In a nutshell: Courts in Denmark have convicted two unnamed men in an ongoing crackdown on digital piracy. One received a nine-month prison sentence for uploading massive amounts of pirated content to Danish torrent trackers. The court sentenced the other to a year for his involvement in the notorious piracy group 'The Scene.' The first conviction involved a "46-year-old man," who shared 74 terabytes of copyrighted movies and TV shows through torrent sites SuperBits and DanishBytes. Torrent Freak reports that a Hillerd court sentenced him to nine months in prison, with at least three months served before parole eligibility. The judge also ordered the man to complete 120 hours of community service. His specific role within the torrent sites is unclear, but authorities said his contribution to piracy was "substantial."In a separate case, a Nykbing Falstercourt court sentenced a 48-year-old man to prison for 12 months, with a mandatory minimum of four. The court found him guilty of hosting two servers and illegally distributing content within The Scene, a highly secretive piracy network. His hardware contained 134 terabytes of copyrighted material. According to investigators, the man mainly ripped and distributed a Danish children's series from streaming platforms. Police arrested him in November 2023, sparking a broader sweep of The Scene, which led to the demise of several other Danish piracy groups.These two convictions differ from how Denmark normally sentences online piracy. Previously, many convicted bootleggers received conditional punishments, allowing them to avoid jail time if they stayed out of trouble. However, this time, the courts viewed the offenses more severely, leading to Denmark's first unconditional prison sentences for piracy without a profit motive."This is the first time that the courts have imposed unconditional prison sentences on file sharers who have no criminal record and have not benefited financially," said Danish Special Crimes Unit (NSK) Prosecutor Jan stergaard.The anti-piracy group Rights Alliance, which helped authorities shut down Danish torrent trackers like SuperBits and DanishBytes, applauded the rulings. // Related Stories"Let the verdicts be a wake-up call to the users and perpetrators who persist: Violations of rights can be discovered and taken seriously when they [are]," Rights Alliance Director Maria Fredenslund said.Denmark's intensified crackdown on piracy over the last five years has led to the closure of several private torrent trackers and the conviction of more than two dozen pirates associated with these sites. Torrent Freak notes that additional cases are still pending, and Danish authorities have indicated that their efforts to combat digital piracy are far from over.Image credit: Nick Youngson

TL;DR: AMD CEO Lisa Su has confirmed that the company's new Radeon RX 9000 graphics cards have been a massive success, selling 10 times more units than their predecessors in just one week on the market. Su also stated that more RDNA 4 cards are on the way, but did not confirm whether the lineup will include the rumored Radeon RX 9060. In an interview with Asus China's Tony Yu, Lisa Su stated that the Radeon RX 9000 series graphics cards have been a major success, becoming AMD's best-selling GPUs of all time after just one week on the market. According to Su, much of this success can be attributed to the company's focus on delivering the "best gaming capability" at a "good price point," making flagship products more accessible to gamers.When asked about the limited availability of the new cards, Su said that AMD is ramping up production to ensure greater supply at retailers worldwide. She also expressed hope that increased availability would help stabilize pricing by discouraging scalping and price gouging.Su also revealed that more RDNA 4 cards are on the way but did not confirm whether the lineup will include the Radeon RX 9060, which is rumored to come in 16GB and 8GB variants. Previous leaks suggested that the RX 9060 series could debut in Q2 2025, with Asus and Acer among the board partners developing multiple models with different configurations.The Radeon RX 9000 series launched earlier this month, "starting at" $549 for the RX 9070 and $599 for the RX 9070 XT. However, due to exceptionally high demand, neither card is available at MSRP, despite repeated assurances from AMD executives.A week after launch, an AMD executive described the demand as "really unprecedented" and reassured gamers that restocking the GPUs is "priority number one." AMD's chief architect of gaming solutions, Frank Azor, also promised that "multiple vendors" would offer at least some variants at MSRP. However, AMD and its board partners are still struggling to keep up with demand, and the few models available at retailers are selling for significantly higher than their official MSRPs. // Related Stories

