I’ve combed the web to search out you at this time’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 Viral AI fakes of the Iran conflict are flooding X
And Grok is failing to flag them. (Wired $)
+ The battle might wreak havoc on information facilities and electrical energy prices. (The Verge)
+ Professional-Iran bots are weaponizing posts about Epstein. (Gizmodo)
+ AI is popping the Iran battle right into a present. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
2 Anthropic fears the lack of billions as a result of Pentagon’s blacklisting
That’s what the corporate has advised a choose because it seeks to dam its designation as a supply-chain danger. (Bloomberg $)
+ Microsoft has backed the corporate in its authorized battle with the Pentagon. (FT $)
+ OpenAI’s “compromise” with the DoD dealt an enormous blow to Anthropic. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
3 Meta has purchased a social community that’s completely for bots
Moltbook is a Reddit-like website the place AI brokers work together with one another. (NYT $)
+ The platform is AI theater. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
4 Ukraine is eagerly providing the US its experience and tech to counter Iranian drones
Kyiv has despatched drones and UAV specialists to navy bases in Jordan. (WSJ $)
+ A radio-obsessed civilian is shaping Ukraine’s drone protection. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
5 OnlyFans “chatters” are incomes $2 per hour to impersonate fashions
A employee within the Philippines described the job as “heartbreaking” and “icky.” (BBC)
6 The DHS has eliminated officers who objected to “unlawful” orders about surveillance tech
The officers had refused to mislabel data concerning the applied sciences so as to block their launch. (Wired)
7 This startup is constructing information facilities run on mind cells
The “organic information facilities” are coming to Melbourne and Singapore. (New Scientist $)
8 Anduril is increasing into area protection
The corporate is shopping for ExoAnalytic, which focuses on missile protection monitoring. (Reuters)
+ We noticed a demo of an AI system powering Anduril’s imaginative and prescient for conflict. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)
9 Massive tech has a brand new massive concept: AI compute as compensation
Silicon Valley is pitching it as a job perk. (Enterprise Insider)
10 Wordle’s creator is again with a brand new sport
It’s impressed by cryptic crosswords. (The New Yorker $)
Quote of the day
“You come for the Epstein content material, and also you keep for the propaganda.”
—Bret Schafer, an professional on info manipulation, tells the Washington Put up how pro-Iran networks are gaining traction with posts about Epstein.
One Extra Factor

MEREDITH MIOTKE | PHOTO: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/MSSS
The hunt to determine farming on Mars
If ever a blade of grass grew on Mars, these days are over. However might they start once more? What would it not take to develop vegetation to feed future astronauts on Mars?
To develop meals there, we can’t simply drop seeds within the floor and add water. We might want to create a layer of soil that may help life. And to try this, we first need to eliminate the pink planet’s poisonous salts.
Researchers just lately found a possible resolution—and the early indicators are promising. Learn the total story.