Dec 17, 2024The Hacker NewsThreat Hunting / Sandbox AnalysisAddressing cyber threats before they have a chance to strike or inflict serious damage is by far the best security approach any company can embrace. Achieving this takes a lot of research and proactive threat hunting. The problem here is that it is easy to get stuck in endless arrays of data and end up with no relevant intel. To avoid this, use these five battle-tested techniques that are certain to improve your company's threat awareness and overall security.Finding threats targeting orgs in your regionThe most basic, yet high-impact way to learn about the current threat landscape for your company is to go and see what type of attacks other organizations in your region are experiencing. In most cases, threat actors attempt to target dozens of businesses at the same time as part of a single campaign. This makes it possible to catch the threat early and make correct adjustments in your organization.How it contributes to your security:More targeted and effective defense strategy.Accurate threat prioritization.Resource optimization.How it works:While there are several ways to find out about the current threat landscape in your country, ANY.RUN provides one of the most comprehensive and user-friendly solutions for this. It runs a massive public database of analysis reports on the latest malware and phishing samples, which are uploaded to ANY.RUN's sandbox by over 500,000 security professionals worldwide. Extensive data from each sandbox session is extracted and can be searched through by users via ANY.RUN's Threat Intelligence (TI) Lookup. The service offers over 40 different parameters, from IP addresses and file hashes to registry keys and mutexes, helping you pinpoint threats using the smallest indicators with accuracy.Say we want to see what type of phishing threats are targeting organizations in Germany, while excluding URLs from the search (using the NOT operator), as we wish to focus on malicious files specifically. To do this, we can type the following query into TI Lookup:threatName:"phishing" AND submissionCountry:"de" NOT taskType:"url"You can explore each sandbox session shown by TI LookupIn seconds, we get a list of public sandbox sessions which include phishing documents, emails, and other types of content submitted to ANY.RUN by users in Germany. You can observe each session closely completely for free to gain additional insights into the threats and collect invaluable intelligence.One of the sandbox sessions from the TI Lookup results, showing analysis of a phishing emailAs shown in the image above, we can view the entire attack in action along with all network and system activities recorded during the analysis.Get a 14-day FREE trial of TI Lookup to see how it can improve your organization's security.Checking suspicious system and network artifacts with TI toolsOn an average day, security departments at mid-size organizations get hundreds of alerts. Not all of them are properly followed through, which leaves a gap for attackers to exploit. Yet, simply adding one more layer of verifying all the suspicious artifacts with TI tools can potentially save organizations from considerable financial and reputational losses.How it contributes to your security:Early detection of malicious activities.Understanding of the tactics and techniques used by attackers.Quick incident response to minimize impact.How it works:A common scenario for security departments is dealing with unusual IP connections. Since there are many instances of legitimate addresses generating alerts, it's easy for some employees to get complacent and let actual malicious ones slip off the hook.To eliminate such situations, employees can check all IP addresses in TI Lookup. Here is an example of possible query:destinationIP:"78[.]110[.]166[.]82"TI Lookup provides additional info for every indicator, including domains, ports, and eventsThe service instantly notifies us about the malicious nature of this IP and supplies more context: the name of the threat (Agent Tesla) and sandbox sessions where this IP was recorded.Similarly, security professionals can check system events like the use of suspicious scripts. We can include more than one indicator at the same time, to see if any of them is linked to malicious activities. Consider this query:commandLine:"C:\\Users\\Public\\*.ps1" OR commandLine:"C:\\Users\\Public\\*.vbs"It is set up to look for two types of scripts: .ps1 and .vbs format scripts that are placed in the Public directory. Since we do not know the file names of these scripts, we can simply replace them with the * wildcard.Scripts matching the queryTI Lookup provides us with a list of matching scripts, found across numerous sandbox sessions.List of sandbox sessions featuring the requested scriptsNow, we can collect