The Register's Tobias Mann reports:

> Supermicro shares took a nose dive on Wednesday, sliding more than 30 percent after the accounting firm hired to review its reporting practices resigned after [1]determining they were just a bit too sketchy to warrant the risk . "We are resigning due to information that has recently come to our attention which has led us to no longer be able to rely on management's and audit committee's representations," Ernst & Young wrote in a resignation letter, which also raised alarm bells regarding Supermicro CEO Charles Liang's influence over the board. The concerns, [2]disclosed in a recent SEC filing, only serve to stoke the fires of [3]controversy surrounding Supermicro , which, after more than two months, still hasn't filed its 10-K annual report and faces the possibility of being de-listed from the Nasdaq as a result. [...]

>

> EY's resignation apparently came months after it raised concerns with management regarding the "governance, transparency, and completeness of" Supermicro's financial reporting, and warned that the release of the server maker's annual report was at significant risk. In response, Supermicro's board appointed an independent special committee and hired Cooley and forensic accounting firm Secretariat Advisors to review its internal controls and governance procedures. It seems EY was not too pleased with the special committee's findings which apparently raised yet more red flags. "After receiving additional information through the Review process, EY informed the special committee that the additional information EY received raised questions, including about whether the Company demonstrates a commitment to integrity and ethical values," the SEC filing reads.



[1] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/30/supermicro_audit_ey_quit/

[2] https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001375365/76575d70-d149-4c81-a282-2b74b497f8c3.html

[3] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/09/26/211247/us-justice-department-probes-super-micro-computer

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Intercept:

> Less than a year after OpenAI quietly signaled it wanted to do business with the Pentagon, a procurement document obtained by The Intercept shows U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, believes access to OpenAI's technology is "essential" for its mission. The [1]September 30 document lays out AFRICOM's rationale for buying cloud computing services directly from Microsoft as part of its $9 billion Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract, rather than seeking another provider on the open market. "The USAFRICOM operates in a dynamic and evolving environment where IT plays a critical role in achieving mission objectives," the document reads, including "its vital mission in support of our African Mission Partners [and] USAFRICOM joint exercises."

>

> The document, labeled Controlled Unclassified Information, is marked as FEDCON, indicating it is not meant to be distributed beyond government or contractors. It shows AFRICOM's request was approved by the Defense Information Systems Agency. While the price of the purchase is redacted, the approval document notes its value is less than $15 million. Like the rest of the Department of Defense, AFRICOM -- which oversees the Pentagon's operations across Africa, including local military cooperation with U.S. allies there -- has an increasing appetite for cloud computing. The Defense Department already purchases cloud computing access from Microsoft via the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability project. This new document reflects AFRICOM's desire to bypass contracting red tape and buy immediatelyMicrosoft Azure cloud services, including OpenAI software, without considering other vendors. AFRICOM states that the "ability to support advanced AI/ML workloads is crucial. This includes services for search, natural language processing, [machine learning], and unified analytics for data processing." And according to AFRICOM, Microsoft's Azure cloud platform, which includes a suite of tools provided by OpenAI, is the only cloud provider capable of meeting its needs.

>

> Microsoft began selling OpenAI's GPT-4 large language model to defense customers in June 2023. Earlier this year, following the revelation that OpenAI had [2]changed its mind on military work, the company announced a cybersecurity collaboration with DARPA in January and said its tools would be used for an unspecified veteran suicide prevention initiative. In April, Microsoft pitched the Pentagon on using DALL-E, OpenAI's image generation tool, for command and control software. But the AFRICOM document marks the [3]first confirmed purchase of OpenAI's products by a U.S. combatant command whose mission is one of killing . OpenAI's stated corporate mission remains "to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity." The AFRICOM document marks the first confirmed purchase of OpenAI's products by a U.S. combatant command whose mission is one of killing.

"Without access to Microsoft's integrated suite of AI tools and services, USAFRICOM would face significant challenges in analyzing and extracting actionable insights from vast amounts of data," reads the AFRICOM document. "This could lead to delays in decision-making, compromised situational awareness, and decreased agility in responding to dynamic and evolving threats across the African continent." The document contains little information about how exactly the OpenAI tools will be used.



