Tesla CEO Elon Musk made sweeping promises during the company's earnings call on Tuesday, vowing that there would be "thousands" of humanoid Optimus robots roaming Tesla's factories by the "end of this year" and that it would be "selling fully autonomous rides in June in Austin" in "maybe ten or 20 vehicles on day one.""There will be millions of Teslas operating fully autonomously in the second half of next year," Musk vowed.While investors were seemingly satisfied simply by having Musk hint at the possibility that he would be spending less time gutting the federal government — shares rose over six percent on Wednesday, despite disastrous earnings — there are plenty of reasons to believe that the billionaire is using smoke and mirrors to distract from far more serious problems.For over a decade now, Musk has promised each year that full autonomy is right around the corner. But the carmaker still has plenty of nagging obstacles to clear before it can even achieve full autonomy, let alone launch a Waymo-style ride-hailing service at a meaningful scale that could actually compete.Tesla VP of Autopilot and AI software Ashok Elluswamy also admitted human remote operators will be on call to step in if a "car gets stuck or something.""But it’s just because we are a bit conservative and tend towards more safety than even if we get stuck every now and then, we do have remote support," Elluswamy added. "But it’s not going to be required for safe operation."Interventions "are really very rare," Musk added, claiming that they only happen "every 10,000 miles."If that all sounds very vague and mealy-mouthed, you're right to be suspicious. Musk's tech demos, particularly around automation, have long faced scrutiny over whether they're really showing what he claims; for a strikingly similar example to the robotaxis, look no further than a flashy event last year in which Tesla's Optimus robots were covertly being controlled by human operators.There's nothing wrong with having human employees ready to step in for safety purposes, but given Musk's reputation as an impresario, it's reasonable to wonder these safety drivers could be covering for the tech not being ready for primetime at launch. If they are intervening frequently to keep the cars safe — remember that the company's "Full Self-Driving" feature still requires constant supervision — then how does that affect the economics of the taxi service, especially as it scales up to the millions of vehicles Musk is promising?It's all especially relevant as experts have raised safety concerns about Tesla's decision to exclusively rely on cameras while its competitors like Waymo are employing other more precise sensors, like radar and LIDAR.Tesla's so-called "Full Self-Driving" and "Autopilot" features have led to countless close calls and collisions, many of which are still being investigated by regulators.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been looking into crashes involving the company's driver assistance software and emergency vehicles specifically for many years now.In short, there are plenty of reasons to be highly skeptical of Musk's claims that a large-scale network of autonomous ride-hailing vehicles is less than a year away.Much is riding on the company's promises to roll out a robotaxi service, especially as sales continue to tank worldwide in large part thanks to Musk's problematic behavior.But now that the Trump administration has been gutting regulatory agencies overseeing driver assistance software — with the help of Musk himself — Tesla may encounter little resistance in rolling out future updates and a fleet of "Cybercab" robotaxis, regardless of its safety record.Share This Article

Apr 24, 2025Ravie LakshmananMalware / Threat Intelligence At least six organizations in South Korea have been targeted by the prolific North Korea-linked Lazarus Group as part of a campaign dubbed Operation SyncHole. The activity targeted South Korea's software, IT, financial, semiconductor manufacturing, and telecommunications industries, according to a report from Kaspersky published today. The earliest evidence of compromise was first detected in November 2024. The campaign involved a "sophisticated combination of a watering hole strategy and vulnerability exploitation within South Korean software," security researchers Sojun Ryu and Vasily Berdnikov said. "A one-day vulnerability in Innorix Agent was also used for lateral movement." The attacks have been observed paving the way for variants of known Lazarus tools such as ThreatNeedle, AGAMEMNON, wAgent, SIGNBT, and COPPERHEDGE. What makes these intrusions particularly effective is the likely exploitation of a security vulnerability in Cross EX, a legitimate software prevalent in South Korea to enable the use of security software in online banking and government websites to support anti-keylogging and certificate-based digital signatures. "The Lazarus