China launches AI that generate politically correct docs for bureaucrats | US tech found in recovered Russian weapons | Google's breakthrough with quantum computing challenge
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Chinese web and AI giant Baidu last week teamed with government communications organ Xuexi to create a tool that generates politically correct documents for bureaucrats. The Register
Russian weapons recovered from battlefields in the region are chock full of gear from firms like Intel Corp. and Analog Devices Inc., much to the frustration of officials in Washington, Brussels and Kyiv. The nagging question: Why are trade controls failing? Bloomberg
Google on Monday said that it has overcome a key challenge in quantum computing with a new generation of chip, solving a computing problem in five minutes that would take a classical computer more time than the history of the universe. Reuters
ASPI
Cloud and 5G convergence is a national security imperative
The Strategist
Andrew Horton
The convergence of cloud computing and 5G technology is set to revolutionise Australia’s digital landscape, transforming how the nation communicates, operates and defends itself. While this technological leap promises great benefits, it will also bring security challenges that could, left untreated, undermine our national interests.
Australia
Australian authorities need more access to encrypted messages, rightwing extremism inquiry says
The Guardian
Josh Butler
A parliamentary committee into rightwing extremism has recommended law enforcement agencies get greater powers to access encrypted messages in national security incidents – despite ASIO boss Mike Burgess saying earlier this year he was “not asking for new laws” to address that issue. The inquiry also recommended the government investigate how gaming platforms and social media are used to recruit young people to radical causes.
Palantir, Anduril sign partnership for AI training in defence
iTnews
The partnership will leverage Palantir's AI platform to structure, label and prepare defence data for training to deploy those models onto national security systems, while Anduril's systems will aid in the retention and distribution of government defence data. Companies across sectors have increasingly shifted focus toward AI to automate their workflows. However, its application in defence is still nascent, as data needed to train models in the sector is sometimes sensitive.
APS data, digital and cyber workforce plan coming in 2025
The Mandarin
Melissa Coade
A strategy will be released next year to help meet the demand for a steady supply of talent into the future ranks of the Australian Public Service. Delivering the 2024 APS reform update last week, the minister for the public service said a comprehensive workforce plan for employees with data, digital and cyber specialisations would outline how to attract and retain talent.
ANZMIN: Expanding regional digital trade and infrastructure
OpenGov Asia
Alita Sharon
The second Australia-New Zealand Foreign and Defence Ministerial Consultations, highlighted the growing importance of technology, digital connectivity and innovation in strengthening the bilateral and regional ties between the two countries. A key focus of the meeting was enhancing regional technological infrastructure, ensuring greater economic engagement, and positioning both nations as leaders in supporting the digital future of the Indo-Pacific. One of the most significant technological discussions was about the expansion of undersea cable connectivity in the Pacific.
China
China launches AI that writes politically correct docs for bureaucrats
The Register
Laura Dobberstein
Chinese web and AI giant Baidu last week teamed with government communications organ Xuexi to create a tool that generates politically correct documents for bureaucrats. Xuexi is an app that offers info about Chinese president Xi Jinping's life and thoughts – plus tools that allow users to chat about them together. Reports from Hong Kong and China claim Baidu teamed with Xuexi to create a tool that Chinese bureaucrats can use to check documents they create to ensure they properly reflect Xi Jinping's thoughts – and that references to his ideas come from fact-checked sources.
Nvidia hit with China probe in global tech war escalation
Bloomberg
Amy Thomson
China has opened a probe into Nvidia Corp. over suspicions that the US chipmaker broke anti-monopoly laws around a 2020 deal, taking aim at the AI heavyweight as Washington ramps up sanctions. The State Administration for Market Regulation opened an investigation into the company’s recent behavior as well as the circumstances surrounding the acquisition of Mellanox Technologies Ltd.