[1] https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25252885-ja24-149-africom-cloud-computing-ja_redacted

[2] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/01/12/202225/openai-quietly-deletes-ban-on-using-chatgpt-for-military-and-warfare

[3] https://theintercept.com/2024/10/25/africom-microsoft-openai-military/

An anonymous reader writes:

> Firewalk Studios, whom Sony Interactive Entertainment bought from Probably Monsters, [1]has been shut down after disastrous Concord game launch.

Kotaku adds:

> The team was responsible for Concord, the company's sci-fi hero shooter that bombed so badly it was taken offline just weeks after its launch earlier this year. The news comes less than two years after the PlayStation 5 maker first acquired Firewalk Studios as part of its ambitious plans for live service gaming.

>

> Firewalk Studios was formed in 2018 as a few ex-Bungie developers working on a new multiplayer shooter under the umbrella of the gaming studio startup Probably Monsters, formed by ex-Bungie CEO Harold Ryan. Concord was in development for years and picked up by Sony early on as a promising prospect for its portfolio of planned live service games.



[1] https://kotaku.com/firewalk-studios-concord-ps5-sony-live-service-shutdown-1851684290

Simon Sharwood, [1]reporting for The Register :

> Organisers of WordCamps, community-organized events for WordPress users, have been ordered to take down some social media posts and share their login credentials for social networks. The order to share creds came from an employee of Automattic, the WordPress host whose CEO happens to be Matt Mullenweg, co-creator of WordPress.

>

> A letter sent to WordCamp organizers explains that the creds are needed due to "recurrent issues with new organizing teams losing access to the event's social media accounts." So far, so sensible. But the requirement to share creds comes in the middle of a nasty spat in the WordPress community, sparked by Mullenweg's efforts to have rival hosting biz WP Engine license the WordPress trademark or devote more staff to working on the open source content management system's code.



[1] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/28/wordcamp_password_sharing_requirement/

Apple has boosted the default RAM to 16GB across its MacBook Air lineup while maintaining existing prices. The memory upgrade [1]affects both M2 and M3 models , with base prices staying at $999 for M2, $1,099 for 13-inch M3, and $1,299 for 15-inch M3 versions. The move comes as AI features demand increased memory capacity.



[1] https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/every-macbook-air-now-starts-with-16gb-of-ram-at-no-extra-cost-150041320.html

Canada is [1]bracing for Indian government-backed hacking as the two nations' diplomatic relationship nosedives to its lowest ebb in a generation. From a report:

> "We judge that official bilateral relations between Canada and India will very likely drive Indian state-sponsored cyber threat activity against Canada," the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security said in its annual threat report published Wednesday, adding that such hackers are probably already conducting cyber-espionage.

>

> This month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet and Canadian police have ramped up a remarkable campaign of public condemnations against India, accusing Narendra Modi's officials of backing a wave of violence and extortion against Canadians on Canadian soil -- particularly those who agitate for carving out a separate Sikh state in India called Khalistan. India has rejected the accusations and believes some Khalistan activists to be terrorists harbored by Canada.



[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-30/canada-predicts-hacking-from-india-as-diplomatic-feud-escalates

An anonymous reader shares a report:

> A disgruntled former Disney employee allegedly repeatedly hacked into a third-party menu creation software used by Walt Disney World's restaurants and [1]changed allergy information on menus to say that foods that had peanuts in them were safe for people with allergies, added profanity to menus, and at one point changed all fonts used on menus to Wingdings, according to a federal criminal complaint.

>

> The suspect in the case, Michael Scheuer, broke into a proprietary menu creation and inventory system that was developed by a third-party company exclusively for Disney and is used to print menus for its restaurants, the complaint alleges. The complaint alleges he did this soon after being fired by Disney using passwords that he still had access to on several different systems. Once inside the systems, he allegedly altered menus and, in once case, broke the software for several weeks.

>

> "The threat actor manipulated the allergen information on menus by adding information to some allergen notifications that indicated certain menu items were safe for individuals with peanut allergies, when in fact they could be deadly to those with peanut allergies," the criminal complaint states. According to the complaint, the menus were caught by Disney after they were printed but before they were distributed to Disney restaurants. Disney's menus have extensive "allergy friendly" sections.



[1] https://www.404media.co/fired-employee-allegedly-hacked-disney-worlds-menu-system-to-alter-peanut-allergy-information/

Dropbox is [1]letting go 20% of its workforce as the cloud company undergoes what CEO Drew Houston calls a "transitional period." From a report:

> In a letter to staff, Houston said that the reduction in headcount would impact 528 people. The goal, he added, was to make cuts in areas where Dropbox has "over-invested" while designing a "flatter, more efficient" team structure.

