ICT news

• Asphalt Additive Could Continuously Keep Roads Ice-Free

  18-02-2023 11:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Scientists from China's Hebei University of Science and Technology have developed an ice-melting additive for asphalt that could remain active for years. New Atlas reports: [The researchers started] out by developing a chloride-free acetate-based salt. Such salts are considerably less environmentally harmful than chlorides, they're less corrosive to steel and other materials, plus they work at lower temperatures. The researchers proceeded to mix the salt with a surfactant, silicon dioxide, sodiu
  
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• Amazon CEO's Talks with U.S. Officials Triggered Crackdown on Anthropic Models

  14-06-2026 00:34 via news.slashdot.org
  The Wall Street Journal reports:The Trump administration's decision to halt all foreign use of Anthropic's most capable AI models was prompted by conversations between Amazon Chief Executive Andy Jassy and U.S. officials including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, people familiar with the matter said.
  Researchers at Amazon had used a series of prompts to get Anthropic's Fable 5 model to provide them with information that could be used to aid cyberattacks and was supposed to be off limits, Jassy
  
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• Shutterstock 'Evolves' Into 'Human-Led, AI-Powered Creative Platform'

  13-06-2026 23:34 via slashdot.org
  Slashdot reader BrianFagioli writes:
  Shutterstock has unveiled what it calls a "human-led, AI-powered" creative platform that combines its massive library of [human] contributor-created content with AI image and video generation, AI editing, conversational search, prompt enhancement, and automated model selection tools. The company says the goal is to help creators move from idea to finished work faster [in a single application] while maintaining commercial licensing protections and contributor
  
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• GM Updates 250,000 EVs with Vehicle-to-Grid Firmware, Announces Grid-Scale Sodium-Ion Batteries

  13-06-2026 22:34 via hardware.slashdot.org
  "Battery breakthroughs will lessen AI's demand on the electricity grid," argues The Washington Post's editoral board, arguing that GM's latest moves "offer a fresh reminder that resource constraints can be solved by innovation."
  Or As Fortune put it, "America's electric grid is buckling under extreme weather, aging infrastructure, and an AI build-out that is quietly rewriting U.S. power demand — and General Motors wants to turn that crisis into a business." They describe GM's plan as offer
  
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• Vim Classic 8.3 Launched as an AI-Free Vim Fork

  13-06-2026 21:34 via news.slashdot.org
  This month saw the release of Vim Classic 8.3, the first stable version of a new long-term support fork of Vim maintained without generative AI tools. Linuxiac reports:The release is based on Vim 8.2.0148 and includes selected bug fixes and patches backported from later upstream Vim releases. Vim Classic was first announced by [SourceHut's CEO/founder] Drew DeVault in March 2026 after he objected to LLM-assisted development in Vim and Neovim. In his announcement, DeVault said he no longer wanted
  
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• Arch Linux Malware Incident: Malicious Commits Found in 1,579 Packages

  13-06-2026 20:34 via linux.slashdot.org
  More than 1,500 user-contributed packages in the Arch Linux User Repository "AUR" were infected with malware, reports Phoronix:The last message in the thread over this security incident is noting that Arch Linux developers have deleted all the malicious commits they are aware of. Cited was this list that puts the number of malware-affected packages at 1,579...Even at 1,579 packages listed, that final updated noted, it's a "list containing many (but not all) of the affected packages".
  Thanks to l
  
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• OpenAI Investigated By Coalition of America's State Attorneys General

  13-06-2026 19:34 via news.slashdot.org
  "A coalition of state attorneys general has opened an investigation into OpenAI," reports the Wall Street Journal, citing "people familiar with the matter."OpenAI was served Friday with a subpoena seeking documents related to a broad range of its activities and impact on users, including advertising, user engagement and retention, handling of consumer data and health data, activities related to minors and seniors, deep learning models, model sycophancy and company policies, some of the people sa
  
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• New UK Referendum Would Flip 'Brexit' Result of a Decade Ago, Poll Finds

