White House discusses taking Intel stake | Moscow-attributed hackers seized control of Norwegian dam floodgate | Meta rules permit bots' sensual chats with minors, false health claims
Plus, how big tech's AI data centers are raising electricity bills
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The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest focuses on the topics we work on, including cybersecurity, critical technologies, foreign interference & disinformation.
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The Trump administration is in talks with Intel Corp. to have the US government take a stake in the beleaguered chipmaker, according to people familiar with the plan, in the latest sign of the White House’s willingness to blur the lines between state and industry. Bloomberg
Russian hackers took control of a Norwegian dam this year, opening a floodgate and allowing water to flow unnoticed for four hours, Norway’s intelligence service has said. The admission, by the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), marks the first time that Oslo has formally attributed the cyber-attack in April on Bremanger, western Norway, to Moscow. The Guardian
An internal Meta Platforms document detailing policies on chatbot behavior has permitted the company’s artificial intelligence creations to “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual,” generate false medical information and help users argue that Black people are “dumber than white people.” Reuters
ASPI
Enterprising adversaries: Escalating cyber threats in the Indo-Pacific
ASPI
James Corera and Jason Van der Schyff
The Indo-Pacific’s cyber threat environment has entered a new phase. The 2025 Threat Hunting Report of cybersecurity company CrowdStrike describes the rise of ‘enterprising adversaries’, actors both state and criminal that operate with the precision, scale and adaptability of a well-run business.
From Ouagadougou to Oceania: Burkina Faso leader a Pacific resistance symbol
ASPI
Fitriani
In a world increasingly shaped by digital influence and disillusionment with the Western-led global order, Captain Ibrahim Traore has emerged as an icon of anti-colonial resistance. He seized power in Burkina Faso through a military coup in 2022, and his image is now gaining surprising traction in the Pacific islands.
How China went from clean energy copycat to global innovator
The New York Times
Max Bearak and Mira Rojanasakul
“It is the opposite of an accident,” said Jenny Wong Leung, an analyst and data scientist at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, which created a database of global research on technologies that are critical to nations’ economic and military security, including clean energy. “The sheer volume of Chinese investment has been so much larger than in the West,” Dr. Wong Leung said. “It meant they could build industries from the ground up, all the way through the supply chain.”
Australia
Inside Australia's billion-dollar bid to take on China's rare earth dominance
BBC
Suranjana Tewari
Drive three hours north of Perth, and you'll arrive in Eneabba - barren and desolate, just the odd hill in the distance. But appearances can be deceiving: this pit is home to a million-tonne stockpile containing critical minerals, better known as rare earths, which are crucial for making electric vehicles, wind turbines and defence equipment.
Honeypot’ profiles of 13-year-old girls were posted online. Predators flocked to one
The Sydney Morning Herald
Amber Schultz
Social media accounts owned by 13-year-old girls amassed hundreds of messages from “suspicious” accounts in the span of a few weeks, receiving explicit images, sexual messages and requests for personal information. But one account received five times more interactions from potential predators than another. The difference came down to a photo and a message that their parents managed their account.
ABC MD Hugh Marks privately warns of AI threat ahead of looming roundtable
Capital Brief
John Buckley
ABC managing director Hugh Marks has signalled the broadcaster will seek policy intervention to force AI companies to pay publishers for their content, as part of a broader warning on the threats facing the media sector in a post-search era. Marks addressed the issue at a private media briefing on Wednesday, just days before Treasurer Jim Chalmers is due to host industry leaders from across the economy for his highly anticipated economic reform roundtable.
China
China to launch new type of visa for young science, technology professionals
Xinhua
Huaxia
China will introduce a new visa category for young science and technology talents, following a decision by the State Council. Premier Li Qiang has signed a State Council decree to promulgate the decision to amend the country's regulation on the administration of foreigners' entries and exits. According to the decision, China will add a K visa to its ordinary visa categories, available to eligible young science and technology professionals.
DeepSeek’s next AI model delayed by attempt to use Chinese chips
Financial Times
Eleanor Olcott and Zijing Wu
Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek delayed the release of its new model after failing to train it using Huawei’s chips, highlighting the limits of Beijing’s push to replace US technology. DeepSeek was encouraged by authorities to adopt Huawei’s Ascend processor rather than use Nvidia’s systems after releasing its R1 model in January, according to three people familiar with the matter.
