Airbus Says Most of Its Recalled 6,000 A320 Jets Now Modified
Airbus said Monday that the vast majority of around 6,000 A320-family jets affected by an emergency software recall have now been modified, leaving fewer than 100 aircraft still requiring work after a frantic weekend of repairs prompted by the discovery of a vulnerability to solar flares. The unprecedented recall – described as the broadest emergency a … ⌘ Read more

China’s Central Bank Flags Money Laundering and Fraud Concerns With Stablecoins
China’s central bank has flagged stablecoins as a specific concern in its latest push against virtual currencies, warning that the tokens fail to meet requirements for customer identification and anti-money-laundering controls and risk being used for fraud, money laundering, and unauthorized cross-border fund transfers.

T … ⌘ Read more

Former CEO Blasts Intel’s ‘Decay’: ‘We Don’t Know How To Engineer Anymore’
Pat Gelsinger, the former Intel CEO who was pushed out in late 2024 during a five-year turnaround effort, told the Financial Times that the “decay” he found when he returned to the company in 2021 was “deeper and harder than I’d realized.” In the five years before his return, “not a single product was delivered on schedule,” he said. “Bas … ⌘ Read more

Two Former US Congressmen Announce Fundraising for Candidates Supporting AI Regulation
Two former U.S. congressmen announced this week that they’re launching two tax-exempt fundraising groups “to back candidates who support AI safeguards,”
reports The Hill, “as a counterweight to industry-backed groups.”

Former Representatives Chris Stewart (Republican-Utah) and Brad Carson (Democrat-Okl … ⌘ Read more

Amazon and Google Announce Resilient ‘Multicloud’ Networking Service Plus an Open API for Interoperability
Their announcement calls it “more than a multicloud solution,” saying it’s “a step toward a more open cloud environment. The API specifications developed for this product are open for other providers and partners to adopt, as we aim to simplify global connectivity f … ⌘ Read more

Russia Left Without Access to ISS Following Structure Collapse During Thursday’s Launch
After a successful November 27th launch to the International Space Station, Russia discovered an accident had occurred on their launch site’s mobile maintenance cabin — when a drone spotted it lying upside down in a flame trench.

“The main issue with the structure collapse is that it puts Site 31/6 … ⌘ Read more

Linux Kernel 6.18 Officially Released
From the blog 9to5Linux:

Linux kernel 6.18 is now available for download, as announced today by Linus Torvalds himself, featuring enhanced hardware support through new and updated drivers, improvements to file systems and networking, and more.

Highlights of Linux 6.18 include the removal of the Bcachefs file system, support for the Rust Binder driver, a new dm-pcache device-mapper target to enable … ⌘ Read more

How OpenAI Reacted When Some ChatGPT Users Lost Touch with Reality
Some AI experts were reportedly shocked ChatGPT wasn’t fully tested for sycophancy by last spring. “OpenAI did not see the scale at which disturbing conversations were happening,” writes the New York Times — sharing what they learned after interviewing more than 40 current and former OpenAI employees, including safety engineers, executives, and re … ⌘ Read more

‘Crime Rings Enlist Hackers To Hijack Trucks’
It’s “a complex mix of internet access and physical execution,” says the chief informance security officer at Cequence Security.

Long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 summarizes this article from The Wall Street Journal:

By breaking into carriers’ online systems, cyber-powered criminals are making off with truckloads of electronics, beverages and other goods In the most recent tactics id … ⌘ Read more

Can AI Transform Space Propulsion?
An anonymous reader shared this report from The Conversation:

To make interplanetary travel faster, safer, and more efficient, scientists need breakthroughs in propulsion technology. Artificial intelligence is one type of technology that has begun to provide some of these necessary breakthroughs. We’re a team of engineers and graduate students who are studying how AI in general, and a subset of AI call … ⌘ Read more

Info to Decipher Secret Message in Kryptos Sculpture at CIA HQ Auctioned for Nearly $1M
An anonymous reader shared this report from the Associated Press:

The information needed to decipher the last remaining unsolved secret message embedded within a sculpture at CIA headquarters in Virginia sold at auction for nearly $1 million, the auction house announced Friday. The winner will get a pri … ⌘ Read more

Morgan Stanley Warns Oracle Credit Protection Nearing Record High
A gauge of risk on Oracle debt “reached a three-year high in November,” reports Bloomberg.

“And things are only going to get worse in 2026 unless the database giant is able to assuage investor anxiety about a massive artificial intelligence spending spree, according to Morgan Stanley.”

