US Dismantles Botnet Used For Cyberattacks

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The U.S. Justice Department and international partners dismantled the 911 S5 proxy botnet and arrested 35-year-old Chinese national YunHe Wang, its administrator, in Singapore, Bleeping Computer reported.

“Working with our international partners, the FBI conducted a joint, sequenced cyber operation to dismantle the 911 S5 Botnet – likely the world’s largest botnet every,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.

“We arrested its administrator, Yunhe Wang, seized infrastructure and assets, and levied sanctions against Wang and his co-conspirators.”

As early as 2011, Wang and his conspirators pushed malware onto victims’ devices using multiple malicious VPN applications bundling proxy backdoors. The VPN apps that added compromised devices to the 911 S5 residential proxy service include MaskVPN, DewVPN, PaladinVPN, ProxyGate, ShieldVPN, and ShineVPN.

The U.S. Department of Justice posted a press release:

A court-authorized international law enforcement operation led by the U.S. Justice Department disrupted a botnet used to commit cyber attacks, large-scale fraud, child exploitation, harassment, bomb threats, and export violations.

As part of this operation, YunHe Wang, 35, a People’s Republic of China national and St. Kitts and Nevis citizen-by-investment, was arrested on May 24 on criminal charges arising from his deployment of malware and the creation and operation of a residential proxy service known as “911 S5.”

According to an indictment unsealed on May 24, from 2014 through July 2022, Wang and others are alleged to have created and disseminated malware to compromise and amass a network of millions of residential Windows computers worldwide. These devices were associated with more than 19 million unique IP addresses, including 613,841 IP addresses located in the United States. Wang then generated millions of dollars by offering cybercriminals access to these infected IP addresses for a fee.

“The Justice Department-led operation brought together law enforcement partners from around the globe to disrupt 911-S5, a botnet that facilitated cyber-attacks,” said Attorney General Merck B. Garland. “As a result of this operation, YunHe Wang was arrested on charges that he created and operated the botnet and deployed malware. This case makes clear that the long arm of the law stretches across borders and into the deepest shadows of the dark web, and the Justice Department will never stop fighting to hold cybercriminals to account.”…

ArsTechnica reported the U.S Treasury Department has sanctioned three Chines nationals for their involvement with a VPN-powered botnet with more than 19 million residential IP addresses they rented out to cybercriminals to obfuscate their illegal activities, including COVID-19 scares and bomb threats.

The criminal enterprise, the Treasury Department said Tuesday, was a residential proxy known as 911 S5. Such services provide a bank of IP addresses belonging to everyday home users for customers to route Internet connections through. When accessing a website or other Internet service, the connection appears to originate with the home user.

In my opinion, it is good that the U.S. Department of Justice took action against YunHe Wang and others, and prevented them from engaging in these kinds of shenanigans. 

OpenAI Has A New Safety Team Led By Sam Altman

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OpenAI is forming a new safety team, and it’s led by CEO Sam Altman, along with board member Adam D’Angelo and Nicole Seligman. The committee will make recommendations on critical safety and security decisions for OpenAI projects and operations” — a concern several key AI researchers shard when leaving the company this month, The Verge reported.

For its first task, the new team will “evaluate and further develop OpenAI’s processes and safeguards.” It will then present its findings to OpenAI’s board, which all three of the safety team’s leaders have a seat on. The board will then decide how to implement the safety team’s recommendations.

It’s formation follows the departure of OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, who supported the board’s attempted coup to dethrone Altman last year. He also co-led OpenAI’s Superalignment team, which was created to “steer and control AI systems much smarter than us.”

The OpenAI Board posted the following:

Today, the OpenAI Board formed a Safety and Security Committee led by director Bret Taylor (Chair), Adam D’Angelo, Nicole Selgiman, and Sam Altman (CEO). This committee will be responsible for making recommendations to the full Board on critical safety and security and security decisions for OpenAI projects and operations.

OpenAI has recently begun training its next frontier model and we anticipate the resulting systems to bring us to the next level of capabilities on our path to AGI. While we are proud to build and release models that are industry-leading on both capabilities and safety, we welcome a robust debate at this important moment.

A first task of the Safety and Security Committee will be to evaluate and further develop OpenAI’s processes and safeguards over the next 90 days. At the conclusion of the 90 days, the Safety and Security Committee will share their recommendations wit hotel full board. Following the Board’s review, OpenAI will publicly share an update on adopted recommendations in a manner that is consistent with safety and security….

