Jump Crypto recovers ~120,000 ether, worth $140M, stolen during the 2022 Wormhole exploit after Oasis upgraded a DeFi contract following a UK high court order (Jon Rice/Blockworks)

Jon Rice / Blockworks: Jump Crypto recovers ~120,000 ether, worth $140M, stolen during the 2022 Wormhole exploit after Oasis upgraded a DeFi contract following a UK high court order  —  The Chicago trading firm appears to have recovered the 120,000 ether stolen during the 2022 Wormhole exploit … UPCOMING EVENT

Politwoops, a ProPublica project that tracked and archived politicians’ deleted tweets since 2012, is shutting down as the required Twitter tools no longer work (Derek Willis/ProPublica)

Derek Willis / ProPublica: Politwoops, a ProPublica project that tracked and archived politicians’ deleted tweets since 2012, is shutting down as the required Twitter tools no longer work  —  Whether officials were deleting an embarrassing post or just correcting a typo, Politwoops tracked them all.

OpenAI details its preparations for “if AGI is successfully created”, including being cautious with its models and operating as if the risks are existential (Sam Altman/OpenAI)

Sam Altman / OpenAI: OpenAI details its preparations for “if AGI is successfully created”, including being cautious with its models and operating as if the risks are existential  —  Our mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence—AI systems that are generally smarter than humans—benefits all of humanity.

School of Science presents 2023 Infinite Expansion Awards

The MIT School of Science has announced seven postdocs and research scientists as recipients of the 2023 Infinite Expansion Award. Nominated by their peers and mentors, the awardees are recognized not only for their exceptional science, but for mentoring and advising junior colleagues, supporting educational programs, working with the MIT Postdoctoral Association, or contributing some […]

Kuo: Apple plans a cheaper second-gen AR/MR headset with two high-end and low-end models, built by Luxcaseict and Foxconn, respectively, likely coming in 2025 (Tim Hardwick/MacRumors)

Tim Hardwick / MacRumors: Kuo: Apple plans a cheaper second-gen AR/MR headset with two high-end and low-end models, built by Luxcaseict and Foxconn, respectively, likely coming in 2025  —  Apple’s cheaper second-generation AR/VR headset will come in two high-end and low-end models, according to Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Experts say combining deepfake audio and video, virtual avatars, and large language models like GPT could turbocharge the work of scammers and propagandists (Alex Pasternack/Fast Company)

Alex Pasternack / Fast Company: Experts say combining deepfake audio and video, virtual avatars, and large language models like GPT could turbocharge the work of scammers and propagandists  —  Dozens of startups are using generative AI to make shiny happy virtual people for fun and profit.  Chatbots add a complicated new dimension.

London-based Metomic, which uses AI to detect data leaks in SaaS apps like Slack and Jira, raised a $20M Series A led by Evolution Equity Partners (Ron Miller/TechCrunch)

Ron Miller / TechCrunch: London-based Metomic, which uses AI to detect data leaks in SaaS apps like Slack and Jira, raised a $20M Series A led by Evolution Equity Partners  —  As more companies shift to work-from-home or hybrid environments, it becomes increasingly important to make sure that employees …

Jupneet Singh: Finding purpose through service

As a first-year U.S. Air Force cadet in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), Jupneet Singh never imagined she would rise to the rank of wing commander by the end of her MIT career. She approached her first year as a trial period without many expectations, but the close-knit community and inspiring leadership compelled her […]

A reporter says he used an AI-generated replica of a voice to get past the voice verification system of UK’s Lloyds bank and accessed an account’s information (Joseph Cox/VICE)

Joseph Cox / VICE: A reporter says he used an AI-generated replica of a voice to get past the voice verification system of UK’s Lloyds bank and accessed an account’s information  —  Banks in the U.S. and Europe tout voice ID as a secure way to log into your account.  I proved it’s possible to […]

Source: the DOJ is preparing to file an antitrust suit to block Adobe’s Figma acquisition as soon as next month; Adobe says it expects to close the deal in 2023 (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg: Source: the DOJ is preparing to file an antitrust suit to block Adobe’s Figma acquisition as soon as next month; Adobe says it expects to close the deal in 2023  —  The Justice Department is preparing an antitrust lawsuit seeking to block Adobe Inc.’s $20 billion acquisition of startup Figma Inc., people familiar with […]

