theck1 IT/AI news

Google sues Chinese cybercrime network that used Gemini to automate scams

Ryan Whitwam • June 12, 2026 Google loves telling us all the ways people are using its generative AI products to build new things, grow businesses, and save the world. Supposedly. Of course, people are also using AI for crime. Google has announced a new legal salvo aimed at a Chinese group called Outsider Enterprise,

When it comes to total water use, AI data centers are a drop in the bucket

13Junetheck1Artificial Intelligence

Kyle Orland • June 12, 2026 If you hang out in any even vaguely AI-skeptical parts of the Internet, you’ve probably stumbled on plenty of memes and posts premised on data centers’ insatiable thirst for water to power evaporative cooling. But a new report from Amazon highlights just how little water all these AI data

$130 billion in data center projects blocked by protests so far this year

13Junetheck1Artificial Intelligence

Ashley Belanger • June 12, 2026 It’s clear that communities now have an effective playbook to block data center construction. This week, researchers flagged the first quarter of 2026 as producing the “most blocked and delayed data center projects on record,” NBC News reported. Data Center Watch, a project from AI intelligence firm 10a Labs

Ukraine’s one-time test used fully autonomous drones to kill Russian soldiers

13Junetheck1Artificial Intelligence

Jeremy Hsu • June 12, 2026 Fully autonomous drones killed Russian soldiers during a battlefield test two years ago, according to a Ukrainian drone manufacturer. If true, the incident would represent another milestone in a war that has spurred unprecedented developments in military drones, robots, and AI-guided weaponry. The one-time test was revealed by Alexander

Have politics finally come for the National Academies of Science?

13Junetheck1Artificial Intelligence

John Timmer • June 12, 2026 Founded during the US Civil War to provide advice to the government, the National Academies of Science have become one of the most prestigious scientific organizations. Its primary function is to prepare comprehensive reports on scientific and technological issues, aided by its ability to attract top talent from across

Here’s what Jeff Bezos’ new startup Prometheus will do

13Junetheck1Artificial Intelligence

Samuel Axon • June 12, 2026 In November, Jeff Bezos announced that he would become co-CEO of a new startup called Prometheus. At the time, the startup said it would focus on “physical AI”—an increasingly common term for applying the same deep learning principles behind large language models or generative AI to things like robotics

Controversial FISA spying law expires tonight. The spying will continue.

13Junetheck1Artificial Intelligence

Jon Brodkin • June 12, 2026 Title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is set to expire at midnight tonight after Congress failed to pass an extension of the controversial spying law. But that doesn’t mean the government’s spying powers will disappear. Surveillance under Section 702 of FISA “operates under yearlong certifications approved

PeopleSoft 0-day affecting hundreds of organizations steals gigabytes of data

13Junetheck1Artificial Intelligence

Dan Goodin • June 12, 2026 One of the world’s most active ransomware groups exploited a critical vulnerability in Oracle’s PeopleSoft software suite and used it to target about 100 customers and extort at least one of them to pay up in exchange for not leaking stolen data, researchers said. The group, tracked as ShinyHunters,

SpaceX is now a public company valued for its AI potential, so what comes next?

13Junetheck1Artificial Intelligence

Eric Berger • June 12, 2026 Space Exploration Technologies, better known simply as SpaceX, became a publicly traded company on Friday nearly a quarter of a century after it was founded. The company began trading on the Nasdaq exchange in New York City at $135 a share, valuing SpaceX at nearly $1.8 trillion. By the

Anthropic shuts down Fable, Mythos models following Trump admin directive

13Junetheck1Artificial Intelligence

Kyle Orland • June 13, 2026 Anthropic completely shut off access to its Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models Friday night, just days after they were launched. The move comes after Anthropic’s receipt of a US Commerce Department directive Friday evening, subjecting the new models to export controls restricting their use anywhere outside the United