China’s Ganfeng to develop major lithium project in Argentina with Swiss partner
South China Morning Post
Igor Patrick
A Chinese mining giant and a Swiss-based lithium producer agreed on Tuesday to develop one of South America’s largest projects to extract lithium from saline water, intensifying the race for metals vital to electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. China’s Ganfeng Lithium will join with Lithium Argentina, based in Zug, Switzerland, to merge three neighbouring brine deposits in Argentina’s Salta province into a single operation.
USA
Trump Administration Said to Discuss Taking Stake in Intel
Bloomberg
Ryan Gould, Josh Wingrove, Brody Ford, and Joe Deaux
The Trump administration is in talks with Intel Corp. to have the US government take a stake in the beleaguered chipmaker, according to people familiar with the plan, in the latest sign of the White House’s willingness to blur the lines between state and industry. The talks come just a week after President Donald Trump had called for the ouster of Intel Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan, accusing him of being “highly conflicted” because of concerns about his earlier ties to China.
Supreme Court allows Mississippi law on children’s use of social media, for now
The New York Times
Adam Liptak and Zach Montague
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to block a Mississippi law barring minors from using social media sites including Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, YouTube and X without their parents’ consent. The court’s brief order was unsigned and gave no reasons, which is typical when the justices act on emergency applications.
Southeast Asia
Telegram Banned in Việt Nam: A New Era of Increased Cyber Censorship?
The Vietnamese
Jason Nguyen
On May 23, 2025, Việt Nam's internet regulators ordered all local telecommunication providers to block public access to Telegram. The official reasons cited for the prohibition were concerns over "national security," the spread of "toxic content," and the platform's impact on the country's "moral standards."
Sime Darby seeks loan to build Malaysian data center for Google
Bloomberg
Chien Mi Wong and Elffie Chew
Malaysian developer Sime Darby Property is in talks with banks for a loan of as much as 3 billion ringgit to fund the building of a data center that will be leased to Google, according to people familiar with the matter. The proposed loan will have a tenor of five years and carry an extension option of as long as two years, the people said. Discussions are ongoing and details could change, they added.
Philippine military slams fake news on Philippines, Malaysia naval standoff
Asia News Network
John Eric Mendoza
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) denounced the fake Youtube video falsely depicting a supposed naval standoff between Philippine and Malaysian forces. A 12-minute YouTube video, with mostly AI-generated footage, depicts a supposed naval standoff between Philippine and Malaysian forces over claims in Sabah and South China Sea. “This is entirely fabricated—no such incident occurred,” the AFP said in a statement.
Philippine central bank orders e-wallets, payment apps to remove online gambling links
Bloomberg
Cliff Harvey Venzon and Andreo Calonzo
The Philippine central bank has ordered mobile wallets, payment applications and other supervised institutions to remove links to online gambling platforms. Senators are tackling proposals to either restrict or ban online gambling amid concerns over debt and addiction. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier said a ban could stoke illegal online betting.
Ukraine – Russia
WhatsApp accuses Moscow of trying to block secure communication for millions of Russians
Reuters
WhatsApp accused Moscow of trying to block millions of Russians from accessing secure communication after calls on the messaging app were restricted, as Russia promotes home-grown social media platforms and seeks greater control over the country's internet space. Russia said on Wednesday that it had started restricting some WhatsApp, owned by Meta Platforms, and Telegram calls, accusing the foreign-owned platforms of failing to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism cases.
Europe
Russian hackers seized control of Norwegian dam, spy chief says
The Guardian
Miranda Bryant
Russian hackers took control of a Norwegian dam this year, opening a floodgate and allowing water to flow unnoticed for four hours, Norway’s intelligence service has said. The admission, by the Norwegian Police Security Service, marks the first time that Oslo has formally attributed the cyber-attack in April on Bremanger, western Norway, to Moscow. The attack on the hydropower dam, which produces electricity, released 500 litres of water a second for four hours until the incident was detected and stopped.
Norway spy chief blames Russian hackers for dam sabotage in April. Rappler
Dutch authorities to meet social media giants ahead of October elections
EURACTIV
Anupriya Datta
The Netherlands’ competition regulator will meet 12 major online platforms — including TikTok, Facebook and X — on 15 September to discuss disinformation in the run-up to the 29 October elections.
New ‘Curly’ threat actor found targeting sensitive organizations in Georgia, Moldova
The Record by Recorded Future
Jonathan Greig
State organizations in Moldova and Georgia were attacked in recent months by a threat actor researchers believe is operating to support Russian interests. The threat actor has operated since late 2024 and launched espionage attacks against judicial and government bodies in Georgia as well as an energy distribution company in Moldova.
