Nvidia to open chip R&D centre in Shanghai | Japanese lawmakers green-light offensive cyber operations | Chinese intelligence agencies recruiting laid off US federal workers
And Australia’s first sovereign orbital-rocket launch is delayed—because the top fell off. Somewhere, John Clarke is smiling.
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Nvidia is seeking to build a research and development centre in Shanghai that would help the world’s leading maker of artificial intelligence processors stay competitive in China, where its sales have slumped due to tightening US export controls. The R&D centre would research the specific demands of Chinese customers and the complex technical requirements needed to satisfy Washington’s curbs. Financial Times
Japan on Friday enacted a new law that would permit the country’s authorities to preemptively engage with adversaries through offensive cyber operations to ensure threats are suppressed before they cause significant damage. The Record by Recorded Future
Chinese intelligence moved quickly to take advantage of the mass layoffs of federal workers that began right after the Trump administration took office. On Craigslist.org, a post advertising “Job Opportunities for Recently Laid-Off US Government Employees” appeared on February 6 on the website’s Washington, DC, jobs board. Peering beneath the surface reveals that this company is part of a broader network of websites, LinkedIn pages, and job advertisements that appear to be a Chinese intelligence operation. Foundation for Defense of Democracies
ASPI
As Pacific Islands caution against seabed mining, the US prepares to trash the rules
The Diplomat
Camilla Pohle
In recent years, deep-sea mining has emerged as a polarizing issue in the Pacific Islands, and the nascent industry is not yet regulated. Now the region is contending with another challenge: the potential breakdown of international rules that might be the marine environment’s last defense. Cynthia Mehboob, an expert on undersea cables at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, wrote last month that “discarding multilateral frameworks… would enable China, Russia and others to justify departures from seabed governance norms. The outcome would be a patchwork of self-authorized claims, eroding oversight and reduced protections for some smaller Pacific states advocating for a moratorium on seabed mining.”
Australia
NSW education department caught unaware after Microsoft Teams began collecting students’ biometric data
The Guardian
Josh Taylor
The New South Wales education department was caught by surprise when Microsoft began collecting the voice and facial biometric data of school students using the Teams video conferencing app in March. Late last year, Microsoft announced it would enable data collection by default, commencing in March, for a Teams feature known as voice and face enrolment.
Australia's Lynas makes heavy rare earths breakthrough in Malaysia
Nikkei Asia
Shaun Turton
Australia's Lynas says it has produced a heavy rare earth element for the first time at its refinery in Malaysia, marking a milestone for Western efforts to create alternative supply chains for the critical materials.
Illegal crypto-betting website Polymarket under investigation by online media regulator
Crikey
Cam Wilson
Illegal betting website Polymarket is being investigated by Australia’s online media regulator, after the company began courting users by paying local creators to promote its website during the federal election. Polymarket saw a surge in popularity in the lead-up to the 2024 US presidential election as figures like Elon Musk promoted the betting company’s odds as a source of information about the election.
The top fell off Australia’s first orbital-class rocket, delaying its launch
ArsTechnica
Stephen Clark
The payload fairing at the top of Gilmour Space's first Eris rocket was supposed to deploy a few minutes after lifting off from northeastern Australia. Instead, the nose cone fell off the rocket hours before it was supposed to leave the launch pad Thursday. The Eris rocket was aiming to become the first all-Australian launcher to reach orbit. Australia hosted a handful of satellite launches by US and British rockets more than 50 years ago.
Defence admits work devices put at risk of foreign hack
Canberra Times
Eleanor Campbell
The Department of Defence has confirmed it was exposed to a critical security flaw that could have enabled overseas hackers to remotely access work devices. The Australian Signals Directorate acknowledged in an alert on Wednesday that large corporations and government entities were at risk of two vulnerabilities in Ivanti's Endpoint Manager Mobile Solution.
China
Slow Chinese rare earth export approvals threaten supply chains
Financial Times
Edward White, Ryan McMorrow and Harry Dempsey
Beijing in early April placed export restrictions on seven rare earth elements and permanent magnets that are vital for products ranging from electric vehicles to wind turbines, humanoid robots and fighter jets. It is unclear whether China has begun to approve exports to the US since the two economic superpowers agreed a tariff war ceasefire this month.
