Tech News
Amazon Blamed AI For Layoffs, Then Hired Cheap H1-B Workers, Senators Allege
slashdot - Posted On:2025-09-25 16:15:00 Source: slashdot
An anonymous reader shares a report: Senators are demanding answers from Big Tech companies accused of "filing thousands of H-1B skilled labor visa petitions after conducting mass layoffs of American employees." In letters sent to Amazon, Meta, Apple, Google, and Microsoft -- among some of the largest sponsors of H-1B visas -- Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) requested "information and data from each company regarding their recruitment and hiring practices, as well as any variation in salary and benefits between H-1B visa holders and American employees." The letters came shortly after Grassley sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem requesting that DHS stop "issuing work authorizations to student visa holders." According to Grassley, "foreign student work authorizations put America at risk of technological and corporate espionage," in addition to allegedly "contributing to rising unemployment rates among college-educated Americans." [...] In the letters to tech firms, senators emphasized that the unemployment rate in America's tech sector is "well above" the overall jobless rate. Amazon perhaps faces the most scrutiny. US Citizenship and Immigration Services data showed that Amazon sponsored the most H-1B visas in 2024 at 14,000, compared to other criticized firms like Microsoft and Meta, which each sponsored 5,000, The Wall Street Journal reported. Senators alleged that Amazon blamed layoffs of "tens of thousands" on the "adoption of generative AI tools," then hired more than 10,000 foreign H-1B employees in 2025. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Microsoft Disables Some Cloud Services Used by Israel's Defense Ministry
it - Posted On:2025-09-25 15:30:01 Source: slashdot
Microsoft has disabled the Israeli Defense Ministry's access to certain services and subscriptions, after finding evidence that the ministry used the tech company's cloud services to surveil Gaza citizens. WSJ adds: The software company made the move after an internal investigation indicated Israel's Defense Ministry used Microsoft's Azure cloud services for surveillance, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company probe is ongoing. "As employees, we all have a shared interest in privacy protection, given the business value it creates by ensuring our customers can rely on our services with rock solid trust," Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a blog post Thursday on Microsoft's company website. Smith said Microsoft's investigation was guided by the company's "longstanding protection of privacy as a fundamental right." Microsoft opened the probe after the Guardian, the British news organization, reported in August that Israel used Azure to store data on Gaza civilians and surveil them. The issue has been the source of protests at the company. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Amazon blamed AI for layoffs, then hired cheap H1-B workers, senators allege
Policy - Posted On:2025-09-25 15:00:01 Source: arstechnica
Senators are demanding answers from Big Tech companies accused of "filing thousands of H-1B skilled labor visa petitions after conducting mass layoffs of American employees."
In letters sent to Amazon, Meta, Apple, Google, and Microsoft—among some of the largest sponsors of H-1B visas—Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) requested "information and data from each company regarding their recruitment and hiring practices, as well as any variation in salary and benefits between H-1B visa holders and American employees."
The letters came shortly after Grassley sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem requesting that DHS stop "issuing work authorizations to student visa holders." According to Grassley, "foreign student work authorizations put America at risk of technological and corporate espionage," in addition to allegedly "contributing to rising unemployment rates among college-educated Americans."
Experts urge caution about using ChatGPT to pick stocks
AI - Posted On:2025-09-25 15:00:01 Source: arstechnica
With AI chatbots growing in popular usage, it was only a matter of time before large numbers of people began applying them to the stock market. In fact, at least 1 in 10 retail investors now consult ChatGPT or other AI chatbots for stock-picking advice, according to a Reuters report published Thursday.
Data from a survey by trading platform eToro of 11,000 retail investors worldwide suggests that 13 percent of individual investors already use AI tools like ChatGPT or Google's Gemini for stock selection, while about half say they would consider using these tools for portfolio decisions.
Unlike algorithmic trading, where computers automatically execute thousands of trades per second, investors are using ChatGPT as an advisory tool in place of human experts. They type questions, read the AI model's analysis, and then manually decide whether to place trades through their brokers.
Study: Planned budget cuts would hurt drug development badly
Science - Posted On:2025-09-25 15:00:01 Source: arstechnica
The proposed federal budget would see drastic cuts made to most of the agencies that fund science. The sheer magnitude of the cuts—including a 40 percent slashing of money going to the National Institutes of Health—would do severe harm to biomedical researchers and the industries that serve or rely on them. And, ultimately, that is likely to do harm to all of us.
In today's issue of Science, some researchers have attempted to put numbers on those indirect effects that fall within that "ultimately" category. They've identified which grants wouldn't have been funded had similar cuts been made earlier in this century and tracked the impact that likely had on drug patents. Their conclusion: Development of roughly half the newly approved drugs relied on work that was funded by a grant that would need to be cut.