A funding gap, swelling balance sheet and obsolesce … ⌘ Read more

What Happens When You Kick Millions of Teens Off Social Media? Australia’s About to Find Out
27 million people live in Australia. But there’s a big change coming if you’re under 16, reports CNN:

From December 10, sites that meet the Australian government’s definition of an “age-restricted social media platform” will need to show that they’re doing enough to eject or block children u … ⌘ Read more

Amazon Tells Its Engineers: Use Our AI Coding Tool ‘Kiro’
“Amazon suggested its engineers eschew AI code generation tools from third-party companies in favor of its own ,” reports Reuters, “a move to bolster its proprietary Kiro service, which it released in July, according to an internal memo viewed by Reuters.”

In the memo, posted to Amazon’s internal news site, the company said, “While we continue to support ex … ⌘ Read more

Is OpenAI Preparing to Bring Ads to ChatGPT?
“OpenAI is now internally testing ‘ads’ inside ChatGPT,” reports BleepingComputer:

Up until now, the ChatGPT experience has been completelyfree. While there are premium plans and models, you don’t see GPT sell you products or show ads. On the other hand, Google Search has ads that influence your buying behaviour. OpenAI is planning to replicate a similar experience.

As spotted [by softwa … ⌘ Read more

AI Can Already Do the Work of 12% of America’s Workforce, Researchers Find
An anonymous reader shared this report from CBS News:

Artificial intelligence can do the work currently performed by nearly 12% of America’s workforce, according to a recentstudy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The researchers, relying on a metric called the “Iceberg Index” that measures a job’s potential to be aut … ⌘ Read more

Benedict Cumberbatch Films Two Bizarre Holiday Ads: for ‘World of Tanks’ and Amazon
“There are times when World of Tanks feels less like a videogame and more like a giant ad budget looking for something to be spent on,” writes PC Gamer.

This year, all those huge sacks with dollar signs on them have been thrown Benedict Cumberbatch’s way, making him the game’s newest “Holiday Ambassador” and t … ⌘ Read more

Browser Extension ‘Slop Evader’ Lets You Surf the Web Like It’s 2022
“The internet is being increasingly polluted by AI generated text, images and video,” argues the site for a new browser extension called Slop Evader. It promises to use Google’s search API “to only return content published before Nov 30th, 2022” — the day ChatGPT launched — “so you can be sure that it was written or produced by the human han … ⌘ Read more

AI Helps Drive Record $11.8B in Black Friday Online Spending
Earlier this month MasterCard noted that even Walmart now allows its customers to make purchases through ChatGPT. And after polling more than 4,000 consumers in the U.S., Canada, U.K., and UAE, they found “more than four in 10 consumers already use AI tools to help them shop, including 61% of Gen Z and 57% of millennials.”

Many (50% of Gen Z and 49% of millenn … ⌘ Read more

Are There More Linux Users Than We Think?
“By my count, Linux has over 11% of the desktop market,” writes ZDNet’s Steven Vaughan-Nichols:

In StatCounter’s latest US numbers, which cover through October, Linux shows up as only 3.49%. But if you look closer, “unknown” accounts for 4.21%. Allow me to make an educated guess here: I suspect those unknown desktops are actually running Linux. What else could it be? FreeBSD? Unix? OS/2? Unl … ⌘ Read more

Scientists Discover People Act More Altruistic When Batman Is Present
Psychology Today reports:

In a study conducted in Milan, Italy, and published in November 2025, the sight of a person dressed as Batman led to a nearly doubled rate of people giving up their seat to a pregnant woman. Over the course of 138 subway rides, researchers found that people who saw “Batman” standing near the pregnant woman … ⌘ Read more

Defense Company Announces an AI-Powered Dome to Shield Cities and Infrastructure From Attacks
An anonymous reader shared this report from CNBC:

Italian defense company Leonardo on Thursday unveiled plans for an AI-powered shield for cities and critical infrastructure, adding to Europe’s push to ramp up sovereign defense capabilities amid rising geopolitical tensions.

The system, … ⌘ Read more

The Battle Over Africa’s Great Untapped Resource: IP Addresses
In his mid-20s, Lu Heng “got an idea that has made him a lot richer,” writes the Wall Street Journal.

He scooped up 10 million unused IP addresses, mostly form Africa, and then leases them to companies, mostly outside Africa, “that need them badly.”

