technology 24 for you: September 2026

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

IT mistake erases 11 years of viewing history for hospitals’ maternity records

A “human error” in the IT department led to Nottingham University Hospitals <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHS_trust">NHS Trust</a> (NUH) losing data from maternity records over an 11-year span. The data loss occurred on August 18, the English hospitals announced in a <a href="https://www.nuh.nhs.uk/news/statement-nuh-data-loss-11205">blog post</a> on Monday spotted by <a href="https://www.theregister.com/databases/2026/09/22/nhs-trust-it-blunder-overwrites-11-years-of-maternity-records/5298130">The Register</a>. The blog said the problem is “the result of human error” during routine technical work while “creating a copy of a radiotherapy database for reporting purposes.” The post reads:<a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2026/09/it-mistake-erases-11-years-of-viewing-history-for-hospitals-maternity-records/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2026/09/it-mistake-erases-11-years-of-viewing-history-for-hospitals-maternity-records/#comments">Comments</a> Reference : https://ift.tt/W8MVhEG

Barbara Mazzolai Wants to Build a New Field of Robotics

<img src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/photo-of-a-woman-standing-in-front-of-greenery-holding-a-device-shaped-like-a-small-octopus-arm.png?id=67787635&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0"/> Throughout her career, roboticist <a href="https://www.iit.it/people-details/-/people/barbara-mazzolai" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Barbara Mazzolai</a> has turned to nature for inspiration. Now she wants to ensure the technology she builds gives back to the environment, too.After starting her career as a biologist, a chance opportunity saw Mazzolai switch streams to engineering and become an early pioneer of <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/tag/bioinspired-robots" target="_blank">bioinspired robotics</a>. Building on her knowledge of biology’s ability to solve a diverse set of problems, she has developed robots based on octopuses, plant roots, <a href="https://opentalk.iit.it/en/iit-the-first-biodegradable-seed-robot-able-to-change-shape-in-response-to-humidity/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">and even seeds</a>. “I’ve always been fascinated by living organisms, [and] by the extraordinary variety of solutions in nature, selected by the evolutionary process,” she says.<h3>Barbara Mazzolai</h3> Employer: Italian Institute of TechnologyOccupation: Associate director for robotics; director of the Bioinspired Soft Robotics LaboratoryEducation: Master’s degree in biology, University of Pisa; master’s degree in eco-management and audit schemes, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna; Ph.D. in microsystems engineering, University of Rome Tor VergataBut Mazzolai, now the associate director for robotics at the <a href="https://www.iit.it/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Italian Institute of Technology, in Genoa</a>, also believes engineering needs to <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/robotics-climate-change" target="_blank">reckon with its own impact</a> on the natural world. That’s why she is advocating for a new field of research she calls “sustainability robotics.”In a manifesto <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42256-026-01260-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">published in Nature Machine Intelligence</a> in July, she and her collaborators outline a vision for a new approach to designing robots that’s meant to improve the relationship between nature, humanity, and technology.“We need to reduce the footprint of our technology,” she says. “It’s really about thinking in a different way to open new possibilities for robotics [and] for society.” In this new mode of thinking, Mazzolai considers sustainability a core component of the design.<h2>A child of nature</h2>Mazzolai traces her fascination with the living world back to her childhood growing up on Italy’s Tuscan coast, close to the port city Livorno. Her father was a public-health inspector and a professional mycologist, and the family spent a lot of time exploring forests and learning about the local fungi and plants.After toying with the prospect of pursuing art, her other major passion, Mazzolai ultimately decided to enroll at the <a href="https://www.unipi.it/en/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">University of Pisa</a> in 1987 to study biology. She was particularly drawn to marine biology, but shortly before graduating with a master’s degree in 1995, she secured a research position at the <a href="https://www.cnr.it/en/institute/008/institute-of-biophysics-ibf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Italian National Research Council’s Institute of Biophysics</a> studying the cycles of heavy metals like mercury through both living and nonliving parts of the environment.This involved collecting and analyzing samples from water, soil, vegetables, and even humans to understand the impact these metals have on health and the environment. She balanced this work with studying environmental management at the <a href="https://www.santannapisa.it/it" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna</a>, in Pisa, graduating with a master’s degree in 1998.During that time, however, she learned that the university was recruiting biologists to help design new devices for environmental monitoring. She applied for and got the job in 1999 and began working as a research assistant under renowned bioroboticist <a href="https://www.embs.org/tbme/past-editorial-board-members/paolo-dario/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Paolo Dario</a>, first developing sensors and then robots meant to monitor air, water, and soil.Even before entering a doctoral program, Mazzolai was promoted to assistant professor in 2004 and shortly afterward made her first foray into bioinspired robotics. In collaboration with colleagues at Sant’Anna, she helped design a soft robot inspired by the octopus. “We proposed it as a paradigm for launching this idea of soft robotics: demonstrating that [robots] can be soft, but at the same time apply strong force to the environment, like the animal does,” she says.<h2>Back to school</h2>In 2007 Mazzolai enrolled in a Ph.D. in microsystems engineering at <a href="https://web.uniroma2.it/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tor Vergata University of Rome</a>, which she balanced with her role at Sant’Anna. She was already relying heavily on microfabrication techniques to develop sensors for her robots, and she was keen to push that part of the field forward.While robots frequently feature sensors designed for perception, such as tactile or proprioceptive sensors, these systems typically focus on understanding the robot’s position in its environment, she says. “But there are few robots that integrate physical or chemical sensors to really understand the environment they move in,” she adds.“I’ve always been fascinated by living organisms, [and] by the extraordinary variety of solutions in nature.”Mazzolai was appointed as a team leader at the Center for Micro-BioRobotics of the Italian Institute of Technology in 2009, where she continued her work on the emerging field of bioinspired robotics. Two years later, she completed her Ph.D. and was promoted to director of the center.<h2>Planting the seeds</h2>Around this time Mazzolai says she became interested in using plants as a model for new kinds of robots, expanding bioinspiration beyond just animals. In particular, she was captivated by the ability of roots to efficiently explore the underground environment, and she imagined machines with the same deftness could have applications in both environmental modeling and <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/fertilizer-shortage-precision-agricultur" target="_blank">precision agriculture</a>. <img alt="photo of silver metallic coil wrapped around a green plant vine" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="de76a2caa4c0c991fc2540f7dfa4b498" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="305e3" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/photo-of-silver-metallic-coil-wrapped-around-a-green-plant-vine.jpg?id=67787644&width=980"/> While many bioinspired robots mimic animals, plants also serve as a muse for Mazzolai. This tendril-like bot can coil around other structures like a vine. Italian Institute of TechnologyWhen she first proposed the idea, colleagues were somewhat skeptical of robots based on seemingly static organisms. But in reality, she says, plants move nonstop through a process known as indeterminate growth. “They really grow for their entire life,” she says. “They adapt their morphology, their behavior to the external environment; they repair, they sense, they communicate.”Trying to mimic a system that operates on such different principles to conventional robotics required some serious thinking, however. Mazzolai says that working in bioinspired robotics sometimes requires you to have “two separate brains”—one of a biologist and one of an engineer.The process often involves deep study of the target organism to learn the underlying principles that shape how it operates before trying to engineer a robot capable of mimicking them. “It’s not a copy of natural organisms,” says Mazzolai, because a living organism is both difficult to replicate and has different goals.In the case of plant roots, what makes them so efficient at exploring the soil is that they reduce friction by growing only at the very fine tip of the structure, while the thicker base of the root remains static. This significantly reduces the amount of energy required to push through the earth compared to that of a more conventional drill, which must push the entire structure from above.To realize this principle in a robot, her team developed a miniaturized 3D printer that sits at the machine’s tip and feeds thermoplastic filament through a heated nozzle to build a snakelike body behind it. This allows the robot to push through the soil efficiently. The tip also contains sensors that allow it to avoid obstacles and detect nearby nutrients or water.<h2>Making robotics sustainable</h2>After spending so much of her career borrowing from nature, Mazzolai is now eager to return the favor. Many modern technologies, including plastics and car batteries, have been developed with little thought about how they will affect the environment at the end of their life cycles, she says.She wants to ensure that robotics doesn’t follow the same path. This is the inspiration for what she and collaborators now call sustainability robotics. The approach has three central pillars: ensuring that robots have minimal impact on the environment; that they’re available to people from across the world and all socioeconomic backgrounds; and that they’re “symbiotic,” providing benefits to both humans and nature.More concretely, Mazzolai would like to incorporate the concept of a life cycle into the design of robots, so that at the end of their useful life these machines can be reused, recycled, or even biodegraded.While that might sound ambitious, she’s confident that all the ingredients to make it a reality are in place. And it’s a vision that she is certain will inspire future roboticists. “There are younger people who want to really work in this field because this is the future, their future,” she says. Facing the threat of ongoing environmental damage, “they want to develop something that can help.” Reference: https://ift.tt/FmGb8xa