>

> "As CEO, I take full responsibility for this decision and the circumstances that led to it, and I'm truly sorry to those impacted by this change," he wrote. "This market is moving fast and investors are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into this space. This both validates the opportunity we've been pursuing and underscores the need for even more urgency, even more aggressive investment, and decisive action." According to a filing with the SEC, Dropbox estimates it'll lay out total cash expenditures of $63 million to $68 million on the layoffs, primarily in the form of severance and benefits, and recognize $47 million to $52 million of incremental expense.



[1] https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/30/dropbox-is-laying-off-20-of-its-staff/

Visa customers with eligible debit cards will be able to deposit funds into their Coinbase accounts -- sometimes instantly -- [1]via a partnership announced by the payments giant and crypto exchange. From a report:

> Coinbase already has millions of connections to customers' debit cards but this new development allows for the real-time flow of funds for customers in the US and European Union, according to the Tuesday statement.

>

> Eligible Visa debit card holders can now "take advantage of trading opportunities day and night," said Yanilsa Gonzalez Ore, head of the Visa Direct business for North America. Visa, which powers the Coinbase debit card, said customers will also be able to buy cryptocurrencies on Coinbase with an eligible debit card and cash out their money from the platform to a bank account, also via the card.



[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-30/visa-coinbase-offer-real-time-crypto-purchases-via-debit-cards

In Reddit's [1]third-quarter earnings results , the company [2]reported a profit of $29.9 million , with $348.4 million in revenue -- a 68% increase year over year. The Verge reports:

> The company hasn't been profitable at any point in its nearly 20-year history. Since going public, Reddit lost $575 million during its first quarter on the market, but it decreased that loss to $10 million last quarter, and is now finally in the green. Reddit also grew to 97.2 million daily users over the past few months, marking a 47 percent increase from the same time last year. That number exceeded 100 million users on some days during the quarter, Reddit says.

>

> Reddit's advertising revenue grew to $315.1 million, while "other" revenue reached $33.2 million on account of "data licensing agreements signed earlier this year." Both Google and OpenAI have [3]cut deals with Reddit to train their AI models on its posts.



[1] https://investor.redditinc.com/news-events/news-releases/news-details/2024/Reddit-Announces-Third-Quarter-2024-Results/

[2] https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/29/24283056/reddit-earnings-user-growth-revenue-up

[3] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/02/17/2136225/reddit-has-reportedly-signed-over-its-content-to-train-ai-models

A Russian court has [1]fined Google an astronomical sum of around $20 decillion for YouTube's blocking of Russian media channels tied to sanctioned entities. The amount compounds weekly as Google continues to disregard the ruling. The Register reports:

> To put that into perspective, the World Bank estimates global GDP as around $100 trillion, which is peanuts compared to the prospective fine. Google might be one of the most valuable businesses on the planet, but even if Sundar Pichai rummages around the back of the sofa he won't be able to raise the funds to pay the penalty. The bizarre amount has been calculated after a four-year court case that started after YouTube banned the ultra-nationalist Russian channel Tsargrad in 2020 in response to the US sanctions imposed against its owner. Following Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022 more channels were added to the banned list and 17 stations are now suing the Chocolate Factory, including Zvezda (a TV channel owned by Putin's Ministry of Defence), according to local media.

>

> "Google was called by a Russian court to administrative liability under Art. 13.41 of the Administrative Offenses Code for removing channels on the YouTube platform. The court ordered the company to restore these channels," lawyer Ivan Morozov [2]told state media outlet TASS. The court imposed a fine of 100 thousand rubles ($1,025) per day, with the total fine doubling every week. Owing to compound interest (Einstein's [3]eighth wonder of the world), Google is now on the hook for an insane amount of money, or what the judge on Monday called "a case in which there are many, many zeros."