[A]round half of internet traffic continues to use IPv4, because changing to IPv6 can be expensive a … ⌘ Read more

Hundreds of Free Software Supporters Tuned in For ‘FSF40’ Hackathon
The Free Software Foundation describes how “After months of preparation and excitement, we finally came together on November 21 for a global online hackathon to support free software projects and “put a spotlight on the difficult and often thankless work that free software hackers carry out…”

Based on how many of you dropped in over the wee … ⌘ Read more

63% of Americans Polled say Four-Year College Degrees Aren’t Worth the Cost
Almost two-thirds of registered U.S. voters “say that a four-year college degree isn’t worth the cost,” according to a new NBC News poll:

Just 33% agree a four-year college degree is “worth the cost because people have a better chance to get a good job and earn more money over their lifetime,” while 63% agree more with the con … ⌘ Read more

Uber Launches Driverless Robotaxi Service in Abu Dhabi, and Plans Many More
“A year after launching a commercial robotaxi service in Abu Dhabi, Chinese autonomous vehicle technology company WeRide and partner Uber can finally call that service driverless,” reports TechCrunch.
A company official hailed it as “a historic transportation milestone, as the first driverless AV deployment outside of the U.S … ⌘ Read more

How Bad Will RAM and Memory Shortages Get?
Digital Trends reports:
A wave of shortages now threatens to ripple across RAM, SSDs, and even hard drives, affecting not only performance-hungry rigs but also everyday systems.

— CyberPowerPC has publicly confirmed it will raise prices on all systems starting December 7th due to RAM costs spiking by 500% and SSD prices doubling since October.
— Memory suppliers warn of a global DRAM … ⌘ Read more

New Hyperloop Projects Continue in Europe
Hyperloop One ceased operations in December 2023, notes CNN. “Yet nearly two years on, in other parts of the world, hyperloop projects are ongoing.” For example, Rotterdam-based Hardt Hyperloop has a cool web site — and the company’s managing director tells CNN that hyperloops are the only “actionable, sustainable solution to replace short-haul air travel” over distances greater than 300 mil … ⌘ Read more

Viral Song Created with Suno’s genAI Removed From Streaming Platforms, Re-Released With Human Vocals
An EDM song by the British group Haven ran into trouble in October after it shared clips of upcoming song “I Run” on TikTok.

The song “was an overnight viral sensation online,” writes Digital Music News — racking up millions of plays “even before it hit streaming serv … ⌘ Read more

OpenAI Partners Amass $100 Billion Debt Pile To Fund Its Ambitions
OpenAI’s data centre partners are on course to amass almost $100 billion in borrowing tied to the lossmaking start-up, as the ChatGPT maker benefits from a debt-fuelled spending spree without taking on financial risks itself. Financial Times: SoftBank, Oracle and CoreWeave have borrowed at least $30 billion to invest in the start-up or help build i … ⌘ Read more

Officials Clashed in Investigation of Deadly Air India Crash
The investigation into the June 12 Air India crash that killed 260 people has been marked by tension, suspicion and poor communication between American and Indian officials, including an episode where NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy instructed her black-box specialists not to board a late-night Indian military flight to a remote facility, WSJ reports.

W … ⌘ Read more

The Mysterious Black Fungus From Chernobyl That May Eat Radiation
Black fungus found growing inside Chernobyl’s destroyed reactor may be feeding on radiation, and researchers have tested samples of the same species aboard the International Space Station to explore whether it could eventually shield astronauts from cosmic rays. Ukrainian scientist Nelli Zhdanova first discovered the melanin-rich mould colonizi … ⌘ Read more

Airbus Issues Major A320 Recall, Threatening Global Flight Disruption
Europe’s Airbus said on Friday it was ordering immediate repairs to 6,000 of its widely used A320 family of jets in a sweeping recall affecting more than half the global fleet, threatening upheaval during the busiest travel weekend of the year in the United States and disruption worldwide. From a report: The setback appears to be among t … ⌘ Read more

EU To Examine If Apple Ads and Maps Subject To Tough Rules, Apple Says No
EU antitrust regulators will examine whether Apple’s Apple Ads and Apple Maps should be subject to the onerous requirements of the bloc’s digital rules after both services hit key criteria, with the U.S. tech giant saying they should be exempted. From a report: Apple’s App Store, iOS operating system and Safari web browser were d … ⌘ Read more

Scientists Think They’ve Solved Why One of History’s Most Advanced Civilizations Vanished
A new study published in Communications Earth & Environment has reconstructed the climate conditions of the ancient Indus River Valley civilization between 3000 and 1000 B.C., finding that four intense droughts – each lasting more than 85 years – likely drove the gradual decline of one of the w … ⌘ Read more

China-Netherlands Chip Fight Turns Into Corporate Civil War
The bitter standoff between Dutch chipmaker Nexperia – which supplies basic chips crucial to 49% of European automakers, over 85% of medical device companies, and the entire defense industry – and its Chinese parent company Wingtech escalated on Friday when both Wingtech and Nexperia’s Chinese unit accused the Dutch business of secretly building a supply chai … ⌘ Read more

Australia Risks 2035 Climate Goal Without Bigger Emissions Cuts
Australia warned it’s in danger of missing its 2035 climate targets without deeper pollution cuts, which in turn threatens the nation’s ambitions to reach net zero by mid-century. From a report: Emissions are set to fall 48% by 2035 from 2005 levels based on current projections [non-paywalled source], the government said in a report on Thursday. … ⌘ Read more

Singapore Takes Top Spot in Global Talent Index
Singapore has claimed the top spot in the 2025 Global Talent Competitiveness Index for the first time, displacing Switzerland from a position the European nation had held since the ranking’s inception in 2013. The index, produced by business school INSEAD and the Portulans Institute, measured 135 economies across 77 indicators spanning soft skills, AI talent concentration, and fo … ⌘ Read more

Europe Fears It Can’t Catch Up in Great Power Competition
European leaders have spent years warning that the continent risked falling behind the U.S., China and Russia in the global contest for economic, technological and military dominance, and officials now believe they have reached that point.

