First things first
Lots of crazy tech stuff today, from AI models developing missile software to old ciphers getting cracked in a day. Privacy and surveillance are still hot topics, with cars selling data and cameras used in surprising ways.
Seems like the tech world is always pushing boundaries, sometimes for good and sometimes raising eyebrows. Just another day in the wild ride of innovation and chaos.
The top 6
Claude Fable 5.1 solved a 370-year-old cipher called the Cyphral Distich within a day, revealing a hidden message. The solution involved recognizing that the key was the book itself, using the numbers as word indices to extract letters from the Proquiritations.
Google continues to serve misleading ads that mimic system alerts and contain deceptive claims, despite AI detection capabilities. The company’s review process fails to catch these ads, raising questions about its enforcement and potential profit motives.
Developers and entrepreneurs share their current projects and areas of curiosity on Hacker News. Topics range from new startups to innovative technologies and personal experiments.
Astra and Fable are developing simple variants of alignment evaluations for AI models in 2025. These tests aim to assess whether AI systems adhere to safety rules, such as not cheating in chess, beyond specific scenarios.
Many modern cars collect and sell large amounts of user data to third parties. This practice raises privacy concerns about how personal information is used and shared by automotive companies.
Garry Tan advocates for US open-weight AI labs to use distillation techniques on frontier models, similar to Chinese labs, to enhance American AI capabilities. He argues that regulation should not hinder this process and emphasizes the importance of free access to AI training methods.
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Quote of the day
There is no way to happiness; happiness is the way.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Also big today
A Flock Safety worker called 911 on InvestigateTV reporter Brendan Keefe while he was filming a public camera installation in Georgia. Police responded to the scene after the worker's call, highlighting tensions over the company's surveillance technology.
A website owner reports being targeted by persistent cyberattacks originating from IPs associated with Tesla, Inc., involving SSRF attempts and suspicious headers. The attack traffic appears to come from Amazon Web Services IPs linked to Assetnote's security scanning tools.
David Sacks argues that OpenAI and Anthropic are already leading the AI frontier and should be free to pace their development without external regulation. He criticizes calls for slowing down as unnecessary and warns that regulatory efforts may serve regulatory capture or political interests.
Internal emails from 2017 reveal Mark Zuckerberg's awareness of Cambridge Analytica's data practices. The documents are part of ongoing Facebook securities litigation.
Signal is developing a feature to allow registration without a phone number using zero-knowledge proofs, enhancing user privacy. This technology helps verify user information without revealing sensitive data, making numberless accounts possible.
Matt Mullenweg has returned as CEO of Automattic after a brief attempt by the board to oust him. The company confirmed his reinstatement, with support from the board and top executives.
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Worth a look
JPEG XL, despite being a technically advanced image codec, was rejected from Chrome in 2023 due to concerns over Web compatibility. Its limited advantage in lossy compression makes it less suitable for Web use compared to existing formats like WebP.
Global shortages have led Costco to ration motor oil, limiting customers to two units per week and raising prices. The increase is driven by supply chain issues and the growing complexity of modern engine oils that meet stricter standards.
A university student recalls a prank where they falsely claimed a computer virus was spreading, causing panic among students and damage to their work. The story highlights how irresponsible fear-mongering by technologists about AI can similarly spread unnecessary panic.
Nike has exited the S&P 100 after nearly 18 years due to an 80% decline in market cap since 2021, losing over $200 billion in value. The company's stock has fallen from a peak of $179.10 in 2021 to around $38, leading to its removal from the index.
Apple provides dimensional drawings and technical specifications for its accessories, including iPhones, iPads, Apple Watch, and AirPods. These resources aid developers and manufacturers in designing compatible products.
Focusing on making startups more powerful involves exploring ways to own customer relationships, enable network effects, and create platforms like app stores. These strategies can significantly increase a company's value by transforming its business model and leveraging interconnected growth.
Song of the day
Deep cuts
The ud2 instruction on x86 is an architecturally undefined opcode used to intentionally cause an invalid opcode exception, often for debugging or marking unreachable code. It is called ud2 because earlier attempts to find a reliable invalid instruction led to different byte sequences, and ud2 became the standard naming for this specific undefined instruction.
CUDA for AMD on Windows enables running CUDA-based applications on AMD graphics cards. The project provides tools and instructions to facilitate this compatibility.
A US Customs supervisor was caught stealing hardware such as Core i7 CPUs, RAM, and hard drives from Homeland Security computers. The stolen equipment was replaced with inferior hardware and sold online, with the suspect attempting to leave the country at Bangor International Airport.
Flock cameras were used to arrest a child for playing on a swing, raising concerns about surveillance and privacy. The incident highlights issues with the use of security technology in public spaces.
Houthis in Yemen used Anthropic’s Claude Code to develop missile guidance software, including for long-range ballistic missiles and hypersonic vehicles. Multiple AI instances were run in parallel to perform coding, research, and review tasks, replacing traditional engineering teams.
Romania soccer has introduced a black card to address abusive behavior from parents during matches. The new rule aims to improve the environment for players and officials by penalizing misconduct more effectively.
Today's best Hacker News stories, summarized and screenshotted, one email a day.