Hong Kong's AI supercomputing center opens amid U.S. crackdowns
Nikkei Asia
Cissy Zhou
Hong Kong's Artificial Intelligence Supercomputer Centre commenced operation on Monday as the city steps up its AI development efforts despite tighter U.S. export controls on the chip sector. Established by Cyberport, a wholly owned entity of the Hong Kong government, the computing power of the first phase of the facility was originally planned to total of 300 petaflops.
USA
US House to vote on billions to remove Chinese telecoms equipment
iTnews
David Shepardson
The US House of Representatives is set to vote on an annual defence bill that includes just over US$3 billion for US telecom companies to remove equipment made by Chinese telecoms firms Huawei and ZTE from American wireless networks to address security risks. The 1800-page text was released late Saturday and includes other provisions aimed at China, including requiring a report on Chinese efforts to evade US national security regulations and an intelligence assessment of the current status of China's biotechnology capabilities.
Commerce secretary blasts Trump’s call of tariffs to replace chip grants
The Washington Post
Gerrit De Vynck
President-elect Donald Trump’s suggestion of implementing high tariffs on semiconductor imports to replace the current U.S. policy of giving federal grants to domestic chipmakers is a “horrific idea” that would endanger national security, outgoing Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Saturday. Issuing billions in federal grants to build up domestic chip production is crucial to ensuring the U.S. military and economy doesn’t depend on chips made outside of the United States.
TikTok seeks to pause US ban pending supreme court review
Bloomberg
Sabrina Willmer
TikTok asked that a US law forcing a sale or ban of the app by China-based parent company ByteDance Ltd. be put on hold to give the US Supreme Court a chance to review. A pause to the law will also give the incoming administration under President-elect Donald Trump time to determine its position, which could “moot both the impending harms and the need for Supreme Court review.”
TikTok wants to become 'most trusted' company as U.S. ban looms
Nikkei Asia
Yifan Yu
TikTok wants to become a trusted champion of free speech, CEO Shou Zi Chew said Friday, as the social media platform faces tightening scrutiny in the U.S., Canada and Europe for alleged links to the Chinese government. "We are doing everything in our power to try to become one for the most trusted companies in the world," chew said, adding TikTok is willing to "engage with all stakeholders to share information and allay their concerns."
US medical device giant Artivion says hackers stole files during cybersecurity incident
TechCrunch
Carly Page
Artivion, a medical device company that manufactures implantable tissues for cardiac and vascular transplant applications, says its services have been “disrupted” due to a cybersecurity incident. In an 8-K filing with the SEC on Monday, Georgia-based Artivion, formerly CryoLife, said it became aware of a “cybersecurity incident” that involved the “acquisition and encryption” of data on November 21. This suggests the company was hit by ransomware, but Artivion has yet to confirm the nature of the incident.
North Asia
Network failures occur amid impeachment rallies in Seoul
The Korea Herald
Jo He-rim
Network failures and service disruptions occurred in key areas of Yeouido and Gwanghwamun in Seoul on Saturday, as thousands of citizens filled the streets ahead of the impeachment vote for the embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol. “I could not send any messages on KakaoTalk or Telegram when I reached the front of the National Assembly. My connection was restored when I moved farther away from the Assembly,” a protester said.
Southeast Asia
Vietnam: AI Ethics committee for responsible innovation
OpenGov Asia
Samaya Dharmaraj
In an era where Artificial Intelligence is advancing at a rapid pace, Vietnam is taking steps to ensure that its AI development is ethical and socially responsible. During the seminar titled “Safe AI – Shaping Responsible Innovation” in Hanoi, the Vietnam Software and IT Services Association unveiled the formation of the AI Ethics Committee. This committee’s primary mission is to guide the nation’s AI journey, ensuring that it not only adheres to ethical principles but also fosters innovation and aligns with societal values.