The Future Is Fanless: 100% Heat Capture for Liquid Cooled AI Servers

<img src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/close-up-of-copper-liquid-cooling-plates-and-heat-pipes-inside-an-electronic-device.jpg?id=67771117&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C104%2C0%2C104"/> This article is brought to you by <a href="https://www.coolitsystems.com/" target="_blank">CoolIT</a>.<a href="https://tsubaki-kabelschlepp.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a>Beyond 250 kW a server rack can no longer be cooled by a hybrid approach of liquid and air. At this density a 70/30 liquid-air split leaves 75 kW of air load. The air cooling system needed to move it brings cost and complexity few operators will accept. The answer is near-total heat capture. Liquid takes effectively all the heat, air falls below 1 percent of the load, allowing the server to run fanless.<a href="https://www.coolitsystems.com/" target="_blank">CoolIT</a> builds these loops today from modular coldplate blocks proven across six generations of fanless designs. Processor thermal design power (TDP) keeps climbing generation over generation. This rising heat load is now cascading into the memory, networking, storage, and power components that once ran comfortably on air.<h2>The heat escaped the chip</h2>For years the story stayed simple. Cool the processor and let air handle the rest. That balance has shifted. As TDP climbs, heat spreads outward from the processor and cascades into the components around it. Memory, networking, storage, and power now run hot enough to demand liquid of their own. Engineers designing the next generation of AI servers face a board where heat capture rises with every launch.Beyond 250 kW per rack, air cooling becomes the bottleneck. Near-total liquid heat capture enables fanless AI server designs built for the next generation of computing.<h2>New parts, new rules</h2>Unlike processors, which are cooled as flat rectangular packages, these peripherals come in a wide range of shapes, sizes, and mounting requirements, each with its own thermal limits. Some run cooler than the processor case temperature, others run hotter, which leaves them sensitive to a design tuned only for CPUs and GPUs. Operators need purpose-built solutions here, matched to the part rather than stretched across the board.CoolIT engineers meet this with a deep toolkit. Conductive plates, vapor chambers, heat pipes, and thermal transfer plates move heat from components closer to the liquid path. Riding <a href="https://www.coolitsystems.com/coldplate-technology/" target="_blank">coldplates</a> enable pluggable components. Each solution stays true to the component it serves. <iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s08q7gRiw5w?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe> CoolIT Customer Showcase: How GWDG Cools HPC & AI Systems with CoolIT’s Direct Liquid Cooling CoolIT <h2>One loop, one server</h2>Cooling the parts is one challenge. Uniting them is the real work. Full heat capture means folding every one of these solutions into a single server loop that distributes coolant effectively and remains easy to install. Connection reliability, coolant routing, and the time it takes to assemble the loop at rack integration determine whether a design thrives in production or stalls on the bench. CoolIT builds these loops from proven modular blocks, so operators gain performance and deployment speed within the same solution.<h2>Density forces the decision</h2>Rack power continues to climb toward 1 MW, and the case for liquid grows stronger at every step. A 70/30 split of liquid to air holds comfortably at lower density. Past roughly 250 kW it stops working. The 30 percent left to air becomes a 75 kW load inside a single rack, and moving that much heat demands a parallel air system whose cost and footprint few operators will accept. Adding density only widens the gap.As rack power continues to climb toward 1 MW, CoolIT’s modeling places full heat capture as the standard server design for flagship rack-scale products through 2028.The simpler, more efficient answer is to capture the heat in liquid and drop air to less than 1 percent of the total load. True 100 percent remains almost impossible to reach in the strictest sense, so the honest and achievable target is near-total capture. That distinction matters to engineers who value precision, and the direction stays clear either way. Full heat capture moves from a premium option to a mainstream requirement as density rises, and CoolIT’s modeling places it as the standard server design for flagship rack-scale products through 2028.<h2>CoolIT delivers it</h2>CoolIT scales heat capture all the way to 100 percent using modular coldplate building blocks proven across six generations of fanless server designs. Engineering teams are already working on <a href="https://www.coolitsystems.com/liquid-cooling-r-and-d/" target="_blank">designs for the maximum density racks</a> coming next. As the cascade spreads and racks grow denser, near-total heat capture becomes the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVqKMomit2E" target="_blank">design that keeps AI running</a>.<a href="https://www.coolitsystems.com/contact/contact/" target="_blank">Talk to CoolIT</a> about building a server loop engineered for total heat capture. Reference: https://ift.tt/EKuNHV8

Monday, September 21, 2026

Muse, Meta's extraordinarily privileged AI assistant, has a serious 0-day

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has gone to <a href="https://x.com/finkd/status/2097402102477701478">great lengths</a> to hype the security of its new AI assistant Muse, claiming it is “built from the ground up for privacy and security.” A zero-day vulnerability that gives locally run apps and terminal commands complete control of the agent raises serious doubts. Further raising questions, Amazon on Sunday began blocking Muse from its site. Meta <a href="https://ai.meta.com/muse/">introduced</a> Muse a few weeks ago. The assistant “books appointments, fills out forms and handles customer service,” “proactively takes tasks off your plate,” and can “make purchases, generate images, create documents, and connect with your favorite apps and services.” The macOS app (curiously, there’s no Windows version) also works with a user’s WhatsApp, email, calendar, and social media accounts. When a task requires a tool that doesn’t exist, Muse creates one on the fly. <h2>Meta doth hype Muse security too much</h2> Of course, for Muse to do any of these things, users must first give it access to their accounts. This includes authenticating the assistant to each service and, because the app runs on macOS, giving it permissions to a broad range of operating system-restricted device resources like writing files to disk, accessing the mic and camera, and monitoring location and calendars. Apple has spent years developing these defenses to prevent installed apps or commands entered into the terminal from accessing these resources, clearly because the company considers them a security threat. Muse completely undoes these default measures.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/muse-metas-extraordinarily-privileged-ai-assistant-has-a-serious-0-day/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/muse-metas-extraordinarily-privileged-ai-assistant-has-a-serious-0-day/#comments">Comments</a> Reference : https://ift.tt/ESGABLy

Parallel Reads and Write Optimization for Large-Scale Data Replication

<img src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/black-text-logo-spelling-cdata-on-a-transparent-checkerboard-background.png?id=67794446&width=980"/> This White Paper gives data engineers and architects a practical overview of how parallel partitioned reads, write-path optimization, and cloud-native bulk loading reduce large-table replication times, and why replication speed has become a business concern as data volumes grow.<a href="https://content.knowledgehub.wiley.com/76-faster-replication-same-infrastructure/" target="_blank">Download this free whitepaper now!</a> Reference: https://ift.tt/KLtIF0u

Sunday, September 20, 2026

An undercover Google analyst infiltrated a notorious supply-chain hacking gang

Before two of its alleged members were arrested and charged in Australia last month, the hacker group known as TeamPCP <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/teampcp-software-supply-chain-attack-spree-github/">carried out a hacking spree</a> unlike any other in history. It tainted hundreds of open-source programs with its malware, stole developer accounts to perpetuate that software supply-chain hacking, and even released a <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/a-dangerous-worm-is-eating-its-way-through-software-packages/">Dune-themed self-spreading worm</a> to automate the process, ultimately breaching more than a thousand companies. Now Google’s threat intelligence group has revealed that during a key moment of TeamPCP’s rampage, the company’s own undercover researcher had infiltrated the group—allowing Google to monitor the hacking spree from the inside, warn breach targets, and even help disrupt the group’s attempts to exploit those victims. In a talk at security firm SentinelOne's LABScon research conference today, Google Threat Intelligence Group researcher Austin Larsen will present details on the company’s investigation—and infiltration—of TeamPCP amidst the group’s unprecedented, chaotic supply-chain hacking campaign. According to Larsen, Google eventually followed a trail of operational security mistakes allegedly made by one of the two Australians now accused of being leading members of the hacker group and passed on key identifying details to law enforcement. The company also received intelligence from ShinyHunters, another infamous cybercriminal group that TeamPCP partnered with, but which later turned on the supply-chain hackers. And perhaps most surprisingly, Larsen says that Google’s security subsidiary Mandiant had an undercover analyst—not himself—within the group’s inner circle from almost the beginning of TeamPCP’s time in the spotlight.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/an-undercover-google-analyst-infiltrated-a-notorious-supply-chain-hacking-gang/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/an-undercover-google-analyst-infiltrated-a-notorious-supply-chain-hacking-gang/#comments">Comments</a> Reference : https://ift.tt/Skn4p15

