Industry
18-year-old man arrested over 2025 cyberattack on internet cafe operator
An 18-year-old man has been arrested for his suspected involvement in a cyberattack on an internet cafe operator. An 18-year-old man has been arrested for his suspected involvement in a cyberattack on the operator of the Kaikatsu Club internet cafe chain, according to investigative sources. On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police Department's cybercrime countermeasure division arrested the company employee from Tokyo's Katsushika Ward, who was in the second year of high school at the time of the incident, on suspicion of fraudulent obstruction of business and violation of the law against unauthorized computer access. He has denied parts of the allegations, the sources said. In the cyberattack on the internet cafe chain operator Kaikatsu Frontier, a computer program that a high school boy from the city of Osaka developed using ChatGPT was used.
Interview with Thi Kieu Khanh Ho: Time-series anomaly detection
The latest interview in our series with the AAAI/SIGAI Doctoral Consortium participants features Thi Kieu Khanh Ho who is studying time-series anomaly detection. We found out more about her research, and what inspired her to study AI, and what she plans to work on next. Tell us a bit about your PhD -- where are you studying, and what is the topic of your research? I am doing my PhD at McGill University and Mila - Québec AI Institute, in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, supervised by Professor Narges Armanfard. My research focuses on time-series anomaly detection, the problem of teaching AI systems to recognize when something unusual or abnormal is happening in complex, real-world data streams, without relying on large amounts of labeled examples.
Why Do Some Soccer Players Cut the Heels Off Their Cleats?
Why Do Some Soccer Players Cut the Heels Off Their Cleats? An image of Portugal forward Pedro Neto's cleats at the World Cup has reignited a practice among some soccer players: modifying their cleats to relieve heel discomfort. During this year's World Cup, one very peculiar image caught the attention of fans and commentators: Portuguese forward Pedro Neto played a match with the back of his cleats cut off, right above the heel. The modification was intended to relieve pressure on a particularly sensitive area of his foot. Although the image went viral, it's not new.
AI-related copyright losses cost celebrities up to 4.5 billion, study says
Such AI-generated content attracted approximately 335 million views on social media, resulting in financial losses estimated at ¥2 billion to ¥4.5 billion for celebrities and artists, according to the study. The estimated losses were calculated based on licensing fees related to using a person's likeness or voice, as well as the advertising value of view counts. However, the nonprofit added that the "actual financial losses might be significantly larger than the estimate," as the calculation only covered cases they were able to find. Only 1.1% of companies said they had guidelines on how to deal with these violations. Some 52% said they were "currently considering" options, while the rest had no plans as of date.
NHTSA calls out autonomous cars for interfering with first responders
The agency is giving autonomous vehicle makers until the end of July to figure out a solution. The US Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is demanding action from autonomous car makers after identifying a clear pattern of driverless AVs interfering with law enforcement and other first responders over the past months. Jonathan Morrison, the agency's administrator, wrote a letter addressing the developers and issuing a call to action. Emergency situations are not rare or edge cases, he wrote, so he wants AV developers and operators focus their resources on fixing the issue immediately. While the NHTSA didn't give specific examples, there have been news about self-driving vehicles getting in the way of ambulances and fire trucks, like in the image above, for years.
This antivirus doesn't slow your PC down -- it quietly keeps it safe for 19.99
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This antivirus doesn't slow your PC down -- it quietly keeps it safe for $19.99 Protect your Windows PC from malware, phishing, and ransomware without performance slowdown -- ESET NOD32 Antivirus is available for $19.99. Most antivirus software falls into one of two categories: heavy enough to slow your PC down, or light enough to make you question if it's actually doing anything. The challenge is finding something that protects without turning your system into a lagging mess. ESET NOD32 Antivirus for Windows -- on sale for $19.99 for a year of access -- is built to stay out of the way while handling the messy part of the internet for you. It runs quietly in the background, blocking malware, phishing attempts, and ransomware without constant pop-ups or performance dips.
The 28 Million Mistake That Inspired Estonia's AI "Fuckup Finder"
The $28 Million Mistake That Inspired Estonia's AI "Fuckup Finder" Now Estonia is using AI to spot legal errors before they become law--and to automate more of the state. Estonia's AI embarrassment began with a single wrong phrase. In December, the Riigikogu, Estonia's parliament, passed changes to the country's Gambling Tax Act meant to lower the tax rate on remote gambling. But the wording of the law referred only to "skill games" for that year, not games of chance or remote gambling. Estonia's entire gambling industry is worth around €300 million ($343 million), and its online gambling market is one of the fastest growing in the EU.
Bain Capital exits Kioxia after chip deal yields big returns
Since their listing in 2024, Kioxia's shares have surged on runaway demand for AI memory chips. Bain Capital has sold its entire stake in flash memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings, closing a chapter on a deal that's transformed the Japanese tech and investment landscape. "We don't have a stake any more in Kioxia," Bain Managing Partner David Gross said in an interview. The U.S. private equity firm has logged record-setting returns after a global spending spree on AI catapulted Kioxia's shares more than 4,800% from their debut, transforming the chipmaker into one of Japan's most valuable companies. "It's worked spectacularly for all the stakeholders involved," Gross said.
Beijing to let Chinese AI companies buy Nvidia H200 chips
China had previously restricted the import of Nvidia's H200 chips on concerns that a flood of American-designed AI processors would hinder the government's long-held goal of developing an indigenous chip industry. China plans to allow its top artificial intelligence companies to buy a limited number of H200 chips from Nvidia, a sign the country is easing restrictions on the coveted U.S. technology, according to The Information news site. Chinese officials have informed companies such as Alibaba Group Holding, ByteDance and DeepSeek that they will have permission to purchase some of the processors, which are used to develop AI models, the news site said Wednesday. The companies need to say how many chips they need -- and why -- to get approval, according to The Information. The chips have emerged as a geopolitical flash point for the world's two largest economies.
Japan's Terra Drone to mass-produce defense drones domestically
Japan's Terra Drone plans to set up a system enabling domestic production of up to tens of thousands of interceptor drones a year, the company's head, Toru Tokushige, said in a recent interview. As well as domestic development for such defense drones, the Tokyo-based company aims to speed up work to establish supply chains that do not rely on imports by promoting the development and production of drone components at home. In March, Terra Drone announced its full-scale entry into the defense drone market, in addition to civilian-use drones. As part of the move, the company has acquired two Ukrainian firms that develop interceptor drones. In Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Middle East conflict, cheap drones are said to have changed the concept of war by shooting down expensive missiles and attacking important enemy bases.