The mood darkened over the summer when Europe found itself on the sidelines as Washington and Beijing negotiated a reset of glo … ⌘ Read more

Someone Is Trying To ‘Hack’ People Through Apple Podcasts
Apple’s Podcasts app on both iOS and Mac has been exhibiting strange behavior for months, spontaneously launching and presenting users with obscure religion, spirituality and education podcasts they never subscribed to – and at least one of these podcasts contains a link attempting a cross-site scripting attack, 404 Media reports. Joseph Cox, a journalist at t … ⌘ Read more

Australia’s Streaming Quotas Become Law
Australia’s streaming quotas have become law. Legislation requiring the likes of Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max to spend a portion of their local earnings on original Australian content has been passed in parliament, and now comes into effect. From a report: The quotas were announced earlier this month. This will see global streamers with more than one million Australian subscribers made t … ⌘ Read more

Robots and AI Are Already Remaking the Chinese Economy
China installed 295,000 industrial robots last year – nearly nine times as many as the United States and more than the rest of the world combined – as the country races to automate its manufacturing base amid rising labor costs at home and tariff threats from abroad.

The nation’s stock of operational robots surpassed 2 million in 2024, according to the Intern … ⌘ Read more

Violent Conflict Over Water Hit a Record Last Year
Researchers at the Pacific Institute documented 420 water-related conflicts globally in 2024, a record that far surpasses the 355 incidents logged in 2023 and continues a trend that has seen such violence more than quadruple over the past five years. The Oakland-based water think tank’s database tracks disputes where water triggered violence, where water systems were target … ⌘ Read more

Major AI Conference Flooded With Peer Reviews Written Fully By AI
An analysis of submissions to next year’s International Conference on Learning Representations has found that roughly one in five peer reviews were fully generated by AI, a discovery that came after researchers including Carnegie Mellon’s Graham Neubig grew suspicious of feedback on their manuscripts that seemed unusually verbose and requested n … ⌘ Read more

Why Can’t ChatGPT Tell Time?
ChatGPT can browse the web, write code and analyze images, but ask it what time it is and you might get the correct answer, a confident wrong answer, or a polite refusal – sometimes all three within minutes of each other.

The problem stems from how large language models work. These systems predict answers based on training data and don’t receive constant real-time updates about things like time unless they specifically se … ⌘ Read more

AWS Introduces DNS Failover Feature for Its Notoriously Unreliable US East Region
Amazon Web Services has rolled out a DNS resilience feature that allows customers to make domain name system changes within 60 minutes of a service disruption in its US East region, a direct response to the long history of outages at the cloud giant’s most troubled infrastructure.

AWS said customers in regulated i … ⌘ Read more

Seven Years Later, Airbus is Still Trying To Kick Its Microsoft Habit
Breaking free from Microsoft is harder than it looks. Airbus began migrating its 100,000-plus workforce from Office to Google Workspace more than seven years ago and it still hasn’t completed the switch. The Register: As we exclusively revealed in March 2018, the aerospace giant told 130,000 employees it was ditching Microsoft’s productivit … ⌘ Read more

Canada Rolls Back Climate Rules To Boost Investments
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney has signed an agreement with Alberta’s premier that will roll back certain climate rules to spur investment in energy production, while encouraging construction of a new oil pipeline to the West Coast. From a report: Under the agreement, which was signed on Thursday, the federal government will scrap a planned emissions cap on the oil … ⌘ Read more

US Patent Office Issues New Guidelines For AI-Assisted Inventions
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued new guidelines outlining when inventions created with the help of AI can be patented. From a report: USPTO Director John Squires said on Wednesday in a notice set to be published Friday, that the office considers generative AI systems to be “analogous to laboratory equipment, computer software, res … ⌘ Read more

Epic’s Sweeney Says Platforms Should Stop Tagging Games Made With AI
The CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, has argued that platforms like Steam should not label games that are made using AI. From a report: Responding to a post on Twitter from a user who suggested that storefronts drop this tag, the industry exec said that it “makes no sense” to flag such content. Sweeney added that soon AI will be a part of … ⌘ Read more