  13-06-2026 18:34 via news.slashdot.org
  It's the 10-year anniversary of Britain's "Brexit" vote withdrawing from the European Union.
  But a new UK poll "shows that a new Brexit referendum would reverse the vote that led to Britain's departure," reports Bloomberg:
  Fifty-two percent of Britons think the UK should rejoin the EU, according to an Ipsos survey of 1,137 British adults conducted between May 14 and May 20. That's the inverse of the mood in June 2016 when a comparable share of the electorate backed Brexit...
  Younger voters overw
  
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• US Congress Lets 'Warrantless Wiretap' Law FISA Lapse

  13-06-2026 17:34 via news.slashdot.org
  It's the U.S. law that allows wiretaps without a warrant for surveilling foreign targets. And the U.S. Congress just let it lapse. Sort of. NPR reports:
  Each year, the provision is used by American intelligence agencies to collect the electronic communications of hundreds of thousands of foreigners located outside of the United States. The government says that more than 60% of the president's daily intelligence briefing relies on information collected under the authority. The tool officially lap
  
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• Mystery Orb Videos, Other UFO Records Released By White House

  13-06-2026 16:03 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  The Trump administration released another large batch of government UAP records, including videos of glowing orb-like objects appearing to split and rejoin, witness accounts, illustrations, and decades-old investigative documents. Axios reports: The documents indicate that government agents have spent years monitoring, investigating and documenting suspected UAP incidents. At lease some of the sightings took place near sensitive government facilities, according to the reports. Videos showing red
  
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• World's First Crewed Solid-State Flight Electrifies Aviation's Future

  13-06-2026 13:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  The Helios Horizon has completed what its developers call the first crewed, fixed-wing flight powered by solid-state batteries. New Atlas reports: On June 5, test pilot Miguel Iturmendi lifted off from Zephyrhills Municipal Airport in Florida at the controls of the Helios Horizon -- the first crewed, fixed-wing aircraft ever to fly on solid-state batteries. The flight was neither spectacular in distance nor in duration -- it was a series of short tests to validate the aircraft's weight and balan
  
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• Anthropic 'Suspends' All Mythos and Fable Access After US Order Limiting Foreign Access

  13-06-2026 09:00 via news.slashdot.org
  "Anthropic said on Friday it will 'abruptly disable' its most advanced AI models for all users,"
  reports Reuters, "after the U.S. government ordered it to suspend access to the models for foreign nationals, citing national security concerns. The company received the export control directive to suspend access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for all foreign nationals, without being given specific details of its national security concern, Anthropic said in a statement."Anthropic's blog post writes that the
  
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• Data Center Opponents Have Blocked Or Delayed Projects Worth Nearly $130 Billion In 2026

  13-06-2026 05:30 via news.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from NBC News: The first quarter of 2026 produced the most blocked and delayed data center projects on record, according to a new study shared with NBC News. The study -- conducted by Data Center Watch, a project of the AI intelligence firm 10a Labs that tracks local data center activity -- found that data center opponents blocked or delayed at least 75 projects nationwide worth about $130 billion from January through March, the most in a three-month period si
  
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• Jeff Bezos' AI Startup Aims To Build an 'Artificial General Engineer'

  13-06-2026 01:00 via slashdot.org
  Jeff Bezos says his new AI startup, Prometheus, is working toward an "artificial general engineer" capable of helping design complex physical products such as robots, drugs, manufacturing systems, and rocket engines. The Verge reports: The NYT first reported on Prometheus last November, but now Bezos is sharing more information about the startup after a $12 billion funding round, putting the company at a $41 billion valuation. Bezos serves as co-CEO of Prometheus alongside Vik Bajaj, who co-foun
  
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• Justice Department Approves Paramount's $111 Billion Acquisition of Warner Bros.