OpenAI says it’s training the next frontier model, according to a press release on Tuesday, and anticipates it will bring the startup one step closer to artificial intelligence systems that are generally smarter than humans. The company also announced a new Safety and Security Committee to guide critical safety and security decisions, led by CEO Sam Altman and other OpenAI board members, Gizmodo reported.

“While we are proud to build and release models that are industry-leading on both capabilities and safety,” OpenAI said in a press release. “We welcome a robust debate at this important moment.”

The announcement follows a tumultuous month for OpenAI, where a group led by Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leake that researched AI risks existential to humanity was disbanded. Former OpenAI board members Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley wrote in The Economist on Sunday these developments and others following the return of Altman “bode ill for the OpenAI experiment in self-governance.” 

In my opinion, companies like OpenAI appear to be pushing boundaries to see what their AI can do. This, unfortunately, includes the company taking Scarlett Johansen’s voice without her permission. 

Google Just Updated Its Algorithm

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Over the last two years, a series of updates to Google Search amount to a dramatic upheaval to the Internet’s most powerful tool, complex with an unprecedented AI features. Will Google save the web, or destroy it? BBC reported.

If you’ve ever typed “air purifier reviews” into Google, you were probably looking for the kind of content that you’ll find on HouseFresh.com, The site started in 2020 by Gisele Navarro and her husband, based on a decade of experience writing about indoor air quality products. They filled their basement with purifiers, running rigorous science-based tests and writing articles to help consumers sort through marketing hype.

Then, in September 2023, Google made one in a series of major updates to the algorithm that runs its search engine. 

A spokesperson for Google tells the BBC that the company only launches changes to Search after rigorous testing confirmed that the shift will be helpful for users, and that the company gives website owners help, resources and opportunities for feedback on their Search rankings.

CNN reported Google promised its new artificial intelligence search tools would “do the work for you” and make finding information online quicker and easier. But just days after the launch, the company is already walking back some factually incorrect results.

Google earlier this month introduced an AI-generated search results overview tool, which summarizes search results so that users don’t have to click through multiple links to get quick answers to their questions. But the feature came under fire this week after it provided false or misleading information to some users’ questions.

For example, several users posted on X that Google’s AI summary said that former President Barack Obama is a Muslim, a common misconception. In fact, Obama is a Christian. Another user posted that a Google AI summary that said “none of Africa’s 54 recognized countries start with the letter ‘K” — clearly forgetting Kenya.

Google confirmed to CNN on Friday that the AI overviews for both queries had been removed for violating the company’s policies.

NBC News reported social media has been buzzing with examples of Google’s new “experimental” artificial intelligence tool going awry. The feature, which writes an “AI overview” response to user queries based on sources pulled from around the web, has been placed at the top of some search results.

But repeatedly, social media posts show that the tool is delivering wrong or misleading results. An NBC News review of answers provided by the tool showed that it sometimes displays false information in response to simple queries.

For example, an NBC News search for “how many feet does an elephant have” resulted in a Google AI overview answer that said “Elephants have two feet, with five toes on the first feet and four on the back feet.”

In my opinion, Google’s AI is not really ready yet. It appears to be grabbing information off various websites and giving wrong answers. 

Google’s AI Search Feature Suggested Using Glue To Keep Cheese Sticking On A Pizza

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Google’s new search feature, AI Overviews, seems to be going awry. The tool, which gives AI-generated summaries of search results, appeared to instruct a user to put glue on pizza when they searched for “cheese not sticking to pizza.” Business Insider reported.

A screenshot of the summary it generated, shared on X, shows it responded with “cheese can slide off pizza for a number of reasons,” and that the user could try adding “about ⅛ cup of non-toxic glue to the sauce to give it more tackiness.”

According to another X user, the suggestion seems to have been based on a Reddit comment from 11 years ago, which was probably a joke.

Google started testing the AI Overviews feature in the US and UK earlier this year and announced it would roll out more widely by the end of 2024. Liz Reid, the head of search, introduced it as “Google will do the googling for you” at the company’s I/O conference last week.

Imagine this: you’ve carved out an evening to unwind and decide to make a homemade pizza. You assemble your pie, throw it in the oven, and are excited to start eating. But once you get ready to take a bite of your oily creation, you run into a problem — the cheese falls right off. Frustrated, you turn to Google for a solution. The Verge reported.

“Add some glue,” Google answers. “Mix about 1/8 cup of Elmer’s glue in with the sauce. Non-toxic glue will work.”

So, yeah, don’t do that, The Verge reported. As of writing this, though that’s what Google’s new AI Overviews feature will tell you to do. The feature, while not triggered for every query, scans the web and drums up an AI-generated response. The answer for the pizza glue query appears to be based on a comment from a user named “f***smith” in a more than decade-old Reddit thread, and they’re clearly joking.