Amazon is offering lots of budget-friendly laptop deals in its Big Spring Sale 2025, including the HP 14 Ultra Light Laptop for a very affordable $236 following an 11% discount on its original price of $266. The event will run until March 31, but were not sure if the $30 in savings will still be available by the end of it because stocks of this device may already be gone by then. In fact, the bargain may disappear as soon as tomorrow, so if youre interested, youre going to have to complete your transaction for this laptop immediately.First and foremost, you shouldnt expect the HP 14 Ultra Light Laptop to come close to the performance of the top-tier configurations of the best laptops. However, for a budget-friendly device, it offers decent performance for students and working professionals with its Intel Celeron N4120 processor, Intel UHD Graphics 600, and 8GB of RAM. If youre planning to only use the laptop for basic tasks such as doing online research, typing documents, and joining online meetings, the HP 14 Ultra Light Laptop will be more than enough. Its also great for watching streaming shows and playing your favorite tracks when youre taking a break.The HP 14 Ultra Light Laptop features a 14-inch HD screen, which is just the right size for portability that will make it easy to carry with you through each day. The device ships with a 64GB eMMC and every purchase comes with a 128GB Ghost Manta micro SD card, for total storage space of 192GB. To boost your productivity, the HP 14 Ultra Light Laptop has Windows 11 Home in S Mode pre-installed, and youll also get a one-year subscription to Microsoft 365.RelatedWhile there are HP laptop deals for high-end models, you can also score some amazing bargains on affordable devices such as the HP 14 Ultra Light Laptop. Its part of Amazons Big Spring Sale with an 11% discount that further pulls its price down to just $236 from $266 originally. You need to be quick with your purchase if you want to pocket the $30 in savings though, as theres no telling how much time is remaining before the stocks of the HP 14 Ultra Light Laptop that are up for sale run out.Editors Recommendations

Sony has announced the WF-C710N, the latest version of its most affordable set of noise-canceling wireless earbuds. The price is unchanged at $120, but Sony says it has made welcome improvements in a number of areas, and the buds feature a new selection of color choices, including pink, black, white, and a transparent version called Glass Blue. One change that might not be as welcome is the decision to swap physical buttons for touch controls. They can be preordered today on Sonys website or Amazon, with shipping beginning at the end of March.SonyThe basic specs remain the same as the WF-C700N, which Sony has now discounted as low as $85: the earbuds use 5mm dynamic drivers, they can optionally enable Sonys DSEE audio upscaling system, they have ANC and transparency modes, and offer IPX4 protection from sweat and splashes of water. Theres also Bluetooth Mutlipoint for two simultaneous device connections.Recommended VideosPer-charge battery life has been given a small bump. Its now 8.5 hours with ANC and 12 hours when its off, vs. 7.5 and 10 hours respectively. However, total battery time is up significantly, from 20 to 30 hours, suggesting that Sony has installed a bigger capacity battery in the charging case.The smooth outer surface is a touch control. SonySony says that ANC is more effective with dual mics, and calls will now be clearer in noisy environments thanks to voice pickup that was developed with AI machine learning using over 500 million voice samples to suppress ambient noise and extract the users voice clearly.The Sony WF-C700N, seen here, featured large, physical buttons. Sony / SonyHowever, Sony has opted to make a big change on the controls. It has dropped the WF-C700Ns large, physical buttons in favor of touch controls a shift that may make the new buds more difficult to use. Still, theres compensation in the form of wear sensors, which the C700N lacked the C710N can now auto-pause and resume music when you take the earbuds out or put them back in.Editors Recommendations

Pay to play Apple barred from Google antitrust trial, putting $20 billion search deal on the line Google's sizeable payments for Safari defaults could be ending. Ryan Whitwam Mar 25, 2025 1:03 pm | 5 Credit: John Lamb | Getty Images Credit: John Lamb | Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreApple has suffered a blow in its efforts to salvage its lucrative search placement deal with Google. A new ruling from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals affirms that Apple cannot participate in Google's upcoming antitrust hearing, which could leave a multibillion-dollar hole in Apple's balance sheet. The judges in the case say Apple simply waited too long to get involved.Just a few years ago, a high-stakes court case involving Apple and Google would have found the companies on opposing sides, but not today. Apple's and Google's interests are strongly aligned here, to the tune of $20 billion. Google forks over that cash every year, and it's happy to do so to secure placement as the default search provider in the Safari desktop and mobile browser.The antitrust penalties pending against Google would make that deal impermissible. Throughout the case, the government made the value of defaults clearmost people never change them. That effectively delivers Google a captive audience on Apple devices.Google's ongoing legal battle with the DOJ's antitrust division is shaping up to be the most