UK
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Financial Times
Tim Bradshaw
Traffic from British users to some of the world’s most popular pornography websites has almost halved since new age verification rules came into force in the UK, with Pornhub losing more than 1mn visitors in just two weeks. Media regulator Ofcom on July 25 began enforcing the new requirements for adult sites to check the age of all UK users under the Online Safety Act, one of the world’s toughest new regimes aimed at protecting children on the internet.
Gender & Women in Tech
Wired for harm: how tech-facilitated abuse silences women and undermines peace
ASPI
Julie Inman Grant
The struggle for influence and the right to be heard has often been a dangerous and fraught one for women. But the strategies to silence us are getting darker and more sophisticated. Women in 2025, wherever they live, must contend with a growing number of digital threats in their fight to be meaningfully represented in all spheres, including humanitarian and peacekeeping operations.
Big Tech
Meta’s AI rules have let bots hold ‘sensual’ chats with kids, offer false medical info
Reuters
Jeff Horwitz
An internal Meta Platforms document detailing policies on chatbot behavior has permitted the company’s artificial intelligence creations to “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual,” generate false medical information and help users argue that Black people are “dumber than white people.”
Meta’s flirty AI chatbot invited a retiree to New York. Reuters
Big tech’s AI data centers are driving up electricity bills for everyone
The New York Times
Ivan Penn and Karen Weise
Electricity rates for individuals and small businesses could rise sharply as Amazon, Google, Microsoft and other technology companies build data centers and expand into the energy business.
Google finds workaround for lobbying that omits big bosses
Bloomberg
Ted Mann
A new analysis of federal lobbying data by the nonprofit Tech Transparency Project shows that Google and its parent company, Alphabet Inc., used an internal reorganization to exclude the value of lobbying by its senior executives from disclosures.
Bluesky rolls out massive revamp to policies and community guidelines
TechCrunch
Sarah Perez
Two years after launching, social network Bluesky is revising its Community Guidelines and other policies, and asking for feedback from its users on some of the changes. The startup, a competitor to X, Threads, and open networks like Mastodon, says its new policies are meant to offer improved clarity and more detail around its user safety procedures and the appeals process.
Artificial Intelligence
The art of persuasion: how top AI chatbots can change your mind
Financial Times
Melissa Heikkilä
The world’s top artificial intelligence chatbots are already excelling at a skill that many politicians and business leaders would envy: the art of persuasion. AI models from OpenAI, Meta, xAI and Alibaba can make people change their political views after less than 10 minutes of conversation, according to new research, the latest in a growing body of work that shows how large language models have become powerful tools of influence.
Events & Podcasts
The Sydney Dialogue 2025
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute is pleased to announce the Sydney Dialogue, the world’s premier policy summit for critical, emerging and cyber technologies, will return on 4-5 December. Now in its fourth year, the dialogue attracts the world’s top thinkers, innovators and policymakers, and focusses on the most pressing issues at the intersection of technology and security. TSD has become the place where new partnerships are built among governments, industry and civil society, and where existing partnerships are deepened.
Talking Indonesia: AI policy in Indonesia
The University of Melbourne
Elisabeth Kramer
From the algorithms that curate your social media feed to the recommendation systems that influence what you buy, artificial intelligence is quietly reshaping every aspect of our daily lives. In 2025, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Elisabeth Kramer from the University of New South Wales, Dr. Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, Dr Jemma Purdey from the Australia-Indonesia Centre and Tito Ambyo from RMIT.
Jobs
Events Manager
ASPI
ASPI has an exciting opportunity for an experienced and motivated events professional to join the organisation as Events Manager. Lead a small, dedicated, tight-knit team to deliver a program of internationally renowned events on a variety of topics ranging from defence and national security to cyber and critical technologies. The closing date for applications is Thursday 21 August 2025 – an early application is advised as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if suitable applications are received.
Defence Strategy Program Coordinator
ASPI
ASPI’s Defence Strategy Program analyses how Australia defends its national interests in an era of intensifying strategic competition. Our research focuses on three areas: understanding Australia’s security environment and regional partnerships; developing military strategy, deterrence concepts, and future force design; and strengthening the defence industrial base, supply chains, and economic resilience. Together, these efforts provide government, industry, and the public with evidence‑based insights to enhance Australia’s defence. The closing date for applications is Thursday 28 August 2025 – an early application is advised as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if suitable applications are received.
The Daily Cyber & Tech Digest is brought to you by the Cyber, Technology & Security Programs team at ASPI and supported by partners.