Chinese startups once downplayed their origin. Now some celebrate it.
Rest of World
Kinling Lo
For years, as governments in the US, Europe, and elsewhere restricted Chinese apps and technologies over national security concerns, many companies practiced what came to be known as China shedding — downplaying and obscuring their origin in overseas markets to win over investors and customers. But the global success of Chinese social media apps and the launch of a successful AI model by startup DeepSeek earlier this year have convinced some founders like Wu that they no longer need to do so.
USA
Cybercriminal group targets multiple US retailers after wreaking havoc in UK
CNN
Sean Lyngaas
The flurry of activity in the US tied to the cybercriminal group – a loose collection of hackers that the cyber industry calls Scattered Spider – has led the FBI and major technology companies like Google to urge US retailers to raise their digital defenses. The group is considered dangerous and unpredictable, in part because it is comprised of youths in the US and the UK known for aggressively extorting their victims.
Scams use AI to mimic senior officials' voices, FBI warns
Axios
April Rubin
With seconds of audio, artificial intelligence can mimic a voice that is virtually indistinguishable from the original to the human ear. Scammers have weaponized voice cloning tech, and many products lack significant safeguards to prevent fraud or misuse.
Potential US semiconductor manufacturing boom complicated by Trump’s economic policies
Associated Press
Sarah Parvini
President Donald Trump’s economic policies have complicated that growth as the administration takes its next steps toward imposing more tariffs on key imports and launching investigations into imports of computer chips and chip-making equipment — all at a time when deeper semiconductor investments were just starting to have a positive impact on changing supply chains.
North Asia
Japan enacts new Active Cyberdefense Law allowing for offensive cyber operations
The Record by Recorded Future
Alexander Martin
Japan on Friday enacted a new law that would permit the country’s authorities to preemptively engage with adversaries through offensive cyber operations to ensure threats are suppressed before they cause significant damage. The new Active Cyberdefense Law mirrors recent reinterpretations of Article 9, providing Japan’s Self-Defence Forces with the right to provide material support to allies under the justification that failing to do so could endanger the whole of the country.
Southeast Asia
Silicon rally: can Malaysia reclaim its semiconductor glory?
South China Morning Post
Joseph Sipalan
Malaysia may only be the fourth-largest economy in Southeast Asia, but it punches far above its weight in semiconductors, ranking as the world’s sixth-largest exporter. Better known as chips, these fingernail-sized pieces of silicon are the beating heart of modern technology – and Malaysia refuses to be left behind in the race for dominance.
Ukraine - Russia
Russian hospital faces multi-day shutdown as pro-Ukraine group claims cyberattack
The Record by Recorded Future
Daryna Antoniuk
Although the hospital has not disclosed specifics about the cyber incident, local authorities confirmed the attackers targeted software used to manage patient records and medical histories. They also suspect that other private clinics using the same software may have had their data compromised.
Europe
EU court rules that tracking-based online ads are illegal
The Record by Recorded Future
Suzanne Smalley
Big tech companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google and X are most impacted by the decision because the court ruled that the pop-ups they typically use to ask for consent to track consumers and target advertising do not do enough to counter privacy violations inherent to the so-called real-time bidding process.
Middle East
OpenAI, Oracle to help UAE develop massive data center
Bloomberg
Mackenzie Hawkins, Shirin Ghaffary, Dina Bass and Brody Ford
OpenAI plans to help develop a massive new data center in the United Arab Emirates that may eventually be one of the largest in the world, a major bet on the Middle East and a significant expansion of the company’s global AI infrastructure ambitions.
Trump's Gulf gamble: helping UAE and Saudi become AI powers
Axios
Alison Snyder and Dave Lawler
The enduring legacy of President Trump's trip to the Gulf may be the transformation of the Middle East into a global artificial intelligence powerhouse, despite massive risks to the US.Outsourcer in chief: is Trump trading away America’s tech future?