significant action the government has taken against a tech company since Microsoft in the late '90s. Perhaps this period of stability tricked Google's partners into thinking nothing would change, but the seriousness of the government's proposed remedies seems to have convinced them otherwise.Google lost the case in August 2024, and the government proposed remedies in October. According to MediaPost, the appeals court took issue with Apple's sluggishness in choosing sides. It didn't even make its filing to participate in the remedy phase until November, some 33 days after the initial proposal. The judges ruled this delay "seems difficult to justify."When Google returns to court in the coming weeks, the company's attorneys will not be flanked by Apple's legal team. While Apple will be allowed to submit written testimony and file friend-of-the-court briefs, it will not be able to present evidence to the court or cross-examine witnesses, as it sought. Apple argued that it was entitled to do so because it had a direct stake in the outcome.Apple seeks search partner, must have $20 billionIf this penalty sticks, Apple could be looking for a new suitor. Something has to be the default search provider in Safari and other Apple products. It could continue using Google without getting paid, but the company will surely look to recoup some of that lost Google money. Regardless, there aren't many options.Google is in this situation specifically because it has a monopoly in search; whether or not it abuses that monopoly is a question for the courts (but it's not looking good). However, that doesn't change the fact that, as a monopoly, Google has almost no competition. Microsoft has tried for years to make Bing competitive, and Microsoft is no lightweight on the Internet. Yet Google Search continues to own 90 percent of the market.Aside from regional options like Yandex in Russia and Baidu in China, it's slim pickings out there. Bing is really the only major alternative to Google, but would Microsoft pay for Safari placement? It's unlikely that any smaller boutique search provider like Kagi DuckDuckGo could fulfill the needs of Apple, but it would be interesting to see a smaller player get a boost on Apple's platform. Having a viable competitorwhoever it may beon Apple devices could start changing the balance of power in search.Last year, Anthropic also attempted to be heard in the case after the government proposed forcing Google to sell off its AI investmentslike the multibillion-dollar stake it owns in Anthropic. Anthropic wanted to provide witness statements to the court, but the government's reversal on AI funding made this a moot point. That may help Google's AI search efforts down the road, but it would require AI search to be something people want to usethe jury is out on that.Ryan WhitwamSenior Technology ReporterRyan WhitwamSenior Technology Reporter Ryan Whitwam is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering the ways Google, AI, and mobile technology continue to change the world. Over his 20-year career, he's written for Android Police, ExtremeTech, Wirecutter, NY Times, and more. He has reviewed more phones than most people will ever own. You can follow him on Bluesky, where you will see photos of his dozens of mechanical keyboards. 5 Comments

Back to life, back to reality After DDOS attacks, Blizzard rolls back Hardcore WoW deaths for the first time New policy comes as OnlyFangs streaming guild planned to quit over DDOS disruptions. Kyle Orland Mar 25, 2025 12:52 pm | 12 Don't worry, she's just sleeping. Credit: Reddit Don't worry, she's just sleeping. Credit: Reddit Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreWorld of Warcraft Classic's Hardcore mode has set itself apart from the average MMO experience simply by making character death permanent across the entire in-game realm. For years, Blizzard has not allowed any appeals or rollbacks for these Hardcore mode character deaths, even when such deaths came as the direct result of a server disconnection or gameplay bug.Now, Blizzard says it's modifying that policy somewhat in response to a series of "unprecedented distributed-denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks" undertaken "with the singular goal of disrupting players experiences." The World of Warcraft developer says it may now resurrect Classic Hardcore characters "at our sole discretion" when those deaths come "in a mass event which we deem inconsistent with the integrity of the game."RIP OnlyFangs?The high stakes inherent to WoW's Classic Hardcore mode have made it an appealing target for streamers and other online content creators looking to build an audience. Dozens of the most popular Hardcore WoW streamers have been gathering together as part of the OnlyFangs Guild, a group dedicated to the idea that "every decision matters and one mistake can mean the end of a characters journey."In recent weeks, though, many of those OnlyFangs characters' journeys have ended as the result of a series of DDOS attacks that impacted all of World of Warcraft and other Battle.net games. Those attacks seemed suspiciously timed to coincide with major livestreamed OnlyFangs raids and negatively impacted many other players in the process.After