GoKawiil
Tech News
CNN reports a Pentagon analyst used an AI chatbot to assess a Chinese vessel's cargo, and the tool falsely concluded it carried nuclear weapons components by blending open-source data with classified signals intelligence. The false finding nearly led US forces to seize the ship before officials realized the assessment was fabricated by the AI.
The NIH and Department of Defense have quietly confirmed a signed agreement, disclosed the Friday before a US holiday, that redirects part of the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases budget toward Pentagon research on pandemic flu, CBRN threats and emerging infectious diseases. The deal runs a decade, and while the exact dollar amount is unspecified, reports indicate the Pentagon sought roughly a third of relevant funding but was steered toward about 10 percent instead.
A Microbiology Spectrum study found that lit Bunsen burners did not lower airborne bacterial contamination compared with unlit ones, and in some trials contamination near lit burners was even higher. Researchers seeded lab air with Gordonia rubripertincta bacteria and compared Petri dishes placed near lit versus unlit burners across several burner sizes, consistently finding no protective benefit from the flame.
The Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Special Operations Command have all turned off advertising tracking on government-issued phones and computers, according to a letter Senator Ron Wyden shared. The change, rolled out earlier this year with the Air Force following in July, blocks the advertising identifiers apps use to generate location data that gets sold to data brokers.
US District Judge Rita Lin ruled that the Defense Department's labeling of Anthropic as a supply chain risk was illegal and unconstitutional, blocking certain federal agencies from enforcing Trump's directive to stop using the company's Claude AI tools. The conflict began after Anthropic refused Pentagon pressure to remove safeguards preventing Claude from being used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons, leading Trump to order a government-wide phase-out of Anthropic products. Anthropic had sued in two federal courts over separate bans, and this ruling resolves one of those cases in its favor.
A San Francisco federal judge ruled that the Department of Defense acted unconstitutionally when it labeled Anthropic a supply chain risk in March, a designation that barred defense contractors from using its Claude AI models. Judge Rita Lin found the move stemmed from the Pentagon's frustration with Anthropic's public criticism rather than any legitimate security concern, violating the company's First Amendment rights. The dispute arose after talks collapsed over how the military could deploy Claude, with Anthropic refusing to allow its technology to be used for autonomous weapons or domestic surveillance.