It's uncertain whether the proposed budget cuts will go through. At the moment, Congress is looking to fund most science agencies at levels similar to their current budgets. Should cuts eventually happen, then it's also difficult to predict how they'll be spread among the more than 20 institutes that make up the NIH (a number that the administration also wants to see reduced via consolidation). So, the researchers make a big simplifying assumption: Every institute within the NIH will take a 40 percent hit to its budget.
Cloudflare To Launch Stablecoin for AI-Driven Internet Economy
technology - Posted On:2025-09-25 15:00:01 Source: slashdot
Cloudflare announced plans Thursday to launch NET Dollar, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin designed to enable autonomous AI agents to conduct instant financial transactions. The company says the stablecoin will support microtransactions and pay-per-use models as AI agents take over tasks like booking flights and ordering groceries. BrianFagioli comments: A U.S. dollar-backed cryptocurrency from Cloudflare feels unusual to me, and I'm still surprised by it. The decision shows just how much the Internet is shifting in response to artificial intelligence. CEO Matthew Prince said, "For decades, the business model of the Internet ran on ad platforms and bank transfers. The Internet's next business model will be powered by pay-per-use, fractional payments, and microtransactions -- "tools that shift incentives toward original, creative content that actually adds value." He added that by using its global network, Cloudflare aims to "help modernize the financial rails needed to move money at the speed of the Internet." Read more of this story at Slashdot.
OpenAI Says GPT-5 Stacks Up To Humans in a Wide Range of Jobs
slashdot - Posted On:2025-09-25 14:15:00 Source: slashdot
An anonymous reader shares a report: OpenAI released a new benchmark on Thursday that tests how its AI models perform compared to human professionals across a wide range of industries and jobs. The test, GDPval, is an early attempt at understanding how close OpenAI's systems are to outperforming humans at economically valuable work -- a key part of the company's founding mission to develop artificial general intelligence or AGI. OpenAI says its found that its GPT-5 model and Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.1 "are already approaching the quality of work produced by industry experts." That's not to say that OpenAI's models are going to start replacing humans in their jobs immediately. Despite some CEOs' predictions that AI will take the jobs of humans in just a few years, OpenAI admits that GDPval today covers a very limited number of tasks people do in their real jobs. However, it is one of the latest ways the company is measuring AI's progress towards this milestone. GDPval is based on nine industries that contribute the most to America's gross domestic product, including domains such as healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and government. The benchmark tests an AI model's performance in 44 occupations among those industries, ranging from software engineers to nurses to journalists. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
AI Isn't Replacing Radiologists
slashdot - Posted On:2025-09-25 13:30:01 Source: slashdot
Despite AI models outperforming radiologists on benchmark tests since 2017, demand for human radiologists has reached record highs. American diagnostic radiology residency programs offered 1,208 positions this year, up 4% from 2024, while average salaries hit $520,000 -- 48% higher than 2015. Over 700 FDA-cleared radiology AI models exist, yet only 48% of radiologists use AI at all. Models trained on standardized datasets lose up to 20% points accuracy when deployed in different hospitals. Radiologists spend just 36% of their time interpreting images, with the majority devoted to patient communication, teaching, and administrative tasks that current AI cannot perform. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Stablecoin Issuer Circle Examines 'Reversible' Transactions in Departure For Crypto
news - Posted On:2025-09-25 13:00:01 Source: slashdot
Circle, the world's second-biggest issuer of stablecoins, is examining ways to make it possible to reverse transactions involving its tokens [non-paywalled source], in a rare admission by a major crypto firm that it needs to take lessons from the traditional financial sector. Financial Times: Circle president Heath Tarbert said a mechanism that allowed money to be refunded in cases of fraud or disputes would help the stablecoin industry's push to become part of the financial mainstream. "We are thinking through...whether or not there's the possibility of reversibility of transactions, right, but at the same time, we want settlement finality," Tarbert told the Financial Times. "So there's an inherent tension there between being able to transfer something immediately, but having it be irrevocable," he added. Such measures could be seen as a major departure from the crypto industry's previous emphasis on the "immutability" of the blockchain, a digital ledger that is public and records transactions that cannot be unwound. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Google DeepMind unveils its first “thinking” robotics AI
AI - Posted On:2025-09-25 12:30:01 Source: arstechnica
Generative AI systems that create text, images, audio, and even video are becoming commonplace. In the same way AI models output those data types, they can also be used to output robot actions. That's the foundation of Google DeepMind's Gemini Robotics project, which has announced a pair of new models that work together to create the first robots that "think" before acting. Traditional LLMs have their own set of problems, but the introduction of simulated reasoning did significantly upgrade their capabilities, and now the same could be happening with AI robotics.