This is just one of many mistakes cropping up in the new feature that Google rolled out broadly this month. It also claims that former US President James Madison graduated from the University of Wisconsin not once but 21 times, that a dog has played in the NBA, NFL, and NHL, and that Batman is a cop.

ArsTechnica reported Google’s AI Overview is a complete transformation of what Google Search is, changing from a product that searches the web to show relevant links, to a place that scrapes the web of information and shows it directly to users. Google is not done making changes, though, and the next for AI Overview is ads! 

The Google Ads & Commerce blog shows what this will look like, with ads landing at the bottom of the AI Overview box. The overview box was already a massive, screen-filling box, and ads make it even longer, pushing what’s left of the web results even further down the page. Google’s demo shows the ads at the bottom of the overview box, and you have to scroll down to see them.

In my opinion, it seems like Google’s AI Overviews has taken the comments on Reddit and used them as a way to provide answers to those seeking help with their pizza. Clearly, Google’s AI Overviews are not ready to provide actual useful answers.

OpenAI, WSJ News Corp Strike Content Deal Valued At $250 Million

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Wall Street Journal owner News Corp struck a major content-licensing pact with generative artificial-intelligence company OpenAI, aiming to cash in on a technology that promises to have a profound impact on the news-publishing industry, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The deal could be worth more than $250 million over five years, including compensation in the form of cash and credits for use of OpenAI technology, according to people familiar with the situation. The deal lets OpenAI use content from News Corp’s consumer-facing news publications, including archives, to answer users’ queries and train its technology.

“The pact acknowledges that there is a premium for premium journalism,” News Corp Chief Executive Robert Thomson said in a memo to employees Wednesday, “The digital age has been characterized by the dominance of distributors, often at the expense of creators, and many media companies have been swept away by a remorseless technological tide. The onus is now on us to make the most of this providential opportunity,”

The rise of generative AI tools such as OpenAI’s humanlike chatbot ChatGPT is poised to transform the publishing business. AI companies are hungry for publisher’s content, which can help them refine their models and create new products such as AI-powered search.

CNBC reported as part of the deal, OpenAI will be able to display content from News Corp-owned outlets with ChatGPT chatbot, in response to user questions. The startup will “enhance its products,” or, likely, to train its artificial intelligence models.

News Corp. will also “share journalistic expertise to help ensure the highest journalism standards are present across OpenAI’s offering” as part of the deal, according to a release.

“We believe a historic agreement will set new standards for veracity, for virtue, and for value in the digital age,” Robert Thomson, CEO of News Corp, said Wednesday in a release. “We are delighted to have found principled partners in Sam Altman and his trusty, talented team who understand the commercial and social significance of journalists and journalism.”

The Hollywood Reporter wrote OpenAI has cut another major media licensing deal. The artificial intelligence firm has inked a deal with News Corp, that will bring content from its stable of media outlets to ChatGPT and other OpenAI products.

“Through this partnership, OpenAI has permission to display content from News Corp mastheads in response to user questions and to enhance its products, with the ultimate objective of providing people the ability to make informed choices based on reliable information and news sources,” the companies said in the announcement.

The News Corp. properties The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, Investor’s Business Daily, FN, and New York Post; The Times, The Sunday Times, and The Sun; The Australian, news.com.au., The Daily Telegraph, The Courier Mail, The Advertiser, and Herald Sun are all part of the deal, terms of which were not disclosed.

In my opinion, it seems like many corporations have decided that AI-generated content is the best way to go. My concern is that large corporations will decide that OpenAI is better for their needs, and will begin layoffs of human employees.

Google’s AI Search Results Are Already Getting Ads

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Google only just rolled out AI summaries in search results — and now they’re getting ads. In an update on Tuesday, Google says it will soon start testing search and shopping ads within AI Overviews for users in the US, The Verge reported.

According to The Verge, in the example shared by Google, the search engine’s AI overview lists a response to the question: “How do I get wrinkles out of clothes?” Beneath the AI-generated suggestions, there’s a new “Sponsored” section with a carousel showing wrinkle spray you can buy from places like Walmart and Instacart.

Google says it will display ads in AI Overviews when “they’re relevant to both the query and the information in the AI Overview.” Advertisers that already run certain campaigns through Google will automatically become eligible to appear in AI Overviews “As we move forward, we’ll continue to test and learn from new formats, getting feedback from advertisers and the industry,” Google writes.