their names, see how they work as part of an attack, and take preventive measures based on the discovered intel.Exploring threats by specific TTPsWhile blocking known indicators of compromise (IOCs) is an important element of your security, they tend to change regularly. That is why a more sustainable approach is to rely on tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by attackers to infect organizations in your industry. With TI tools, you can track threats that use TTPs of your interest, observe their behavior, and gather invaluable information on them to enhance your company's detection capabilities.How it contributes to your security:Detailed insights into attacker methods.Development of specific countermeasures.Proactive defense against emerging threats.How it works:TI Lookup provides an actionable MITRE ATT&CK matrix, which includes dozens of TTPs, which are accompanied by sandbox sessions featuring malware and phishing threats using these techniques in action.TI Lookup offers an actionable MITRE ATT&CK matrixIt is free and available even to unregistered users. You can explore how attacks are carried out and find specific threats that employ particular TTPs. TI Lookup provides samples of threats for each TTPThe image above shows how the service provides information on T1562.001, a technique used by attackers to modify security tools and avoid detection. In the center, TI Lookup lists signatures related to this technique which describe specific malicious activities. On the right, you can explore reports on relevant threats.Tracking evolving threatsThreats tend to change their infrastructure and evolve, as organizations adjust to their attacks. That is why it is vital to never lose track of the threats that once posed a risk to your company. This can be done by getting up-to-date information on the latest instances of this threat and its new indicators.How it contributes to your security:Timely actions to mitigate emerging threats.Enhanced situational awareness for security teams.Better preparation for future attacks.How it works:TI Lookup allows you to subscribe to receive notifications about updates on specific threats, indicators of compromise, indicators of behavior, as well as combinations of different data points.To receive notifications, simply enter your query and click the subscribe buttonThis lets you stay aware of new variants and evolving threats, adapting your defenses as needed almost in real time.For instance, we can subscribe to a query to receive information on new domain names and other network activities related to the Lumma Stealer:threatName:"lumma" AND domainName:""TI Lookup notifies you about new results for each subscriptionSoon, we'll see how new updates start appearing.TI Lookup showing new resultsBy clicking on the subscribed query, the new results will be displayed. In our case, we can observe new ports used in attacks involving Lumma.Enriching information from third-party reportsReports on the current threat landscape are an essential source of intelligence on attacks that may target your organizations. Yet, the information they contain may be quite limited. You can build on the existing knowledge and do your own research to uncover additional details.How it contributes to your security:Ensuring a more complete picture of the threat landscape. Threat data validation.More informed decision-making.How it works:Consider this recent attack targeting manufacturing companies with Lumma and Amadey malware. We can follow up on the findings outlined in the report to find more samples related to the campaign. To do this, we can combine two details: the name of the threat and a .dll file used by attackers:filePath:"dbghelp.dll" AND threatName:"lumma"Sandbox sessions matching the queryTI Lookup provides dozens of matching sandbox sessions, allowing you to significantly enrich the data provided in the original report and use it to inform your defenses against this attack.Improve and Speed up Threat Hunting in Your Organization with TI LookupANY.RUN's Threat Intelligence Lookup provides centralized access to the latest threat data from public malware and phishing samples.It helps organizations with:Proactive Threat Identification: Search the database to proactively identify and update your defense based on the discovered intelligence. Faster Research: Accelerate threat research by quickly connecting isolated IOCs to specific threats or known malware campaigns. Real-Time Monitoring: Monitor evolving threats by receiving updates on new results related to your indicators of interest. Incident Forensics: Enhance forensic analysis of security incidents by searching for contextual information on existing artifacts. IOC Collection: Discover additional indicators by searching the database for relevant threat information. Get a 14-day free trial of TI Lookup to test all of its capabilities and see how it can contribute to your organization's security.Found this article interesting? This article is a contributed piece from one of our valued partners. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