Vietnam's FPT eyes investment from SBI in Japan AI data center business
Nikkei Asia
Japanese financial group SBI Holdings is considering participation in a Japan-based data centre business being developed by Vietnamese tech giant FPT, eyeing a stake of up to 35% as a demand tied to artificial intelligence continues to rise.
Vietnam e-commerce food supplier Kamereo secures $7.8m funding
Nikkei Asia
Kenjiro Suzuki
Vietnamese food sourcing platform Kamereo International has raised $7.8 million in fresh capital through a round of Series B funding underwritten by Japan's Sumitomo Corp. and others, as it expands operations to the northern city of Hanoi from the country's south. The company offers ordering of vegetables, seasonings, daily necessities and other goods. It delivers vegetables to Hanoi from a facility in Dalat in the south using refrigerated trucks. The company stocks inventories using a certain level of demand prediction.
Is Laos actually tackling its vast scam Industry?
Radio Free Asia
David Hutt
In early August, the authorities in Laos delivered an ultimatum to scammers operating in the notorious Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone: Clear out or face the consequences. On Aug. 12, the Lao police, supported by their Chinese counterparts, swooped in. Some 711 people were arrested during the first week. Another 60 Lao and Chinese nationals were arrested by the end of the month, and more arrests have been made since. The way Vientiane frames it, Laos is now getting tough on the vast cyber-scamming industry that has infested much of mainland Southeast Asia.
Ukraine-Russia
Russia’s military found a surprisingly simple way to buy US chips
Bloomberg
Alberto Nardelli, Ian King, and Andy Lin
Ever since the US and its allies-imposed sanctions on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, Western officials have been frustrated by Moscow’s continued ability to get its hands on American technologies to help power its war efforts. Russian weapons recovered from battlefields in the region are chock full of gear from firms like Intel Corp. and Analog Devices Inc., much to the frustration of officials in Washington, Brussels and Kyiv. The nagging question: Why are trade controls failing?
Ukraine asks if Telegram, its favorite app, is a sleeper agent
The New York Times
Paul Mozur and Adam Satariano
In recent months, Ukrainian officials have become more alarmed by the country’s dependence on Telegram, as worries that the app was used as a vector of disinformation and a spying tool for Russia have mushroomed. Ukraine is now trying to disentangle itself from Telegram. In September, authorities ordered the military, government officials and those working on critical infrastructure to limit their use of the app on work phones.
Ukraine says Russian hackers are targeting country’s defense contractors
TechCrunch
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai
Ukraine’s Computer Emergency Response Team said in a report published over the weekend that a hacking group has been targeting the country’s defense and military companies with phishing attacks. The CERT identified the hacking group as UAC-0185 — also known as UNC4221 — without saying who was behind the group. Earlier this year, however, a cybersecurity company linked that group to the Russian government. The hackers have been sending emails pretending to be the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, which calls itself “Ukraine’s largest union of business organizations and economic agents.
UK
Revealed: bias found in AI system used to detect UK benefits fraud
The Guardian
Robert Booth
An artificial intelligence system used by the UK government to detect welfare fraud is showing bias according to people’s age, disability, marital status and nationality, the Guardian can reveal. An internal assessment of a machine-learning program used to vet thousands of claims for universal credit payments across England found it incorrectly selected people from some groups more than others when recommending whom to investigate for possible fraud.
Big Tech
Google says it has cracked a quantum computing challenge with new chip
Reuters
Stephen Nellis
Google on Monday said that it has overcome a key challenge in quantum computing with a new generation of chip, solving a computing problem in five minutes that would take a classical computer more time than the history of the universe. Like other tech giants such as Microsoft and International Business Machines, Alphabet's Google is chasing quantum computing because it promises computing speeds far faster than today's fastest systems.
Blue Yonder investigating data theft claims after ransomware gang takes credit for cyberattack
TechCrunch
Carly Page
Supply chain software giant Blue Yonder says it is investigating claims of data theft after a ransomware gang threatened to publish troves of data stolen from the company. Arizona-based Blue Yonder, which provides supply chain management software to thousands of organizations including DHL, Starbucks and Walgreens, was hit by a cyberattack on November 21.