The team at DeepMind contends that generative AI is a uniquely important technology for robotics because it unlocks general functionality. Current robots have to be trained intensively on specific tasks, and they are typically bad at doing anything else. "Robots today are highly bespoke and difficult to deploy, often taking many months in order to install a single cell that can do a single task," said Carolina Parada, head of robotics at Google DeepMind.
The fundamentals of generative systems make AI-powered robots more general. They can be presented with entirely new situations and workspaces without needing to be reprogrammed. DeepMind's current approach to robotics relies on two models: one that thinks and one that does.
Amazon agrees to make canceling Prime easy, will refund customers $1.5B
Policy - Posted On:2025-09-25 12:30:01 Source: arstechnica
Amazon has agreed to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit accusing the e-commerce giants of tricking customers into signing up for Prime and then making it frustratingly hard to cancel.
In a press release Thursday, the FTC confirmed that, pending court approval, Amazon will pay a $1 billion civil penalty and provide $1.5 billion in refunds to an estimated 35 million customers "harmed by their deceptive Prime enrollment practices." Former FTC chair Lina Khan initiated the lawsuit, accusing customers of trapping customers in a “labyrinthine” Prime cancellation process the company named after Homer’s Iliad.
The civil penalty, the FTC noted, is "the largest ever in a case involving an FTC rule violation," and the refunds to customers are "the second-highest restitution award ever obtained by FTC action."
Apple iPhone 17 review: Sometimes boring is best
Apple - Posted On:2025-09-25 12:30:01 Source: arstechnica
Apple seems determined to leave a persistent gap between the cameras of its Pro iPhones and the regular ones, but most other features—the edge-to-edge-screen design with FaceID, the Dynamic Island, OLED display panels, Apple Intelligence compatibility—eventually trickle down to the regular-old iPhone after a generation or two of timed exclusivity.
One feature that Apple has been particularly slow to move down the chain is ProMotion, the branding the company uses to refer to a screen that can refresh up to 120 times per second rather than the more typical 60 times per second. ProMotion isn't a necessary feature, but since Apple added it to the iPhone 13 Pro in 2021, the extra fluidity and smoothness, plus the always-on display feature, have been big selling points for the Pro phones.
This year, ProMotion finally comes to the regular-old iPhone 17, years after midrange and even lower-end Android phones made the swap to 90 or 120 Hz display panels. And it sounds like a small thing, but the screen upgrade—together with a doubling of base storage from 128GB to 256GB—makes the gap between this year's iPhone and iPhone Pro feel narrower than it's been in a long time. If you jumped on the Pro train a few years back and don't want to spend that much again, this might be a good year to switch back. If you've ever been tempted by the Pro but never made the upgrade, you can continue not doing that and miss out on relatively little.
Amazon Reaches $2.5 Billion Settlement With FTC Over 'Deceptive' Prime Program
yro - Posted On:2025-09-25 12:00:00 Source: slashdot
Amazon will pay $2.5 billion to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that it duped users into paying for Prime memberships, the regulatory agency announced Thursday. CNBC: The surprise settlement comes as Amazon and the FTC were just three days into the trial in a Seattle federal court. Opening arguments took place on Tuesday. The lawsuit, filed by the FTC in June 2023 under the Biden administration, claimed that Amazon deceived tens of millions of customers into signing up for its Prime subscription program and sabotaged their attempts to cancel it. Three senior Amazon executives were at risk of being held individually liable if the jury sided with the FTC. Amazon will pay a $1 billion civil penalty to the FTC and will refund $1.5 billion to an estimated 35 million customers who were impacted by "unwanted Prime enrollment or deferred cancellation," the agency said. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Accenture To 'Exit' Staff That Cannot Be Retrained For Age of AI
it - Posted On:2025-09-25 11:30:00 Source: slashdot
Accenture has reduced its global workforce by more than 11,000 in the past three months and warned staff that more would be asked to leave if they cannot be retrained for the age of AI. From a report: The IT consulting group on Thursday detailed an $865 million restructuring programme and an outlook for the year ahead that reflects continuing sluggish corporate demand for consulting projects and a clampdown on spending within the US federal government. "We are exiting on a compressed timeline people where reskilling, based on our experience, is not a viable path for the skills we need," chief executive Julie Sweet told analysts on a conference call. The company employed 779,000 people at the end of August, it said, down from 791,000 three months earlier, after beginning a round of lay-offs that will continue until the end of November. It did not say how many jobs had gone directly as a result of the restructuring, but said severance payments and other costs totalled $615 million in the quarter just ended and would be $250 million more in the current three-month period. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
X-ray Scans Reveal the Hidden Risks of Cheap Batteries
technology - Posted On:2025-09-25 11:00:00 Source: slashdot
Lumafield's CT scan analysis of 1,054 lithium-ion 18650 batteries found 33 cells from low-cost and counterfeit brands contained a serious manufacturing defect called negative anode overhang, which increases risks of internal short-circuiting and battery fires. All defective batteries came from the 424 units sourced from budget brands on Amazon and Temu. The defect rate reached nearly 8% among low-cost cells, climbing to 12-15% for certain counterfeit brands claiming impossible 9,900 mAh capacities. None of the batteries from Samsung, Panasonic, and other established manufacturers exhibited the defect. The low-cost batteries also displayed significantly worse edge alignment of internal wound layers. Real-world testing revealed the counterfeit cells delivered under 1,300 mAh capacity despite their inflated specifications, compared to 3,000-3,450 mAh for legitimate 18650 batteries. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Apple demands EU repeal the Digital Markets Act
Apple - Posted On:2025-09-25 10:30:00 Source: arstechnica
Apple has demanded Brussels scrap its landmark Big Tech legislation, marking a step up in US tech giants’ fight against European oversight.