Every year, the Library of Congress adds 25 movies to the National Film Registry. The titles are chosen for their cultural, historic, or aesthetic importance to the country, and are then preserved by the Library for posterity.2024seclectic batch of titles some of which were suggested by average American citizens includes Cheech and Chongs famous stoner comedyUp in Smoke,the iconicStar TreksequelStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,the originalBeverly Hills Cop, the timeless classicDirty Dancing, the kids action movieSpy Kids, the Coen brothersNo Country For Old Men, the Facebook biopicThe Social Network, and one of the first and most important slasher films ever, Tobe HoopersThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre.The1974independent horror film, which launched a franchise that continues to this day and helped inspire the entire slasher genre, will be preserved forever in all its gory glory by the Library of Congress.ParamountParamountloading...READ MORE: The 2023 Inductees Into the National Film RegistryHere is the full list of 2024 inductees into the National Film Registry:Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895)KoKos Earth Control (1928)Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)Pride of the Yankees (1942)Invaders from Mars (1953)The Miracle Worker (1962)The Chelsea Girls (1966)Ganja and Hess (1973)Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)Uptown Saturday Night (1974)Zora Lathan Student Films (1975-76)Up in Smoke (1978)Will (1981)Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan (1982)Beverly Hills Cop (1984)Dirty Dancing (1987)Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989)Powwow Highway (1989)My Own Private Idaho (1991)American Me (1992)Mi Familia (1995)Compensation (1999)Spy Kids (2001)No Country for Old Men (2007)The Social Network (2010)What a fun and wide-ranging list. And it is somehow reassuring that the movie where Leatherface first chopped a person to bits is now enshrined in the hallowed halls of the Library of Congress. It just feels right.If you would like to suggest a title to be added to the National Film Registry in 2025, you can do so at the Library of Congress website. (Go tell them thatGymkataneeds to be preserved for all of eternity.)Get our free mobile app20 Comic Book Movies You Forgot ExistedThere have been so many movies based on comics in recent years, you might not even remember all of them (or most of them).

The 1980s were an era with such a distinct look, feel, and vibe that its almost too easy to pull off the 80s at a Halloween party. Keep scrolling for the iconically '80s photos. Think brightly colored tracksuits, complete with headbands, legwarmers, and all the iconic accessories. But for those of us who actually lived through the 80s, the reality wasnt always so neon-bright especially if you were stuck wearing the familys drab 70s hand-me-downs.Getty ImagesGetty Imagesloading...This street scene in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is a masterclass in '80s fashion.Big Trends Meant Big MoneyBeyond the fashion trends, kids growing up in the 80s became a driving force in the economy.RELATED:Try Guessing These Awesome 80s Movies From a Single Freeze-FrameHome video game systems brought the arcade experience into living rooms, while blockbuster movies spawned a wave of must-have merchandise. It was a decade fueled by an endless cycle of buy, buy, buy.Getty ImagesGetty Imagesloading...The Images of the 80s Werent All Neon Bright and CarefreeSome news events profoundly shaped the lives of those growing up during that time, from the real-time disaster movie that was the Mount St. Helens eruption to the Challenger tragedy both unfolding on live TV and leaving lasting impressions on young, impressionable minds.Getty ImagesGetty Imagesloading...Totally 80s: The Pictures That Take You BackTake a nostalgic journey through the '80s with these iconic photoscapturing the fashion, toys, and unforgettable news events that left a lasting impact on a generation. Keep scrolling to relive the moments that defined the decade.Gallery Credit: Stephen LenzREAD MORE: The Worst 80s Movies EverGet our free mobile app80s Foods We Wish They Still MadeIf you grew up in the 1980s, you surely have fond memories of these popular (now discontinued) snacks.Filed Under: NostalgiaCategories: Galleries, Lists, Original Features

Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse has two new directors who are both oldSpider-Versedirectors.Sony announced today that the third film in the animatedSpider-Versetrilogy will be helmed by Bob Persichetti and Justin K. Thompson. Persichetti was one of the directors ofInto the Spider-Verse while Thompson was a co-director ofAcross the Spider-Verse.Both also worked on the earlier films in other roles; Thompson was the Production Designer onInto the Spider-Verse, whilePersichetti was an executive producer onAcross the Spider-Verse.Sony announced the move on theSpider-VerseInstagram account.While its good to getany news of progress onBeyond the Spider-Verse, this announcement certainly makes it seem like the film is still quite a ways from being completed.Acrossand Beyond theSpider-Verse were initially announced as a two-part film that would be developed together and then released in close proximity.Instead,Across the Spider-Verse(a really great Spider-Man movie!) came out in May of 2023, and were now in late 2024 and weve only just learned thatBeyond the Spider-Versewill be directed by a new team instead of Thompson, Kemp Powers, and Joaquim Dos Santos, who directed the second film together. (Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, whove produced both previousSpider-Verse movies, remain involved as writersand producers.)Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Versehas not had an official release date since Sony pushed the film back from its initially planned debut in May of 2024.Of course, from a fans perspective, I would rather the movie be later and good than rushed and bad. Hopefully the final product is worth the wait.Get our free mobile appEvery Spider-Man and Spinoff Movie RankedAll of Sonys Spider-Man movies (plus their spinoffs), ranked from the worst to the best.Gallery Credit: Matt Singer

Time zones: EST (UTC -5), CST (UTC -6), MST (UTC -7), PST (UTC -8), AKST (UTC -9), HST (UTC -10)Mindoula Health is seeking Therapists licensed in Tennessee (LPC, LCSW, LMFT) for our Substance Use Disorder Program to remotely serve our substance exposed members. The applicant must be licensed in Tennessee, but can live anywhere in the US. Our Substance Use Disorder Program's focus is on prenatal and postpartum care and substance-exposed living populations.Our teams address substance exposed living and substance exposed pregnancy. You will work within a family-focused culture and have the benefit of learning both the clinical and business sides of the company. You will have a flexible schedule and the freedom to create groups and utilize evidence based practices you are most passionate about.As a clinician, you will work in collaborative settings to provide biopsychosocial assessments, individual and group therapy, and work with your team to coordinate care across a range of substance use disorder treatment settings. You will enjoy the flexibility and autonomy to work from home.Compensation: Potential to earn up to $75,000 a year based on your clinical hours, plus benefits.Comprehensive Benefits Package includes:Medical, Dental and Vision InsuranceSupplemental Life InsuranceShort Term and Long Term Insurance paid by Mindoula401k, with a company match3 weeks paid vacation each year, 4 mental wellness days and 11 holidaysParental Leave: 8 weeks of paid parental leavePersonal Development Program: $500 credit reimbursement per calendar yearHow you'll contribute:Assesses, plans and implements care strategies that are individualized by member and directed toward the most appropriate and least restrictive level of care.Collaborates with member, family and healthcare providers to develop an individualized plan of care.Conducts individual counseling and group therapy with adolescents and adults.Identifies and initiates referrals for social service programs including financial, psycho-social, community and state supportive services.Advocates for members and families as needed to ensure the patients needs and choices are fully represented and supported by the healthcare team.Utilizes approved clinical criteria to assess and determine appropriate level of care for members.Documents all member assessments, care plan and referrals provided.Responsible for achieving set goals; Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).Learning the StrongWell model and taking responsibility and ownership for outcome based care.Participates in interdisciplinary team meetings and utilization management rounds and provides information to assist with safe transitions of care.Promotes responsible and ethical stewardship of company resources.Maintains excellent punctuality and attendance during work hours.Qualifications:LCSW, LMFT, LPC, in Tennessee.Preferred experience with substance abuse population.Background in maternal; substance abuse preferred.Experience with adults and adolescents.Familiarity with Medicare and Medicaid procedures.Remote Work Experience.Come be part of the solution!