weeks of OnlyFangs stream disruptions and character deaths from these server attacks, prominent guild member sodapoppin posted on the guild Discord that "I'd expect OnlyFangs is over... it's a terrible ending IMO, but that's the ending we got." In that same message, sodapoppin said it was clear that "the DDOS attacks are centered on us" and that he couldn't foresee asking guild members to continue streaming given the frequency and long-term consequences of those attacks."I don't feel comfortable dragging people through getting world buffs, flasks, and consumes etc., just to raid with the anxiety and probably the actuality of just being DDOS'd again and dying," sodapoppin wrote.Blizzard to the rescue?Sodapoppin allowed that OnlyFangs might continue "if we get a rollback [of the DDOS-related deaths] or I hear of some solid... DDOS protection" but added that they "don't see that happening." Last night, though, Blizzard surpassed sodapoppin's expectations and changed its Classic Hardcore permadeath policy to specifically deal with situations like this."Recently, we have experienced unprecedented distributed-denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks that impacted many Blizzard game services, including Hardcore realms, with the singular goal of disrupting players experiences," WoW Classic Associate Production Director Clay Stone wrote in a public message. "As we continue our work to further strengthen the resilience of WoW realms and our rapid response time, were taking steps to resurrect player-characters that were lost as a result of these attacks."While Blizzard's general policy on Hardcore mode deaths hasn't changed, Stone writes that the recent deaths due to DDOS are different because they "are an intentionally malicious effort made by third-party bad actors, and we believe the severity and results of DDOS attacks specifically warrant a different response."That's not entirely out of step with Blizzard's longstanding Hardcore Mode policies, which specifically prohibit "deliberate action to hamper or significantly impede the ability of other players to enjoy the game" or "actions to deliberately cause the death of another player." But those policies were designed to punish various forms of in-game griefing, not for an anonymous botnet attacking the game servers themselves.Now that DDOS-related deaths are no longer permanent, the griefers responsible for those attacks will hopefully have less motivation to take out all of Battle.net just to impact one WoW raid. But the appeal of disrupting specific scheduled streams will remain until Blizzard can find some way to protect its servers more effectively.Kyle OrlandSenior Gaming EditorKyle OrlandSenior Gaming Editor Kyle Orland has been the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica since 2012, writing primarily about the business, tech, and culture behind video games. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He once wrote a whole book about Minesweeper. 12 Comments

The researchers alternative foie gras undergoing a stress test in the labThomas A. VilgisThe French delicacy foie gras could be made more ethically thanks to a technique that replicates the way fats are metabolised in force-fed birds, although the process still depends on farmed animals.Foie gras is made from the liver of a duck or goose that has been force-fed via a tube. As a result of this process, known as gavage, the organ swells to as much as 10 times its usual volume as the animal stores the excess fat. AdvertisementAccording to researchers, the experience of eating foie gras depends not only on its high fat content but also on the microscopic distribution of that fat.Now Thomas Vilgis at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany, and his colleagues have developed a new process that creates the same texture in the liver from a normally reared and slaughtered duck or goose, using fat from the same bird.Im a big fan of foie gras, says Vilgis. I was just fascinated by this by this mouthfeel it was so different from other pts and so I asked myself, what is it?Unmissable news about our planet delivered straight to your inbox every month.Sign up to newsletterHis team had previously tried to make a pt with the same ratio of fat and liver as foie gras, but the results were disappointing. In further experiments, they added collagen to replicate the density of foie gras, but it resulted in something that felt like rubber in the mouth.Then Vilgis realised that the pancreas in force-fed animals releases an enzyme that splits the fats before storing them in the liver was a way of efficiently storing the large fat molecules as smaller crystalline material.He and his colleagues found that they could replicate this process by treating fat with an enzyme called lipase from the yeast Candida rugosa. The lipase is a molecular scissor, says Vilgis. The treated fat is then blended with the liver to create the faux foie gras.The team carried out a host of scientific tests including nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to compare the faux foie gras to real samples, with promising results. But, crucially, Viglis says the aroma and taste also had practically no difference from the real thing.The process has