Author: Buzzo

Microsoft has taken legal action against a group the company claims intentionally developed and used tools to bypass the safety guardrails of its cloud AI products. According to a complaint filed by the company in December in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, a group of 10 unnamed defendants allegedly used stolen customer credentials and custom-designed software to break into the Azure OpenAI Service, Microsoft’s fully managed service powered by ChatGPT maker OpenAI’s technologies. In the complaint, Microsoft accuses the defendants — who it refers to only as “Does,” a legal pseudonym — of violating the…

Supreme Court justices Friday sounded likely to uphold a bipartisan law that could force TikTok to shut down in the U.S. in just a few days time.During more than two hours of arguments, justices from across the political spectrum seemed skeptical of the social media company’s claim that a law banning the app — owned by Chinese-based ByteDance — would violate the free speech rights of the owners and TikTok’s 170 million American users.“It doesn’t’ say, ‘TikTok, you can’t speak,’” liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said.“The law doesn’t say TikTok has to shut down. It says ByteDance has to (sell…

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued a new alert on Thursday warning non-European carriers not to fly within western Russia airspace due to the risk of being unintentionally targeted by its air-defense systems. Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsiya, denounced the alert as a new imposition of sanctions on Russian companies and an attempt to allow Western airlines to win back lost markets.EASA said the crash last month in Kazakhstan of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane, after Russian air defenses fired against Ukrainian drones, demonstrated the high risk at play. At least 38 people died in the crash.“The ongoing conflict following…

Getty ImagesMeta and Amazon are axing their diversity programmes, joining firms across corporate America that are rolling back hiring and training initiatives criticised by conservatives, citing legal and political risks.The move comes just days after Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said it was ending a fact-checking programme criticised by President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans. In a memo to staff about its decision, which affects, hiring, supplier and training efforts, Meta cited a “shifting legal and policy landscape”.Walmart and McDonalds are among the other companies to have made similar decisions regarding diversity efforts since Trump won re-election.In…

The destruction caused by the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles is the worst the city has seen in recent history.The wildfires, which began on 7 January, have torched the US’s second largest city, leaving at least 11 dead and over 10,000 structures destroyed. Roughly 150,000 Los Angeles county residents remain under evacuation orders.While the region is no stranger to fast-moving wildfires, the multiple blazes enveloping much of the megalopolis are considered one of the worst wildfire events in southern California, according to the California department of forestry and fire protection, or CalFire. In just three days, they have burned roughly twice…

Mauro Morandi, whose 32-year sojourn on an uninhabited Mediterranean island led to his being known as Italy’s Robinson Crusoe, died on Jan. 3 in Modena, Italy. He was 85.The cause was a brain hemorrhage, said Antonio Rinaldis, who wrote a 2023 book with Mr. Morandi about his life on the island.Unlike Daniel Defoe’s hero, who was shipwrecked and fervently hoped to be rescued, Mr. Morandi chose his life of solitude.He said he had fallen in love at first sight with Budelli, a pristine, undeveloped island off the northern tip of Sardinia. He arrived in 1989, somewhat by chance, he said…

CNN  —  When customers at Silicon Valley Bank rushed to withdraw billions of dollars last month, venture capitalist Arlan Hamilton stepped in to help some of the founders of color who panicked about losing access to payroll funds. As a Black woman with nearly 10 years of business experience, Hamilton knew the options for those startup founders were limited. SVB had a reputation for servicing people from underrepresented communities like hers. Its failure has reignited concerns from industry experts about lending discrimination in the banking industry and the resulting disparities in capital for people of color. Hamilton, the 43-year-old founder…

Photo courtesy of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s legal teamA recent photo of Khalid Sheikh MohammedSitting on the front row of a war court on the US’s Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, one of the world’s most notorious defendants, appeared to listen intently.”Can you confirm that Mr Mohammed is pleading guilty to all charges and specifications without exceptions or substitutions?” the judge asked his lawyer as Mohammed watched on.”Yes, we can, Your Honour,” the lawyer responded.Sitting in court, 59-year-old Mohammed, his beard dyed bright orange and wearing a headdress, tunic and trousers, bore little resemblance to a photo…

Cases of tularemia, also known as “rabbit fever,” are on the rise in the U.S., according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Caused by the bacteria Francisella tularensis, the disease commonly infects rabbits, hares and rodents. However, it is zoonotic, which means it can spread from animals to humans.The bacteria is a “tier-1 select agent,” a classification given to agents and toxins that “present the greatest risk of deliberate misuse with significant potential for mass casualties or devastating effects to the economy, critical infrastructure or public confidence, and pose a severe threat to public health…

Australian batting phenom Sam Konstas says it “was my fault” teammate Usman Khawaja was dismissed to end a fiery day one against India at the SCG on Friday.And his state coach has blasted the way Indian players reacted to the moment, declaring several of them should have been punished by the International Cricket Council for their actions.It was a flashpoint in what was a whirlwind introduction to Test cricket for the 19-year-old Sydney product, who debuted in Melbourne and lit up the MCG by ramping superstar fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah to the boundary on his way to a thrilling 60.READ…