.

Unlike other social media platforms, where the verification mark is given out to public figures after careful consideration, X gives it out to anyone who pays for its monthly subscription. This means that users with malicious intent can easily gain the trust of others on the platform.

Last but not least, X also doesn’t provide adequate access to its public data to researchers. In fact, it also raised the prices to access company data and banned “scraping” of data on the platform.

A formal investigation was opened into X last year after authorities found some Hamas and Hezbollah-related accounts on X. Basically, X was granting verification to terrorist groups, who were regularly spewing hate content through their accounts.

Naturally, the EU is now also looking into X’s content moderation practices and evaluating if it’s doing enough to fight misinformation on the platform.

What Is the DSA?

One of the primary rules of the DSA is that companies should avoid “dark patterns”. Basically, it means that companies should refrain from adding any element to their platforms that will subtly nudge users to either give up their personal data or make a decision that the company wants them to make.

For example, you might have noticed that when you enter a new website, it tries to persuade you to share your personal details by displaying a large pop-up box in the middle of the text, while the option to cancel it is often hidden somewhere in small fonts.

So, sometimes, users who just want to get back to the site’s main content reluctantly share their details. This is a form of manipulation that the EU wants companies to avoid.

The post EU Accuses Elon Musk’s X of Deceiving Users & Breaching DSA Regulations appeared first on The Tech Report.

A bipartisan coalition of US Senators has established the Content Origin Protection and Integrity from Edited and Deepfaked Media Act (COPIED Act). The Act, led by Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell, proposes various measures to tackle deepfakes and AI copycats. 

The new legislative effort addresses the growing problem of AI-generated deep fakes and unauthorized copying by implementing watermarking technology to protect original content.

New Bill Addresses AI Deepfakes

The COPIED Act seeks to establish a universal system for watermarking AI-generated content. This development ensures creators can embed unique markers that AI tools cannot alter or remove.

The initiative aims to provide greater transparency and authenticity for online content, allowing creators to maintain control over their work.

Senator Cantwell emphasized the importance of this bill in a statement to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Transportation, and Science on July 11. She highlighted the need for creators, including artists, journalists, and musicians, to regain control over their intellectual property.

Recent legal battles and increasing scrutiny of AI practices have reinforced the motivation for this bill. For instance, The New York Times has sued OpenAI, accusing the company of copyright and intellectual property violations due to its data scraping activities.

Such concerns have also led giant technology companies, like Microsoft and Apple, to distance themselves from OpenAI.

Microsoft announced its departure from OpenAI’s board on July 10, just a year after making a significant $13 billion investment in the company. This move comes amid growing global regulatory concerns about privacy and data misuse in the AI industry.

More so, European Union regulators are also examining OpenAI’s activities, with potential antitrust investigations looming due to its partnership with Microsoft.

These developments reflect the urgent need for robust legislation like the COPIED Act to protect creators and ensure the ethical use of AI technology.

AI Usage Burgeons in China

Amid the recent move by the US Senators, China forges ahead with its AI adoption. A recent SAS and Coleman Parkes Research survey revealed that China is leading the global adoption and investment of generative AI technology.

The findings, released on July 9 by the US-based AI and analytics software company, reflect the responses of 1,600 decision-makers from various industries worldwide.

The survey highlighted that 83% of Chinese respondents reported using generative AI technology. This puts China ahead of other major economies in AI adoption.

In contrast, 70% of respondents in the United Kingdom have integrated generative AI into their operations, while the United States, known for developing cutting-edge AI models, shows a 65% adoption rate.

The average global adoption rate of generative AI is 54%. This technology is used extensively in sectors such as insurance, retail, banking, telecommunications, healthcare, manufacturing, and energy.

These industries leverage AI to enhance efficiency, innovation, and competitiveness in an increasingly digital world.

The post US Senators Introduce New Bill to Combat AI Deepfakes Using Watermarks appeared first on The Tech Report.

Microsoft’s $1.5 billion investment in UAE-based artificial intelligence (AI) company G42 has come under scrutiny. Two House committee chairs have sent a public letter to the White House to look into the deal and ensure that Microsoft is not using this as an opportunity to transfer sensitive technology to China.

