Headlines
- Pentagon’s New Press Rules Spark Backlash: Leading news organizations are rejecting new Pentagon rules that require reporters to pledge not to use “unauthorized material”.
- GPT-5 Deemed More Harmful Than Predecessor: A new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) found that GPT-5, the latest version of ChatGPT, gives more harmful answers than GPT-40, particularly regarding prompts about self-harm and suicide.
- DirecTV to Replace Screensavers with AI Ads: DirecTV is partnering with an AI company called Glance to replace traditional screensavers with AI-generated ads on its Gemini devices.
- DJI Appeals Blacklisting: Chinese drone manufacturer DJI is appealing a US federal court decision to keep it on the Pentagon’s list of companies allegedly linked to China’s military.
- EU Delays ‘Chat Control’ Law: The European Union has delayed a vote on a controversial law that would force tech companies to scan for child sexual abuse material, as some member states and privacy advocates raise concerns about mass surveillance.
- Lawyer Sanctioned for Using AI: A New York Supreme Court judge sanctioned a lawyer who was caught using AI to generate fake legal citations in his court filings, and then did it again in his defense brief.
- Texas Airports Refuse DHS Video: Several Texas airports are refusing to play a Department of Homeland Security video where Secretary Kristi Noem blames Democrats for the government shutdown, citing policies against political content.
- Oracle Silently Patches Exploit: Oracle has issued a silent fix for a zero-day vulnerability in its E-Business Suite that was being actively exploited by hackers and publicly leaked by the ShinyHunters group.
- US Seizes $15 Billion in Crypto: The U.S. Department of Justice has seized $15 billion in bitcoin from the leader of the Prince Group, a criminal organization that ran a large-scale “pig butchering” cryptocurrency scam.
- Zelensky Strips Odesa Mayor of Citizenship: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has revoked the citizenship of Odesa’s mayor, Gennadiy Trukhanov, based on evidence from Ukraine’s security service that he is also a Russian citizen.
Space & Science
Space ‘Tornadoes’ Modeled by Researchers
Researchers have developed new computer simulations to study how small, tornado-like vortices, known as flux ropes, are created in the space between the sun and Earth. These vortices, which are bundles of magnetic fields, are spun off from interplanetary coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and can cause geomagnetic storms when they hit Earth.
Previous simulations, called global simulations, were too large-scale to detect these smaller events. To overcome this, the research team created a model with a finer grid size, but only along the predicted path of the flux ropes to save on computational costs. This high-resolution view revealed that the flux ropes form when a fast-moving solar eruption collides with the slower-moving solar wind.
The discovery is significant because these vortices are powerful enough to trigger a major geomagnetic storm and could help scientists better predict extreme space weather events. The new simulations confirmed that space weather events can form in the area between the sun and Earth, not just on the sun itself, which was a finding the researchers had predicted. Currently, these smaller events appear only as a “small blip” on space weather monitors, and multiple satellites would be needed to see them in greater detail for more reliable forecasting.
Politics & Law
The FCC’s Power Over Broadcasting
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has long used its power to license broadcast stations as a tool to pressure networks into airing content that aligns with the current administration’s ideology. This leverage exists regardless of which political party is in control of the White House.
The FCC’s authority over broadcasting stems from the Supreme Court’s 1943 decision in National Broadcasting Co. v. United States. The ruling established that due to spectrum scarcity—the idea that the airwaves are a limited public resource—the FCC has broad power to regulate broadcasting. This is why the First Amendment does not fully apply to broadcasting in the same way it does to other forms of media.
Recent actions by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who has threatened ABC over content from Jimmy Kimmel, are part of this historical pattern of “regulatory activism”. This activism is not limited to one party; both Democratic and Republican FCC chairmen have used their position to influence content. Critics say that when the FCC is used for partisan purposes, it poses a threat to free speech.
Technology & Society
AI-generated Fake Citations in Legal Filings
A New York Supreme Court judge sanctioned an attorney, Michael Fourte, after his office was caught twice using AI to generate fake legal citations and quotations in court documents. Judge Joel Cohen noted that the lawyer not only submitted “AI-hallucinated citations” in an initial brief but also included “multiple new AI-hallucinated citations” in his opposition to the motion for sanctions.
The judge’s order was scathing, stating that the use of “unvetted AI” wastes the court’s limited time and resources. The attorney’s excuses included that he was “extremely upset” and that his staff hadn’t followed instructions, but he admitted he did not verify every single quote. The judge ordered Fourte to cover the plaintiff’s attorney fees resulting from the delay and disservice to the court and the legal profession. The decision emphasized that a lawyer’s duty of candor cannot be delegated to a software program.
Protesting with Whimsy
Protesters in Portland, Oregon, are using inflatable character costumes, like a giant frog, as a form of “practical passive resistance” against police brutality and surveillance. The costumes serve two main purposes:
- Physical Protection: The inflatable suits can protect against pepper spray and other projectiles, as seen when a federal agent sprayed a protester in a frog costume, who said it “wasn’t as bad as it looks”.
- Anonymity: The costumes make it difficult for facial recognition systems and surveillance cameras to identify the protesters inside, which is crucial as police are using AI-powered cameras to identify people at protests.
Beyond the practical benefits, the costumes also have a powerful symbolic and optical effect. The absurdity of an inflatable frog standing against masked federal agents highlights the “self-seriousness” of the law enforcement presence and has made the protesters’ message viral. This trend of “practical whimsy” has also been seen with protesters in other countries using inflatable dinosaurs and Pikachus.