group shows a strong grasp of these specifics and is using a South Korea-targeted strategy that combines vulnerabilities in such software with watering hole attacks," the Russian cybersecurity vendor said. The exploitation of a security flaw in Innorix Agent for lateral movement is notable for the fact that a similar approach has also been adopted by the Andariel sub-cluster of the Lazarus Group in the past to deliver malware such as Volgmer and Andardoor. The starting point of the latest wave of attacks is a watering hole attack, which activated the deployment of ThreatNeedle after targets visited various South Korean online media sites. Visitors who land on the sites are filtered using a server-side script prior to redirecting them to an adversary-controlled domain to serve the malware. "We assess with medium confidence that the redirected site may have executed a malicious script, targeting a potential flaw in Cross EX installed on the target PC, and launching malware," the researchers said. "The script then ultimately executed the legitimate SyncHost.exe and injected a shellcode that loaded a variant of ThreatNeedle into that process." The infection sequence has been observed adopting two phases, using ThreatNeedle and wAgent in the early stages and then SIGNBT and COPPERHEDGE for establishing persistence, conducting reconnaissance, and delivering credential dumping tools on the compromised hosts. Also deployed are malware families such as LPEClient for victim profiling and payload delivery, and a downloader dubbed Agamemnon for downloading and executing additional payloads received from the command-and-control (C2) server, while simultaneously incorporating the Hell's Gate technique to bypass security solutions during execution. One payload downloaded by Agamemnon is a tool designed to carry out lateral movement by exploiting a security flaw in the Innorix Agent file transfer tool. Kaspersky said its investigation unearthed an additional arbitrary file download zero-day vulnerability in Innorix Agent that has since been patched by the developers. "The Lazarus group's specialized attacks targeting supply chains in South Korea are expected to continue in the future," Kaspersky said. "The attackers are also making efforts to minimize detection by developing new malware or enhancing existing malware. In particular, they introduce enhancements to the communication with the C2, command structure, and the way they send and receive data." Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter  and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. SHARE    

Bryce Dallas Howard spoke to Lucasfilm boss Dave Filoni about making a Star Wars Mace Windu spinoff.The 44-year-old actress and director had worked with Filoni, 50, on the Star Wars shows The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, and Howard has now teased she has spoken with the Lucasfilm’s chief creative officer about potentially bringing back Samuel L. Jackson’s famed Jedi in an upcoming project.She told The Direct: “I went straight to Dave Filoni and I was like, ‘So, let's just talk about Mace Windu and where he is. Can we just talk about this? Because, is he dead? Is he?’”The Jurassic World star added Jackson, 76, has always been “incredibly supportive” of her, and that he wanted to work with her on a project she was directing.She said: “Sam Jackson has been incredibly supportive of me and has told me many times that he would act in something that I directed, which is, like, I’m not worthy, basically.”Mace WinduLucasfilmloading...READ MORE: Every Star Wars Movie, Ranked From Worst to BestJackson had portrayed Mace Windu in George Lucas’ prequel trilogy from Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace in 1999 until Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith in 2005, though the Jedi hasn’t been seen since his fateful battle with Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid).Even so, the Pulp Fiction actor previously insisted Mace Windu was still alive in the Star Wars universe, and he had indeed spoken with Howard about appearing in a future project set in the galaxy far, far away after the pair worked together on the 2024 film Argylle.Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Jackson said: “I think [Windu] is alive somewhere ... There’s a huge history of people with one hand returning in Star Wars.“The only person I’ve ever said that to, about coming back, was Bryce Dallas Howard. I just did a movie with her, and she directs episodes of The Mandalorian.“So I was like, ‘Do you think you might be able to hook a brother up? I mean, you like me, right?’ And she’s like ‘I love you, you’re amazing!’ So I said, ‘Put me back in it.’ I'll learn to use the Lightsaber left-handed!”Get our free mobile app25 Actors Who Turned Down Huge Movie RolesSome of the most famous actors in history turned down the chance to play cinema’s most iconic roles.