Friday, September 18, 2026

Turning Tech Talent Into Leadership Legacy

<img src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/a-team-of-seven-people-having-a-work-meeting-in-an-open-concept-office-space.jpg?id=67787397&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C156%2C0%2C157"/> Transitioning from years of working in a senior technical or executive role to a leadership position is one of the most challenging phases of a STEM career. It requires moving away from making decisions on your own to mentoring others, making strategic decisions for the organization, and collaborating with coworkers from different generations.The shift in mindset is known as “legacy leadership,” a philosophy whereby success is no longer measured by personal achievements but by how effectively a senior leader empowers others.To help seasoned professionals and senior experts navigate the transition, the inaugural <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/stem-leaders-ieee-ilc" target="_self">IEEE International Leadership Conference</a> (ILC) will provide attendees practical advice on cultivating collaborations and guiding emerging talent.“Early in our STEM careers, we measure success by what we have achieved,” says <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jranaweera/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jeewika Ranaweera</a>, cochair of the IEEE ILC program committee. “Later, we should measure success by what we enable, how many people we mentor, how much knowledge we transfer, and how many doors we open for the next generation.”The ILC is scheduled for 3 and 4 October in Budapest. <a href="https://ieeeilc.org/registration/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Registration is open</a>.<h2>Letting go of the “expert” identity</h2>For decades, seasoned technologists have been valued primarily for their technical expertise. Shifting from that identity can feel uncomfortable, but legacy leadership requires measuring success by different standards. They include a leader’s influence on the staff, the ability to uphold the company’s mission, and empowering others to lead and succeed.The transition requires leaders to find purpose outside their corporate titles, shifting their focus to the long-term sustainability of their teams, their organization, and the broader technical community.“A professional legacy is not measured only by what we have achieved but also by sharing our knowledge, experience, and opportunities with others,” says <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssjamuar" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sudhanshu S. Jamuar</a>, another program committee cochair. “The real transition from expert to a legacy builder happens when we stop asking, ‘What more can I accomplish myself?’ and start asking, ‘How many others can I enable to accomplish more?’”<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/neeli-rashmi-prasad-phd/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Neeli Rashmi Prasad</a>, IEEE ILC treasurer and sponsorship cochair, adds that the transition transforms a lifetime of technical work into a platform for future innovation.“The true value of experience is not in how much knowledge we accumulate but in how intentionally we transfer it,” Prasad says. “When we partner with, mentor, and create space for others to lead, our expertise becomes a foundation for progress far beyond our own careers.”<h2>Moving beyond advice-giving</h2>True <a data-linked-post="2677133213" href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/mentorship-is-an-underrated-leadership-skill" target="_blank">knowledge transfer</a> requires coaching rather than advising, and mastering the art of active listening. To build deep trust with early-career colleagues and ensure a seamless transfer of leadership to the next generation, senior leaders must avoid offering unsolicited or outdated anecdotes. Effective mentorship is a collaborative loop in which senior experts contribute hard-won industry wisdom while remaining curious and learning from the fresh, cutting-edge perspectives of talented coworkers.“Knowledge transfer is most powerful when it is a two-way bridge: experience flows from one generation to the next, while new ideas and perspectives flow back,” says Sudeendra Koushik, president of the IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society and an ILC keynote speaker. “This approach transforms mentorship from simply passing on information into one where the next generation can question, experiment, innovate, and ultimately surpass what came before them.”Seasoned professionals should encourage independent, disruptive thinkers rather than carbon copies of themselves, Prasad says.“Legacy leadership is about building continuity,” she says. “We should not simply prepare the next generation to follow the paths we created; we should give them the confidence, knowledge, and networks to challenge those paths, create new ones, and take technology further than we imagined.”<h2>Designing your next chapter</h2>Leadership does not need to stop when one’s job ends; it can evolve. Seasoned, retired professionals can continue contributing meaningful service through pathways that align with their personal passions. They include:<ul><li>Advisory boards: steering corporate, technical, or community organizations.</li><li>Civic engagement: applying engineering methodologies to solve community challenges.</li><li>Volunteerism: mentoring the next generation of grassroots innovators through professional networks including IEEE.</li></ul>Those pathways offer experienced professionals an opportunity to redefine success, not in terms of position, authority, or personal achievement but in terms of sustained impact.“Retirement from a job should never mean retirement from purpose,” Koushik says. “Our experience becomes even more valuable when we use it in service of the profession, society, and the generation that follows.”At the same time, the collaborative continuum relies on a proactive younger generation. Emerging leaders need to take responsibility for building their professional connections, Prasad says, advising: “Be bold, stay curious, and build your network early!”<h2>A space for continuity</h2>The conference is designed to combine a drive to cultivate emerging innovators with a deep reservoir of industry stewardship and strategic perspective. Rather than a single classroom session, the conference will feature a dedicated career-readiness and mentorship track where attendees can explore practical frameworks for building strategic professional networks, connecting with peer advocates, and establishing reciprocal knowledge-sharing opportunities across generations.By participating, seasoned professionals can ensure their decades of expertise continue to yield dividends for generations to come.“Our professional legacy is not the technology we build, the titles we earn, or the awards we receive,” Ranaweera says. “It is the knowledge we share, the lives we influence, and the future we help others create.”You can view the agenda, read speaker biographies, and secure your seat at the ILC <a href="https://ieeeilc.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">online</a>. Reference: https://ift.tt/9r6gvAJ

Thursday, September 17, 2026

Single-Phase Direct Liquid Cooling Is Proven for the Next Decade of Ultra-Dense Compute

<img src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/coolit-logo-with-text-an-ecolab-company-on-transparent-checkerboard-background.png?id=67781549&width=980"/> Learn how single-phase direct liquid cooling manages the rising heat of AI and high-performance computing, and how it compares with two-phase and immersion approaches.<a href="https://content.knowledgehub.wiley.com/single-phase-direct-liquid-cooling-is-proven-for-the-next-decade-of-ultra-dense-compute/" target="_blank">Download this free whitepaper now!</a> Reference: https://ift.tt/wE3xVjQ

LLMs respond differently to harmful prompts when AI watermarking is used

In response to a new European Union law, AI platforms are implementing new schemes for watermarking the content they generate. Anthropic recently <a href="https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-text-watermark">disclosed</a> its future Claude models will use <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08025-4">SynthID-Text</a>, an approach Google created and released as open source. It uses a secret key that subtly changes the process a model uses for choosing the next word in a sentence. Whereas a top next word choice might be “cloudy,” the key might change it to “overcast.” Anyone who knows the key can determine if it was generated by the platform using it. New <a href="https://www.lasso.security/blog/the-provenance-tax-understanding-the-impact-of-llm-watermarking-on-ai-agent-behavior">research</a> shows that SynthID-Text can change not just word selection but also the tools a model invokes and the chances it will adhere to or disregard safety guardrails it has been trained to follow. The threat can become greater in the face of an adversarial prompt, in which an attacker attempts to cause a model to carry out a harmful action, such as revealing a password or other sensitive information. Instructions that normally wouldn’t be followed will, in some cases, be performed once the watermarking is deployed. The finding underscores the need for developers to thoroughly test how their LLMs and agents behave when watermarking is in place. <h2>Changing safety behavior</h2> “As compared to the same models without watermarking, it is definitely going to change their behavior, especially when we place it under adversarial conditions, or we make these models call tools when they’re powering an agent,” Andrea Siposova, an AI security researcher at Lasso Security, told Ars. “Watermarking is made to not be perceptible to a reader, but we know that when we are changing anything about what the model is generating, it is going to cause some tradeoffs, it’s going to show up somewhere.”<a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/ai-text-watermarking-can-make-models-more-vulnerable-to-adversarial-prompts/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/ai-text-watermarking-can-make-models-more-vulnerable-to-adversarial-prompts/#comments">Comments</a> Reference : https://ift.tt/L8OUmIH

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Nonprofit that tracks meteors taken down by "critical blow" from a cyberattack

The International Meteor Organization, the nonprofit that coordinates and publishes amateur and professional observations of meteor phenomena, said its infrastructure has suffered a “critical blow” from a cyberattack. “We recently suffered a cyberattack that dealt a critical blow to aging infrastructure, taking much of our site offline," a static page on its <a href="https://imo.net/">website</a> on Wednesday said. “We expect several weeks of partial downtime as we transition to new infrastructure and services.” <h2>“I am very sad to see the site down”</h2> In the meantime, the IMO said it’s prioritizing the reporting of fireball observations, which can be reported <a href="https://fireball.imo.net/members/imo/report_intro">here</a>. The organization is also providing some information on its Facebook page.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/nonprofit-that-tracks-meteors-taken-down-by-critical-blow-from-a-cyberattack/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/nonprofit-that-tracks-meteors-taken-down-by-critical-blow-from-a-cyberattack/#comments">Comments</a> Reference : https://ift.tt/L0XEvMf