  13-06-2026 00:00 via slashdot.org
  The Justice Department has approved Paramount Skydance's $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery without requiring divestitures or other concessions. The deal still faces scrutiny from state attorneys general. Politico reports: The decision, expected to be announced Friday, paves the way for Paramount to combine with the entertainment and media company behind a vast film and television studio, CNN, and the HBO Max streaming service, which would be combined with Paramount+ to create a
  
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• ShinyHunters Hacked 100+ Organizations By Exploiting an Oracle PeopleSoft 0-Day

  12-06-2026 23:20 via developers.slashdot.org
  ShinyHunters claims it exploited a critical Oracle PeopleSoft zero-day to compromise more than 100 organizations, including the University of Nottingham, where it says it stole 40GB of student and billing data. "ShinyHunters posted the UK university on its data leak site on Tuesday before publishing the stolen files later that same day, presumably because the school refused to pay the extortion demand," reports The Register. From the report: "University of Nottingham on our leak site is one of t
  
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• Google Sues Chinese Cybercrime Operation That Used Gemini AI To Send Scam Texts

  12-06-2026 22:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Google is suing to dismantle the infrastructure behind an alleged massive AI-powered cybercrime operation. On Friday, the tech giant announced a lawsuit against an alleged Chinese cybercrime network called Outsider Enterprise, which Google says uses AI in its campaigns to send scam text messages impersonating Google and other brands to steal passwords and credit card numbers.Outsider Enterprise has financially scammed "hundreds of thousands of
  
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• Touchscreen Macbook '100% Confirmed,' Says Reputable Leaker

  12-06-2026 21:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  A leaker with a strong Apple rumor track record says a touchscreen MacBook is "100% confirmed. If true, it would mark a major reversal for Apple, which has long argued that the Mac is built for indirect input rather than reaching up to touch a vertical screen. MacRumors reports: Instant Digital has a good track record for Apple rumors and has provided some strikingly accurate information in the past, so it's always worth noting what they have to say about Apple's plans. The claim is also backed
  
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• Microsoft Surface Flaw Allowed Unprotected Devices To Be Bricked By a Single Packet

  12-06-2026 20:30 via it.slashdot.org
  Longtime Slashdot reader Dotnaught shares a report from The Register: For the past 90 days, Microsoft has been quietly patching a firmware flaw in Surface devices that allowed the hardware to be bricked with a single packet, though only for those who have disabled Secure Core and Secure Boot. And the company's Copilot AI software inadvertently helped identify the faulty firmware.According to Jack Darcy, a security researcher based in Australia, his instance of Microsoft Copilot stumbled across t
  
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• Sam Bankman-Fried Loses Bid To Overturn Crypto Fraud Conviction

  12-06-2026 19:45 via yro.slashdot.org
  Sam Bankman-Fried lost his appeal to overturn his FTX fraud conviction and 25-year sentence. Reuters reports: In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said prosecutors' evidence against Bankman-Fried "was, conservatively stated, robust." "While he was publicly reassuring customers, investors and regulators that FTX customer funds were safe, he was simultaneously using FTX as his own personal piggy bank, spending customer funds on real
  
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• Infineon to Open German Chip Fab as Part of EU Sovereignty Push

  12-06-2026 18:00 via slashdot.org
  Infineon is set to open a $5.8 billion power-chip fab in Dresden on July 2, backed by about $1.1 billion in EU Chips Act subsidies. The plant will make power semiconductors for AI data centers and could eventually add up to $5.8 billion in annual revenue as demand for AI infrastructure strains global electricity systems. Bloomberg reports: Infineon, traditionally a chipmaker for the automotive industry, has increasingly benefited from soaring demand for power chips used in AI data centers, which
  
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• SpaceX IPO Makes Elon Musk World's First Trillionaire

  12-06-2026 17:00 via news.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Few business leaders have been as deeply embedded in popular culture as Elon Musk, the ambitious entrepreneur who has become a central figure in internet culture and amassed a fortune that has made him the world's first trillionaire. At a time when concerns about inequality are high and public attitudes toward the ultra-wealthy have soured, Musk has managed to retain a loyal following despite his stratospheric net worth and without the folksy per
  
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• Pokemon Go Data Was Used To Help Train AI Systems Being Developed For Military Drones