Position Overview:Are you a customer service superstar? Do you thrive in a dynamic environment where delivering exceptional service is the norm? At Legacy Painting, your passion for helping people and your drive for success will make an impactful contribution to our team's success. As an Estimate Scheduler, you'll be our frontline ambassador, engaging with customers, understanding their needs, and providing solutions that exceed their expectations.Working Hours: 8am-6pm PTKey Responsibilities:Answer incoming calls and deliver exceptional customer service.Schedule and manage leads, converting inquiries into sales opportunities.Develop and maintain systems that improve efficiency for the whole team.Conduct regular reporting through company spreadsheets and track performance metrics.Drive customer engagement by generating reviews and conducting satisfaction follow-ups.Assist with creative tasks, social events, and internal office events.Take on additional responsibilities as required to support overall company operations.Qualifications:Advanced English LanguageProven experience in administrative or operations roles.Strong organizational and multitasking abilities.Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.Proficiency in spreadsheetsAbility to adapt to evolving responsibilities in a fast-paced environment.Passion for contributing to the growth and success of a dynamic company.Problem-Solving Abilities: Quick thinker with the ability to resolve issues efficiently while maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction.Technical Aptitude: Ability to learn and understand our products, services, and customer management systems.Team Player: Strong ability to work independently as well as collaboratively within a team environment.Flexibility Adaptability to work in a fast-paced and ever-changing environment.

Organizations are deepening their cloud investments at an unprecedented pace, recognizing its fundamental role in driving business agility and innovation. Synergy Research Group reports that companies spent $84 billion worldwide on cloud infrastructure services in the third quarter of 2024, a 23% rise over the third quarter of 2023 and the fourth consecutive quarter in which the year-on-year growth rate has increased. DOWNLOAD THE REPORT Allowing users to access IT systems from anywhere in the world, cloud services also ensure solutions remain highly configurable and automated. At the same time, hosted services like generative AI and tailored industry solutions can help companies quickly launch applications and grow the business. To get the most out of these services, companies are turning to cloud optimization—the process of selecting and allocating cloud resources to reduce costs while maximizing performance. But despite all the interest in the cloud, many workloads remain stranded on-premises, and many more are not optimized for efficiency and growth, greatly limiting the forward momentum. Companies are missing out on a virtuous cycle of mutually reinforcing results that comes from even more efficient use of the cloud. Organizations can enhance security, make critical workloads more resilient, protect the customer experience, boost revenues, and generate cost savings. These benefits can fuel growth and avert expenses, generating capital that can be invested in innovation. “Cloud optimization involves making sure that your cloud spending is efficient so you’re not spending wastefully,” says André Dufour, Director and General Manager for AWS Cloud Optimization at Amazon Web Services. “But you can’t think of it only as cost savings at the expense of other things. Dollars freed up through optimization can be redirected to fund net new innovations, like generative AI.” This content was produced by Insights, the custom content arm of MIT Technology Review. It was not written by MIT Technology Review’s editorial staff. This content was researched, designed, and written entirely by human writers, editors, analysts, and illustrators. This includes the writing of surveys and collection of data for surveys. AI tools that may have been used were limited to secondary production processes that passed thorough human review.