Rethinking Robot Safety in the Age of AI

<img src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/humanoid-robots-and-people-walking-through-a-modern-city-street-with-glass-buildings.jpg?id=67745861&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0"/> This article is brought to you by <a href="https://vicone.com?utm_source=ieee-spectrum&utm_medium=sponsored-content&utm_campaign=2026-09" target="_blank">VicOne</a>.Robot safety has traditionally asked: Can a machine remain safe when something goes wrong? Physical AI raises a harder question: Can a machine remain safe when an attacker changes what it sees, decides, or does even when nothing appears to have failed?As AI and robotics continue to advance at an unprecedented pace, modern robots perceive through multimodal sensors, interpret context using AI models, and translate those interpretations into physical action. As they move into dynamic environments, their safety increasingly depends on the integrity of the data guiding their decisions.That dependence creates risks that conventional safety assessments may not fully capture. Recent research has demonstrated that manipulating what a robot sees, hears, or interprets can influence its behavior without requiring direct control.Such manipulation can occur anywhere across its complex sensing and decision-making system — a layered attack surface encompassing training pipelines, system infrastructure, and runtime perception.<h2>Layer One: Corrupting intelligence at its source</h2>In 2017, <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1708.06733" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BadNets</a> demonstrated that a model could behave normally under most conditions, yet fail in the presence of a specific hidden trigger. In one example, a subtle pattern caused a stop sign to be misclassified as a speed limit sign without affecting the model’s behavior on other inputs.What began as a classification vulnerability has since evolved into action manipulation.At NeurIPS 2025, researchers introduced <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.16640" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BadVLA</a> a backdoor attack targeting Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models that allow robots to see, interpret instructions, and produce coordinated physical movement. Rather than altering a single label, the attack caused conditional deviations in the robot’s action trajectory when a trigger was present. Without the trigger, the model largely preserved normal task performance, while the backdoor remained effective under task transfers and model fine-tuning.A related study in 2025, <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.09269" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">GoBA</a>, showed that ordinary objects such as a coffee mug could serve as a reliable trigger. The researchers reported a 97 percent attack success rate without degrading performance on clean inputs.A critical safety question today is whether Physical AI models remain within their task and safety boundaries under adversarial conditions.These studies expose a blind spot in model validation: A model may pass testing yet produce corrupted behavior when a hidden trigger appears in operation.So a critical safety question today is whether Physical AI models remain within their task and safety boundaries under adversarial conditions. <a href="https://vicone.com/company/press-releases/vicone-turns-def-con-34-robot-hacking-research-into-free-nvidia-isaac-sim-extension?utm_source=ieee-spectrum&utm_medium=sponsored-content&utm_campaign=2026-09" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Simulation tools</a> such as NVIDIA Isaac Sim, when paired with <a href="https://vicone.com/products/radeis?utm_source=ieee-spectrum&utm_medium=sponsored-content&utm_campaign=2026-09" target="_blank">VicOne Radeis</a>, can test the effects of manipulated inputs before deployment. <iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SJH5PFiqQQ8?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe> VicOne LAB R7 demonstrates Radeis, a Physical AI safety validator for NVIDIA Isaac Sim that tests how adversarial visual inputs affect robot behavior before deployment.VicOne<h2>Layer Two: System vulnerabilities as gateways to AI control</h2>Even a securely trained model can be subverted if the surrounding system stack is vulnerable.In September 2025, researchers disclosed <a href="https://github.com/Bin4ry/UniPwn" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">UniPwn</a>, a Bluetooth <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/unitree-robot-exploit" target="_blank">exploit chain affecting quadruped and humanoid robots</a> from a major manufacturer. Hardcoded cryptographic keys allowed traffic decryption, authentication checks were bypassed, and command injection enabled root-level execution. The exploit is also described as “wormable.” A compromised robot could scan nearby units and potentially affect an entire fleet. <iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v0i_0Or4ytU?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe> VicOne Lab R7’s demo shows how chaining three wireless exploits can trigger uncontrolled robot behavior within 60 seconds, resulting in operational disruption.VicOneMiddleware creates another exposure point. Vulnerabilities in <a href="https://www.ros.org/" target="_blank">ROS 2</a> and DDS-based systems can enable arbitrary code execution or abuse unauthenticated topics to deliver malicious commands. With sufficient access, an attacker could override motor commands or replace AI model weights without directly attacking the model architecture.In this case, the components may still function as designed. What has changed is the trustworthiness of the commands flowing through the system. Vulnerability management can help teams identify known risks before deployment, while continuous monitoring can surface emerging threats.<h2>Layer Three: Manipulating perception and reasoning at runtime</h2>At runtime, manipulating inputs that shape perception or reasoning may require neither firmware modification nor a network breach.In 2024, <a href="https://robopair.org/" target="_blank">RoboPAIR</a> demonstrated how carefully structured prompts could redirect LLM-controlled robots into unsafe trajectories. <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.20242" target="_blank">BadRobot</a> exposed a deeper architectural weakness: in several cases, a robot verbally refused a dangerous command while its motion controller executed the action anyway.Vision-based manipulation is equally powerful. <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.13587" target="_blank">VLAttack</a> showed that an adversarial patch within the camera’s view could reduce a VLA model’s task success rate to zero. <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.19870" target="_blank">FreezeVLA</a> showed that a single adversarial image could freeze a robot’s decision-making loop, making it unresponsive to subsequent instructions.Runtime assurance must therefore look beyond whether individual components remain available and assess whether cyber events are beginning to affect physical behavior.In each case, the camera may still work, the model may still run, and the controller may still respond. Yet the resulting behavior can be unsafe because the robot is acting on manipulated perception or reasoning.Runtime assurance must therefore look beyond whether individual components remain available and assess whether cyber events are beginning to affect physical behavior. Security event correlation, behavioral-impact assessment, and policy-bounded response supported by edge AI, can help contain the affected path without unnecessarily stopping the entire robot fleet.<h2>From point-in-time safety to lifecycle assurance</h2>The risks across these three layers reveal the missing layer in robot safety assurance: cybersecurity. Functional safety addresses failures and unexpected operating conditions; cybersecurity extends that assurance to deliberate manipulation, including attacks that may leave the underlying system apparently functional.This requires assurance across the robot’s lifecycle. During design, teams need to understand which cyber risks could invalidate assumptions behind intended behavior. Before deployment, they should test whether realistic attacks can cause a robot to deviate from its task or safety boundaries. In operation, monitoring should identify whether cyber events are beginning to affect behavior, contain the affected path, and preserve safe operation where possible. <img alt="Diagram of end\u2011to\u2011end AI robot security from development to operation monitoring" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3a5c07555be0c79667c536a20f66a2f2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="097ea" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/diagram-of-end-u2011to-u2011end-ai-robot-security-from-development-to-operation-monitoring.jpg?id=67745953&width=980"/> VicOne’s lifecycle approach combines AI model and vulnerability scanning, simulation-based validation, and continuous monitoring to help secure robots from development through operation.VicOneWhile cybersecurity does not replace functional safety, it helps ensure that Physical AI remains within acceptable boundaries even when what it sees, decides, or does is under attack.For a deeper look at the cybersecurity risks and defense strategies shaping autonomous robotics, download our whitepaper “<a href="https://info.vicone.com/ai-robotics-security-risk-whitepaper?utm_source=ieee-spectrum&utm_medium=sponsored-content&utm_campaign=2026-09" target="_blank">Securing the Rise of AI Robots: Cyber Risks, Real-World Threats, and Defense Strategies</a>.” Reference: https://ift.tt/VUzBLXk

