WhatsApp changes terms to ban generic chatbots from platform
Meta-owned chat app WhatsApp changed its business API policies this week, banning generic chatbots from its platform. The move is likely to impact WhatsApp-based assistants from companies such as OpenAI, Perplexity, Khosla Ventures-backed Luzia, and General Catalyst-backed Poke. Focusing on general-purpose chatbots, the company has added a new section to its business API terminology that […]
NASA mission to visit ‘God of Chaos’ asteroid saves $20 million from budget cuts in last-minute decision
NASA’s plan to fly a spacecraft along a potentially dangerous asteroid in 2029 will continue at least next year. Following threats to cancel the mission, the OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft received a last-minute allocation of $20 million in the House budget to continue basic operations next year. However, the fate of 18 other NASA missions scheduled to […]
Astronomers detect first ‘heartbeat’ of newborn star hidden inside powerful cosmic explosion
Gamma-ray bursts are the brightest explosions in the universe, momentarily outsmarting entire galaxies with intense flashes of high-energy radiation. These (excuse the joke) astronomical explosions release more energy in a few seconds than the sun produces in its entire 10 billion year lifespan, sending jets of gamma rays into space. Despite their incredible brightness, gamma-ray […]
Methane ‘switch’ discovered in Arctic Ocean that promotes rapid global warming
The Arctic Ocean was once an important source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, and researchers warn it could do so again. Methane (CH4) is second only to carbon dioxide (CO2) in trapping heat in Earth’s atmosphere. Since 2020, human greenhouse gas emissions have increased atmospheric methane by about 10 parts per billion per year, […]
New .NET CAPI backdoor targets Russian car and e-commerce companies via phishing ZIPs
October 18, 2025Ravi LakshmananThreat Intelligence/Cybercrime Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a new campaign likely targeting Russia’s automotive and e-commerce industries using a previously undocumented .NET malware called “CAPI Backdoor.” According to Seqrite Labs, the attack chain includes distributing phishing emails with ZIP archives as a method of causing infection. The cybersecurity firm’s analysis is based on […]
3,500-year-old Egyptian military fortress with ancient oven and fossilized fabric discovered in Sinai desert
Archaeologists have discovered a 3,500-year-old military fortress with zigzag walls in Egypt’s North Sinai Desert, near the Mediterranean coast. The fort is surprisingly well preserved, with remains of ovens and fossilized chunks of dough that the fort’s soldiers never had a chance to eat. Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a translated statement […]
Can you actually get high by licking a toad?
In 2022, the U.S. National Park Service posted a blurry photo of a toad taken with a night-vision wildlife camera with a tongue-in-cheek warning: As with most things you encounter in national parks, whether it’s a banana slug, an unfamiliar mushroom, or a giant toad with glowing eyes in the middle of the night, don’t […]
Silver Fox spreads Winos 4.0 attack to Japan and Malaysia via HoldingHands RAT
The attackers behind the malware family known as Winos 4.0 (aka ValleyRAT) have expanded their targeting from China and Taiwan to Japan and Malaysia using another remote access Trojan (RAT) tracked as HoldingHands RAT (aka Gh0stBins). “This campaign relied on phishing emails containing PDFs with embedded malicious links,” Pei Han Liao, a researcher at Fortinet’s […]
Silicon Valley surprises AI safety advocates
Silicon Valley leaders, including White House AI and cryptocurrency czar David Sachs and OpenAI chief strategy officer Jason Kwon, sparked controversy online this week with comments about groups promoting AI safety. In other cases, he argued that some AI safety advocates are not as noble as they appear, acting in their own interests or the […]
Senate Republicans deepfaked Chuck Schumer, but X isn’t taking it down
Senate Republicans shared a deepfake video of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that makes it appear as though Democrats are celebrating the 16-day government shutdown. The deepfake shows an AI-generated Schumer repeating the phrase “Every day gets better for us,” which are actual words taken out of context from a Punchbowl News article. In the […]