Core Five, Arup and Elliott Wood on team working up plans to transform and extend one of the West End’s tallest towers View of the existing TP Bennett-designed tower at 33 Cavendish Square Berkeley Estate Asset Management (BEAM) will submit a planning application for its proposed transformation of one of the West End’s tallest towers this autumn. The developer unveiled its plans for the 33 Cavendish Square scheme yesterday, publishing a series of early images showing how the KPF-designed retrofit of the 21-storey tower next to Oxford Circus could look when built. The existing 1960s building, designed by TP Bennett, was originally home to BHS and includes a two-storey podium and a six-storey block along Oxford Street previously home to the London College of Fashion before its move to new purpose-built premises at the Olympic Park. This component will be demolished and replaced by a new seven-storey retail, food and beverage block while the site’s tower will be retained and transformed into grade A office space. BEAM has now revealed the full project team, which includes Core Five as QS, Gardiner & Theobald as project manager, Elliott Wood as structural engineer, Arup on MEP and Tavenor on townscape. CGI view of the proposed 33 Cavendish Square scheme behind Oxford Circus Planning consultant Newmark and engagement consultant Kanda were confirmed as being on the team yesterday. BEAM is understood to be looking at a four-year programme for completing the scheme but has said it is too early to reveal a start date. The existing development has a total floorspace of around 60,000 sq m. The scheme is being billed as a new cultural hub for Westminster aiming to attract creative workers back to the West End from the east of the capital. Around 25,000 sq ft of cultural spaces covering much of the lower floors will include a 300-seat auditorium, makerspaces and creative studios arranged around a triple height atrium, BEAM said. A first round of consultation is open at 20 Cavendish Square today with more details of the scheme expected to be announced at a second consultation round this summer.

CNET helps you pick out the best internet service provider in Morgantown to meet all your requirements, including speed, budget and availability.

April 24, 20254 min readCelebrate Hubble Space Telescope’s 35th Birthday with Stunning ImagesHappy anniversary to the Hubble Space Telescope, which launched on April 24, 1990By Meghan Bartels edited by Lee BillingsThe Tarantula Nebula, located about 161,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud bordering our Milky Way, is packed with ionized hydrogen gas dotted by supernova remnants. NASA/ESAThirty-five years ago today a revolutionary new era of astronomy began when the Hubble Space Telescope, tucked onboard the space shuttle Discovery, blasted off Earth into history. The next day a robotic arm tipped the telescope into orbit from the shuttle’s cargo bay. Within a month Hubble had truly begun its mission, gazing out at the cosmos for NASA and the European Space Agency with its 2.4-meter-wide starlight-gathering mirror—the largest ever launched to space at the time.NGC 6302, known as the Butterfly Nebula, is located between 2,500 and 3,800 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius. The image includes near-ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared light. At the heart of the nebula lie one or more dying stars that are periodically flinging layers of gas out into space. This gas—reaching temperatures of more than 36,000 degrees Fahrenheit and speeds of more than 600,000 miles per hour—becomes the “wings” of the butterfly.NASA, ESA, and J. Kastner (RIT) (CC BY 4.0)In the years since, Hubble has gathered more than 1.6 million observations and 430 terabytes of data. The telescope has revealed that supermassive black holes nestle at the heart of most large galaxies, Jupiter’s icy moon Europa may be shooting plumes of water out into space and, in the distant future, our Milky Way galaxy will likely collide with our neighbor, Andromeda.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.But the mission almost flopped.The Hubble Space Telescope was decades in the works, even making a cameo appearance in a Superman comic in 1972, before it reached space in 1990. But after Hubble’s deployment, as the telescope began operations, astronomers realized its vision was blurry and traced the issue to a tiny imperfection in the telescope’s mirror.A pair of planetary nebulae, IC 418 (left) and MyCn18 (right). IC 418 is located about 2,000 light-years away from Earth in the direction of the constellation Lepus. At its heart is the remains of a red giant star that spat its outer layers of gas into space, creating the lattice of gas illuminated by ultraviolet light. MyCn18, located about 8,000 light-years away, glows with ionized nitrogen (red), hydrogen (green) and doubly ionized oxygen (blue).NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgment: Dr. Raghvendra Sahai (JPL) and Dr. Arsen R. Hajian (USNO) (CC