About the Role:The Disputes Team plays a key role in managing disputes initiated by healthcare facilities (HCFs) for invoiced shifts, addressing discrepancies in charges based on contractual terms and internal records. A Billing Disputes Specialist will review and process these disputes, determining whether to accept or reject claims based on the accuracy of the invoices and supporting records provided by the HCFs.Responsibilities:Manage and resolve invoice disputes submitted by HCFs promptly and accurately.Conduct a thorough review of facility contracts to ensure they align with dispute resolutions.Make outgoing calls to HCFs and clarify details related to submitted disputes.Send emails to HCFs, Account Managers (AMs), and Billing Representatives (BRs) with the investigation outcomes on their submitted disputes.Collaborate with other Clipboard Health departments to escalate billing discrepancies when disputes require further investigation beyond the scope of a Billing Disputes Specialist.Identify the root cause of non-payment.Requirements and Skills:Strong analytical skills with high attention to detail, particularly in reviewing contracts, billing and invoice discrepancies, and dispute documentation.Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to effectively communicate complex information to different stakeholders.Proficiency in Salesforce, Zendesk, Google Workspace, and other data management tools.Problem-solving mindset and ability to resolve issues in a timely and efficient manner.Strong organizational skills and ability to manage tasks in a fast-paced environment.Customer-oriented approach with a focus on maintaining positive relationships with our customers while enforcing contract terms.1-2 years of experience in billing, invoicing, or dispute resolution is a plus.90-Day ReviewBy the end of your first 90 days, the following accomplishments are expected:Master the dispute-handling workflow: Achieve an excellent understanding of the dispute-handling workflow with proficiency in navigating primary tools and following proper escalation procedures.Resolve discrepancies efficiently: Confidently identify various types of billing discrepancies and follow the appropriate resolution processes, ensuring the root cause is understood before investigation to streamline the workflow.Use systems and tools well: Become proficiency in using primary tools such as Salesforce, the CBH App, and Zendesk, effectively utilizing them throughout the dispute resolution process.Document consistently with a high attention to detail: Be consistent and thorough in documenting post-resolution notes in Salesforce cases and maintaining the weekly dashboard, minimizing unnecessary follow-ups with our customers.Organize effectively and manage tasks: Keep your tasks well-organized, ensure timely follow-ups, and adhere to email cadences, all of which contribute to more efficient dispute resolutions.Collaborate openly and actively with the Disputes Team: Collaborate with the team by sharing insights, assisting others, and helping solve problems outside of your scope. Embrace challenges as learning opportunities and maintain a proactive approach to workflow changes, contributing to the teams success.Meet team targets and metrics: Meet or exceed team targets and metrics, align personal goals with daily and weekly deliverables, and proactively manage additional cases when necessary.

Role Overview:The Billing Account Manager ensures the successful management of billing processes for Clipboard Healths facility partners. You will be a vital resource for facilities, resolving billing issues, maintaining accurate invoicing, and managing financial relationships.Responsibilities:Manage a portfolio of accounts, addressing billing concerns and ensuring timely invoice payments.Conduct high volumes of outbound calls to chase customers with past due account balances.Help resolve customer invoice disputes and other billing related issues.Manage customer payments and remittances.Build trust with providers and healthcare executives through strong financial acumen.Clearly articulate the billing processes and educate stakeholders on invoicing procedures.Gather and relay feedback to improve billing systems and processes.Collaborate with internal teams to execute billing-related initiatives and trials.Success Factors:Extreme Ownership: Take full responsibility for managing billing issues and solutions.Curiosity: Investigate and understand the root cause of billing problems.Scrappiness: Find innovative solutions to overcome obstacles and maintain progress.Adaptability: Thrive in a fast-paced, evolving market.Requirements:Experience in relationship management and billing processes preferred.Excellent verbal and written communication skills.Willingness to work with US working hours.Benefits:Competitive payUnlimited PTOFully RemoteOpportunity to make a significant impact with healthcare customers