The letter was penned by republican representatives Michael McCaul and John Moolenaar, chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

”This deal may be one of the most consequential investments by a US technology firm in the Middle East in decades. Should this deal proceed further, we must be clear-eyed about the risks.” – Open Letter

They aren’t the only ones concerned about this deal. UAE’s AI minister has also admitted that China’s trying to get its hands on US technology is a very valid concern, especially given the current relationship between the two countries.

About the Deal

The deal was announced in April this year and immediately sparked controversies. US authorities are worried that G42 has had friendly ties with China. Here are a few more concerns:

Last but not least, G42 is run by Peng Xiao, a Chinese businessman who is also the former CEO of Pegasus.

The allegations were all denied by Xiao himself and several steps were taken to minimize the risk of Chinese influence.

But despite all these precautions, it looks like these weren’t enough for the authorities to believe.

Microsoft’s Soft Spot For China

The reason why Microsoft is under so much scrutiny is because it’s known to have a soft spot for China. Owing to its huge population, China is a huge market, one that Microsoft doesn’t want to miss out on.

For example, it has a separate version of Bing for China that shows censored results. This arrangement has received a lot of criticism from the industry but it doesn’t seem to bother Microsoft. So it’s natural for the authorities to believe that it’s willing to do anything to stay on the good side of China.

The post White House Might Probe into Microsoft-G42 Deal over Security Concerns appeared first on The Tech Report.

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI is now working on a new reasoning technology codenamed “Strawberry”.

The news came to light through leaks reported by Bloomberg. According to the leak, the company hosted an internal all-hands meeting on Tuesday and showed a demo of this new project that is said to have human-like reasoning and problem-solving skills.

What makes it different is that instead of generating generic text-based responses from documents that have already been fed to it, Project Strawberry will enable AI models to run their own autonomous research. In the words of OpenAI itself, it will help AI models with “deep research”.

Project Strawberry will also help AI handle logical problems such as maths questions and puzzles better.

It has been seen that AI models often struggle with queries that require them to think out of their usual pattern. In these cases, they often end up hallucinating. This is what Strawberry will help fix.

It’s also believed that this project is based on another OpenAI project called Q* which started last year. Apparently, the team was super excited about this project.

Apart from this, most of the details about this project are under wraps. The timeline, its expected release date, or even how OpenAI plans to use “Strawberry” remains a mystery.

OpenAI also didn’t make any official comment on this leak. But a spokesperson from the company said that OpenAI wants its AI models to see and understand the world the way we humans do.

”Continuous research into new AI capabilities is a common practice in the industry, with a shared belief that these systems will improve in reasoning over time” – OpenAI

The Controversial Project Q*

This is the same project Q* which allegedly was the reason for Sam Altman’s firing from the OpenAI board. Experts and OpenAI scientists have also raised questions about the ‘unchecked’ growth of AI to a point where it becomes more powerful than humans.

Around 13 employees resigned from the company in early June. This included co-founder Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike, an internal member of the OpenAI superalignment team.

As per Jan, the company has deviated from its original principles and no longer prioritizes safety while developing AI models.

Since Strawberry is based on the controversial Project Q*, there can be questions raised about its safety as well.

The post OpenAI Is Secretly Working on a New Reasoning Technology Codenamed Project Strawberry appeared first on The Tech Report.

Apple has issued a warning for users across 98 countries about potential mercenary spyware attacks. Not much is known about the attack and Apple is yet to release the official list of all the countries that are at risk, but according to sources, users in India have already started receiving the new alert.

“Apple detected that you are being targeted by a mercenary spyware attack that is trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID.” – Apple’s alert message

The warning also mentioned that it’s possible you’re getting attacked because of who you are and what you do.

Apple also added that although attacks like these can never be detected with 100% certainty, this time around, the company is pretty confident about it—which is why it has requested all users to take the warning seriously.

Previous Spyware Attack Warnings by Apple

This isn’t the first time Apple has sent out a warning of this nature. The company has been sending similar threat notifications to users in over 150 countries since 2021.

For example, last October, Apple sent out warnings to several journalists and politicians about a possible attack.

Later, Amnesty International, a human rights advocacy group, discovered Pegasus—a highly invasive spyware developed by Israeli firm NSO Group—on the iPhones of a few well-known Indian journalists. Then, in September 2023, Apple rolled out an update to fix zero-day bugs linked to Pegasus spyware.

