TechCapsules

Hackers are increasingly embedding malware instructions in public blockchain ledgers, creating “dead‑drop” channels that persist even after traditional servers are shut down. Chainalysis reports a 440 % surge in such activity, with daily malicious entries climbing from 2.06 to 11.1 after the rollout of unrestricted AI models. The method uses transaction data or smart‑contract calls on networks such as TRON, Aptos, BNB Chain, Polygon and Bitcoin to store encrypted commands, addresses and configuration details that infected computers can [...]

Oakland City Councilmember Carroll Fife announced a proposal for a 45‑day moratorium on approvals for new artificial‑intelligence data centers, giving the city time to draft regulations that address utilities strain, water use and other community impacts. Fife said the pause will let officials create development standards and study secondary effects while still positioning Oakland to capture economic benefits from an AI boom. The measure follows recent bills tightening reporting requirements on energy, water and land use for such [...]

LG Chairman Koo Kwang‑mo met Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at the Redmond headquarters on Jan. 21 to formalize an AI alliance that will extend the two firms’ existing partnership. The agreement calls for LG to supply cooling, power and IT infrastructure for Microsoft’s expanding AI data centers, beginning with large‑scale cooling solutions and later “prefab” modular facilities. In return, Microsoft will provide its global cloud and data‑center platforms to accelerate AI transformation across LG’s affiliates, including the rollout of [...]

The September 22 edition of the “AI for Work” Pulse released ten new AI tools and aggregated 123 AI‑related news articles. Among the tools, Jev offers developers a decision‑model API that converts unstructured input into typed answers with calibrated probabilities, while Milliseconds.ai provides rapid text and image classification via a single endpoint. Jevtown simulates the spread of a piece of text across 10,000 virtual residents for marketers, and slop‑grader is an open‑source multilingual grammar, style, and AI‑filler detector. [...]

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are slated to meet this week amid a fierce rivalry to lead global artificial‑intelligence development. Both sides have voiced worries that unchecked AI could threaten national security, prompting U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng to discuss a bilateral “notification mechanism” for AI incidents that might affect either country. The proposed dialogue would cover risks such as AI‑driven cyberattacks, misuse in biotechnology, catastrophic model failures and loss [...]

Walmart engineer Tianyu Zhang explains how AI tools have evolved from unreliable assistants to integral collaborators in daily development. Over her career, she transitioned from manual analysis workflows to AI‑augmented systems that support millions of internal operations. Zhang has worked on GraphQL architectures, data integration, testing automation, and scalable engineering systems, while also pioneering AI coding assistants within Walmart. She shares best practices through internal presentations and community talks, drawing on her background in computer science, applied [...]

Meta’s new AI app Muse surpassed ChatGPT in early U.S. and Canada mobile downloads, with 1.8 million installs versus ChatGPT’s 1.3 million in the first 12 days. Muse also achieved higher daily active users—642,000 overall and 359,000 on iOS—compared to ChatGPT’s 231,000. The app climbed to No. 1 on the U.S. App Store, overtaking ChatGPT, and has 2.8 million global installs. Meta’s cross‑promotion via Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp likely fuels Muse’s rapid uptake.

Google has launched the Google AI Pro bundle, a $20 monthly subscription that consolidates several services, including 5 TB of shared Google storage, Gemini Pro AI access, YouTube Premium Lite, Google Health Premium, and Google Home Premium Standard. The bundle replaces the former Google One plan and offers up to six months free with new Pixel devices. It targets users across Android and iPhone ecosystems, providing integrated AI tools, health coaching, and smart‑home features in a single, affordable [...]