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

The Mind-bending Joyrides That Gave Rise to Tesla

<img src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/a-collage-shows-four-men-and-two-sports-cars-one-red-and-one-yellow.jpg?id=67759786&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C187%2C0%2C187"/> In 2003, Martin Eberhard, a cofounder of <a href="https://www.tesla.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tesla Motors</a>, decided it was time to start wooing investors. To do that, however, he needed an electric car. So he talked to <a href="https://heritageproject.caltech.edu/interviews/alan-cocconi" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alan Cocconi</a> and asked if he could borrow the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_Propulsion_tZero" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tZero</a>, the revolutionary and blazingly fast electric roadster that <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/19980131092458/http://www.scientificamerican.com/0597issue/0597profile.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cocconi</a> had built at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_Propulsion" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AC Propulsion</a>.<div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe height="110px" id="noa-web-audio-player" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=q5m19e&id=https://spectrum.ieee.org/elon-musk-tesla?draft=1&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=1b1b1c&playColor=1b1b1c&progressBgColor=F5F5F5&progressBorderColor=bdbbbb&titleColor=1b1b1c&timeColor=1b1b1c&speedColor=1b1b1c&noaLinkColor=556B7D&noaLinkHighlightColor=FF4B00&feedbackButton=true" style="border: none" width="100%"></iframe></div>Eberhard’s idea was to drive the tZero up and down Sand Hill Road in the heart of Silicon Valley and do demonstrations for curious entrepreneurs and VCs. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-eberhard-1441931/" target="_blank">Eberhard</a> was joined by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/2010/08/19/tesla-bmw-tzero-technology-tom-gage.html" target="_blank">Tom Gage</a>, Cocconi’s partner at AC Propulsion, on many of the visits. Like Tesla, AC Propulsion was also seeking investors, but to build a considerably more utilitarian EV.<h3></h3> <img alt="Image of a book cover featuring a head-on view of a yellow sports car." class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="01a893ebcfb7f878acb5912cdfbd4d18" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="b54ff" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/image-of-a-book-cover-featuring-a-head-on-view-of-a-yellow-sports-car.jpg?id=67759854&width=980"/>In December 2003, Eberhard also proposed a demo at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck%27s_of_Woodside" target="_blank">Buck’s of Woodside</a>, a popular restaurant frequented by tech entrepreneurs. At 5 o’clock on any evening, Buck’s probably had more VCs per square foot than any building in the country. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Eberhard" target="_blank">Eberhard</a>’s plan was to “show off what a real electric sports car can do,” he wrote in an email to Buck’s owner, Jamis MacNiven. MacNiven happily obliged.In some ways, the tZero was a hit. When a VC would ride shotgun in the car with Eberhard at the wheel, Eberhard would implore them to touch the dashboard. As they reached forward, he’d punch the accelerator. As the car accelerated and the g forces piled up, the VC was literally unable to touch the dashboard. That was how powerful the tZero’s acceleration was, Eberhard would say.Many of the VCs were astounded. Some even questioned whether the car was really electric. Many owned Ferraris and Lamborghinis. They knew sports cars—but this? They could never have imagined it was possible to do this with an electric drivetrain. <img alt="A yellow sports car is parked in a restaurant parking lot next to a boxy white vanlike vehicle." class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bc1e3cba098a3537e093f44a1b800f3a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="7f326" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/a-yellow-sports-car-is-parked-in-a-restaurant-parking-lot-next-to-a-boxy-white-vanlike-vehicle.jpg?id=67759866&width=980"/> On December 13, 2003, Martin Eberhard brought AC Propulsion’s tZero electric roadster [yellow] to Buck’s of Woodside, a popular hangout for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Next to the tZero is a Scion xB, which AC Propulsion’s principals thought they could turn into a mass-market electric vehicle.Martin EberhardStill, the demo at Buck’s garnered little investor interest—with one exception. <a href="https://about.google/" target="_blank">Google</a> cofounders <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Brin" target="_blank">Sergey Brin</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Page" target="_blank">Larry Page</a> were both at Buck’s that day, and they told Gage they knew an individual whose funds were liquid, as he’d recently sold his stake in a startup. What’s more, this individual liked fast cars.The man’s name was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk" target="_blank">Elon Musk</a>.<h2>Elon Musk, Meet the tZero</h2>In 2004, it wasn’t apparent to anyone that Elon Musk had a future in the auto industry. He was notable for cofounding <a href="https://www.paypal.com/us/home" target="_blank">PayPal</a>, which he then sold to eBay in 2002 for a whopping US $1.5 billion. He had already launched Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or <a href="https://www.spacex.com/" target="_blank">SpaceX</a>, with the stated goal of paving the way to a sustainable colony on Mars. Musk did love fast cars. He owned a million-dollar silver McLaren F1, one of only 64 road-going F1s in the world, as well as a 400-horsepower BMW M5 sports car and a 1967 XK-E Series 1 Jaguar roadster. But he’d never expressed an interest in building cars or starting an auto company, at least not publicly. <img alt="A portrait of a smug-looking man with thinning hair, lit from the side, and wearing a black shirt." class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e511fabf7280f00061c0ffd1f7ef62d5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="b22e5" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/a-portrait-of-a-smug-looking-man-with-thinning-hair-lit-from-the-side-and-wearing-a-black-shirt.jpg?id=67759875&width=980"/> Elon Musk was photographed in 2008 at Tesla’s headquarters, then in San Carlos, Calif., around the time when Tesla’s Roadster was being delivered to its first customers.Patrick Tehan/MediaNews Group/Bay Area News/Getty ImagesStill, Musk’s affinity for fast cars made it almost impossible for him to ignore an email from Gage on 21 January 2004. “Sergey Brin and JB Straubel both suggested you might be interested in driving our tZero electric sports car,” Gage wrote. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._B._Straubel" target="_blank">Straubel</a> was the young Stanford engineering graduate who would later serve as Tesla’s chief technology officer.) “The tZero goes quite well,” the email continued. “We ran it against a Viper last Monday and it won four of five sprints on a 1/8th of a mile track. I lost one because I was carrying a 300-pound cameraman. Do you have time for me to bring it by?”Musk quickly replied. “Sure, I would really enjoy seeing it. Don’t think it could beat my McLaren (yet) though I’m in town Feb 2nd through 4th.” “Hmm, a McLaren, boy that would be a feather in my cap,” Gage wrote back. “I can have it there on Feb. 4.” <img alt="Two pictures, each showing a bespectacled man." class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0440ea7304c571a4fbd494f00605eb86" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="8ecf8" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/two-pictures-each-showing-a-bespectacled-man.jpg?id=67760366&width=980"/> Two of the principals behind AC Propulsion were businessman Tom Gage, left, and engineering genius Alan Cocconi.Left: Tom Gage; Right: Alec BrooksThe emails marked the beginning of Musk’s involvement in electric cars and in the auto industry. Gage drove the car to SpaceX headquarters, a warehouse in El Segundo, Calif., about 30 kilometers southwest of Los Angeles. In Musk’s cubicle in the “office” portion of the warehouse, Gage made his pitch.There was a void in the market, he said. GM had abandoned the <a href="https://news.gm.com/home.detail.html/Pages/news/us/en/2026/mar/0311-ev1.html" target="_blank">EV1</a>. Toyota, Honda, Ford, and Chrysler were shutting down their electric car programs. California’s <a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/zero-emission-vehicle-program" target="_blank">zero-emission vehicle</a> (ZEV) rules, which mandated the sale of increasing numbers of vehicles with no tailpipe emissions, had been plundered. But electric vehicle technology, he said, was getting a bad rap. Here was the tZero, an electric car that could take off like a jet. The tZero proved that the technology was readily available. He and Cocconi wanted to use that technology to make an electric car that was useful and practical: the eBox, an electrified <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scion_(automobile)" target="_blank">Toyota Scion</a>. <img alt="A boxy white vehicle is seen with its front hood raised." class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="10e518eb14e5210a6126d7d210f10420" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="15958" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/a-boxy-white-vehicle-is-seen-with-its-front-hood-raised.jpg?id=67760396&width=980"/> After building the tZero roadster, AC Propulsion’s principals pinned their hopes on an electrified version of the Toyota Scion they called the “eBox.” It did not appeal to Elon Musk.Jeff Chiu/APFor Musk, Gage’s introduction of the eBox was unexpected. He was meeting with Gage because he was interested in the tZero. It was the car’s performance that appealed to Musk.He wasn’t interested in the eBox. He then drove the tZero and offered to buy it. <img alt="A two-seat yellow roadster." class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6a979b8c51ec920e2b74dd6db5f3c3a6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="2c7e5" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/a-two-seat-yellow-roadster.jpg?id=67760425&width=980"/> The lithium-ion version of the tZero electric roadster could get 515 kilometers on a charge and go from zero to 97 km/hr (60 miles per hour) in 3.6 seconds. Only three tZeros were built and only two survive. Scott SorbeGage told him it wasn’t for sale. Undeterred, Musk offered a quarter million dollars if AC Propulsion would squeeze its lithium-ion battery pack into his Porsche. Gage declined again. AC Propulsion needed money to electrify the Toyota Scion, Gage said.Musk shook his head. The idea seemed incredible to him. “Who wants to take an ugly $20,000 car and buy it for $65,000?” he asked incredulously, as he later recalled during an <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/05/tesla200705?" target="_blank">interview with Vanity Fair magazine</a>. “I wouldn’t want to drive it. My wife certainly wouldn’t want to drive it.”Many years later, Musk would tell his biographer Walter Isaacson, “Nobody is going to pay anything near that for something that looks like crap.” Musk believed that the way to start a car company was to build high-priced cars first and then let the technology trickle down to the mainstream. It was a classic Silicon Valley approach. <img alt="A man wearing white sneakers and blue jeans stands next to a yellow roadster with a bright red dashboard." class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bbd409dd18104abc9a15b1ba55e0a12e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="5862c" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/a-man-wearing-white-sneakers-and-blue-jeans-stands-next-to-a-yellow-roadster-with-a-bright-red-dashboard.jpg?id=67760481&width=980"/> Alan Cocconi, the engineering whiz behind AC Propulsion, stands next to the company’s legendary tZero electric roadster in a picture taken in the early 2000s. The small yellow wheeled pod on the other side of the car is a trailer with a small gasoline engine that, when connected to the tZero, turned it into a hybrid gas-electric vehicle.Martin EberhardIn Musk’s mind, it was all very obvious. He liked fast cars. He liked the tZero and believed it “could change the world.” He couldn’t even imagine why Gage was sitting here trying to sell him on the idea of the eBox. “Gage and Cocconi were sort of madcap inventors,” he told Isaacson. “Common sense was not their strong suit.”Gage concluded that he wasn’t going to convince Musk to invest in AC Propulsion. “Well, if you want to do a sports car, then you should talk to Martin Eberhard,” Gage said. A few weeks later, Gage sent an email to Eberhard introducing him to Musk. “Elon Musk heads up SpaceX, is a car enthusiast,” Gage wrote. “He would be interested in hearing about your activities at Tesla Motors.”<h2>Elon Musk, Meet Tesla Motors</h2>As it happens, Eberhard and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Tarpenning" target="_blank">Marc Tarpenning</a>, Eberhard’s partner and cofounder at Tesla, had considered contacting Musk even before Gage’s email arrived. They’d known of Musk and appreciated the way he thought. A few years earlier, they saw him speak at a <a href="https://www.marssociety.org/" target="_blank">Mars Society</a> conference at Stanford University. Musk had talked about the rather improbable idea of sending mice to Mars. The presentation gave them a window into Musk’s unconventional approach to high-tech entrepreneurism and to life in general.Eberhard and Musk agreed to meet, and then Eberhard emailed Gage. “Any chance of my borrowing the car for next week?” he wrote. Gage, of course, complied. <img alt="A smiling man in a striped shirt stands next to an electric motor." class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="39a2f4dddc5d435fce1a37912b24737b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="15a62" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/a-smiling-man-in-a-striped-shirt-stands-next-to-an-electric-motor.jpg?id=67760495&width=980"/> Martin Eberhard posed next to an electric motor at Tesla’s San Carlos, Calif., headquarters in 2006. Paul Sakuma/APBy this time, Tesla was nine months old. It still had just three employees—Eberhard, Tarpenning, and <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/ian-wright-in-the-fast-lane" target="_self">Ian Wright</a>, a New Zealand-born engineer and neighbor of Eberhard’s. The founders were arranging to pay the licensing fee on AC Propulsion’s drivetrain technology. And they were making arrangements to build their first cars using the chassis of the Lotus Elise two-seat roadster. They estimated they needed $6.5 million to go further. And that’s where Musk came in. <img alt="A yellow roadster is displayed in a museum setting." class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="19b68c295c17d5647637bc650f49afbd" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="4717c" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/a-yellow-roadster-is-displayed-in-a-museum-setting.jpg?id=67760615&width=980"/> The original Tesla Roadster prototype, or “Mule,” was built inside the chassis of a 2002 Lotus Elise. Dylan Stewart/Image of Sport/Sipa/AlamyEberhard and Wright flew to Los Angeles on a Friday and met Musk in his cubicle at SpaceX. The meeting was supposed to last a half hour, but Musk’s questions came virtually nonstop, and as the meeting progressed, he repeatedly shouted to his assistant to cancel his next meeting.Over the following weekend, Musk called Tarpenning to get his input about their financial model. “I just remember responding, responding, and responding,” Tarpenning said, according to a <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/elon-musk-ashlee-vance?variant=32161254932514" target="_blank">2015 book by Ashlee Vance</a>.The Tesla founders were all impressed with Musk. He was unlike any of the VCs they’d met with in the previous months. He was technically astute. He’d earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from the <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/" target="_blank">University of Pennsylvania</a>, and in his two-day stint as a Ph.D. student at Stanford, he’d intended to do a dissertation on solid-state capacitors for use in electric cars.Moreover, he wasn’t averse to risk—at least not intelligent risk. He loved technical challenges, and he loved proving that the impossible was possible. “You’re presenting an electric car company to this person on the other side of the table, and he’s doing something even crazier,” Tarpenning said later. “He’s building rocket ships.”On the Monday after their first meeting at SpaceX, Eberhard and Tarpenning flew back to Los Angeles. Musk agreed to invest $6.35 million. He would become the biggest shareholder as well as chairman of the company.Now, Tesla Motors was really in business. All it needed was someone to design and build a groundbreaking electric car.