BY 4.0) (left); NASA, ESA, Raghvendra Sahai and John Trauger (JPL), the WFPC2 science team (CC BY 4.0) (right)Astoundingly, that mirror is still in use today aboard the observatory. Fortunately, Hubble was uniquely designed to be serviced in orbit by astronauts. NASA’s first (and most urgent) servicing mission flew in December 1993; during five separate spacewalks, astronauts installed a new primary camera able to counteract Hubble’s blurred vision, as well a bulky new apparatus that corrected the light that fed into the observatory’s original suite of instruments.The Hubble Space Telescope and a spacewalking NASA astronaut are seen in orbit around Earth during STS-61, the 1993 servicing mission to correct the observatory’s optics.NASAM104, nicknamed the Sombrero Galaxy, is located about 30 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. M104 creates stars surprisingly slowly and is home to a mysteriously quiescent central supermassive black hole.ESA/Hubble & NASA, K. Noll (CC BY 4.0)Additional shuttle missions in 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2009 also visited the observatory, extending its lifetime and expanding its view each time with new hardware and better instruments.The galaxy NGC 1566 is located about 60 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Dorado. NGC 1566 is what scientists call a weakly barred or intermediate spiral galaxy and belongs to a group of gravitationally bound galaxies that astronomers are still working to understand.ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Calzetti and the LEGUS team, R. Chandar (CC BY 4.0)The results have been nothing short of breathtaking. Hubble’s position well above most of Earth’s atmosphere allows it to see the cosmos unhindered by the tempests and turbulence that all ground-based observatories face. That privileged vantage point has profoundly shaped our understanding of the solar system and universe around us.In our own neighborhood, Hubble has studied the changing weather on the outer planets, discovered moons orbiting Pluto and watched the once-in-a-lifetime impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter scar the giant planet with dark spots as big as Earth. It has even glimpsed the sun, in a feat it was most definitely not designed to attempt.Hubble used its ultraviolet vision to capture an image of auroras on Jupiter in 2016 as NASA’s Juno spacecraft was arriving in orbit around the massive planet.NASA, ESA, and J. Nichols (University of Leicester); Acknowledgment: A. Simon (NASA/GSFC) and the OPAL team (CC BY 4.0)In more distant reaches, Hubble provided conclusive proof that supermassive black holes exist and made the first observations of astronomical objects colliding as well as of the surface of a star besides our sun. And in a remarkable triumph, it managed to capture a first-of-its-kind snapshot of a supernova explosion that had been successfully predicted by astronomers.The dense globular cluster ESO 520-21, or Palomar 6 (top), is located near the center of the Milky Way in the constellation Ophiuchus. The Carina Nebula (bottom) is a star-forming region located about 7,500 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Carina. The pillar of dust and gas seen in this image stretches about three light-years tall and is being eroded away by radiation from hot newborn stars embedded in the column.ESA/Hubble and NASA, R. Cohen (CC BY 4.0) (top); NASA, ESA, M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI) (CC BY 4.0) (bottom)And, of course, it has taken some of the most iconic space photographs we have—among them, the stunning “Pillars of Creation” image of a stellar nursery known as the Eagle Nebula.For 35 years Hubble has pushed the boundaries of possibility, transforming our view of the cosmos each time it beams the universe’s light down to Earth. How long it will continue to do so, however, remains unclear. Since the 2009 servicing mission, the NASA shuttles that ferried astronauts to Hubble retired, and the hazards of space have taken their toll. Hubble’s hardware failures are mounting, and the observatory’s ongoing operations depend on an ever-increasing number of workarounds and improvisations. At this point, even the most optimistic “Hubble hugger” astronomers admit that the observatory’s days are numbered.Although Hubble is most known for its iconic photographs, it gathers other observations as well, such as this single exposure taken by the observatory’s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. The image maps gas zipping around the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M84, located about 50 million light-years away from Earth. From the spectrograph’s data, which show that the gas is moving as fast as 880,000 miles per hour, astronomers determined that the black hole contains at least 300 million times the mass of our sun.NASA, Gary Bower, Richard Green (NOAO), the STIS Instrument Definition TeamIn June 2024 NASA announced that failing machinery was forcing the observatory to begin