[1] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/29/russian_court_fines_google/

[2] https://tass.com/economy/1864291

[3] https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/this-is-the-8th-wonder-of-the-world-according-to-albert-einstein.-and-utilizing-it#:~:text=Einstein's%20observation,some%20wisdom%20in%20that%20assertin

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the European Space Agency:

> White dots arranged in five clusters [1]against a black background (PNG). This is the simulated extraterrestrial signal transmitted from Mars and [2]deciphered by a father and a daughter on Earth after a year-long decoding effort. On June 7, 2024, media artist Daniela de Paulis received this simple, retro-looking image depicting five amino acids in her inbox. It was the solution to a cosmic puzzle beamed from ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) in May 2023, when the European spacecraft [3]played alien as part of the multidisciplinary art project ' [4]A Sign in Space .' After three radio astronomy observatories on Earth intercepted the signal, the challenge was first to extract the message from the raw data of the radio signal, and secondly to decode it. In just 10 days, a community of 5000 citizen scientists gathered online and managed to extract the signal. The second task took longer and required some visionary minds.

>

> US citizens Ken and Keli Chaffin cracked the code following their intuition and running simulations for hours and days on end. The father and daughter team discovered that the message contained movement, suggesting some sort of cellular formation and life forms. Amino acids and proteins are the building blocks of life. Now that the cryptic signal has been deciphered, the quest for meaning begins. The interpretation of the message, like any art piece, remains open. Daniela crafted the message with a small group of astronomers and computer scientists, with support from ESA, the SETI Institute and the Green Bank Observatory. The artist and collaborators behind the project are now taking a step back and witnessing how citizen scientists are shaping the challenge on their own.



[1] https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2024/10/alien_signal_decoded/26383842-1-eng-GB/Alien_signal_decoded_pillars.png

[2] https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2024/10/Alien_signal_decoded

[3] https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/ESA_plays_alien_in_art_project_pondering_life_beyond_Earth

[4] https://asignin.space/

GitHub Copilot will switch from using exclusively OpenAI's GPT models to a multi-model approach, [1]adding Anthropic's Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Google's Gemini 1.5 Pro . Ars Technica reports:

> First, Anthropic's Claude 3.5 Sonnet will roll out to Copilot Chat's web and VS Code interfaces over the next few weeks. Google's Gemini 1.5 Pro will come a bit later. Additionally, GitHub will soon add support for a wider range of OpenAI models, including GPT o1-preview and o1-mini, which are intended to be stronger at advanced reasoning than GPT-4, which Copilot has used until now. Developers will be able to switch between the models (even mid-conversation) to tailor the model to fit their needs -- and organizations will be able to choose which models will be usable by team members.

>

> The new approach makes sense for users, as certain models are better at certain languages or types of tasks. "There is no one model to rule every scenario," [2]wrote [GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke]. "It is clear the next phase of AI code generation will not only be defined by multi-model functionality, but by multi-model choice." It starts with the web-based and VS Code Copilot Chat interfaces, but it won't stop there. "From Copilot Workspace to multi-file editing to code review, security autofix, and the CLI, we will bring multi-model choice across many of GitHub Copilot's surface areas and functions soon," Dohmke wrote. There are a handful of additional changes coming to GitHub Copilot, too, including extensions, the ability to manipulate multiple files at once from a chat with VS Code, and a preview of Xcode support.

GitHub also introduced "Spark," a natural language-based app development tool that enables both non-coders and coders to create and refine applications using conversational prompts. It's currently in an early preview phase, with [3]a waitlist available for those who are interested.



[1] https://arstechnica.com/ai/2024/10/github-copilot-moves-beyond-openai-models-to-support-claude-3-5-gemini/

[2] https://github.blog/news-insights/product-news/bringing-developer-choice-to-copilot/

[3] https://github.com/github_spark_waitlist_signup/join

The BBC [1]interviewed scientists Charley Kline and Bill Duvall 55 years after the first communications were made over a system called Arpanet, short for the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network. "Kline and Duvall were early inventors of networking, networks that would ultimately lead to what is today the Internet," writes longtime Slashdot reader [2]dbialac . "Duvall had basic ideas what might come of the networks, but they had no idea of how much of a phenomenon it would turn into." Here's an excerpt from the interview:

> BBC: What did you expect Arpanet to become?

> Duvall: "I saw the work we were doing at SRI as a critical part of a larger vision, that of information workers connected to each other and sharing problems, observations, documents and solutions. What we did not see was the commercial adoption nor did we anticipate the phenomenon of social media and the associated disinformation plague. Although, it should be noted, that in [SRI computer scientist] Douglas Engelbart's [3]1962 treatise describing the overall vision, he notes that the capabilities we were creating would trigger profound change in our society, and it would be necessary to simultaneously use and adapt the tools we were creating to address the problems which would arise from their use in society."