Google posted the following on its Ads & Commerce Blog:

An evolution of attention is underway. People have seemingly endless ways to shop, communicate and stay entertained online. For advertising to stand out, it needs to be relevant and helpful — in fact, that’s more important than ever before. Businesses need to be on every surface with creative assets that capture people’s attention.

Until now, this has felt impossible to do at scale — but generative AI is changing that. This technology is helping us better meet advertisers’ needs and unlock new possibilities across the marketing process, from new immersive ads experiences to high-performing creative assets. As we build this next era of marketing together, we’re sharing our latest creative asset generation controls, new ad experiences, visual storytelling features and more at Google Marketing Live (GML).

We’ve been working on making it easier and faster to produce great creative assets for ads across marketing channels. Creative asset variety is crucial to strong ads, and achieving this has gotten easier for more advertisers with generative AI in Performance Max. We found that advertisers who improve their Performance Max Ad Strength to Excellent see 6% more conversions on average. 

Event Tickets Center was one of the earliest beta testers for asset generation in Performance Max, which has helped the team accelerate creative production by 5x with less time and effort.

CNBC reported Google announced Tuesday that it will be giving advertisers the ability to create immersive visuals in their promotions using generative artificial intelligence, as the company rolls out more AI tools for brands.

Advertisers can take advantage of what Google is calling a visual brand profile in search “that gives richer results” for queries that include the name of a brand or retailer, the company said Tuesday at its annual Google Marketing Live. Brands can also include product videos and summaries.

Last week, Google announced plans to change its search results page to prioritize a feature called “AI Overview,” which uses AI to summarize information at the top of a search results page. The move could push organic content and ads further down the page, resulting in a potential shake-up for publishers and advertisers.

In my opinion, there are a lot of companies who have jumped on artificial intelligence, and then added something of their own to it. This might be great for the big companies, but I think the general public, overall, is not super interested in AI.

Microsoft Unveils Copilot+ PC With Generative AI Capabilities Baked In

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We’ve been hearing rumblings for moths now that Microsoft was working on so-called “AI-PCs.” At a pre-Billed event, the company spelled out its vision, Engadget reported.

Microsoft is calling its version of Copilot+ PCs, which CEO Satya Nadella described as a “new class of Windows PCs.” These contain hardware designed to handle more generative AI Copilot processes locally, rather than relying on the cloud. Doing so requires a chipset with a neural processing unit (NPU), and manufacturers such as Qualcommm have been laying the groundwork with chips like the Snapdragon X Elite.

Microsoft is taking a partner-first approach to making Copilot+ PCs. Along with chipmakers like AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm, major OEMs including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo are on board. The first Copilot+ laptops are available to preorder today and they’ll ship on June 18.

Microsoft posted on its Official Microsoft Blog: Today, at a special event on our new Microsoft campus, we introduced the world to a new category of Windows PCs designed for AI, Copilot+ PCs.

Copilot+ PCs are the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever built. With powerful new silicon capable of an incredible 40+ TOPS (trillion operations per second), all-day battery life and access to the most advanced AI models, Copilot+ PCs will enable you to do things you can’t really do on any other PC.

Easily find and remember what you have seen in your PC with Recall, generate and refine AI images in near real-time directly on the device using Cocreator, and bridge language barriers with Live Captions, translating audio from 40+ languages into English.

These experiences come to life on a set of thin, light and beautiful devices from Microsoft Surface and our OEM partners Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung, with pre-orders beginning today and availability starting on June 18. Starting at $999, Copilot+ PCs offer incredible value.

ArsTechnica reported Microsoft is using its new Surface launch and this week’s Build developer conference as a platform to launch its new “Copilot+” PCs initiative, which comes with specific hardware requirements that systems will need to meet to be eligible.

Copilot+ PCs will be able to handle some AI-accelerated workloads like chatbots and image generation locally instead of relying on the cloud, but new hardware will generally be required to run these workloads quickly and power efficiently,

At a minimum, systems will need 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, to accommodate both the memory requirements and the on-disk storage requirements needed for things like large language models (LLMs; even so-called “small language models” like Microsofts Phi-3, still use several billion parameters).

But the biggest new requirement, and the blocker for virtually ever Window’s PC in use today, will be for an integrated rural processing unit, or NPU. Microsoft requires an NPU with performance rated at 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS), a high-level performance figure that Microsoft, Qualcomm, Apple and others use for NPU performance comparisons.

Right now, that requirement can only be met by a single chip in the Windows PC ecosystem, one that isn’t even quite available yet.

In my opinion, some people will be very excited about the AI that has been “baked in” to Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC. That said, I think the $999 cost will be expensive to most PC users.