Recorded on December 17, 2024The Worst Technology Failures of 2024Speakers: Antonio Regalado, senior editor for biomedicine, and Niall Firth, executive editor.MIT Technology Review publishes an annual list of the worst technologies of the year. This year, The Worst Technology Failures of 2024 list was unveiled live by our editors. Hear fromMIT Technology Reviewexecutive editor Niall Firth and senior editor for biomedicine Antonio Regalado as they discuss each of the 8 items on this list.Related CoverageThe 8 worst technology failures of 2024The worst technology failures of 2023The worst technology of 2022

They say you learn more from failure than success. If so, this is the story for you: MIT Technology Reviews annual roll call of the biggest flops, flimflams, and fiascos in all domains of technology. Some of the foul-ups were funny, like the "woke AI which got Google in trouble after it drew Black Nazis. Some caused lawsuits, like a computer error by CrowdStrike that left thousands of Delta passengers stranded. We also reaped failures among startups that raced to expand from 2020 to 2022, a period of ultra-low interest rates. But then the economic winds shifted. Money wasnt free anymore. The result? Bankruptcy and dissolution for companies whose ambitious technological projects, from vertical farms to carbon credits, hadnt yet turned a profit and might never do so. Read on. Woke AI blunder GOOGLE GEMINI VIA X.COM/END WOKENESS People worry about bias creeping into AI. But what if you add bias on purpose? Thanks to Google, we know where that leads: Black Vikings and female popes. Googles Gemini AI image feature, launched last February, had been tuned to zealously showcase diversity, damn the history books. Ask Google for a picture of German soldiers from World War II, and it would create a Benetton ad in Wehrmacht uniforms. Critics pounced and Google beat an embarrassed retreat. It paused Geminis ability to draw people and agreed its well-intentioned effort to be inclusive had missed the mark. The free version of Gemini still wont create images of people. But paid versions will. When we asked for an image of 12 CEOs of public biotech companies, the software produced a photographic-quality image of middle-aged white men. Less than ideal. But closer to the truth. More: Is Googles Gemini chatbot woke by accident, or by design? (The Economist), Gemini image generation got it wrong. We'll do better. (Google) Boeing Starliner THE BOEING COMPANY VIA NASA Boeing, we have a problem. And its your long-delayed reusable spaceship, the Starliner, which stranded NASA astronauts Sunita Suni Williams and Barry Butch Wilmore on the International Space Station. The June mission was meant to be a quick eight-day round trip to test Starliner before it embarked on longer missions. But, plagued by helium leaks and thruster problems, it had to come back empty. Now Butch and Suni wont return to Earth until 2025, when a craft from Boeing competitor SpaceX is scheduled to bring them home. Credit Boeing and NASA with putting safety first. But this wasnt Boeings only malfunction during 2024. The company began the year with a door blowing off one of its planes midflight, faced a worker strike, agreed to a major fine for misleading the government about the safety of its 737 Max airplane (which made our 2019 list of worst technologies), and saw its CEO step down in March. After the Starliner fiasco, Boeing fired the chief of its space and defense unit. At this critical juncture, our priority is to restore the trust of our customers and meet the high standards they expect of us to enable their critical missions around the world, Boeings new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, said in a memo. CrowdStrike outage MITTR / ENVATO The motto of the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike is We stop breaches. And its true: No one can breach your computer if you cant turn it on. Thats exactly what happened to many people on July 19, when thousands of Windows computers at airlines, TV stations, and hospitals started displaying the blue screen of death. The cause wasnt hackers or ransomware. Instead, those computers were stuck in a boot loop because of a bad update shipped by CrowdStrike itself. CEO George Kurtz jumped on X to say the issue had been identified as a defect in a single computer file. So who is liable? CrowdStrike customer Delta Airlines, which canceled 7,000 flights, is suing for $500 million. It alleges that the security firm caused a global catastrophe when it took uncertified and untested shortcuts. CrowdStrike countersued. It says Deltas management is to blame for its troubles and that the airline is due little more than a refund. More: Crowdstrike is working with customers(George Kurtz), How to fix a Windows PC