Tech Boys

According to a report from The Washington Post , DOGE is using an AI tool to analyze federal regulations and determine which to get rid of. A DOGE PowerPoint presentation obtained by the publication notes that its "AI Solution" — reportedly called the DOGE AI Deregulation Decision Tool — found that 100,000 out of over 200,000 regulations "can be deleted." The document sets a September 1 goal deadline for agencies to complete their own deregulation lists using the tool, which it says can be done in under four weeks, and then "DOGE will roll-up a delete list of 50% of all Federal Regulations (100k Regulatory Rules)." The tool is targeting regulations that are no longer required by law, The Washington Post reports . After it makes its suggestions, staffers would review the proposed deletions before finalizing a plan. According to the PowerPoint, the tool has already been tried out by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), where it's been used ...

Apple has announced that Pluribus , a new science fiction drama from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, will premiere on Apple TV+ on November 7. Gilligan was confirmed to be working on the project back in 2022 , when Better Call Saul 's Rhea Seehorn was also announced as its primary star. Alongside the premiere date, Apple also released a short (somewhat ominous) teaser for the series that shows a hospital employee mindlessly licking donuts. Pluribus is supposed to follow "the most miserable person on Earth" (presumably Seehorn) as they "save the world from happiness," but your guess is as good as mine as to how the two tie together. Apple's penchant for backing science fiction shows has been well-documented at this point. The company is currently producing a television adaptation of William Gibson's Neuromancer , and has made three seasons and counting of Foundation , based on the novel series by Isaac Asimov. Toss in things like Severance ,...

Past users of viral women's dating safety app Tea are the latest victims of a massive cyberattack, which has rendered thousands of user images held in a legacy database vulnerable. First reported by Reddit users, the hack was verified by 404Media and later confirmed by Tea itself, and affects 72,000 images posted to the app over the last two years. Of the hacked data, 13,000 images were selfies or photo identification cards like drivers licenses submitted by users to verify their accounts. Another 59,000 images stored in the database were of individuals posted to the app. Tea, founded by Sean Cook, was designed as a women-only app for users to document their negative experiences with men and warn other women of potential danger. According to Tea's website, 10 percent of its profits are donated the National Domestic Violence Hotline. SEE ALSO: The Internet Archive just became an official U.S. federal library The vulnerability was discovered by users on 4Chan, who began...

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Meta introduced new safety tools for teen accounts on Wednesday, along with stats that show the impact of their latest safety features. In a blog post, Meta said that it removed approximately 635,000 Instagram accounts earlier this year, part of a larger effort to make Instagram safer for teens. The new features include the option for teens to view Safety Tips, to block and report accounts with just one button, and to view the date a person joined Instagram, which is all "designed to give teens age-appropriate experiences and prevent unwanted contact." "At Meta, we work to protect young people from both direct and indirect harm. Our efforts range from Teen Accounts, which are designed to give teens age-appropriate experiences and prevent unwanted contact, to our sophisticated technology that finds and removes exploitative content," the platform said in a press release . "Today, we’re announcing a range of updates to bolster these efforts, and we’re sharing...

The issue of states regulating — or not regulating — AI is back in a big way. On Wednesday, the White House unveiled the AI Action Plan , its highly-anticipated report identifying key areas for federal AI policies. The plan largely focuses on pulling back restrictions for tech companies in order to foster AI innovation and secure the U.S. as a global industry powerhouse. Part of these recommendations laid out in the sweeping report bring back policies that look an awful lot like the AI moratorium that Republicans tried to pass in the Big Beautiful Bill Act . The Senate voted 99-1 to remove the proposed 10-year ban on state regulation of AI from the budget bill. But the AI Action Place looks to bring it back, citing "states with burdensome AI regulations that waste [federal] funds" as bureaucratic barriers to AI prosperity. In the section titled "Remove Red Tape and Onerous Regulation," the plan advises the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to "work wit...

Sony is bringing a welcome quality-of-life feature to the PlayStation 5. In the next PS5 system update beta, players will be able to have their DualSense controllers synced with multiple hardware platforms at the same time. That means you could swap a controller from a PS5 to your gaming PC to your smartphone without needing to re-pair the DualSense each time. Up to four devices can be simultaneously paired with a single controller, and each of them will be mapped to one of the action buttons. To switch between them, first make sure the hardware you want to start using is on, then press the controller's PS button and the corresponding action button at the same time. Hold for three seconds, and when you see blinking on the controller's light bar, release both buttons. It's the sort of change that may not carry weight for all players. But for those of us who do like to hop between platforms, this is very exciting news. The current beta access is limited to an invite-only ...

Current and former members of the FDA told CNN about issues with the Elsa generative AI tool unveiled by the federal agency last month. Three employees said that in practice, Elsa has hallucinated nonexistent studies or misrepresented real research. "Anything that you don't have time to double-check is unreliable," one source told the publication. "It hallucinates confidently." Which isn't exactly ideal for a tool that's supposed to be speeding up the clinical review process and aiding with making efficient, informed decisions to benefit patients. Leadership at the FDA appeared unfazed by the potential problems posed by Elsa. "I have not heard those specific concerns," FDA Commissioner Marty Makary told CNN . He also emphasized that using Elsa and participating in the training to use it are currently voluntary at the agency. The CNN investigation highlighting these flaws with the FDA's artificial intelligence arrived on the same day a...

Heavy metal lost one of its loudest voices today. Ozzy Osbourne — iconic Black Sabbath frontman, solo artist, and unlikely reality TV star — has died at the age of 76. The BBC confirmed his passing following a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. With a career spanning over five decades, Osbourne wasn’t just a rock star — he was a cultural force. From pioneering the sound of British heavy metal to redefining celebrity with the MTV reality show The Osbournes , his influence reached far beyond music. His family confirmed the news in a heartfelt statement released Tuesday, saying he passed away that morning "surrounded by love." "It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning," the statement read. "He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time." News of his death rippled across social media, with fans, musici...

The British government has announced plans to move forward with a law that would bar public organizations from paying off ransomware attackers. The proposed legislation would add schools, town councils, National Health Service (NHS) hospitals and critical infrastructure managers to a ban which already applies to the national government. The logic behind banning payments is simple. If cybercriminals know a ransomware attack against a UK school or hospital won't get them paid, they'll look somewhere else for a more lucrative target. Security Minister Dan Jarvis said that the government is "determined to smash the cyber criminal business model," and added that laws in the proposed package will require even private businesses to seek guidance from the government before paying a ransom. Since the WannaCry attack on the NHS in 2017 launched the modern era of ransomware attacks, the UK has suffered a number of serious incidents. In the last two years alone , attacks have...