Another such warning was issued in April of this year to users from across 92 countries.

What Can You Do as a User?

Before you start to panic, it’s important to remember that not everyone will be affected by this spyware. As Apple said in its statement, the attack will depend on who you are or what you do.

Some precautionary measures to take note of:

Now, if you feel your device has been victim of a spyware attack, there’s, unfortunately, not much you can do hands-on. For an immediate remedy, though, you can try switching off your device. This will temporarily disable the spyware.

Alternatively, you can enable Lockdown Mode on your iPhone, but remember that this will affect other functionalities of your device as well.

The post Apple Issues New Spyware Attack Warning to iPhone Users across 98 Countries appeared first on The Tech Report.

Apple users in the EU will no longer be limited to using Apple Pay for making contactless payments through their phones.

This decision was made after the EU antitrust regulators opined that Apple might be restricting competition by not allowing other mobile wallets to work on iPhones.

To avoid this, it decided to allow third-party payment apps on its platform, bringing the 4-year long investigation to an end.

Once everything is set in place, the users will have the option to choose which wallet they want to set as default.

Apple has until July 25 to implement the changes, which will stay in place for at least 10 years across 30 countries in the European Economic Area.

Users of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet can continue using those services. There will be no changes to them after the investigation.

How Does the EU Commission Feel about Apple’s Decision?

The decision to allow this-party payment apps addresses the preliminary concern in its antitrust investigation against Apple. So naturally, the authorities are pleased with this move.

“iPhone users will (now) be able to use their preferred mobile wallet for payments in stores… while enjoying all the iPhone functionalities, including double click, tap-and-go, and Face ID.” – EU’s competition chief Margrethe Vestager

She also added that this change will only be implemented on iPhones – Apple smartwatches have been excluded. That’s because the number of people who use smartwatches to make payments is too small to limit competition and it isn’t doing much harm to Apple’s rivals.

A Brief History of the Investigation

The EU Commission launched a probe into Apple Pay in 2020. The preliminary investigation was focused on the terms and conditions that the company sets for integrating Apple Pay in apps and websites as well as the tap-and-go technology.

This goes against the antitrust regulations of the EU. Then, Apple was notified about this finding which resulted in multiple commitments from the company to address this issue.

Finally, in January, it first spoke of allowing third-party digital wallets in its iPhone ecosystem. While this might not be the best news for Apple, it will certainly benefit customers, who will now have more options to choose from, and digital payment companies who will have a whole new group of consumers to cater to.

The post iPhone Users Can Now Make Contactless Payments Through Third-Party Wallets: Apple Pay Monopoly Ends appeared first on The Tech Report.

Microsoft has decided to quit its ‘observer seat’ on the OpenAI board amidst growing regulatory scrutiny over the relationship between big tech firms and AI startups in the U.S. and Europe.

What’s even more interesting is that Apple, which was expecting to take on an observatory role on OpenAI’s board amidst the integration of ChatGPT with iPhones, will also no longer take the seat.

Apple has declined to comment on the matter, but a person with direct knowledge of the case has confirmed Apple’s stance on this.

Brief History of Microsoft’s Partnership with OpenAI

Microsoft is one of the biggest investors in OpenAI, having already invested $13 billion in the AI firm. Last year, when OpenAI was riddled with chaos and Sam Altman was briefly ousted from the company, Microsoft was asked to take an observatory seat on the board.

This partnership proved to be beneficial for both companies. OpenAI benefited from Microsoft’s funding, computing powers, and cloud storage, whereas Microsoft benefited from being one of the first to get hands on OpenAI’s powerful AI tech.

However, according to Microsoft, times have changed now, and the observatory role is no longer needed. It further said that OpenAI has witnessed tremendous growth since last year’s drama, and its newly formed board is more than capable of taking the business ahead without supervision.

OpenAI has responded to Microsoft’s letter with gratitude, thanking Microsoft for showing confidence in the new board. “We look forward to continuing our successful partnership,” a spokesperson from OpenAI said.

Actual Reason behind Microsoft Quitting OpenAI Board

Regardless of what Microsoft says, it’s very likely that the actual reason it let go of its observatory role is the impending antitrust investigation from the EU.

