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Technology news: AI, chips and devices, programming, security, crypto and the companies building them.

2287 articles · page 21 of 48 · The Tech front page

AI

Australia proposes AI safety laws modelled on banking and aviation regulation

Australia will require AI companies to demonstrate they are properly testing models and preventing harm under proposed new laws modelled on banking and aviation safety standards, Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy Andrew Charlton has announced. The federal government is finalising plans to regulate frontier artificial intelligence through national standards due by the end of the year, with recent incidents involving rogue agents sharpening the case for tougher oversight.

·3 min
AI

OpenAI deluges mathematicians with 377 newly solved equations, sparking debate on AI creativity

OpenAI has released 377 newly solved mathematical problems covering algebra, number theory, theoretical computer science, mathematical logic and topology, stunning mathematicians with the accelerating capabilities of artificial intelligence. The findings, released earlier this week, follow last month's announcement that the company cracked the Navier-Stokes equation, one of the Clay Mathematics Institute's seven Millennium Prize Problems and accompanied by a $US1 million reward offer.

·2 min·4 sources
Crypto

Ethereum researcher warns AI could break crypto wallet security within months

Ethereum researcher Justin Drake has warned that artificial intelligence advances could undermine the cryptography protecting cryptocurrency wallets, calling on the industry to adopt what he described as 'bunker mode' and to begin moving assets to fresh addresses. In a social media post on Wednesday, Drake pointed to recent breakthroughs from OpenAI's mathematical work as evidence that AI might break the elliptic curve digital signature algorithm (ECDSA) used to secure blockchains sooner than quantum computers.

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Tech

BMW iX4 SUV to Offer 428-Mile Range, Positions Against Chinese EV Competition

BMW has unveiled the iX4, a coupe-shaped electric SUV that boasts up to 428 miles of range, as the automaker seeks to defend its position in an increasingly competitive global EV market dominated by Chinese manufacturers. The iX4 is the third vehicle built on BMW's next-generation Neue Klasse platform, following the iX3 and i3, and will arrive in two variants starting with the iX4 50 xDrive in March 2027.

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Tech

FCC to vote on auctioning 'prime spectrum' for satellite-to-phone services, benefiting SpaceX and Amazon

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced Wednesday it will vote on a proposal to auction 25 megahertz of prime spectrum to support direct-to-device (D2D) services connecting satellites to smartphones, a move that could benefit companies like SpaceX and Amazon. The commission also plans to vote on Oct. 29 to seek public comment on making an additional 482MHz of spectrum available for supplemental coverage from space and modernizing rules for D2D services in licensed spectrum.

·2 min·2 sources
Security

Auckland man dies by suicide after AI-generated 'sextortion' scam, coroner warns

A 41-year-old Auckland man took his own life in 2024 after being blackmailed by an AI-generated online persona in a sextortion scam, a coroner has found. Coroner Janet Anderson ruled that the actions of the scammer, who used the name 'Donna Chase', were the primary relevant factor in the man's death. Police believe the account the man paid money into belonged to an overseas organised criminal network.

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AI

OpenAI's former safety lead warns company ships 'new capability and risk every Tuesday'

David Robinson, who led the writing of safety reports for OpenAI's frontier models, has warned in his first interview since resigning that the company now ships 'new capability and risk every Tuesday,' as reasoning training, tool integrations and coding agents change what models can do between major releases. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman responded by saying the company is working to keep its models from outpacing its safety measures.

·2 min
Security

Cryptomining malware targets exposed AI servers worldwide

A cryptomining campaign codenamed PoeLLM has infected more than 3,400 exposed AI servers, using a poem stored on GitHub to generate its command-and-control addresses, according to researchers at Lumen's Black Lotus Labs. The malware has been active since at least April and has primarily targeted poorly configured AI tools such as LiteLLM and Ollama, turning compromised systems into launchpads for further attacks and cryptocurrency mining.

·2 min
AI

Microsoft and Nvidia CEOs to unveil next-generation Windows AI PCs at San Francisco event

Microsoft will host a Windows and Surface event in San Francisco on Wednesday, October 7, featuring CEO Satya Nadella, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Windows and Surface chief Pavan Davuluri. The keynote, starting at 10 a.m. PT, is expected to showcase Nvidia's RTX Spark AI platform and the new Surface Laptop Ultra powered by Nvidia's Arm-based processors, marking a deeper collaboration on local AI computing.

·1 min·7 sources
AI

Tony Fadell says first wave of AI gadgets failed because they solved no real need

Tony Fadell, the veteran product designer behind the iPod and Nest, told MIT Future Fest that the first generation of dedicated AI devices, including the Rabbit R1, Humane AI pin, and Limitless pendant, failed because they addressed no genuine consumer need. Speaking at the inaugural event, Fadell said these companies approached him for advice but he declined, believing the products were “interesting technology for geeks” that did not apply to most people's lives.

·2 min·2 sources
AI

Google DeepMind and Meta invest $300 million in Zuckerberg-backed Biohub virtual cell project

Google DeepMind, Meta, and AI drug discovery startup Isomorphic Labs are jointly investing $300 million into Biohub, the nonprofit biomedical research organization founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan. The funding is part of a larger $1.8 billion initiative to create a virtual cell, a digital model that could allow researchers to simulate biological processes and accelerate disease prevention and treatment.

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