affected by the global outage (MIT Technology Review), Delta Sues CrowdStrike Over July Operations Meltdown (WSJ) Vertical farms MITTR / ENVATO Grow lettuce in buildings using robots, hydroponics, and LED lights. Thats what Bowery, a vertical farming startup, raised over $700 million to do. But in November, Bowery went bust, making it the biggest startup failure of the year, according to the business analytics firm CB Insights. Bowery claimed that vertical farms were 100 times more productive per square foot than traditional farms, since racks of plants could be stacked 40 feet high. In reality, the companys lettuce was more expensive, and when a stubborn plant infection spread through its East Coast facilities, Bowery had trouble delivering the green stuff at any price. More: How a leaf-eating pathogen, failed deals brought down Bowery Farming (Pitchbook), Vertical farming "unicorn" Bowery to shut down (Axios) Exploding pagers MITTR / ADOBE STOCK They beeped, and then they blew up. Across Lebanon, fingers and faces were shredded in what was called Israels surprise opening blow in an all-out war to try to cripple Hezbollah. The deadly attack was diabolically clever. Israel set up shell companies that sold thousands of pagers packed with explosives to the Islamic faction, which was already worried that its phones were being spied on. A coup for Israels spies. But was it a war crime? A 1996 treaty prohibits intentionally manufacturing apparently harmless objects designed to explode. The New York Times says nine-year-old Fatima Abdullah died when her fathers booby-trapped beeper chimed and she raced to take it to him. More: Israel conducted Lebanon pager attack (Axios), A 9-Year-Old Girl Killed in Pager Attack Is Mourned in Lebanon (New York Times), Did Israel break international law? (Middle East Eye) 23andMe MITTR / ADOBE STOCK The company that pioneered direct-to-consumer gene testing is sinking fast. Its stock price is going toward zero, and a plan to create valuable drugs is kaput after that team got pink slips this November. 23andMe always had a celebrity aura, bathing in good press. Now, though, the press is all bad. Its a troubled company in the grip of a controlling founder, Anne Wojcicki, after its independent directors resigned en masse this September. Customers are starting to worry about whats going to happen to their DNA data if 23andMe goes under. 23andMe says it created the worlds largest crowdsourced platform for genetic research. Thats true. It just never figured out how to turn a profit. More: 23andMes fall from $6 billion to nearly $0 (Wall Street Journal), How todelete your 23andMe data (MIT Technology Review), 23andMe Financial Report, November 2024 (23andMe) AI slop AUTHOR UNKNOWN VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Slop is the scraps and leftovers that pigs eat. AI slop is what you and I are increasingly consuming online now that people are flooding the internet with computer-generated text and pictures. AI slop is dubious, says the New York Times, and dadaist, according to Wired. Its frequently weird, like Shrimp Jesus (dont ask if you dont know), or deceptive, like the picture of a shivering girl in a rowboat, supposedly showing the US governments poor response to Hurricane Helene. AI slop is often entertaining. AI slop is usually a waste of your time. AI slop is not fact-checked. AI slop exists mostly to get clicks. AI slop is that blue-check account on X posting 10-part threads on how great AI isthreads that were written by AI. Most of all, AI slop is very, very common. This year, researchers claimed that about half the long posts on LinkedIn and Medium were partly AI-generated. More: First came Spam. Now, With A.I., Weve got Slop (New York Times), AI Slop Is Flooding Medium (Wired) Voluntary carbon markets MITTR / ENVATO Your business creates emissions that contribute to global warming. So why not pay to have some trees planted or buy a more efficient cookstove for someone in Central America? Then you could reach net-zero emissions and help save the planet. Neat idea, but good intentions aren't enough. This year the carbon marketplace Nori shut down, and so did Running Tide, a firm trying to sink carbon into the ocean. The problem is the voluntary carbon market is voluntary, Running Tides CEO wrote in a farewell post, citing a lack of demand. While companies like to blame low demand, it's not the only issue. Sketchy technology, questionable credits, and make-believe offsets have created a credibility problem in carbon markets. In October, US prosecutors charged two men in a $100 million scheme involving the sale of nonexistent emissions savings. More: The growing signs of trouble for global carbon markets (MIT Technology Review), Running Tides ill-fated adventure in ocean carbon removal (Canary Media), Ex-carbon offsetting boss charged in New York with multimillion-dollar fraud (The Guardian)