Lately, the EU Commission has been extremely focused on big companies like Microsoft to ensure they don’t hijack the market. The Commission wants every single industry to have fair competition and enough opportunities for smaller rivals.

Lo and behold, the Microsoft-OpenAI tie-up was singled out as a case that the EU Commission will be studying.

However, the Commission concluded that Micorosft’s observatory rule doesn’t undermine OpenAI’s independence. Sadly, though, the investigation didn’t stop there, as the regulators are now seeking third-party opinions on the matter.

It’s also worth noting that something similar happened in the U.S. as well. The Federal Trade Commission has decided to study the partnership between five tech companies (Microsoft being one of them) and generative AI startups.

All in all, the likelihood of Microsoft deciding to step down from the OpenAI board to avoid another legal entanglement is very high.

Read more: FTC & the DOJ launch antitrust investigation against Microsoft

The post Microsoft Steps Down from Observatory Role on OpenAI’s Board Amidst Growing EU Scrutiny appeared first on The Tech Report.

Meta has decided to change some of its content rules surrounding the use of the word “zionist”, which is often used interchangeably for Jews and Israelis in hate speeches.

On Tuesday, the company expanded its current policy for hate speeches and said that any post that uses the word zionist along with antisemitic tropes or dehumanizing rhetoric will be removed.

If a user is found constantly violating the policy, their account will either be suspended or removed. Only posts that actually talk about the political movement without a negative undertone will be allowed on the platform.

Previously, the company’s Hate Speech policy treated the word ZIonist as a proxy for Jews and Israelis in only two cases:

While these provisions will remain in place, Meta realized the need for additional policy guidance to address the different ways in which the word is used.

How Did Meta Handle the Issue?

This isn’t a recent issue. For the past many years, the company has revisited the misuse of the word again and again until March this year when it decided to take a more definite step.

Hence, it examined the issue through its Policy Forum and collaborated with various external experts to see how people use the word.

A total of 145 stakeholders from various backgrounds representing civil society and academia across Africa, Asia, North America, Europe, and the Middle East have been consulted in the process.

Although it’s impossible to achieve a global consensus on the rightful use of the word, the research revealed that when this word is used on the platform, it’s mostly in relation to hateful content against Jews and Israelis.

This is not to say that users don’t have the freedom to express their opinions. However, the words they choose to express those opinions and the way they frame them make all the difference.

Giving an example, the company explained that it won’t allow a post that says “People of ‘X religion’ are stupid,”  but it will allow a post that says “Supporters of ‘X political movement’ are stupid.”

The Only Hiccup – Criminal Comparison 

While the rest of the matter is resolved, one tiny confusion remains i.e. how to handle comparison between zionists and criminals. For every ”protected characteristic”, comparison with criminals is strictly prohibited.

However, the companies noted that sometimes the comparisons are made to the government, military, or other groups.

For example, the phrase “The Americans” is a phrase often used to refer to the American government. In that case, the speech is simply political and not hateful.

So when the term “zionist” is used in a similar context, Meta is unsure how to handle that. It’s waiting for the Oversight Board to share its insights on the matter.

Closing Thoughts

Making changes to a policy is one thing but making sure it gets implemented is another thing. So the company added at the end that these changes cannot be expected to take place overnight. Twitter (X) has also been labeling tweets for hate speech since April last year.

Meta uses both technology and human content reviewers to monitor posts on its platform but they do come with limitations. So implementing these policies, especially with such nuances will be challenging. It will take time and a lot of trial and testing to get it right.

The post Meta Updates Its Hate Speech Policy to Remove Posts Speaking Negatively About Zionists appeared first on The Tech Report.

Microsoft is planning to ban its employees in China from using Android devices to log into its corporate network. The entire Microsoft China staff will have to shift to iPhones by September 2024.

This policy update was announced through an internal Microsoft memo sent out to the company’s employees in China and was first brought to light by a Bloomberg report.

Multiple data breaches one after the other, along with a report from the U.S. government that called out the company’s ineffective cybersecurity practices, have forced Microsoft to go down this path. What’s more, the U.S. Congress banned Copilot from staff devices just a couple of months ago.

Another reason for this drastic policy change is the unavailability of the Google Play Store in China. Employees are forced to rely on Xiaomi and Huawei app stores, much to the displeasure of the tech firm.