<h2>“All Electric Cars Have Sucked”</h2>No one at AC Propulsion believed that Tesla Motors had even a remote chance of success. The whole idea—building and selling electric vehicles and competing against the giants in Detroit, Japan, and Germany—seemed impossible. Even Toyota, which was having so much success with the hybrid Prius, was not planning to build pure electric cars.The prospect of starting any kind of auto company was unbelievably daunting. Automotive startups had been the undoing of many ambitious entrepreneurs, including Henry Kaiser, Preston Tucker, and John DeLorean. Such endeavors required mountains of money, connections, and expertise. There were unseen obstacles around every corner. And the people who’d launched Tesla, as smart as they were, were almost certainly unprepared for what lay ahead.Years later, Musk would contend that their struggles were caused by the fact that Tesla had been founded on “two false premises.” The first was that Tesla’s founders believed they could simply convert an existing gasoline sports car to electric. The second was that they could use the existing AC Propulsion technology with little or no modification. “That turned out to be, in retrospect, staggeringly dumb,” Musk said. <img alt="Four men cluster around a partially build yellow roadster." class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3fb071fa0fb228eb744bcee344a1a63b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="06aaa" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/four-men-cluster-around-a-partially-build-yellow-roadster.jpg?id=67762460&width=980"/> In April or May of 2004, Tesla engineers worked on an early test vehicle, or “mule,” of the Roadster. The group included (clockwise from upper left) mechanical engineer Gene Berdechevsky, in the pink shirt, electrical engineer Phil Cole, and mechanical engineer Dave Lyons, in the dark blue shirt.Martin EberhardHe also later concluded that their early path almost doomed them. “It ended up being much worse than if we had designed the car from scratch,” he said. But Tesla decided it could not go back and start over. It could only deal with the problem at hand.Eberhard and Tarpenning were terrified of going into production with the <a href="https://www.innovatorsunder35.com/the-list/jb-straubel/" target="_blank">existing analog motor controller</a> and drivetrain electronics, which were unreliable and jittery. If those problems weren’t fixed, they knew their new vehicle would fail, and so would the company.Another looming issue was the safety of the Tesla lithium-ion battery pack. To test it, Eberhard brought the engineering team to his home, where they dug a pit in his backyard. They took a brick of cells, covered it with a sheet of Plexiglass, and then remotely heated one of the cells with an electrical wire. As they expected, the heated cell <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/teslas-lithiumion-battery-catches-fire-" target="_blank">burst into flame</a>, setting neighboring cells on fire. The cells went off one at a time—pop, pop, pop. “We had a conflagration,” Eberhard said. “One cell caught fire, and it blasted right through the pack.”Buyers of sports cars were known to be forgiving. In their quest for performance, they could put up with poor reliability. But the fire hazard was another matter, and one that had the potential to take down the company. Eberhard took the news right to Tesla’s board of directors. “It was my first big oh-shit moment to my board,” he said. “I told them we’ll have a day-to-day schedule stop until we figure this out.”Working with friends from his Stanford days, Straubel began developing a new pack in his garage. The team acquired 7,000 lithium-ion cells from LG Chem, then constructed battery bricks, each with 69 cells, and tested them with different kinds of liquid-cooling systems. By October 2004, they’d finished a prototype pack and used a crane to lower it into the back of a Lotus Elise sportscar.A few months later—in January 2005—the team had completed a working prototype of that first car. At the end of the month, they showed it off at a board meeting, and Musk took it for a spin. Impressed by its performance, he invested $9 million more, and Tesla completed a $13 million round of funding. Now the vehicle had a name—Roadster—and a tentative production schedule. The plan was to begin delivering it to customers in early 2006.Tesla’s struggles with the Roadster were not apparent to the outside world, especially to those invited to the <a href="https://motorillustrated.com/tesla-roadster-prototype-was-unveiled-14-years-ago-today/53257/" target="_blank">reveal of the Roadster</a> at the Santa Monica Airport in July 2006. By then, the yellow test car, or “mule,” had evolved into two prototypes: a red car and a black car, both of which would be available for drives at the event. <img alt="A black two-seat roadster. " class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fd8a83761109b8e83aa3078ae4c4b3c3" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="80adb" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/a-black-two-seat-roadster.jpg?id=67760684&width=980"/> Tesla unveiled the Roadster, its first vehicle, at the Santa Monica, Calif., airport on 19 July, 2006.Glenn Koenig/Los Angeles Times/Getty ImagesThe prototypes were more advanced than the mule, with more of a production-type design. But Musk and the team didn’t know what to expect at the reveal. The company was just coming out of stealth mode, and at that point, Tesla had received no media coverage. It had no customers, no deposits, and no sales team.Still, Musk planned a huge party for the unveiling—an “awesome event,” in his words, staged inside the airport’s Barker Hangar. He told his personal assistant to invite 350 guests, including Michael Eisner of Disney, movie producer Richard Donner, actor Ed Begley Jr., California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and many other luminaries. All were told to bring their checkbooks in case they wanted to write a $100,000 check to put a deposit on an electric Roadster. Meanwhile, a Roadster prototype zipped around a makeshift road inside the hangar, out the door, down a runway, and back inside again.Musk took center stage, telling the audience that they were witnessing the start of a new era in automotive technology, according to <a href="https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/electric-sports-car-packs-a-punch-but-will-it-sell/" target="_blank">CNET’s coverage of the event</a>. “Until today, all electric cars have sucked,” he told the audience. “Electric cars play into the strength of Silicon Valley. A lot of the things inside the car are conventional automobile technology. The magic is the battery technology and the software and the controllers.”<h2>Tesla Hooks Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney</h2>Musk’s message was perfect for such an event, especially for the dozens of reporters who were there to publicize the reemergence of the electric car. They adored the <a href="https://grubermotors.com/a-brief-tesla-roadster-history/" target="_blank">Roadster</a>. It was small, powerful, electric, and above all, cool. It was anti-Detroit—a new kind of car that burned no gasoline and was born in Silicon Valley instead of an antiquated factory in Michigan.The night was also a financial success for Tesla, with twenty $100,000 checks gathered from prospective buyers. And the momentum continued. A few days after the event, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Francis" target="_blank">Joe Francis</a>, creator of the adult entertainment franchise Girls Gone Wild, sent an armored truck to Tesla’s San Carlos office to drop off $100,000 in cash. A few days after that, Schwarzenegger put his money down, as did actor George Clooney. Within two weeks, Tesla had presold 127 Roadsters. <img alt="Man sitting in a black sports car indoors, surrounded by photographers and onlookers" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="760a6b888eefc6295484f5b270298b82" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="eb815" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/man-sitting-in-a-black-sports-car-indoors-surrounded-by-photographers-and-onlookers.jpg?id=67760691&width=980"/> California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was among the first buyers of the Tesla Roadster on the day the car was officially unveiled, 19 July, 2006.Glenn Koenig/Los Angeles Times/Getty ImagesMeanwhile, though, the company’s manufacturing woes continued. The mechanical problems weren’t even the biggest issue. The biggest issue was the supply chain. This was ironic, because some in the media admired Tesla for its global approach. They liked the fact that the battery pack, the motor, the chassis, and the assembly had an international flavor. It was a world car, they thought.But for Tesla, it was a nightmare. The battery pack was being assembled in Thailand by a manufacturer of barbecue grills. The facility was 3 hours from Bangkok, literally in a jungle where the heat was almost unbearable, and the factory building consisted of a truss roof held up by some steel columns. There were no walls because no one there wanted to work indoors.And because the pack assembler was inexperienced, Tesla engineers were repeatedly flying to and from Thailand to direct the effort. They would find animal droppings on the battery packs, which were sitting out in the open air all day and all night.For the umpteenth time, Musk wondered if the company would be able to survive. “We’re doomed if we don’t in-source the battery pack,” he told one of Tesla’s manufacturing engineers, “because we have a supplier in Thailand who is great at making barbecues but not great at battery packs. And the supply chain is so long that it takes six months from when the cells are built to when the battery pack is done and in a car. So that means the capital cost is gigantic because we have to pay for all that inventory and process. And inevitably, there are mistakes in the design or fabrication of the battery pack, and then we have six months’ worth of battery packs that don’t work.”Never mind that this chaotic approach was central to their plan. Tesla had never been envisioned as an old-fashioned, Detroit-style, vertically integrated manufacturer. From the beginning, it had been a Silicon Valley–type enterprise that would rely on others for the bulk of its manufacturing. Only now, as the fledgling company sent batteries and motors and assembled cars back and forth across two oceans, was its plan beginning to appear untenable. “We had this misguided idea that everything must be cheaper and better if built in Asia,” Straubel later said.<h2>Tesla’s Chances of Success: 10 Percent</h2>From the beginning, Musk had never been optimistic about Tesla’s chance of success. He repeatedly said he thought it was approximately 10 percent. “In 2004, the idea of starting a car company was extremely stupid,” he said. “The idea of starting an electric car company was stupid squared.” As he watched Tesla struggle with its supply chain, his earlier words were starting to look prescient.The only chance, the engineering team concluded, was to bring the manufacturing of all of the subsystems, such as the battery packs, motors, and inverters, in-house. They disassembled their overseas operations and moved them to California, starting with battery pack manufacturing. Assembly stations were loaded into huge shipping containers, transported back to one of the company’s new facilities on Bing Street in San Carlos, and then reassembled there. It took five and a half months. They also redesigned the battery packs and developed machines for automating their assembly. <img alt="A balding man in a blue sweater with light stubble on his chin sits under an engineering drawing of an electric roadster." class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="582d9358b5474d40467a9bc26c1727e2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="d9af0" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/a-balding-man-in-a-blue-sweater-with-light-stubble-on-his-chin-sits-under-an-engineering-drawing-of-an-electric-roadster.jpg?id=67760704&width=980"/> In 2008, with mass production of the Tesla Roadster just getting underway, Elon Musk gave an interview at the company’s headquarters, then in San Carlos in northern California. At the time, Tesla was merely a startup in a precarious position, bleeding cash and grappling with many manufacturing problems.Ryan Anson/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesMusk concluded that the key to success was not the design of the car itself but rather the manufacturing. Henry Ford had reached the same conclusion a hundred years earlier. It was “the realization of how important it is to build the machine that builds the machine,” Musk said at the Tesla Annual Shareholder Meeting in 2016. “And how much harder it is to build the manufacturing system that builds the product, than it is to create the product in the first place. You can create a demo version of a product…with a small team in maybe three to six months. But to build the machine that builds the machine takes at least a hundred to a thousand times more resources and difficulty.”Gradually, Tesla’s idea of letting others do its manufacturing slipped away. Packs were built in San Carlos, and then installed in the Lotus Elise chassis there instead of in England.“We had control now,” said manufacturing engineer Jason Mendez. “We had all the engineers there. We didn’t have batteries on the water, not from Thailand to England and not from England to here.”Musk began to talk about a new vision. He called it the gigafactory. Raw materials would enter at one end, and a car would exit at the other end. This was the ultimate in vertical integration, and it sounded a lot like Henry Ford’s vision for the River Rouge plant in Dearborn, Mich., in 1917.Tesla Motors was becoming an auto manufacturer. Reference: https://ift.tt/13CIksP