  12-06-2026 13:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  Pokemon Go players' optional location scans reportedly helped train Niantic Spatial's visual positioning system, which uses camera imagery and 3D maps to navigate when GPS is unavailable or jammed. According to DroneXL, that technology is now being paired with Vantor's drone navigation software for military and intelligence use, raising questions about whether gamers understood that footage collected for in-game rewards could eventually support defense systems. From the report: The pipeline runs
  
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• An Algorithm Determines How Fast You Should Drive On California's I-15 Freeway

  12-06-2026 09:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  Riverside County has launched an 8-mile "smart freeway" pilot on northbound I-15 near Temecula, using roadway sensors and an algorithm to coordinate ramp meters and suggest speeds rather than widening the freeway. Officials say the $33 million project could reduce stop-and-go traffic and travel times. According to SFGATE, similar systems in Australia and Denver reportedly cutting delays by 20% to 65%. From the report: Unlike typical on-ramp stoplights that run on a timer lasting a few seconds, I
  
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• China Lures Foreign Patients With Cutting-Edge, Cheap Medical Care

  12-06-2026 05:30 via science.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: While traditional hotspots in the region such as Thailand, South Korea and Malaysia focus on services such as cosmetic surgery, IVF or physicals, China is trying to differentiate itself by providing some of the world's most advanced procedures. "There are two reasons why a patient travels for medical treatments: availability of advanced treatments and price," said Victor Cao, operations director of Joyful Medical, an agency in Shanghai that con
  
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• Study Links Smartphones With Declining Fertility Rates

  12-06-2026 01:00 via apple.slashdot.org
  Two recent studies argue that smartphones may have contributed to falling birthrates by reducing in-person social interaction, sexual frequency, and other conditions tied to unintended pregnancies. "One of the studies published in May is called 'The Collapse of Teen Fertility in the Digital Era' and the other, published just Monday, is titled 'Is the iPhone Birth Control? Causal Evidence from AT&T's 2007-2011 Carrier Monopoly,'" reports KTLA. "Both were chronicled in a New York Times piece b
  
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• Poland To Jail Online Streamers of Violent Crime For Up To 5 Years

  12-06-2026 00:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  Polish lawmakers have voted to criminalize "trash streaming," with up to five years in prison for online broadcasts of serious crimes such as rape or murder, animal cruelty, humiliating violence, gambling promotion, or even simulated depictions of those acts. Reuters reports: The move is part of a broader push by Poland to tighten regulation of online content. Recent measures include banning the use of mobile phones by children under 16 in schools and introducing stricter age verification rules
  
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• Coinbase Launches Tool To Let AI Agents Manage Trading and Payments

  11-06-2026 23:00 via slashdot.org
  Coinbase has launched Coinbase for Agents, a tool that lets AI agents like ChatGPT or Claude execute crypto trades and manage payments on a user's behalf. "For example, customers can prompt their agent to rebalance portfolios, identify trading opportunities, execute strategies and manage positions over time," reports CNBC. "It will eventually expand these capabilities to stocks and predictions." From the report: [U]sing Coinbase's machine-to-machine payments protocol, called x402, agents can pay
  
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• Euro-Office 1.0 Arrives To Open-Source Infighting: 'Compatibility Is Not Sovereignty'

  11-06-2026 22:00 via news.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet: If digital sovereignty is important to you, and it certainly is in the European Union (EU), then you'll be pleased to know that EuroOffice, a new open-source browser-based office suite alternative to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, has officially reached its first stable release. A coalition of EU-based companies, including Nextcloud, Ionos, and other Euro-Stack participants, is positioning Euro-Office as a cornerstone of European digital sover
  
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• ACLU Sues After Facial Recognition Falsely Identifies Florida Man As a Child Abductor

  11-06-2026 21:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  fjo3 shares a report from Reason: Police arrested a man in Florida for attempted child abduction in a town he had never visited, and the only evidence linking him to the crime was an AI facial recognition hit. Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), he is now suing the officers and agencies who put him through it. [...] According to a police report, facial recognition software concluded with 93 percent confidence that the suspect was Robert Dillon. [...]The ACLU is now suing th
  
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