Tech roundup: China hacked the U.S. Treasury Dept.

January 2, 2025

🇨🇳 Communist China hacked the U.S. Treasury: They stole a key from a third-party cybersecurity firm called BeyondTrust (ironic name) on Dec. 8 to take a good, long look and steal a ton of unclassified docs. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and FBI are still sussing out how bad the breach was. China denies everything, of course.

39,000 more vehicles recalled: The latest round includes Volvo C40 electric crossovers, Mercedes-Benz E 350 and 450 models, Ram 1500s, and the Ford F-150 Lightning. Instead of wading through lists, download the free SaferCar app that alerts you to recalls as they happen.

🛜 Thanks for your service: Looks like Google secretly used phones for an interesting project. Researchers turned millions of Androids into tiny stations to map the ionosphere — 37 to 190 miles up, where space particles mess with GPS systems, leaving gaps in places like South America and Africa. It’s good the service is getting better for folks who live there, but isn’t it creepy Google can just flip a switch like that?

Can AI save Facebook? Meta hopes so. They’re rolling out AI avatars (paywall link) to pull in younger people. Robo-influencers are all the rage. Snapchat and TikTok are jumping on the bandwagon, too. It sounds strange, but I’ve read some of these AI-based virtual influencers make $10,000 per post. Maybe I’m in the wrong business.

Cue the “Jeopardy!” music: This company added a 27-inch LCD screen to its new microwave to bombard you with ads. The answer: Who is LG? Nothing’s sacred. They’re following Samsung’s lead by putting screens on everything as a way to make extra cash. I’ll keep my “dumb” microwave.

Your very own Rosey: Nvidia, the $3 trillion AI chip giant, is betting on robotics as the next big thing. Soon, they’re launching the Jetson Thor, a new “brain” designed for robots. The Jetson line includes this teeny-tiny AI computer. The robotics biz is expected to jump from $78 billion to $165 billion by 2029. I want one! Do you?

Check those extensions: Google Chrome extensions Cyberhaven, Internxt VPN, VPNCity and ParrotTalks just got hijacked to include malicious code that steals your data. Browse the full list of compromised extensions here. It’s part of a bigger campaign. If you have a ton of extensions you did not really vet, disable your extensions for now. Hit the puzzle piece icon near your URL bar > Manage Extensions > toggle them off.👶🏻 Meet Generation Beta: Born between 2025 and 2039, this next generation won’t sit in traditional classrooms; personalized AI companions will teach and entertain them. They won’t carry phones; it will be in their ears or implanted. Robots will do everyday chores, from cooking to cleaning. They’ll go to space for the heck of it. I sure hope they still get to experience what it means to be human, too.

9 days after going missing

A four-year-old German shepherd mix named Athena rang her owner’s doorbell. It was Christmas Eve at 2:30 a.m. — a holiday miracle! The Green Cove Springs, Florida, family searched as far as Jacksonville and St. Augustine. Check out the doorbell cam video that melted my heart.

Don’t buy a new drone now: Coming soon is the DJI Flip, a leaked folding drone priced at $829 that will offer first-person streaming. It has a 34-minute flight time with its 3110mAh battery and a three-axis gimbal camera — geek-speak for impressive.

💔 $1 billion in romance scams: That’s how much more than 64,000 Americans were talked out of, double the total four years ago. The Online Dating Safety Act could help. If approved, it’d require dating apps to notify anyone who has come in contact with a scam account. This begs the question: If they can identify scam accounts, why can’t they just remove them?

The Windows of my soul: Here’s one way to market a product. Microsoft is rolling out its AI assistant, Copilot, as part of its 365 subscription. It’s not free and you can’t opt out. It’s going to cost you an additional $30 per user per month for businesses. Wow.

280 mph

Top speed for China’s new bullet train prototype. That’s a world record and fast enough to zip from New York to Chicago in under three hours. China’s current fastest trains max out at 220 mph. The fastest Amtrak trains go 160 mph, but most top out closer to 100 mph. We really need better trains in the U.S.

Just horrifying: It’s no secret predators go after kids online, but I never thought I’d read whackjob parents are welcoming this (paywall link; Warning: This story contains very disturbing items). The New York Times spent a year investigating girl influencers and parents who encourage them to take sexualized photos and develop relationships with adult men to make money. This is child abuse. CPS should be all over this.

301 terabits per second

New internet speed world record. That’s 4.5 million times faster than the average broadband connection. Some context: At that speed, it’d take one minute to download every single movie listed on IMDb. Speaking of … How do you know the speed of light is much faster than the speed of sound? Because some people appear bright until they open their mouths.

115,000 years old

Age of footprints found in Saudi Arabia. These are the oldest ones ever uncovered on the Arabian Peninsula. They turned up in a dried-up watering hole in the Nafud Desert, right next to animal tracks. The area was wetter back then, and early humans were likely taking a water break alongside other animals, like a prehistoric rest stop.