On the other hand, the Apple App Store works perfectly well in the country, making it a suitable alternative for the company and its workforce in China.

How Will This Change Roll Out?

Since Microsoft’s China Android ban is expected to affect hundreds of employees, the company has taken it upon itself to carry out the process smoothly.

For starters, all Microsoft employees with a smartphone will be issued an iPhone 15 by the company itself. This is commendable, although Android fanboys like me would argue that even a basic $200 Android phone beats the iPhone 15 when it comes to display and battery life.

Next, each Microsoft facility will have a dedicated place where the employees can come and pick up their new devices.

Once on their new device, the staff will also be asked to install the Microsoft Authenticator password manager and Identity Pass app.

In Other News

While Microsoft doesn’t think Chinese phone makers like Huawei and Xiaomi are capable of offering a secure work environment to its staff, it continues to support China at a time when most U.S. companies are turning their backs on it.

A spokesperson from the company said that there has been no change to Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service offerings in China. Eligible customers in the country will continue to have access through models deployed outside the region.

The spokesperson also added that while Microsoft is a major investor in OpenAI, the latter is still an independent company that makes its own decisions, unrelated to Microsoft.

The post Microsoft China Bans Android, Asks Employees to Switch to iPhone Amidst Security Concerns appeared first on The Tech Report.

A brand new type of scam has hit the market that has left authorities puzzled. Scammers are targeting previous scam victims and in the name of helping them, are scamming them again. Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission issued a warning today.

‘Victims of previous scams are easily identified by criminals who commonly keep and sell information about individuals they have exploited’ – Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission

Senior citizens, those over 65 are the most common victims of this scam. 158 reports have already been registered with the ACCC and the losses amount to over AU$2.9 million ($1.9 million), including losses from the original scam.

The Commission believes that the actual number can be much higher considering some attacks never get reported.

How Does This Scam Work?

Here’s how scammers are tricking past victims.

Step 1 – Scammers pretend to be trusted third parties such as lawyers, government agencies, fund recovery services, consumer advocacy groups, or charities.

Step 2 – Then they reach out to the victims of previous scams with a promise to help them recover their data. In return, they ask for payment in terms of an upfront fee, a percentage of the recovered fund, or through tax payment. This is where they first dupe the victim.

Step 3 – Next, they often ask for personal details claiming that they need to verify the user or create a digital wallet (in the case of a cryptocurrency scam). If the victim falls for the trick, this information is later used in other forms of scams.

Step 4 – In some extreme cases, the scammer also asks for remote access to the victim’s device which gives them complete access to everything the user has on their device including passwords, documents, personal images/videos, and credit card information.

Step 5 – There’s another way scammers are getting to these victims. They pretend to be victims themselves who somehow managed to get their money back and they offer their so-called expertise to others through popup ads, websites, or social media platforms.

Two such websites have already been flagged by the Commission and one of them was taken down by the Australian authorities. While this is good news, it’s not going to help the victims get their money back. And unless some arrests are made, more such websites will keep popping up.

However, when this code will be introduced is yet to be known. Given the increasing number of reports, we can only hope that the ACCC takes quick action.

The post Scammers Are Now Targeting Previous Scam Victims Under the Pretense of Helping Them appeared first on The Tech Report.

The lawyers who got Elon Musk’s massive pay package voided earlier this year are now in court once again, but this time they are asking for a massive fee for helping out a Tesla stockholder.

Sounds confusing right? Let’s rewind a little and start from the beginning.

Elon Musk was given a $55.8bn (£44bn) pay deal from Tesla – the electric car company where he serves as the CEO.

However, one of the shareholders, Richard Tornetta (who owns only 9 Tesla shares) thought that he was being overpaid and appealed against it. As a result, Judge Kathaleen McCormick of the US state of Delaware canceled the deal.

This is not an exaggeration. Musk’s package was literally one of the biggest ever in the US corporate history. So much so that it was one of the factors that helped him be among the richest men in the world.

What Do the Lawyers Want?

Now that the case is over, the lawyers are here for their own share and they want a big one. They are asking their payment to be made in the form of Tesla stocks worth $7 billion at current trading prices.

The request has been made to Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, who even after a full day of expert-witness testimony and arguments by attorneys, doesn’t seem likely to approve the request.

What Do the Lawyers Have to Say About Their Request?