The New York Times
Tripp Mickle and Ana Swanson
The AI deals have caused people inside and outside the White House to wrestle with an unexpected question. Is the Trump administration, in its zeal to make deals in a region where Mr. Trump and his family have financial ties, outsourcing the industry of the future to the Middle East?
Africa
Employee’s change caused xAI’s chatbot to veer into South African politics
The New York Times
Kate Conger
The company said in a statement that an employee had implemented the change to code for its chatbot, Grok directing it to “provide a specific response on a political topic.” The incident provoked outrage among artificial intelligence researchers and xAI’s competitors, who accused the company of forcing its chatbot to share a political opinion that aligns with Mr. Musk’s own views.
Will Meta lawsuits shape Africa's data privacy laws?
DW
Abiodun Jamiu
Africa is a growing market for tech, with more companies setting up operations on the continent than elsewhere across the world. Beyond growth and expansion opportunities for global tech firms, the African continent also provides cheap labor and access to millions of multicultural and diverse users. However, unlike in Europe, holding tech companies accountable in Africa is complicated by lax and weak enforcement of data protection laws, most of which are similar to the EU's General Data Protection Regulation.
Big Tech
Nvidia plans Shanghai research centre in new commitment to China
Financial Times
Zijing Wu and Michael Acton
Nvidia is seeking to build a research and development centre in Shanghai that would help the world’s leading maker of artificial intelligence processors stay competitive in China, where its sales have slumped due to tightening US export controls. According to people with knowledge of the plans, the R&D centre would research the specific demands of Chinese customers and the complex technical requirements needed to satisfy Washington’s curbs.
Nvidia says it is not sending GPU designs to China after reports of new Shanghai operation
NBC News
Samantha Subin
Nvidia said it won’t be sending graphics processing unit plans to China following a report that the artificial intelligence chipmaker is working on a research and development center in Shanghai in light of recent US export curbs.
Nvidia seeks to build its business beyond Big Tech
Financial Times
Tim Bradshaw and Michael Acton
Nvidia is seeking to reduce its reliance on Big Tech companies by striking new partnerships to sell its artificial intelligence chips to nation states, corporate groups and challengers to groups such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google. These “sovereign AI” deals form a crucial part of Nvidia’s strategy to court customers far beyond Silicon Valley.
Apple’s AI ambitions for China provoke Washington’s resistance
The New York Times
Tripp Mickle
In recent months, the White House and congressional officials have been scrutinizing Apple’s plan to strike a deal with Alibaba to make the Chinese company’s AI available on iPhones in China, three people familiar with the deliberations said. They are concerned that the deal would help a Chinese company improve its artificial intelligence abilities, broaden the reach of Chinese chatbots with censorship limits and deepen Apple’s exposure to Beijing laws over censorship and data sharing.
Meta argues enshittification isn’t real in bid to toss FTC monopoly case
ArsTechnica
Ashley Belanger
The monopoly trial is supposed to run through June, but Meta is hoping that US District Judge James Boasberg will agree that the FTC has failed to make its case and end the trial early. Granting Meta's motion would remove any threat of a breakup of its family of apps while also letting Meta off the hook of raising its defense. This could spare Meta any potential further embarrassment of having its founder's unvarnished internal emails picked apart in public.
Meta battles an ‘epidemic of scams’ as criminals flood Instagram and Facebook
The Wall Street Journal
Jeff Horwitz and Angel Au-Yeung
With more than 3 billion daily users on Meta’s platforms, fraud is hardly a new phenomenon for the company. But fed by the rise of cryptocurrencies, generative AI and vast overseas crime networks based out of Southeast Asia, the immensity of Meta’s scam problem is growing and has been regularly flagged by employees over the past several years.
Microsoft says it provided AI to Israeli military for war but denies use to harm people in Gaza
Associated Press
Michael Biesecker, Garance Burke and Sam Mednick
Microsoft acknowledged Thursday that it sold advanced artificial intelligence and cloud computing services to the Israeli military during the war in Gaza and aided in efforts to locate and rescue Israeli hostages. But the company also said it has found no evidence to date that its Azure platform and AI technologies were used to target or harm people in Gaza.