>

> What aspects of the internet today remind you of Arpanet?

> Duvall: Referring to the larger vision which was being created in Engelbart's group (the mouse, full screen editing, links, etc.), the internet today is a logical evolution of those ideas enhanced, of course, by the contributions of many bright and innovative people and organisations.

>

> Kline: The ability to use resources from others. That's what we do when we use a website. We are using the facilities of the website and its programs, features, etc. And, of course, email. The Arpanet pretty much created the concept of routing and multiple paths from one site to another. That got reliability in case a communication line failed. It also allowed increases in communication speeds by using multiple paths simultaneously. Those concepts have carried over to the internet. Today, the site of the first internet transmission at UCLA's Boetler Hally Room 3420 functions as a monument to technology history (Credit: Courtesy of UCLA) As we developed the communications protocols for the Arpanet, we discovered problems, redesigned and improved the protocols and learned many lessons that carried over to the Internet. TCP/IP [the basic standard for internet connection] was developed both to interconnect networks, in particular the Arpanet with other networks, and also to improve performance, reliability and more.

>

> How do you feel about this anniversary?

> Kline: That's a mix. Personally, I feel it is important, but a little overblown. The Arpanet and what sprang from it are very important. This particular anniversary to me is just one of many events. I find somewhat more important than this particular anniversary were the decisions by Arpa to build the Network and continue to support its development.

>

> Duvall: It's nice to remember the origin of something like the internet, but the most important thing is the enormous amount of work that has been done since that time to turn it into what is a major part of societies worldwide.



[1] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20241028-the-failure-that-started-the-internet

[2] https://slashdot.org/~dbialac

[3] https://www.dougengelbart.org/content/view/138

Google has integrated AI deeply across its operations, with [1]over 25% of its new code generated by AI . CEO Sundar Pichai [2]announced the milestone during the company's third quarter 2024 earnings call. The Verge reports:

> AI is helping Google make money as well. Alphabet reported $88.3 billion in revenue for the quarter, with Google Services (which includes Search) revenue of $76.5 billion, up 13 percent year-over-year, and Google Cloud (which includes its AI infrastructure products for other companies) revenue of $11.4 billion, up 35 percent year-over-year. Operating incomes were also strong. Google Services hit $30.9 billion, up from $23.9 billion last year, and Google Cloud hit $1.95 billion, significantly up from last year's $270 million.

"In Search, our new AI features are expanding what people can search for and how they search for it," CEO Sundar Pichai says in a statement. "In Cloud, our AI solutions are helping drive deeper product adoption with existing customers, attract new customers and win larger deals. And YouTube's total ads and subscription revenues surpassed $50 billion over the past four quarters for the first time."



[1] https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/29/24282757/google-new-code-generated-ai-q3-2024

[2] https://blog.google/inside-google/message-ceo/alphabet-earnings-q3-2024/

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters:

> SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son reiterated his belief in the coming of artificial super intelligence (ASI) on Tuesday, saying it would require hundreds of billions of dollars of investment to realize. Artificial super intelligence will be 10,000 times smarter than a human brain and [1]will exist by 2035 , Son told an audience of global business, technology and finance leaders at a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Son said he is saving up funds "so I can make the next big move," but did not provide any details as to his investment plans. He predicted that generative AI will require $900 trillion dollars in cumulative capital expenditure in data centers and chips in the future, adding that he thought chip maker Nvidia was undervalued on this basis.



[1] https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/softbanks-son-says-artificial-super-intelligence-exist-by-2035-2024-10-29/

Phoronix's Michael Larabel reports:

> CVE-2024-9632 was made public today as the latest security vulnerability affecting the X.Org Server. The CVE-2024-9632 security issue has been [1]present in the codebase now for 18 years and can lead to local privilege escalation. Introduced in the X.Org Server 1.1.1 release back in 2006, CVE-2024-9632 affects the X.Org Server as well as XWayland too. By providing a modified bitmap to the X.Org Server, a heap-based buffer overflow privilege escalation can occur.

>

> This security issue is within _XkbSetCompatMap() and stems from not updating the heap size properly and can lead to local privilege escalation if the server is run as root or as a remote code execution with X11 over SSH.

You can read the security advisory announcement [2]here .



