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ICE Has Been Dumping Protester Photos Into a Palantir Database

WIRED

DHS agents not only tracked and intimidated people observing ICE activity in Maine, but stored information about them in a Palantir-built database, newly unsealed court filings say. An explosive and newly partially unsealed court filing alleges that the US Department of Homeland Security built up dossiers on ICE observers--including their photos, license plate numbers, and other information--and stored them in a system called the Investigative Case Management database, which was built by Palantir . Palantir did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for DHS calls the case "meritless" and says that "the underlying lawsuit is based on the lie that there is a database of'domestic terrorists' run by DHS." Plaintiffs allege in the filing, which is heavily based on documents produced by the government and depositions of DHS agents, that agents had a practice of intimidating protesters and observers. They did this, the filing says, by doing drive-bys of the observers' homes and, in the case of at least one observer, requiring that she be referred to secondary inspection any time she tries to cross the border until at least January 2027.


SoftBank-backed SB Energy aims to raise 500 million from Japan for U.S. IPO

The Japan Times

SoftBank-backed SB Energy aims to raise $500 million from Japan for U.S. IPO The proceeds from SB Energy's public listing in Japan will be used to develop and build data centers and power plants. SB Energy, a data center firm backed by SoftBank Group, is aiming to raise as much as $500 million in the Japanese portion of its planned initial public offering (IPO) in the U.S., following other major deals tapping the country's deep pools of capital. The company will start taking investor orders as soon as this month, according to a local regulatory filing Tuesday. The proceeds will be used for developing and constructing infrastructure including data centers and power plants. SB Energy, whose strategic investors include OpenAI and Nvidia, filed for an IPO in the U.S. this month. Mizuho Financial Group, Daiwa Securities Group, PayPay Securities, Rakuten Securities and SBI Holdings will act as the selling agents for Mizuho's U.S. arm, according to the filing.


US lawyer cites fake witnesses in murder case, blames ChatGPT

Al Jazeera

A defense lawyer appealing his client's murder conviction submitted a brief containing made-up police testimony and witnesses fabricated by OpenAI's ChatGPT, New Mexico's highest court has said. The New Mexico Supreme Court in the United States on Wednesday fined the lawyer, Stephen Aarons, and held him in contempt for failing to verify the accuracy of the court filing, which Aarons said he prepared with help from the artificial intelligence (AI) programme. The panel also said Aarons had "demonstrated a lack of remorse and a lack of concern for his client". The justices fined Aarons $5,000 and said they will refer him to an attorney disciplinary board for investigation. Aarons, in a statement to the Reuters news agency, said he had used ChatGPT to summarise the trial proceedings when he agreed to take up the defendant's appeal last year, and did not understand the degree to which AI could "hallucinate" facts.


ICE Wants to Know Who Bought a Certain Green Beanie From REI in the Last 2 Years

WIRED

Homeland Security Investigations agents hit the outdoor retailer with a controversial subpoena as part of a dragnet search for the identities of protesters who entered a Minnesota church in March. Did you buy a beanie from REI recently? The Department of Homeland Security might be looking for you. New court filings allege that Homeland Security Investigations agents subpoenaed the outdoor retailer in March, requesting the transaction information for "all persons" in the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area who had purchased a specific type of dark green beanie from the company since 2024.


Fake US thinktank set up and funded by Israel sought to game AI for propaganda

The Guardian

A pro-Israel messaging website badged with the name of a thinktank that does not exist has published more than half a million words in nine days, built on a commercial platform that promises to optimize content so that AI chatbots will cite it. The site gives Israel's position on subjects including the torture of Palestinian prisoners, Israeli war crimes and whether Israel has deliberately starved Palestinians in Gaza, all presented as neutral research. The site publishes in the name of the Hanover Institute for Public Policy, which apparently does not exist as a legal entity in any jurisdiction, has no physical address, and carries no named staff and no bylines on any of its reports. Its own terms of use are governed by the laws of "the state in which the Institute is established", which they decline to name. The existence of the site was first reported on 14 August.


Trump Administration Warns Kennedy Center Could Be Demolished If It Isn't Fixed

TIME - Tech

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AI hallucinated case law in insurance company's filings in L.A. County house fire dispute

Los Angeles Times

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Attorneys representing State Farm said they discovered "nonexistent case citations which appear to have been AI hallucinations" across a recent batch of motions.


BBC seeks to subpoena Trump's family members in Panorama lawsuit

BBC News

BBC seeks to subpoena Trump's family members in Panorama lawsuit The BBC has sought to subpoena members of Donald Trump's family for documents and testimony as it defends against the US president's $10bn (£7.4bn) defamation lawsuit against the broadcaster. Court filings show that representatives for the BBC's legal team attempted in May to serve subpoenas to the president's son Donald Trump Jr., his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner. The president is suing the BBC over an episode of Panorama that edited together two different sections of a speech he gave before the 2021 Capitol riots. The BBC has previously apologised for the edit but denied it was grounds for defamation. Judge grants Trump's request to delay handing financial records to BBC In the latest filing, the BBC's lawyers argue Trump's family members have personal knowledge of his intentions in delivering the speech, making their testimony and documents relevant to the president's defamation claim.


Sonos Ace Ultra over-ear headphones show up in FCC filing

Engadget

During Sonos' third quarter financial call, the company said that it was planning a product launch in September. Based on a new FCC filing spotted by Lowpass, one of the products it's unveiling at the event could be a pair of headphones called the "Ace Ultra." While the filing is heavily redacted, the Ace Ultra seems to have an over-ear design, similar to the original Sonos Ace launched in 2024. But it will be available in five colors instead of just two, namely Greige (or light gray), Shadow Black, Agave, Blush and Sand. The FCC filing also hinted that the device will support Sonos Voice Control, the company's voice assistant.


OpenAI Staffers Are Funding a Rival Super PAC to Take on Their Boss

WIRED

OpenAI employees have donated more than $215,000 to a political effort opposing Leading the Future, a group backed by the company's president, Greg Brockman. A group of rank-and-file OpenAI employees have donated more than $215,000 to a super PAC pushing for stricter regulations on frontier AI labs. Guardrails Alliance, which launched last month with $5 million in total initial funding, bills itself as a populist effort supported by tech workers, labor unions, and other groups. It's aiming to be a counterweight to Leading the Future, a pro-AI industry super PAC bankrolled with more than $100 million from technology industry leaders, including OpenAI president and cofounder Greg Brockman. Seven current OpenAI employees have donated to Guardrails Alliance, as well as one former employee, WIRED has learned.