How Silicon Valley’s influence in Washington benefits the tech elite
TechCrunch
Rebecca Bellan
Elon Musk isn’t the only tech billionaire with power over the federal agencies that regulate his businesses. Since Donald Trump took office, more than three dozen employees, allies, and investors of Musk, Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, and Palmer Luckey have taken roles at federal agencies, helping direct billions in contracts to their companies.
Artificial Intelligence
Judge admits nearly being persuaded by AI hallucinations in court filing
ArsTechnica
Jon Brodkin
A plaintiff's law firms were sanctioned and ordered to pay $31,100 after submitting fake AI citations that nearly ended up in a court ruling. Michael Wilner, a retired US magistrate judge serving as special master in US District Court for the Central District of California, admitted that he initially thought the citations were real and "almost" put them into an order. These aren't the first lawyers caught submitting briefs with fake citations generated by AI.
What do AI chatbots say about their own bosses — and their rivals?
Financial Times
Melissa Heikkilä
Sam Altman is either a genius or a sellout. Depending on which artificial intelligence model you ask. An analysis of six of the leading makers of AI chatbots — OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, Meta, Google and DeepSeek — show subtle differences in how they refer to the leaders of various AI groups. The chatbots showed a tendency to produce sycophantic answers about their creators, while being more ready to clearly criticise rivals. There was, however, a general acceptance of the brilliance of the men who are the public figureheads of generative AI revolution.
Misc
Delete yourself, part 2: your personal data on the dark web
The Wall Street Journal
Nicole Nguyen
A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about tools to scrub your information from websites. I received many emails from readers who asked: “What about my data that’s on the dark web?” This hidden part of the internet is where criminals exchange illegally obtained data, such as passport details, passwords and Social Security numbers—including mine, I recently discovered.
Spotify is scrambling to remove dozens of podcasts promoting online prescription drug sales
CNN
Clare Duffy
If you search “Adderall” on Spotify’s podcast page, you’ll find health podcasts about ADHD, shows about addiction recovery and comedy podcasts where hosts talk about using the medication. You may also come across multiple pages masquerading as podcasts that direct users to buy drugs from potentially dangerous and illegal online pharmacies.
Research
FDD uncovers likely Chinese intelligence operation targeting recently laid-off US government employees
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Max Lesser
Chinese intelligence moved quickly to take advantage of the mass layoffs of federal workers that began right after the Trump administration took office. On Craigslist.org, a post advertising “Job Opportunities for Recently Laid-Off US Government Employees” appeared on February 6 on the website’s Washington, DC, jobs board. The post links to the website of what is supposedly a consulting services company located in Singapore. Yet peering beneath the surface reveals that this company is part of a broader network of websites, LinkedIn pages, and job advertisements that appear to be a Chinese intelligence operation.
Integration of artificial intelligence in nuclear systems and escalation risks
Asia-Pacific Leadership Network
Sameer Patil and Rahul Rawat
Technological advancements have improved precision, lethality, range autonomy, and effect, which in turn have upgraded nuclear and non-nuclear capabilities. Alongside the nuclear modernisation and doctrine-related developments, there is enough evidence to highlight the integration of conventional and nuclear capabilities leading to the emergence of dual-capable and dual-role weapon systems. This policy brief reviews the escalation risks arising from the integration of AI in nuclear systems and offers some thoughts on how to mitigate these risks.
Events & Podcasts
What satellites reveal about the clash over Kashmir, with Nathan Ruser
Stop the World
ASPI’s geospatial analyst Nathan Ruser reveals what he’s found by studying satellite imagery of the recent India-Pakistan clashes over Kashmir, in a special episode of Stop the World. This includes the use of images for disinformation in ways he hasn’t seen before in his years of poring over satellite pictures.
The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest is brought to you by the Cyber, Technology & Security Programs team at ASPI and supported by partners.
For more on China's pressure campaign against Taiwan—including military threats, interference and cyberwarfare, check out ASPI’s State of the Strait Weekly Digest.