The lawyers are still convinced that their request is justified. They also argue that their request is well within the provisions of Delaware law. Traditionally, attorneys are entitled to a 33% fee recovery whereas their request is just 11% of the additional value they created by getting Musk’s package rescinded.

‘We did battle with the very best. Litigation against Tesla is never easy. There are companies who play by the rules every day, and then there are companies like Tesla.’ – Attorney Greg Varallo

On the other hand, the opposers of this fee request said that the attorneys deserve no fee at all. Their actions did not benefit the company in any way, if anything, they did a lot of damage.

Others argue that whatever fee is granted to the attorneys should be purely based on the number of hours they worked and a reasonable hourly rate for the same should be decided.

The lawyers have acknowledged all the criticisms and offered an alternative. They are ready to take $1.44 billion in cash which equals an hourly fee of about $74,000. To give you a better understanding of the difference, their current fee requests amount to an hourly rate of about $288,000.

The post Lawyers Who Fought Against Musk’s Pay Seek $7 Billion Tesla Stocks appeared first on The Tech Report.

On July 4, Apple removed 25 virtual private network (VPN) apps from its App Store in Russia following a request by Russia’s state communications and internet watchdog Roskomnadzor.

Reason behind This Move

Just like China, Putin’s Russia, too, likes to exercise online censorship and control the kind of content its citizens can access. This is also why a lot of popular websites such as Wikipedia, Reddit, and Facebook are blocked in the country.

Following its invasion of Ukraine, international news outlets such as BBC were also blocked in Russia and the rest of the internet became heavily restricted. Without access to independent news channels and global social media platforms, Russia ensures that dissidents in the country are kept to a minimum.

To bypass such restrictions and access the internet in its entirety, millions of people in Russia resorted to using VPNs.

How VPNs Help with Bypassing Geo-Restrictions

For example, a person in Russia who’d generally be unable to access content and sites banned in the country would be able to bypass these restrictions by using a VPN to change their device’s location.

So, by connecting to a VPN server in, say, the United Kingdom, they could stream BBC News and access Russia-banned platforms such as Facebook to communicate with the rest of the world.

Needless to say, Russian citizens’ VPN usage didn’t sit right with the Russian government, which is why they’ve been taking steps to ensure they cannot circumvent the restrictions that have been put in place by the authorities.

Apple has no choice but to comply with Russia’s request of removing VPN apps. If it doesn’t, it might be next on Russia’s list of blacklisted companies. In a letter sent by Apple to the removed VPNs, it says that they’re in violation of Russian law, which is why they have been removed.

Interestingly, though, the letter was sent after the VPNs were removed from the App Store. Plus, Apple didn’t specify which Russian regulations the VPNs violated.

Reaction to Russia’s VPN Ban: What Do VPN Companies Have to Say

The VPN companies are unhappy with Russia’s latest announcement. For instance, Red Shield VPN said that by complying with Roskomnadzor in order to keep its business in Russia, Apple is directly supporting an authoritarian regime. This is not just a reckless move but also a crime against civil society.

Le VPN shared similar sentiments. “This event marks a significant step in Roskomnadzor’s ongoing efforts to control internet access and content within Russian territory,”  it said in a statement.

Interestingly, Le VPN is not alone. Sources say that a few freelance programmers and VPN companies have also decided to push back by building tools that are equipped to avoid censorship.

At the time of writing, we don’t have a lot of details about this initiative but it’s not too surprising that people are revolting. After all, no-quibble access to the internet is a fundamental right in today’s world and such blatant abuse of authority was bound to be met with revolution. Stay tuned for more information.

The post Apple Removes 25 VPN Apps from Its App Store in Russia appeared first on The Tech Report.

Encryption on your home router might be helping you but it’s certainly not helping the law enforcement authorities. That’s why Europol has suggested two solutions to tackle this issue.

Doing so will allow domestic service providers to intercept communication from users through foreign SIM cards without accidentally disclosing information about the person of interest with parties from different countries.

Which is a Better Solution? 

The first solution is easier to deploy and technically feasible. Plus, both local and roaming customers would benefit from an encryption similar to that offered by national SIM cards. The only ones who would not be benefitting from this added security are the subscribers abroad.