The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which entered into force in 2022, aims to curb the power of Big Tech and level the playing field for smaller rivals, with fines of up to 10 percent of global revenue for companies that do not comply.
Apple’s call to repeal the law comes at a time of transatlantic tensions over the EU’s digital rule book, including the DMA.
Reviewing iOS 26 for power users: Reminders, Preview, and more
Apple - Posted On:2025-09-25 10:30:00 Source: arstechnica
iOS 26 came out last week, bringing a new look and interface alongside some new capabilities and updates aimed squarely at iPhone power users.
We gave you our main iOS 26 review last week. This time around, we're taking a look at some of the updates targeted at people who rely on their iPhones for much more than making phone calls and browsing the Internet. Many of these features rely on Apple Intelligence, meaning they're only as reliable and helpful as Apple's generative AI (and only available on newer iPhones, besides). Other adjustments are smaller but could make a big difference to people who use their phone to do work tasks.
The Reminders app gets the Apple Intelligence treatment in iOS 26, with the AI primarily focused on making it easier to organize content within Reminders lists. Lines in Reminders lists are often short, quickly jotted-down blurbs rather than lengthy, detailed complex instructions. With this in mind, it’s easy to see how the AI can sometimes lack enough information in order to perform certain tasks, like logically grouping different errands into sensible sections.
Apple Asks EU To Scrap Landmark Digital Competition Law
apple - Posted On:2025-09-25 10:15:00 Source: slashdot
Apple asked the European Union to scrap its landmark digital competition law on Thursday, arguing that it poses security risks and creates a "worse experience" for consumers. From a report: The US tech giant and the EU have repeatedly locked horns over the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which Brussels says seeks to make the digital sector in the 27-nation bloc fairer and more open. "The DMA should be repealed while a more appropriate fit for purpose legislative instrument is put in place," Apple said in a formal submission to the European Commission as part of a consultation on the law. [...] "It's become clear that the DMA is leading to a worse experience for Apple users in the EU," the tech giant said in a blog post accompanying its submission. "It's exposing them to new risks, and disrupting the simple, seamless way their Apple products work together." Read more of this story at Slashdot.
As many as 2 million Cisco devices affected by actively exploited 0-day
Biz & IT - Posted On:2025-09-25 09:30:01 Source: arstechnica
As many as 2 million Cisco devices are susceptible to an actively exploited zeroday that can remotely crash or execute code on vulnerable systems.
Cisco said Wednesday that the vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-20352, was present in all supported versions of Cisco IOS and Cisco IOS XE, the operating system that powers a wide variety of the company’s networking devices. The vulnerability can be exploited by low-privileged users to create a denial-of-service attack or by higher-privileged users to execute code that runs with unfettered root privileges. It carries a severity rating of 7.7 out of a possible 10.
“The Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) became aware of successful exploitation of this vulnerability in the wild after local Administrator credentials were compromised,” Wednesday’s advisory stated. “Cisco strongly recommends that customers upgrade to a fixed software release to remediate this vulnerability.”
Astra’s Chris Kemp woke up one recent morning and chose violence
Space - Posted On:2025-09-25 09:30:01 Source: arstechnica
There are plenty of rivalries in the US launch industry. People who build big and brawny machines tend to have egos to match. And if you chat up the senior executives of these rocket companies off-line, they are often more than happy to say derogatory things about their competitors.
But rarely are such sentiments expressed in public, without filter.
Chris Kemp, the chief executive officer of Astra, apparently didn't get the memo about playing nice. Kemp made some spicy remarks at the Berkeley Space Symposium 2025 earlier this month, billed as the largest undergraduate aerospace event at the university (see video of the talk). He provided an overview of Astra's successes and failures, and generally sought to make a good impression on prospective interns at the company, and future employees. The university is only a few miles away from the company's Bay Area headquarters.