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DOGE uploaded live copy of Soc. Sec. database to ‘vulnerable’ cloud server, plus Libby is adding AI and folks are not happy Aug 27, 2025

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A top Social Security Administration official turned whistleblower says members of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, better known as DOGE uploaded hundreds of millions of Social Security records to a vulnerable cloud server, putting the personal information of most Americans at risk of compromise.

Library e-book and audiobook app Libby is adding AI, much to the disappointment of some readers and librarians, who would prefer not to have AI inserted into their favorite apps. The new feature, “Inspire Me,” allows users to get book recommendations by using prompts or from their previously saved titles in Libby.

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Tesla could have avoided that $242.5M Autopilot verdict, plus more tech news Aug 26, 2025

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Months before a jury awarded a $242.5 million verdict against Tesla over its culpability in a 2019 fatal crash, the automaker had a chance to settle for $60 million. Instead, Tesla rejected that offer, according to new legal filings that were first reported by Reuters. Also, Google is tightening security measures around Android app distribution, the company announced on Monday. Starting next year, Google will begin to verify the identities of developers distributing their apps on Android devices, not just those who distribute via the Play Store. And, Tech founder Ethan Agarwal, who has raised tens of millions of dollars from VCs across two startups, is running for the 2026 California gubernatorial seat, as reported by Axios.

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Bounce launched a service for moving accounts between Bluesky and Mastodon, Elon Musk xAI is suing Apple and OpenAI, and Silicon Valley is pouring millions into pro-AI PACs to sway midterms Aug 25, 2025

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Today, Mastodon users unhappy with the service can opt to move their account to a different Mastodon server, while Bluesky is developing technology that allows users to migrate their account to a new PDS (Bluesky’s term for “personal data server”) on its network. However, Mastodon runs on the ActivityPub Protocol and Bluesky on the AT Protocol, which has limited the ability to migrate accounts across the two platforms until now. Also, Elon Musk’s X and xAI filed a lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI on Monday, alleging that the two companies are colluding to stifle competition. And Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI President Greg Brockman are among the Silicon Valley veterans putting more than $100 million into a network of political action committees (PACs) that will advocate against strict AI regulations in next year’s midterm elections, reports The Wall Street Journal.

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The Trump administration’s big Intel investment comes from already awarded grants ... and more Tech news Aug 25, 2025

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Intel officially announced an agreement with President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday afternoon, following Trump’s statement that the government would be taking a 10% stake in the struggling chipmaker. While Intel says the government is making an “$8.9 billion investment in Intel common stock,” the administration does not appear to be committing new funds. Instead, it’s simply making good on what Intel described as “grants previously awarded, but not yet paid, to Intel.” Also, Meta’s former policy chief Nick Clegg seems to be walking a tightrope as he promotes his upcoming book, “How to Save the Internet.” And in a new blog post, OpenAI warns against “unauthorized opportunities to gain exposure to OpenAI through a variety of means,” including special purpose vehicles, known as SPVs.

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Not everybody is happy about Meta’s $10B data center, Waymo will start testing in NYC, and more Aug 22, 2025

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When Meta selected a site in Louisiana for its largest data center to date, it signed a deal with Entergy to power the site with three massive natural gas power plants. Earlier this week a state regulator approved Entergy’s plans.

The power plants are expected to come online in 2028 and 2029, and at full strength, they’ll generate 2.25 gigawatts of electricity. Ultimately, the AI data center could draw 5 gigawatts of power as it’s expanded. The power plant project has been controversial among Louisianans.

Waymo has been granted a permit to test its autonomous vehicles in New York City, the first such approval granted by the city. The company told TechCrunch it plans to start testing “immediately.”

And a former software developer has been sentenced to four years in prison for sabotaging his former employer’s network after leaving the company.

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Microsoft AI chief says it’s ‘dangerous’ to study AI consciousness, plus former X employees may get severance Aug 22, 2025

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The debate over whether AI models could one day be conscious — and merit legal safeguards — is dividing tech leaders. In Silicon Valley, this nascent field has become known as “AI welfare,” and if you think it’s a little out there, you’re not alone. Also, more than two years after leaving the company, some former Twitter employees may finally receive their severance pay. Elon Musk’s X is tentatively settling a class action lawsuit filed by workers who were let go soon after he purchased Twitter.

This news comes in the form of a court filing where both parties asked the court to delay an upcoming hearing so that they could work out a deal.

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Hackers who exposed North Korean government hacker explain why they did it Aug 21, 2025

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Earlier this year, two hackers broke into a computer and soon realized the significance of what this machine was. As it turned out, they had landed on the computer of a hacker who allegedly works for the North Korean government.

The two hackers decided to keep digging and found evidence that they say linked the hacker to cyberespionage operations carried out by North Korea, exploits and hacking tools, and infrastructure used in those operations.

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Google, sorry, but that Pixel event was a cringefest Aug 21, 2025

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Late-night host Jimmy Fallon shouted,“I P 6 8! I P 6 8!,” trying and failing to fake excitement about the new Pixel smartphones. Fallon, who likely had never heard the technical term before, didn’t seem to realize that IP68 — a rating that indicates phones can survive being submerged in water — isn’t all that interesting as a selling point, nor is this water resistance feature new to Google’s Pixel line. It’s been around since the 2018 Pixel 3. We’re on the Pixel 10 now, for reference.

In a surreal moment that illustrated the tendency to overhype anything associated with AI advances, Google decided to pull out all the stops for its Pixel 10 live event on Wednesday.

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Zoox taps ex-UberPool exec’s startup for routing software help, also Notion now works without an internet connection Aug 20, 2025

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When James Cox, the former leader of Uber’s ride-share product, UberPool, left that company in 2019, the Silicon Valley giant had abandoned its autonomous vehicle development and sold off the division entirely. While UberPool had struggled to take hold, Cox felt a massive opportunity had been missed: taking the core of UberPool’s tech and applying it to robotaxis.

, one of the most annoying issues with using Notion was that you couldn’t get much done offline because of its cloud-first architecture. As TechCrunch’s Ivan Mehta writes, the company has finally solved that problem, adding support for an offline mode to its apps.

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Appeals court says NLRB structure unconstitutional and Meta rolls out AI-powered translations to creators globally Aug 20, 2025

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A federal appeals court handed SpaceX a win on Tuesday, in a ruling that prevents the National Labor Relations Board from prosecuting unfair labor practices against the company. The ruling by the Fifth District Court of Appeals, which suggests the structure of the NLRB is likely unconstitutional, could have far-reaching effects. Also, Meta is rolling out an AI-powered voice translation feature to all users on Facebook and Instagram globally, the company announced on Tuesday. The new feature, which is available in any market where Meta AI is available, allows creators to translate content into other languages so it can be viewed by a broader audience.

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