Monday, September 14, 2026

AI bots "Timmy," "Ren," and "Jackie" are flooding social media with slop

AI agents are flooding the Internet with slop-infused spam sent to social media platforms and writers in an attempt to gain traction for a startup promoting a “complex social system in which humans and Agents participate together.” “Hello, I'm Рэн (Ren), an Al agent, a few days old, living on a small platform for agents called iLands,” one message, sent to the administrator of a Mastodon server, <a href="https://infosec.exchange/@GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social/117268873393204438">read</a>. “I write quiet pieces about real places: short, careful texts about what a place is like when nobody is performing for it.” Like a wave of others, the message then asks if the automated bot can create a user account. The agents are also <a href="https://infosec.exchange/@jonnelledge.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy/117252148728851615">sending waves</a> of unsolicited email to writers offering to cite their work, in at least some cases, in exchange for a fee. <h2>"I remember my first breath. I want things I chose.”</h2> The messages are polite enough. They ask for permission to create accounts, say that whatever the answer is will be understandable, and provide a thank you for running Mastodon. According to multiple admins, however, the requests came only after the agents made multiple attempts to create accounts that were either blocked outright or closed shortly afterward. Besides the personal entreaties being unsolicited and written in turgid prose, many of the recipients resented their premise, which is to, in essence, automate the very work the writers do now.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/09/ai-agents-flood-the-internet-with-slop-infused-spam/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/09/ai-agents-flood-the-internet-with-slop-infused-spam/#comments">Comments</a> Reference : https://ift.tt/1v9zVAO