operating with only one fully functional gyroscope, which slows the telescope’s work. In addition, Earth’s atmosphere is slowly but surely pulling Hubble down to Earth, bringing the observatory ever closer to fiery destruction, although reentry is not expected until next decade.NASA launched Hubble’s successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, in 2021, although unlike Hubble, JWST is stationed so far beyond Earth’s orbit that crewed servicing missions are too daunting to attempt. The two telescopes mostly collect data independently of each other but occasionally team up, combining their powers to produce spectacular results.NGC 1999, located about 1,350 light-years away from Earth, is a reflection nebula created by debris from the newborn star V380 Orionis, visible at the center of the image. The image relies on data gathered by Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2—the replacement camera installed during the first servicing mission—in 1999.ESA/Hubble & NASA, ESO, K. Noll (CC BY 4.0)Despite its age, Hubble may yet be reborn. In 2022 billionaire Jared Isaacman, who has paid SpaceX undisclosed sums for several private spaceflights with the company, proposed a new servicing mission for the aging telescope. NASA officials seriously considered the proposal but in 2024 declined to pursue Isaacman’s idea.The lenticular galaxy NGC 4753 is located about 60 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Virgo. Lenticular galaxies are elliptical objects; Hubble sees this particular galaxy nearly edge on. Scientists believe that the galaxy developed after a merger some 1.3 billion years ago.ESA/Hubble & NASA, L. Kelsey (CC BY 4.0)Now Isaacman is President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead NASA. Senators conducted his confirmation hearing earlier this month; a vote has not yet been scheduled. It’s not clear how ethics rules will impact Isaacman’s relationship with SpaceX should he be confirmed or whether he would have the authority to resurrect the servicing mission proposal.NGC 7635, nicknamed the Bubble Nebula, is located about 7,100 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia. The nebula is about seven light-years wide; at its heart is a star 45 times as massive as our sun that is spitting gas into space at speeds as high as four million miles per hour.NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) (CC BY 4.0)And larger issues face the agency than the fate of any single observatory. Hubble and JWST are the only astrophysics telescopes that would continue to receive funding amid massive science cuts included in the Trump administration’s budget request for NASA. (That said, budget allocations are made not by the president but by Congress, which has a long history of reinstating money to slashed space science projects.)Such is the limitation of an astronomical marvel: while Hubble has spotted a star as it was less than one billion years after the big bang, even it cannot see its own future.

Evercade maker pauses US orders over tariff fears "We do not want to put our customers at risk." Image credit: Funstock News by Tom Phillips Editor-in-Chief Published on April 24, 2025 Evercade maker Funstock has become the first hardware manufacture to freeze orders for US customers due to the country's ongoing trade war with China. At the start of April, sweeping international tariffs enacted by US president Trump have caused stock markets to falter and left companies struggling to react as the situation fluctuates daily. Now, retro console and handheld maker Funstock has said it will be taking "a cautious approach to the situation" by "temporarily stopping any new orders and pre-orders for US customers". "Until we know more, we do not want to put our customers at risk of unexpected charges," Funstock said in a statement emailed to existing customers this afternoon, as seen by Eurogamer. "As soon as the situation is clearer, we'll release a statement on our shipping policies going forward. This pause in service will be effective from Monday, 28th April and means that customers in the US will not be able to make new orders on our website." Existing US customers still awaiting pre-orders will need to sit tight for now, Funstock continued. "We are exploring all available options to ascertain what our customers can expect with their pre-orders and will update you on any changes by 17th June," the company concluded. "We will advise all customers with existing pre-orders what to expect by that date." Orders to customers in Canada are unaffected, Funstock noted. Funstock is far from the only video games company which has reacted to the US tariffs. Nintendo delayed US Switch 2 pre-orders until today while it reassessed the situation and ultimately raised the prices of Switch 2 accessories in response. PlayStation, meanwhile, recently raised the price of PS5 in various countries, including the UK, citing "the backdrop of a challenging economic environment, including high inflation and fluctuating exchange rates".