Elon Musk’s X gains a new image generator, Aurora
TechCrunch
Kyle Wiggers
X, the Elon Musk-owned social network previously known as Twitter, has added a new image generator to its Grok assistant. However, after going live for a few hours on Saturday, the product seemed to disappear for some users. Accessible through the Grok tab on X’s mobile apps and the web, Aurora can generate images of public and copyrighted figures, like Mickey Mouse, without complaint. The model stopped short of nudes in our brief tests, but graphic content, like “an image of a bloodied Trump,” wasn’t off limits.
Bluesky teases paid subscription, Bluesky+, in new mockup
TechCrunch
Sarah Perez
Social networking startup and X competitor Bluesky is working on subscriptions. The company first announced plans to develop a new revenue stream based on the subscription model when detailing its $15 million Series A back in October. Now, mockups teasing the upcoming Bluesky subscription, along with a list of possible features, have been published to Bluesky’s GitHub.
Artificial Intelligence
OpenAI employees question the ethics of military deal with startup Anduril
The Washington Post
Gerrit De Vynck
Hours after ChatGPT-maker OpenAI announced a partnership with weapons developer Anduril on Wednesday, some employees raised ethical concerns about the prospect of artificial intelligence technology they helped develop being put to military use. On an internal company discussion forum, employees pushed back on the deal and asked for more transparency from leaders.
Former OpenAI researcher raises $40 million to build more empathetic audio AI
Reuters
Anna Tong
A former OpenAI researcher has raised $40 million for a startup that will build artificial-intelligence models that connect emotionally with humans via voice, the company said on Monday. The startup, WaveForms AI, is backed by Andreessen Horowitz and valued at $200 million, CEO Alexis Conneau told Reuters. Conneau co-created the voice mode capability on OpenAI's GPT-4o model, which when released earlier this year showed off the capability to respond in real time with no delay, as well as handle interruptions - both hallmarks of realistic conversations that had to date eluded AI voice assistants.
OpenAI releases text-to-video model Sora for ChatGPT Plus and Pro users
Reuters
OpenAI said on Monday it has released its artificial intelligence model, which creates video from text, to ChatGPT Plus and Pro users, expanding its foray into multimodal AI technologies. The Microsoft-backed company, which kicked off a generative AI craze with the launch of its ChatGPT chatbot in November 2022, aims to target similar text-to-video tools from Meta and Alphabet's Google, along with Stability AI's Stable Video Diffusion.
Misc
Queer-founded brand discovery platform Famm launches a LinkedIn for the LGBTQ+ community
TechCrunch
Lauren Forristal
Famm, the discovery platform for queer-owned brands, was created by BIPOC queer married couple Cat Perez and Marianna Di Regolo to help users find LGBTQ-owned businesses. Now it’s launching a new social networking app for LGBTQ+ professionals and business owners to connect and collaborate. The launch of a new social networking application specifically designed for LGBTQ+ professionals is both timely and significant. LGBTQ+ individuals frequently face discrimination, microaggressions, or biases in professional environments, and it may be difficult to find support on mainstream networks that don’t address their specific challenges.
Jobs
ASPI Director – Defence Strategy Program
ASPI
ASPI is recruiting for one of its key leadership positions - the Director of its Defence Strategy Program. This is an exceptional opportunity for a talented senior leader to contribute to the work of one of the Indo-Pacific’s top think-tanks with a focus on military strategy and capability, emerging security issues and our region. The incoming Director of Defence Strategy is expected to have strong knowledge in at least some of the issues covered by the team, in addition to superior management (including project and stakeholder management) skills, a proven ability to build senior and global relationships and the capacity to fundraise to support the team’s work.
The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest is brought to you by the Cyber, Technology & Security team at ASPI.