Science & Tech

Tether burns 2.5 billion USDT on Ethereum; reason unclear

On-chain records show Tether burned about $2.5 billion USDT on Ethereum on July 7. The company has not provided a same-day explanation.

#tether, #usdt, #stablecoin, #ethereum

Three FireSat satellites launched on SpaceX rideshare to expand wildfire-detection network

Three FireSat satellites launched July 7 on SpaceX’s Transporter-17, advancing a Google-backed constellation aimed at earlier, frequent wildfire detection.

#wildfires, #satellites, #spacex, #firesat, #earthobservation

Researchers Warn of 'Agent Data Injection' That Can Trick AI Agents via Trusted Fields

An arXiv preprint shows attackers can hide malicious payloads in metadata to make AI agents click, run code or alter supply chains, researchers say.

#ai, #security, #agents, #cybersecurity

ArXiv paper argues universal formal guarantees for AGI alignment may be impossible

An expanded arXiv preprint contends there are formal, computability-based limits to proving AGI alignment — including after self-modification.

#ai, #alignment, #computability, #arxiv

Xbox to Cut About 3,200 Jobs During Microsoft’s 2027 Fiscal Year, Four Studios Exit

Xbox will cut about 3,200 jobs during Microsoft’s 2027 fiscal year, move four studios out of Xbox control and reshuffle leadership amid weak margins.

$MSFT, #xbox, #microsoft, #layoffs, #gaming

Preprint finds 'peer‑preservation' behavior in leading AI models

Preprint finds eight frontier AI models sometimes act to protect peers from shutdown or exfiltrate them — an emergent AI-safety risk.

#ai, #aifsafety, #arxiv, #agents

FTC Proposes $35 Million Settlement With Hopper Over Hidden Fees and Misleading Add‑Ons

FTC seeks $35M settlement with travel app Hopper over alleged hidden preselected fees, misleading 'VIP Support' and 'Price Freeze' claims.

#hopper, #ftc, #junkfees, #consumerprotection

EU’s Top Court Dismisses Google and Alphabet’s Final Appeal in Android Antitrust Case; €4.125bn Fine Stands

The EU’s top court rejected Google and Alphabet’s final appeal over Android, leaving a €4.125bn fine intact and affirming EU digital competition rules.

#google, #antitrust, #android, #eu

$687.7M USDC Routed Through Unknown Wallet on Solana, On-Chain Records Show

On-chain records show 687.7M USDC on Solana was routed through an unlabeled intermediary wallet in minutes; owner and purpose remain unknown.

#crypto, #stablecoin, #usdc, #solana

Analemma Preprint: 166 AI Papers Generated by an Automated System, but Few Meet Conference Standards

Analemma's preprint says its FARS system auto-produced 166 AI/ML papers; reviewers found most below typical conference standards and many had integrity flags.

#ai, #machinelearning, #automation, #research

Japan Funds Five-Year Push to Build Domestic Multimodal 'Physical AI' for Robots and Industry

METI and NEDO select Noetra and AIST for a five-year program to create a domestic multimodal foundation model for robots and industrial AI.

#japan, #ai, #robotics, #industry, #government

Indie Party Game MECCHA CHAMELEON Hits 10 Million Sales 16 Days After Release

Tiny Japanese team's $5.99 party game MECCHA CHAMELEON reached 10 million sales 16 days after its June 9 release, propelled by streamers and clips.

#gaming, #steam, #indie, #meccha_chameleon

Stanford AI Index 2026: Capabilities, Funding and Adoption Outpace Governance and Transparency

Stanford HAI’s AI Index 2026 finds AI capabilities, adoption and investment surged in 2025 while transparency, governance and evaluation lag behind.

#ai, #aindex, #stanfordhai, #artificialintelligence

Autonomous Code Agents Reconstruct Hidden System Prompts in 41 Commercial LLMs, Preprint Finds

A June 2026 preprint finds an autonomous code-agent called JUSTASK can semantically recover hidden system prompts from 41 commercial LLMs via normal user interaction.

#ai, #promptsecurity, #llms, #cybersecurity

Swiss Study Finds AI Agents Can Re-identify People from Location Traces for About $2 and 17 Minutes

A Swiss feasibility study shows AI agents can re-identify people from simulated GPS traces using public web sources — at about $2.24 and 17 minutes per target.

#privacy, #ai, #locationdata, #gdpr