now been patented and the researchers are in talks with industry about commercialising it and bringing a faux foie gras to market.Because of ethical concerns, and because producing foie gras traditionally is illegal in some countries, including the UK, a number of alternative methods have previously been developed that claim to produce similar results. There are also at least two companies looking to bring lab-grown foie gras to market.Dawn Carr from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) says lab-grown meat is a more ethical route than the new lipase process, which still involves the rearing and slaughter of animals. We simply do not need to kill animals for a fleeting moment of taste, says Carr. The future of foie gras is already here, and theres no force-feeding or throat-slitting necessary.Journal reference:Physics of Fluids DOI: 10.1063/5.0255813Topics:

OpenAI has released a new image generator thats designed less for typical surrealist AI art and more for highly controllable and practical creation of visualsa sign that OpenAI thinks its tools are ready for use in fields like advertising and graphic design. The image generator, which is now part of the companys GPT-4o model, was promised by OpenAI last May but wasnt released. Requests for generated images on ChatGPT were filled by an older image generator called DALL-E. OpenAI has been tweaking the new model since then and will now release it over the coming weeks to all tiers of users starting today, replacing the older one. The new model makes progress on technical issues that have plagued AI image generators for years. While most have been great at creating fantastical images or realistic deepfakes, theyve been terrible at something called binding, which refers to the ability to identify certain objects correctly and put them in their proper place (like a sign that says hot dogs properly placed above a food cart, not somewhere else in the image). It was only a few years ago that models started to succeed at things like Put the red cube on top of the blue cube, a feature that is essential for any creative professional use of AI. Generators also struggle with text generation, typically creating distorted jumbles of letter shapes that look more like captchas than readable text. Example images from OpenAI show progress here. The model is able to generate 12 discrete graphics within a single imagelike a cat emoji or a lightning boltand place them in proper order. Another shows four cocktails accompanied by recipe cards with accurate, legible text. More images show comic strips with text bubbles, mock advertisements, and instructional diagrams. The model also allows you to upload images to be modified, and it will be available in the video generator Sora as well as in GPT-4o. Its a new tool for communication, says Gabe Goh, the lead designer on the generator at OpenAI. Kenji Hata, a researcher at OpenAI who also worked on the tool, puts it a different way: I think the whole idea is that were going away from, like, beautiful art. It can still do that, he clarifies, but it will do more useful things too. You can actually make images work for you, he says, and not just just look at them. Its a clear sign that OpenAI is positioning the tool to be used more by creative professionals: think graphic designers, ad agencies, social media managers, or illustrators. But in entering this domain, OpenAI has two paths, both difficult. One, it can target the skilled professionals who have long used programs like Adobe Photoshop, which is also investing heavily in AI tools that can fill images with generative AI. Adobe really has a stranglehold on this market, and theyre moving fast enough that I dont know how compelling it is for people to switch, says David Raskino, the cofounder and chief technical officer of Irreverent Labs, which works on AI video generation. The second option is to target casual designers who have flocked to tools like Canva (which has also been investing in AI). This is an audience that may not have ever needed technically demanding software like Photoshop but would use more casual design tools to create visuals. To succeed here, OpenAI would have to lure people away from platforms built for design in hopes that the speed and quality of its own image generator would make the switch worth it (at least for part of the design process). Its also possible the tool will simply be used as many image generators are now: to create quick visuals that are good enough to accompany social media posts. But with OpenAI planning massive investments, including participation in the $500 billion Stargate project to build new data centers at unprecedented scale, its hard to imagine that the image generator wont play some ambitious moneymaking role. Regardless, the fact that OpenAIs new image generator has pushed through notable technical hurdles has raised the bar for other AI companies. Clearing those hurdles likely required lots of very specific data, Raskino says, like millions of images in which text is properly displayed at lots of different angles and orientations. Now competing image generators will have to match those achievements to keep up. The pace of innovation should increase here, Raskino says.

