GoKawiil
Tech News
Heretic is a new tool designed to remove safety restrictions and refusal behaviors from language models, allowing them to follow user instructions without the typical content filters. It targets the alignment layers that model developers add to prevent certain outputs, effectively 'uncensoring' these systems for users who run them.
A Science journal analysis of patent citations and publications found that Chinese companies placed on the US Entity List increased their reliance on scientific literature to drive innovation, compared with similar firms not sanctioned. These restricted companies filed more patents citing scientific research and published more scientific articles than their unsanctioned counterparts after being blacklisted.
The Supreme Court denied the Trump administration's emergency request to impose new restrictions on mail-in ballots ahead of the midterm elections, allowing states to keep using their existing mail voting procedures. The unsigned majority order found the administration's legal case unlikely to succeed, while Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented, with Alito arguing the Postal Service has broad authority to enforce such limits.
A viral video shows a large data center in Denver's Elyria-Swansea neighborhood running sprinklers heavily on its grounds while residents face stage-one drought restrictions limiting lawn watering to two days a week. The facility is believed to be an 18-megawatt, 170,000-square-foot site owned by cloud provider CoreSite, though the tenants using the space haven't been confirmed.
A Denver resident filmed a newly built AI data center running its lawn sprinklers heavily enough to create standing puddles, even as Denver Water's Stage 1 drought restrictions limit residential and commercial lawn watering to twice a week through September, with a full ban starting October 1. The footage went viral and fueled anger, though it remains unclear whether the facility violated the rules, since the timing of the video, use of recycled non-potable water, or a special variance could all justify the watering.
Google published a memo detailing enforcement of new per-app memory limits introduced with Android 17, first rolling out on Pixel devices. Apps that exceed the thresholds will be slowed down or terminated, and starting in February 2027, non-compliant apps could face reduced visibility and publishing restrictions on the Play Store.
Meta has settled requirements forcing Instagram and Facebook to add new teen safeguards, including a non-personalized feed option, stricter age verification, a combined two-hour daily usage cap across both apps, and recurring prompts urging teens to stop scrolling. The changes must roll out within four months and apply across alternate accounts Meta detects belonging to the same teen user.
Meta has reached a settlement with attorneys general from 29 states, ending litigation that covered claims from 47 states and several territories over harms to young users. The company agreed to build an independently tested age-verification system, let teens disable personalized feeds, cap daily app usage at two hours, and pause notifications overnight and during school hours. Meta will pay $17.1 billion over a decade, with $5.3 billion contingent on YouTube and TikTok adopting similar time limits and matching payments.
X has sent legal cease-and-desist letters to Nitter, the open source tool that let users view public X posts without an account, accusing it of unlawfully circumventing its API. The project's main instance, Nitter.net, has gone offline and development has paused while its creator, known as Zedeus, seeks legal counsel. Other Nitter-powered sites like XCancel reportedly received similar letters.
X Corp has sent cease-and-desist letters demanding the permanent shutdown of Nitter, the open-source tool that let users read tweets without logging into X, and its repository. Nitter's main site, Nitter.net, has gone offline while creator Zedeus seeks legal counsel, and other Nitter-based sites like XCancel reportedly received similar letters. This follows a 2024 attempt by X to disable Nitter through API restrictions.
Local officials across the US are receiving death threats and facing security concerns tied to data center construction disputes, regardless of how they vote. In Marshall, Michigan, city council members received a credible death threat after passing a moratorium on new data center builds, while in Salix, Iowa, threatening social media posts targeted the entire town government following a land annexation for a potential Google project. A Utah commissioner who approved a data center project now has police stationed outside his home, and more than 500 towns nationwide have moved to restrict such construction.