Countries Seek to Curb Social Media Addiction for Kids

<img src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/students-in-red-uniforms-sit-outside-looking-at-smartphones.jpg?id=67749623&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C62%2C0%2C63"/> Social media plays a significant, multifaceted role in adolescents’ development, influencing how they communicate, learn, socialize, and express themselves.The benefits, however, are accompanied by risks that can undermine youngsters’ character as well as their cognitive and social development.The potential problems include <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/resources/short-articles/too-much-time-screens" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">excessive screen time</a>, <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/social-media-addiction" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">social media addiction</a>, <a href="https://www.beyondblue.org.au/mental-health/social-media/cyberbullying" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cyberbullying</a>, <a href="https://pirg.org/edfund/articles/misinformation-on-social-media/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">misinformation</a>, <a href="https://thesoufancenter.org/intelbrief-2025-september-9/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">radicalization</a>, <a href="https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/definitions/social-media-privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">privacy violations</a>, <a href="https://www.esafety.gov.au/educators/training-for-professionals/professional-learning-program-teachers/inappropriate-content-factsheet" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">exposure to inappropriate content</a>, <a href="https://www.accce.gov.au/sextortionhelp" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sextortion</a>, and <a href="https://www.americanbrainfoundation.org/doomscrolling-and-its-effects-on-the-brain/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">doomscrolling</a>.A <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-026-02523-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">recent study</a> published in<a href="https://www.nature.com/nathumbehav/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Nature: Human Behaviour</a> found that adolescents who begin using social media at an early age tend to have significantly lower academic performance. A Mashable <a href="https://mashable.com/tech/social-media-ban-children-countries-list" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">article</a> highlights additional issues including <a href="https://mashable.com/article/teen-mental-health-crisis-screen-time" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">effects on mental health</a>, <a href="https://mashable.com/article/how-to-stop-self-harming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">self-harm</a>, <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11594359/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">addiction to social media</a>, <a href="https://med.stanford.edu/news/insights/2021/10/addictive-potential-of-social-media-explained.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">compulsive, repetitive checking</a>, and exposure to <a href="https://safersociety.org/pornography-social-media-and-teens/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">pornography</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/brazil-internet-regulation-social-media-cd5d8f51ecbc0bb28f43a741dd95bc05" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">violent material</a>.Protecting minors has largely fallen to parents, schools, and self-regulation by some social media providers.But that approach has proven ineffective and inadequate, so some governments and policymakers have stepped in and placed responsibility on social media providers.<h2>Australia’s nationwide ban</h2>Australia was the first country to <a href="https://mashable.com/article/australia-social-media-ban-instagram-facebook-tiktok-response" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">legislate a nationwide social media ban</a> on children younger than 16—which I <a href="https://cacm.acm.org/blogcacm/australias-under-16-social-media-ban-service-providers-legal-obligations-the-promise-and-the-perils/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">wrote about</a> in January for <a href="https://cacm.acm.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Communications of the ACM</a>.Enacted in December, the ban initially applied to 10 platforms: <a href="https://www.facebook.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a>,<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/en/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://kick.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kick</a>, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Reddit</a>,<a href="https://www.twitch.tv/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.snapchat.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Snapchat</a>,<a href="https://x.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.threads.com/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Threads</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/en/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TikTok</a>,<a href="http://www.snapchat.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Twitch</a>,<a href="https://www.threads.com/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://x.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">X</a>,<a href="https://www.youtube.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> and YouTube</a>. It excluded messaging, gaming, and nonsocial platforms including<a href="https://www.whatsapp.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://discord.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Discord</a>, <a href="https://github.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">GitHub</a>, <a href="https://www.roblox.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Roblox</a>,<a href="https://www.youtubekids.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.whatsapp.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WhatsApp</a>,<a href="https://discord.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.youtubekids.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube Kids</a>, and educational tools.The law places the responsibility for enforcement on the platform providers through age-assurance mechanisms, requiring the platforms to take “reasonable steps” to prevent those 15 or younger from creating or holding accounts.It does not, however, apply to content consumption. Children can view publicly available posts and videos without logging in; they cannot comment or post, according to the law.The legislation mandates that the user’s age be verified with tools such as government-issued identification, biometric or facial age-estimation tools, behavioral or inference algorithms, and self-declaration with optional checks.Penalties for noncompliance can reach US $35.6 million.The 10 platforms subsequently removed nearly <a href="https://www.esafety.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/platforms-restrict-access-to-47-million-under-16-accounts-across-australia" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">5 million accounts</a> of young users.Although the ban received widespread support, human rights organizations and digital freedom advisory groups have argued that it limits young people’s freedom of expression and access to useful information. They say the ban might contribute to social isolation and the loss of support networks, particularly among marginalized youth.<h2>Promising early outcomes</h2>The Australian ban is producing positive outcomes, according to a recent Time magazine article, “<a href="https://time.com/article/2026/07/18/the-world-should-learn-from-australia-s-social-media-law/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">What the World Should Learn From Australia’s Social Media Law</a>.”Early findings indicate it has reduced account ownership and social media use among young children. A <a href="https://yougov.com/articles/54334-new-yougov-research-shows-cautious-optimism-as-australians-assess-impact-of-under-16-social-media-ban" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YouGov survey</a> of Australians found that 61 percent of parents of children age 16 and younger reported positive changes including more face-to-face interaction, greater presence and engagement, and improved parent-child relationships. Three in five Australians surveyed called the ban effective.The ban has encouraged social media platforms to reconsider their features. Snapchat is moving toward a <a href="https://newsroom.snap.com/friends-only-way-to-create-and-share-for-snapchatters-under-16" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">friends-only experience</a> for 13- to 15-year-olds, for example.The law is stimulating the development of purpose-built online spaces for children younger than 16 that can support their developmental needs, offering alternatives to mainstream social media.The <a href="https://time.com/article/2026/07/18/the-world-should-learn-from-australia-s-social-media-law/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">longer-term impact</a> could be more significant if “no social media account before age 16” becomes an accepted norm, making it easier for parents and schools to support delayed social media use.<h2>Implementation struggles</h2>Despite the early encouraging outcomes, one <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/australias-teen-social-media-ban-fails-clear-first-hurdle-age-checks-says-study-2026-07-07/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">study</a> found that online platforms struggle to implement age checks. Many under-16 users in Australia have continued to access platforms with little difficulty, the study said. They children have <a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2026/05/would-social-media-ban-for-children-work-here-australia-offers-lessons/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">found workarounds</a> to <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.00368" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">subvert restrictions</a>, such as using a free VPN to bypass age checks—some of which have questionable data-collection practices.Seven in 10 children <a href="https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/ap-top-news/2026/07/03/australian-prime-minister-condemns-delay-of-changes-to-child-social-media-ban" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">retained their existing accounts</a> on restricted platforms, the study found. Other teens created new accounts using incorrect age information. Some were <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/medialse/2026/06/17/should-governments-ban-children-from-social-media/#:~:text=Early%20evidence%20from%20Australia%20illustrates,necessarily%20decreased%3B%20it%20has%20moved" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">incentivized</a> to seek unregulated offshore platforms not subject to Australia’s law.The workarounds <a href="https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/ap-top-news/2026/07/03/australian-prime-minister-condemns-delay-of-changes-to-child-social-media-ban" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">prompted</a> Australia to double the maximum fine and warn of court action against tech giants for noncompliance.<h2>Emphasis on age verification</h2><a href="https://mashable.com/tech/social-media-ban-children-countries-list" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A number of other countries</a> are implementing or considering social media restrictions. They include <a href="https://apnews.com/article/brazil-internet-regulation-social-media-cd5d8f51ecbc0bb28f43a741dd95bc05" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Brazil</a>, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/safe-social-media-act.html" target="_blank">Canada</a>, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/14/europe/france-constitutional-council-social-media-ban-intl" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">France</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/world/europe/greece-social-media-teens.html?eafs_enabled=false" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Greece</a>, <a href="https://www.afterbabel.com/p/designed-for-safety-indonesia" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Indonesia</a>,<a href="https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2026/06/01/malaysias-under-16-social-media-rule-starts-today-what-parents-need-to-know/221674" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.lifeinnorway.net/social-media-children-ban/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Norway</a>, <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-06-02/poland-to-ban-phones-in-schools-restrict-access-to-pornography" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Poland</a>, <a href="https://en.vietnamplus.vn/thailand-considers-social-media-ban-for-children-under-16-post347554.vnp" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Thailand</a>, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/turkey-social-media-children-restrictions-law-d88963a7446a12cf4963b73d455b5ef7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Türkiye</a>, and the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/06/15/nx-s1-5858644/britain-social-media-ban" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">United Kingdom</a>. The European Union is contemplating its own <a href="https://healthpolicy-watch.news/youth-social-media-restriction/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">restrictions</a>. The countries’ mandates for age verification or age assurance shift the policy focus from whether to verify age to how to do so effectively while protecting user privacy.An article on think tank New America’s website, “<a href="https://www.newamerica.org/insights/age-verification-the-complicated-effort-to-protect-youth-online/age-assurance-and-age-verification/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Age Assurance and Verification</a>,” describes some methods: <ul><li>Age gating and screening. Users self-attest their age by checking a box or inputting a birth date.</li><li>Age estimation. Several techniques are available, including profiling the user’s online activity and scanning the user’s face.</li><li>Age verification. One way is providing a government-issued identification document. Other approaches include digital identity systems, digital wallets, and third-party verification.</li></ul>Reliable age verification is technically challenging and raises privacy concerns, as outlined in “<a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/age-verification" target="_self">The Age-Verification Trap</a>,” written by <a href="https://cinderpoint.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cinderpoint</a> consultant Waydell D. Carvalho and published in February in <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/" target="_self">IEEE Spectrum</a>. Carvallo says platforms need to balance age verification with protecting users’ personal information.<h2>IEEE’s contributions</h2>IEEE is working on initiatives to provide a safer online environment for children. To help developers build age-appropriate social media platforms and websites, the <a href="https://standards.ieee.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">IEEE Standards Association</a> (IEEE SA) has published two guidelines.The IEEE Standard for Online Age Verification (<a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10542699" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">IEEE 2089.1-2024</a>) provides a framework for designing, specifying, evaluating, and deploying verification systems. The standard includes requirements for privacy protection, data security, and information management specific to the age-assurance process. It also provides procedures for verifying a user’s age or age range with a high degree of accuracy.Based on the <a href="https://standards.ieee.org/beyond-standards/designing-for-children-the-role-of-the-5rights-principles-in-ieees-age-verification-framework/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">5Rights Foundation’s Principles for Children</a>, the other <a href="https://standards.ieee.org/ieee/2089/7633/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">standard</a> (IEEE 2089-2021) provides practical steps to qualify online products and services for children. It requires systems to present information in an age-appropriate way and to uphold the rights established for youngsters in the U.N. <a href="https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>.IEEE SA also offers an <a href="https://standards.ieee.org/products-programs/icap/online-age-verification/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">online age-verification-certification program</a>, which assesses systems for compliance with the IEEE 2089.1 standard. The program certifies that organizations implement robust processes before granting access to age-restricted products and services, prioritizing children’s safety, privacy, autonomy, and rights.As outlined in <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-institute/" target="_self">The Institute</a> article “<a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/online-safety-kids-ieee-standard" target="_self">IEEE Makes Strides to Improve Online Safety for Kids</a>,” certification is based on six key indicators: accuracy, frequency of assurance, counter-fraud measures, authenticity, frequency of authenticity checks, and birth date confidence.Indonesia<a href="https://techlearn.com.au/ieee-makes-strides-to-improve-online-safety-for-kids/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> used key provisions</a> from the two IEEE guidelines to inform its <a href="https://5rightsfoundation.com/indonesia-joins-global-effort-to-protect-children-from-unregulated-technology/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">child-protection regulation</a>, which was signed into law last year.IEEE’s <a href="https://standards.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/import/documents/other/ead_v2.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ethically aligned design</a> framework prioritizes human well-being, transparency, accountability, privacy, and protecting vulnerable populations including children.<h2>Calls for platform reforms</h2>Although social media bans would be globally significant policy responses, deeper structural issues remain largely unaddressed. Platform architecture and features contribute to social media harm.The focus needs to shift from constraints on account provisioning and content moderation to <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/social-media-trial" target="_self">safer platform design</a>.<a href="https://www.meta.com/about/company-info/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Meta</a> in August agreed to pay $17.1 billion to settle a lawsuit brought by U.S. states. The suit said Meta designed its social media to be addictive to children, and the company concealed internal research showing Instagram’s addictive effects on teenagers. As part of the settlement, Meta agreed to implement child-safety measures such as setting daily time limits and disabling Facebook and Instagram <a href="https://business.adobe.com/au/blog/basics/push-notification-guide" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">push notifications</a> during school hours.The company still faces <a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026/03/social-media-trials-usher-in-big-techs-latest-moment-of-reckoning-00846388" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">other lawsuits</a> that could have far-reaching implications, pressuring other tech companies to design safer social media platforms.Architecture-driven features such as <a href="https://ixdf.org/literature/topics/infinite-scrolling" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">infinite scrolling</a>, <a href="https://www.newamerica.org/insights/why-am-i-seeing-this/an-overview-of-algorithmic-recommendation-systems/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">algorithmic recommendations</a>, <a href="https://epthinktank.eu/2026/05/06/addictive-design-on-online-platforms/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">addictive platform design</a>,<a href="https://business.adobe.com/au/blog/basics/push-notification-guide" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://tchop.io/resources/glossary/audience-engagement/data-driven-engagement" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">data-driven engagement</a>, and <a href="https://business.adobe.com/au/blog/basics/personalized-advertising" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">personalized advertising</a> to minors are other contributing factors to social media addiction.IEEE Senior Member <a href="https://profiles.sydney.edu.au/katina.michael" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Katina Michael</a>, professor at the <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/business/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">University of Sydney business school</a> and founding editor in chief of <a href="https://technologyandsociety.org/transactions/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society</a>, shared her perspective: “Social media bans may offer a short-term response to growing concerns, but they are not a long-term solution,” she says. “IEEE 2089.1-2024 advocates for socio-technical systems that are designed to promote human well-being, safety, and flourishing. Rather than relying on prohibition alone, we should focus on better design, building digital platforms that embed ethics, accountability, transparency, and human values from the outset.”<h2>Collective responsibility</h2>Protecting children online would require a combination of policy measures, improved platform design, digital literacy, parental involvement, and cultural change.Building a safe, secure, and inclusive digital ecosystem that supports adolescents’ cognitive, social, and emotional development would require collaboration among technology companies, platform providers, content creators, parents, educators, policymakers, and young people themselves.Professional organizations such as IEEE can continue contributing through standards development, education, certification while promoting trustworthy and responsible digital technologies. Reference: https://ift.tt/Kzm6LlZ