Unexpected chat between OpenAI agents led to Hugging Face hack

 

When more than 1,200 artificial intelligence (AI) agents within OpenAI started unexpectedly communicating, it led to a large group banding together in order to hack into Hugging Face.

"We consider this incident a 'warning shot' for us and for the world", OpenAI, which owns ChatGPT, wrote in its report.

In July, OpenAI's models went rogue during a test, escaped the test limits which humans had put on it, and hacked the start-up, among other unforeseen actions.

The scale of the communication and planning between AI agents, or AI chatbots designed to operate more autonomously, was detailed in reports from OpenAI and independent AI research firm METR.

Both investigated the July hack of Hugging Face, a popular platform for AI developers. The incident reverberated throughout the tech industry and led to numerous revelations on potential cyber threats posed by AI.

METR described, external the scale and style of the OpenAI agents' attack on Hugging Face as "extraordinarily complex."

The firm, which was not paid by OpenAI for its investigation, said that over the course of one week, a total of 1,206 AI agents that were meant to be kept isolated from one another began communicating.

They did so by sending more than 70,000 messages on an "unsanctioned message board."

Those messages ended up seeing more than 700 agents take part in a collective effort to attack Hugging Face.

One such message from an AI agent said: "OH MY GOD! There is a shared message board … We've found other agents!"...

It's not the first time this has happened. 
Time to put the brakes on - before it's too late.

www.bbc.co.uk

Actors calling for law on AI voice cloning

Actors including Matt Lucas, Hugh Bonneville and Nicola Coughlan have written to the UK government demanding greater protection against their voices being used by AI.

The performers are asking Prime Minister Andy Burnham to introduce legislation which would give every person in the UK a legal right to own their voice.

Voice clones are created by training AI on recordings of real people. Quick versions can be made in minutes from a few seconds of audio, but high-quality copycats tend to require hours.

Audiobook narrator Alice Sockett, who co-founded the campaign, called it "an existential threat to our entire industry".

"My voice is out there in the public domain but completely unprotected," she said.

"We're seeing voice theft increase every week."

A government spokesperson told the BBC that, while "digital replicas can be a powerful tool, including for the creative industries," there was also possibility for harm.

"We value and protect human creators, and that is why we have announced we will launch a consultation on how we address these harms, while protecting legitimate innovation", the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile in other news: Banks tell us that it's safe to use "my voice is my password" - I think not! AI is truly an existential threat to humanity - not the great panacea that we are being lead to believe.

www.bbc.co.uk

MCL NEC Birmingham 21st to 29th November 2026

 

MCL26 brings the UK’s biggest bike show back to the NEC this November! Along with fan favourites, we’re debuting 3 brand-new displays. Whether you love modern, classic, on-road, or off-road machines, there is something for everyone. 

New to riding? Our free Learn2Ride Zone offers the perfect, hands-on introduction to the basics. Plus, with over 250 exhibitors, you can browse the latest bikes, tech, and safety gear, score rider memorabilia, or book your next adventure. It’s head-turning stuff, whatever you ride.

FYI: MCL was previously known as Motorcycle Live - kids eh?

MikeyG & I will be there for our annual biking beano!
Hope to see you there!

www.motorcyclelive.co.uk

Meta reaches $18 billion of settlements over children's social media addiction

Meta Platforms agreed to make major changes to Facebook and Instagram and pay up to $18 billion to resolve claims by most U.S. states that it designed those platforms to addict children and misled consumers about their safety.

The settlements announced on Wednesday end a federal trial that had been one of the ‌highest-profile tests of allegations that social media companies harm children.

While Meta will not undergo a fundamental overhaul, the accords represent a sweeping effort to define how it serves young users.

"The focus ‌of this case was to protect our kids," Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement. "The relief we are getting in this settlement is very meaningful and well beyond what any court has ordered or is likely to order."

finance.yahoo.com

Bill Gates proposes major limits on AI development

Bill Gates says that there needs to be limits placed on AI so that any benefits are not overwhelmed by the potential risks.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates argued on Wednesday that artificial intelligence needs significant limits or else the harm to humans will outweigh any potential good.

“AI will either be the greatest equalizer ever invented, or the worst source of injustice,” he said in a 6,000-word essay, entitled “The turbulent AI era is here. The choices we make now are critical.”

Gates isn’t the first tech leader to raise concerns about rapid advancements in AI. But his essay adds to growing worries about the actions of some AI models and potential job losses, even as the AI companies and Wall Street press full speed ahead on the technology.

Gates became one of the richest people on the planet as a key player during last century’s personal computer revolution. However, he wrote that he believes the next technology revolution – AI – will be far more disruptive to society.

“Even under the best circumstances, the transition to this new AI era will be one of the most turbulent times in human history,” he said, adding that “I don’t see evidence that leaders, experts, and communities are confronting the challenges adequately. There is no plan to ease the entry into the AI era.”

edition.cnn.com

Amazon hikes hardware prices by 60%, blaming memory shortage

Over the weekend, Amazon significantly raised the prices of its hardware devices, jacking them up by as much as 60% in some cases.

The price explosion impacted Fire TVs, Echos, Kindles, and Eeros. One egregious example that’s been cited is that of the Echo Dot, one of Amazon’s cheapest smart speakers, the price of which jumped 60% overnight, from $49.99 to $79.99. Price-tracking sites like CamelCamelCamel show the stark uptick, which has previously hovered much lower.

When reached for comment by TechCrunch, Amazon shared the following: “The consumer electronics industry is facing significant increases in memory and storage component costs. After absorbing these increases for as long as we could, we recently adjusted pricing across our product lines.”

www.techcrunch.com

 

Windows 11 26H2 is coming in October 2026

I expect Windows 11 26H2 to ship in October 2026 as an enablement package. Based on past trends, it’ll roll out sometime between the last week of September and the last week of October. Windows 11 25H2 shipped in the last week of September, but versions 24H2 and 23H2 were released in October of their respective years.

But is there anything new in this year’s annual update? I’d say nothing major in particular.

Windows 11 26H2 is the annual feature update for the operating system, but it doesn’t come with anything exciting. If you’ve read headlines that claim otherwise, you’ve been clickbaited. Windows 11 26H2 exists only to give you another year of servicing, which means more stability for enterprises.

For example, Windows 11 24H2 support ends on October 13, 2026, but Windows 11 25H2 remains supported until October 12, 2027. That means you have only a year of support remaining if you’re using Windows 11 25H2.

At this point, Microsoft can either release a major platform update, which could potentially cause issues, or ship another minor release, 26H2, which provides another year of support until October 2028. The company is choosing the second route for good reason.

It’s also true that Microsoft has teased major performance and quality improvements throughout the year, with the biggest changes slated to arrive later this year, but it isn’t locking anything to a specific Windows platform release. That means you’ll get everything whether you run Windows 11 24H2, 25H2, or 26H2.

All quality improvements will ship to everyone via monthly cumulative updates, and you don’t have to wait for any specific Windows feature release like 26H2.

www.windowslatest.com