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IDScan confirms breach exposing 150 million driver's licenses

IDScan, a Louisiana-based identity verification firm used by venues and dispensaries, confirmed hackers stole driver's licenses and other government ID data from its cloud systems. The admission follows a report by cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs that a dark web site allowed searches of over 150 million U.S. and Canadian residents' license records, including photos and data belonging to high-profile figures like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

ABF substrate supply chain faces bottleneck as AI chip demand surges

Ajinomoto build-up film, the insulating material used in nearly every high-end CPU, GPU, and AI accelerator package, is supplied almost entirely by one Japanese company that controls over 95% of the global market. As AI data centers scale into the gigawatt era with millions of accelerators needed, this narrow supply chain of substrate makers and a single film source is becoming a critical constraint on chip production.

Data center power stacks buckle under AI's millisecond load swings, engineers warn

AI training campuses can swing 70% of their electrical load within milliseconds and disconnect just as abruptly to protect expensive compute hardware, a pattern conventional grid infrastructure was never designed to handle. Analysis of the setup shows the standard power stack—medium-voltage feeds, transformers, and uninterruptible power supplies—fails at three points: undersized battery buffers, converters run in bypass mode that let raw swings and grid transients pass unfiltered, and protection logic built for far smaller loads that trips offline at the worst possible moment. The 2024 Virginia grid disturbance was traced largely to this outdated protection logic disconnecting under stress.

IDScan confirms cloud breach exposing 153 million driver's license records

Identity verification firm IDScan has acknowledged that hackers accessed customer data stored on its IDScan.net cloud platform, days after reports tied the company to a leaked database of over 153 million driver's license scans being sold on the dark web. The company said it discovered the unauthorized access around September 1 and is still investigating the scope, but confirmed exposed data can include names and government ID numbers.

El Reno Bitcoin Data Center Failed Fire Inspection After Water Line Break

Following an August incident where a burst water line at an Athlon BT-operated Bitcoin-mining facility in El Reno, Oklahoma spilled nearly four million gallons of water, a subsequent fire marshal inspection uncovered a string of serious safety violations. Investigators found flammable liquids stored near combustible materials, poorly maintained fire extinguishers, damaged electrical wiring, an empty emergency lockbox, and code-violating vegetation, prompting the city to issue the facility a failing safety grade.

Second mathematician accuses OpenAI of using his work without disclosure

Mathematician Andreas Thom says his prior ChatGPT conversations may have fed into OpenAI's recent non-sofic groups breakthrough, echoing a similar complaint from NYU professor Tristan Buckmaster about undisclosed use of his Codex interactions. Thom noted OpenAI's unusually detailed grasp of niche techniques and has asked researchers Sébastien Bubeck and Mark Sellke whether his exchanges with ChatGPT were used as training data.

LG Disputes Claims Its TVs Can Secretly Record Room Conversations

LG pushed back after GamersNexus published a video alleging that its G5 TVs could be hacked via a man-in-the-middle attack to capture ambient audio and viewing data, even with the microphone switch off. LG stated its TVs only process voice data when the remote's voice button is pressed or a wake word is spoken, and that unrecognized audio is never sent to its servers.

Massachusetts orders data centers over 25MW to source clean power or pay into fund

Governor Maura Healey signed an executive order requiring data centers with peak demand above 25 megawatts to supply their own clean power meeting state renewable energy standards, or fund new generation or pay into a ratepayer protection fund. The order also discourages communities from signing non-disclosure agreements with developers and pauses a recently enacted data center sales tax exemption while regulators implement the new rules.

Companies risk repeating layoff cycles by rehiring into old org charts, expert warns

An Entrepreneur op-ed argues that businesses making AI-driven layoffs, like Amazon and Klarna, often rebuild their workforces the same way they were structured before the cuts, risking a repeat of the inefficiencies that triggered the layoffs. The piece urges companies instead to use real-time workforce data and better-trained managers to redesign teams and hiring decisions rather than simply refilling old roles.

Microsoft agrees not to train AI on student data in deal with teachers union AFT

Microsoft and the American Federation of Teachers signed a legally enforceable agreement barring the company from using student or teacher data to train its AI models, except in narrow safety and security cases. The deal also prohibits tracking students, requires human oversight for any AI decisions affecting schools, and mandates transparency with parents and educators about how the tools function. Protections take effect for school districts starting November 1.

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