Block reports Q4 revenue up 15% YoY to $4.65B, vs. $4.61B est., Square gross profit up 22% YoY to $801M, and Cash App gross profit up 64% YoY to $848M (MacKenzie Sigalos/CNBC)

MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC: Block reports Q4 revenue up 15% YoY to $4.65B, vs. $4.61B est., Square gross profit up 22% YoY to $801M, and Cash App gross profit up 64% YoY to $848M  —  – Block stock rose slightly in extended trading after the payments company reported fourth-quarter revenue and gross profit that beat […]

Comedy meets mathematics in a new opera at MIT

Over the course of her career, the composer Elena Ruehr has found inspiration in very different writers and very different worlds. She has, for example, set poems by Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes to music. Her latest project, “The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage,” recently premiered at MIT and marks another stylistic turn. And […]

Improving health outcomes by targeting climate and air pollution simultaneously

Climate policies are typically designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that result from human activities and drive climate change. The largest source of these emissions is the combustion of fossil fuels, which increases atmospheric concentrations of ozone, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and other air pollutants that pose public health risks. While climate policies may result […]

Tel Aviv-based chip startup Chain Reaction, which plans to begin mass producing its blockchain chip Electrum, raised $70M led by Morgan Creek Digital (Jane Lanhee Lee/Reuters)

Jane Lanhee Lee / Reuters: Tel Aviv-based chip startup Chain Reaction, which plans to begin mass producing its blockchain chip Electrum, raised $70M led by Morgan Creek Digital  —  Tel Aviv-based blockchain chip startup Chain Reaction on Thursday said it raised $70 million which will be used to expand its engineering team …

Samsung announces a standardized 5G Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) modem that will enable two-way communication between smartphones and satellites (Steve Dent/Engadget)

Steve Dent / Engadget: Samsung announces a standardized 5G Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) modem that will enable two-way communication between smartphones and satellites  —  There was speculation that Samsung could use smartphone-to-satellite technology in its Galaxy S23 much like Apple has for the iPhone 14, but that didn’t happen in the end.

An analysis of 100+ studies finds that social media is a major cause of mental illness in teen girls, not just a tiny correlate, especially after 2012 (Jon Haidt/After Babel)

Jon Haidt / After Babel: An analysis of 100+ studies finds that social media is a major cause of mental illness in teen girls, not just a tiny correlate, especially after 2012  —  Journalists should stop saying that the evidence is just correlational  —  A big story last week was the partial release …

Nvidia reports Q4 revenue down 21% YoY to $6.05B vs. $6B est., Data Center revenue up 11% YoY to $3.62B, and Q1 revenue guidance above estimates; NVDA is up 7%+ (Kif Leswing/CNBC)

Kif Leswing / CNBC: Nvidia reports Q4 revenue down 21% YoY to $6.05B vs. $6B est., Data Center revenue up 11% YoY to $3.62B, and Q1 revenue guidance above estimates; NVDA is up 7%+  —  – Nvidia stock rose on Wednesday after the company reported slightly higher revenue and net income than Wall Street expected […]

Letter: the US Copyright Office says AI-generated images in a graphic novel, created using Midjourney, should not have been granted copyright protection (Blake Brittain/Reuters)

Blake Brittain / Reuters: Letter: the US Copyright Office says AI-generated images in a graphic novel, created using Midjourney, should not have been granted copyright protection  —  Images in a graphic novel that were created using the artificial-intelligence system Midjourney should not have been granted copyright protection …

Sources: AT&T is working with Barclays to solicit bids for its cybersecurity business, called AlienVault when AT&T acquired the company for ~$600M in 2018 (Milana Vinn/Reuters)

Milana Vinn / Reuters: Sources: AT&T is working with Barclays to solicit bids for its cybersecurity business, called AlienVault when AT&T acquired the company for ~$600M in 2018  —  AT&T Inc (T.N), the second-biggest U.S. wireless carrier, is exploring a sale of its cybersecurity division …

Student-led conference charts the future of micro- and nanoscale research, reinforces scientific community

Snowshoeing and microelectronics are not often mentioned together in the same sentence, but at the Microsystems Annual Research Conference (MARC), winter activities, technical talks, and poster sessions all combine for a two-day flurry of research celebrations. Returning to the Omni Mount Washington Resort in New Hampshire on Jan. 24-25 for the first time since before […]