The author (not pictured) shares how to tackle digital clutter. Jacques Julien/Getty Images 2025-03-25T18:07:01Z SaveSaved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? I'm a professional declutterer and work with clients to get rid of things they don't need anymore. Digital clutter can be as time-consuming as physical clutter. Try unsubscribing to five emails you don't want a day to clear your inbox. Digital clutter is real, and you've likely got some, particularly if you're paying for extra storage space. Holding on to extra files, apps, and other digital assets not only costs money, but it's also costing us all in terms of the environment. In fact, computing has now surpassed the airline industry's carbon footprint.It turns out the cloud is not, in fact, a gentle, fluffy, amorphous part of the atmosphere. Instead, hundreds of server farms use vast amounts of water and electricity. And every email, photo, and meme you've got on your devices is contributing to the problem.So, how do you rid yourself of the excess? Just like physical decluttering, it takes time and effort, but it can be done and doesn't have to cause you pain and suffering.Start with your emailMost of us receive more than we could ever read, so start with unsubscribing. Yes, it's easier to simply delete, but if you'd like to avoid getting weekly or even daily marketing emails from that candle company you gave your email address to in order to save 10% on your only purchase, you've got to go to the source. Feeling overwhelmed? See who you're getting unwanted emails from, whether that's marketing, newsletters, or alerts, and try unsubscribing from five per day. While you are at it, try deleting every email after you've read it; this will make your inbox more manageable.Delete apps you don't useApps are fun and useful at the best of times but drain your battery and storage at the worst. Scroll through your list to see which ones you're using and which you can delete. While you're at it, make sure you're not paying for any that you don't use. There's no need for FOMO when it comes to apps; if you find you'd like an app back, it takes just seconds to download it back onto your device.Purge your contactsDo you have contacts labeled "Bill dishwasher guy" or simply "Edith" with no other distinguishing features? It's time to go through the list and delete anyone whose name you do not recognize or who is no longer a part of your life.In the worst-case scenario, if they text you again, you can always ask who they are and save them again with all of their information. Bookmarks are helpful if organizedBookmarks are helpful until you have a list longer than your arm with no discernible organization. The whole point of bookmarking websites is so that you can find them again easily. If your collection is a mishmash of recipes, tax preparation advice, and articles you're still planning to read, it's time to do some tidying. Think of those bookmarks as pieces of paper strewn around your desk. If they're not in file folders, you've just got a mess on your hands. So, set up a filing system, but mostly? Simply delete.Unorganized digital folders are not helpfulThis is a good time to determine what the word "important" means to you. Does every file you've ever created have equal weight? Or are some of them languishing in digital folders because you just can't quite figure out what to do with them? Chances are you're keeping a lot of stuff that's out of date or just not relevant to your current life or work. Use a critical eye, and don't be scared to use the delete key. If the information is available elsewhere on the internet (bank statements, recipes), let someone else pay to store it and access it when necessary.While you're at it, look at your file structure. Does it lend itself to easy retrieval? If you can't figure out what should go where, take a look at your paper files. See if you can use the same organizational system for your digital info.We tend to assume we have more time (and interest) to get back to things than we do. It's so easy to download a thing, bookmark it, or flag it for later. But the reality is that the internet is vast and growing every day. There's hardly time to take in what's coming at you today, let alone to look backward at what caught your eye last month.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday. Valerie Plesch for The Washington Post via Getty Images 2025-03-25T18:03:06Z SaveSaved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? CIA Director John Ratcliffe testified that using Signal for work is allowed by the CIA.The Atlantic's editor-in-chief was added to a Signal chat where Trump officials discussed war plans.Trump intelligence officials claimed in a Senate hearing that no classified info was shared.Using the encrypted messaging app Signal is permitted by the CIA, Trump's CIA director says.In an explosive Monday report from The Atlantic, editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg detailed how he was inadvertently added to a Signal group chat in which Trump administration national security leaders discussed upcoming strikes on Yemen's Houthi rebels.The outlet's report was a hot topic at a tense Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday, where US intelligence officials were asked what was discussed in the Signal group chat, and whether it was classified.When questioned by Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the committee's vice chairman, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said that he was part of the Signal group chat reported by The Atlantic.He also said that the CIA routinely uses the end-to-end encrypted app."One of the first things that happened when I was confirmed as CIA director was Signal was loaded onto my computer at the CIA as it is for most CIA officers," Ratcliffe said.He said that the CIA records management team briefed him on the permissible use of Signal as a practice that he said was also allowed under the Biden administration."It is permissible to use to communicate and coordinate for work purposes. Provided that any decisions that are made are also recorded through formal channels. So those were procedures that were implemented. My staff implemented those processes," Ratcliffe said."My communications, to be clear, in a Signal message group were entirely permissible and lawful and did not include classified information," he added.Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was apparently also in the chat, according to Goldberg. She at first refused to answer questions on Tuesday about whether she was in it, but later implied that she was when she repeatedly said she could not "recall" specific content discussed in the Signal group.Last week, the Pentagon sent out internal guidance warning about the vulnerability of using Signal, according to NPR."Russian professional hacking groups are employing the 'linked devices' features to spy on encrypted conversations," the memo reads. "Please note: third-party messaging apps (e.g. Signal) are permitted by policy for unclassified accountability/recall exercises but are not approved to process or store non-public unclassified information."Both Ratcliffe and Gabbard said that the information discussed in the chat was not classified.But Sen. Warner and other Democrats repeatedly argued that the Signal chat likely contained classified information."This pattern of an amazing cavalier attitude towards classified information is reckless, sloppy," Warner said. "Make no mistake, these actions make America less safe."Recommended video