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. If you drove by one of the 2,990 data centers in the United States, youd probably think little more than Huh, thats a boring-looking building. You might not even notice it at all. However, these facilities underpin our entire digital world, and they are responsible for tons of greenhouse-gas emissions. New research shows just how much those emissions have skyrocketed during the AI boom. Since 2018, carbon emissions from data centers in the US have tripled, according to new research led by a team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. That puts data centers slightly below domestic commercial airlines as a source of this pollution. That leaves a big problem for the worlds leading AI companies, which are caught between pressure to meet their own sustainability goals and the relentless competition in AI thats leading them to build bigger models requiring tons of energy. The trend toward ever more energy-intensive new AI models, including video generators like OpenAIs Sora, will only send those numbers higher. A growing coalition of companies is looking toward nuclear energy as a way to power artificial intelligence. Meta announced on December 3 it was looking for nuclear partners, and Microsoft is working to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant by 2028. Amazon signed nuclear agreements in October. However, nuclear plants take ages to come online. And though public support has increased in recent years, and president-elect Donald Trump has signaled support, only a slight majority of Americans say they favor more nuclear plants to generate electricity. Though OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pitched the White House in September on an unprecedented effort to build more data centers, the AI industry is looking far beyond the United States. Countries in Southeast Asia, like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, are all courting AI companies, hoping to be their new data center hubs. In the meantime, AI companies will continue to use up power from their current sources, which are far from renewable. Since so many data centers are located in coal-producing regions, like Virginia, the carbon intensity of the energy they use is 48% higher than the national average. The researchers found that 95% of data centers in the US are built in places with sources of electricity that are dirtier than the national average. Read more about the new research here. Deeper Learning We saw a demo of the new AI system powering Andurils vision for war Were living through the first drone wars, but AI is poised to change the future of warfare even more drastically. I saw that firsthand during a visit to a test site in Southern California run by Anduril, the maker of AI-powered drones, autonomous submarines, and missiles. Anduril has built a way for the military to command much of its hardwarefrom drones to radars to unmanned fighter jetsfrom a single computer screen. Why it matters: Anduril, other companies in defense tech, and growing numbers of people within the Pentagon itself are increasingly adopting a new worldview: A future great power conflictmilitary jargon for a global war involving multiple countrieswill not be won by the entity with the most advanced drones or firepower, or even the cheapest firepower. It will be won by whoever can sort through and share information the fastest. The Pentagon is betting lots of energy and money that AIdespite its flaws and riskswill be what puts the US and its allies ahead in that fight. Read more here. Bits and Bytes Bluesky has an impersonator problem The platforms rise has brought with it a surge of crypto scammers, as my colleague Melissa Heikkil experienced firsthand. (MIT Technology Review) Techs elite make large donations to Trump ahead of his inauguration Leaders in Big Tech, who have been lambasted by Donald Trump, have made sizable donations to his inauguration committee. (The Washington Post) Inside the premiere of the first commercially streaming AI-generated movies The films, according to writer Jason Koebler, showed the telltale flaws of AI-generated video: dead eyes, vacant expressions, unnatural movements, and a reliance on voice-overs, since dialogue doesnt work well. The company behind the films is confident viewers will stomach them anyway. (404 Media) Meta asked Californias attorney general to stop OpenAI from becoming for-profit Meta now joins Elon Musk in alleging that OpenAI has improperly enjoyed the benefits of nonprofit status while developing its technology. (Wall Street Journal) How Silicon Valley is disrupting democracy Two books explore the price weve paid for handing over unprecedented power to Big Techand explain why its imperative we start taking it back. (MIT Technology Review)