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Cyberattack targets US think tank Heritage Foundation

Heritage Foundation Cyberattack
Conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation said on Friday that it experienced a cyberattack earlier this week. A person with knowledge of the cyberattack told TechCrunch that efforts at Heritage were underway to remediate the cyberattack, but said that it wasn’t immediately known what, if any, data was taken. Politico, which first reported the news of the cyberattack on Friday, cited a Heritage official as saying the organization “shut down its network to prevent any further malicious activity while we investigate the incident.”The news outlet quoted the Heritage official as saying that the cyberattack likely came from nation-state hackers, but did not provide evidence of the claim. Founded in 1973, Heritage is based in Washington DC, and supports and lobbies on conservative issues. Heritage was hit by a cyberattack in 2015 in which hackers stole internal emails and the personal information of its donors.

Collaborative Efforts of EU and US to Address AI Safety, Standards, and Research Initiatives

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“Through the AI Act and through the [AI safety- and security-focused] Executive Order — which is to mitigate the risks of AI technologies while supporting their uptake in our economies.”Earlier this week the US and the UK signed a partnership agreement on AI safety. Wider information-sharing is envisaged under the US-UK agreement — about “capabilities and risks” associated with AI models and systems, and on “fundamental technical research on AI safety and security”. It also announced a plan to spend £100M on an AI safety taskforce which it said would be focused on so-called foundational AI models. At the UK AI Summit last November, Raimondo announced the creation of a US AI safety institute on the heels of the US Executive Order on AI. Neither the US nor the UK have proposed comprehensive legislation on AI safety, as yet — with the EU remaining ahead of the pack when it comes to legislating on AI safety.

Bluesky Acquires Top Third-Party App Creator, Graysky

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Decentralized Twitter/X rival Bluesky is adding to its ranks by scooping up a member of its developer community. London-based software engineer Samuel Newman, who built the well-received third-party Bluesky client, Graysky, is joining the startup, where he will now help develop Bluesky’s official app along with the rest of the frontend team. Given his change in position, the future of the Graysky app is uncertain. Late last year, Graysky also added Trending Topics and a Pro subscription to help the app monetize. With Newman now joining Bluesky, the hope is that the official client will also gain support for more features.

Windows 11 to Drop Official Support for Android Applications

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It was only a few years ago — in 2021 — that Windows 11 gained official support for Android apps thanks to a Microsoft-maintained VM called the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA). With the WSA, Windows 11 users could install and run nearly the full range of apps for Android, optionally through Amazon’s Android marketplace — the Amazon Appstore — thanks to an Amazon-Microsoft deal. Now, Windows 11 is losing official Android app support — and access to the Amazon Appstore along with it. Windows 11 users who’ve installed the Amazon Appstore or Android apps will continue to have access to those apps through March 5, 2025 — but not after. Now, just because Microsoft’s ending support for the WSA doesn’t mean it’ll become impossible to run Android apps on Windows.

“Silent Removal: China Takes Down Proposed Gaming Regulations from Online Platform”

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Beijing has quietly pulled the proposed curbs on the video game industry from the official website, weeks after the draft guidelines wiped tens of billions of dollars off the market value of local titans. The link to the draft rules was no longer accessible as of this morning, as first reported by Reuters. The move follows Beijing also removing a key official – the head of the publication bureau of Communist Party’s Propaganda Department – over the handling of the release of the draft rules, which caught investors and gaming giants by surprise. Local media reported in recent weeks — after the wipeout — that authorities may be open to walking back on some of the proposed rules. Last month, China’s video game regulator proposed new measures to curb excessive time and money spent on computer and smartphone games.