“This solution maintains the current level of security, including privacy, and is equal for roamers and local users.” – Europol

The second option, on the other hand, enables PET for everyone but then, people from other member states will learn about the person(s) of interest in an investigation. Plus, this will require a “structural implementation of cross-border standards.”

Read more: Europol warns that criminals already misuse ChatGPT

What is Home Routing?

Home Routing is a system in which customers traveling abroad can route their calls through their home network instead of the network of their present country.

This affects both locals using foreign SIM cards and foreign nationals using local SIM cards. This is the loophole that criminals are using to evade detection and although there are ways to gain information, none of those are practical.

Hence, the agency is trying to bring about a change to strengthen its domestic investigatory powers.

It’s important to note that these are not the only two solutions. Europol right now is only trying to bring attention to the problem brought by Home Routing encryption in law enforcement and hoping that legislatures, national authorities, and telco service providers can work together to come up with a robust solution.

The post Europol Suggests Two Solutions to Bypass Encryption in Home Routing appeared first on The Tech Report.

In January 2024, it came to light that scammers were selling fake Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards. Although selling counterfeits isn’t anything new, what was surprising is that there were a bunch of similar cases in January alone.

Now, fast forward to July, and the Nvidia 4090 graphics card scam just got to a whole new level. The scam seems to be ongoing, and scammers have made it harder to recognize dupes. The fakes are now so realistic that even experts will need to take a closer look to correctly identify them.

This is what happened with North West Repair (NWR) when a customer sent him a faulty RTX 4090 for repair.

How Did North West Repair (NWR) Spot the Fake?

For starters, when the individual was soldering the core, he noticed that the memory chips had two types of solder underneath them: leaded and lead-free. This was the first giveaway.

He then took a closer look, which revealed that at least two of the chips looked like they were 256 MB and not 2 GB.

Also, the top of the chips looked flat. So, when he compared it to a real chip, it became very clear that the ones sent by the customer were fake.

The next sign was the core. He, in fact, noticed right at the beginning that the resistance on the core was extremely high—as if the core wasn’t even there.

Then, after he found out that the memory chips were fake, he took a second look at the core. Soon (followed by a discussion by other techs), it was discovered that the core, too, was fake.

What Can Users Do to Avoid This Scam?

At the moment, it looks quite difficult to tell the fakes apart from the original. As mentioned above, even an expert had to take apart the whole thing to be able to tell the difference.

However, there are certain precautions you can surely take to avoid burning your hard-earned cash on a fake product. These include:

The post Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Scams Are Now Harder to Recognize appeared first on The Tech Report.

In a bizarre incident, and certainly one that sounds straight out of a post-apocalyptic world, a civil servant robot that worked for the Gumi City Council in South Korea has committed suicide.

As per reports, this is the first robot suicide ever documented. Prior to this, there was another report that a robot called Steve committed suicide in Washington by drowning itself in a fountain. However, it was later ruled that it was an accident caused by skidding off a “loose brick surface.”

About the Robot & the Cause behind Its Suicide

The robot was built by a California-based startup called Bear Robotics. It was appointed in October 2023 (the first ever robot appointed by the Gumi City Council) and was nicknamed Robot Supervisor.

Just like all the other “human” employees, it worked a 9-4 shift and even had its own employee card. Its job was to help with delivering documents and information and city promotions, and as per the staff, it was really proficient at what it did. They really thought of the robot as one of them.

The smashed pieces have been collected and are currently undergoing investigation. So, until the reports are back, nothing can be said for sure. Perhaps it had loans it couldn’t pay off or an inadequate work-life balance?

It’s well worth noting, though, that it’s highly unlikely that this was an accident because, unlike other robots in service that are usually confined to just one floor, the Robot Supervisor was used to traveling between floors through the elevator.

However, at the end of the day, it was a sophisticated piece of machinery, so it could well just be an internal fault that led to its undoing. As I said, we’ll have to wait until we hear more on this from the authorities.

Will There Be Another Robot to Replace This One?

The Gumi City Council has decided against immediately replacing the robot. There might be one in the future, though, especially considering South Korea is one of the few countries that actively appoints robots in different industries.

In fact, a report by the International Federation of Robotics revealed that for every ten regular “human” employees in South Korea, there’s one robot employee.

The post Civil Servant Robot Commits Suicide in South Korea appeared first on The Tech Report.