[1] https://www.phoronix.com/news/X.Org-CVE-2024-9632

[2] https://lists.x.org/archives/xorg-announce/2024-October/003545.html

OpenAI is [1]partnering with Broadcom and TSMC to design its first in-house AI chip while supplementing its infrastructure with AMD chips, aiming to diversify its reliance on Nvidia GPUs. "The company has dropped the ambitious foundry plans for now due to the costs and time needed to build a network, and plans instead to focus on in-house chip design effort," adds Reuters. From the report:

> OpenAI has been working for months with Broadcom to build its first AI chip focusing on inference, according to sources. Demand right now is greater for training chips, but analysts have predicted the need for inference chips could surpass them as more AI applications are deployed. Broadcom helps companies including Alphabet unit Google fine-tune chip designs for manufacturing and also supplies parts of the design that help move information on and off the chips quickly. This is important in AI systems where tens of thousands of chips are strung together to work in tandem. OpenAI is still determining whether to develop or acquire other elements for its chip design, and may engage additional partners, said two of the sources.

>

> The company has assembled a chip team of about 20 people, led by top engineers who have previously built Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) at Google, including Thomas Norrie and Richard Ho. Sources said that through Broadcom, OpenAI has secured manufacturing capacity with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to make its first custom-designed chip in 2026. They said the timeline could change. Currently, Nvidia's GPUs hold over 80% market share. But shortages and rising costs have led major customers like Microsoft, Meta, and now OpenAI, to explore in-house or external alternatives.



[1] https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/openai-builds-first-chip-with-broadcom-tsmc-scales-back-foundry-ambition-2024-10-29/

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch:

> LinkedIn, the social platform used by professionals to connect with others in their field, hunt for jobs, and develop skills, is taking the wraps off its latest effort to build artificial intelligence tools for users. [1]Hiring Assistant is a new product [2]designed to take on a wide array of recruitment tasks , from ingesting scrappy notes and thoughts to turn into longer job descriptions, through to sourcing candidates and engaging with them. LinkedIn is describing Hiring Assistant as a milestone in its AI trajectory: it is, per the Microsoft-owned company, its first "AI agent" And one that happens to be targeting one of LinkedIn's most lucrative categories of users (recruiters).

>

> LinkedIn said the AI assistant is now live with a "select group" of customers (large enterprises such as AMD, Canva, Siemens and Zurich Insurance among them). It's slated to be rolling out more widely in the coming months. [...] "It's designed to take on a recruiter's most repetitive task so they can spend more time on the most impactful part of their jobs," Hari Srinivasan, LinkedIn's VP of product, said in an interview -- "a big statement," he admitted. The product includes the ability to upload full job descriptions, or just note what you want it to have, along with job postings that you like the look of from other companies or roles. In turn, that becomes a list of qualifications you're looking for, as well as an initial pipeline of candidates that you can interact with -- to look for more potential hires that are similar to some, or less like others -- with algorithms designed to search based on skills rather than other indicators (such as where a person lives or went to school), per Srinivasan.

>

> The AI assistant also integrates with third-party application tracking systems, although ultimately, the whole system is trained on LinkedIn data, which spans 1 billion users, 68 million companies and 41,000 skills. LinkedIn said Hiring Assistant is due to get more features soon, such as messaging and scheduling support for interviews, as well as handle follow-ups when candidates have questions before or after interviews. Basically the aim is for it to cover a lot of (time-consuming) admin-style tasks, plus take on some of the thinking, that recruiters have to do daily. Second, unlike many of the other AI features that LinkedIn has released, Hiring Assistant is very squarely aimed at LinkedIn's B2B business, the products it sells to the recruitment industry.

"We're really focused on making Hiring Assistant great," said Erran Berger, VP of engineering, in an interview. "This is all bleeding edge, and I mean everything from the experience and how our users are going to interact with it, to the technology that backs it. And so we're really focused on nailing that a lot of the technology we've built is applicable to problems that we're trying to solve for our members and customers. But right now, you know, we really just want to nail this, and then we can figure out where we go from there."



[1] https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/hiring-assistant

[2] https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/29/linkedin-launches-its-first-ai-agent-to-take-on-the-role-of-job-recruiters/

Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel outlined a vision for universal connectivity last week that [1]merges satellite and ground-based networks . The FCC recently became the first regulator to establish a framework for supplemental coverage from space (SCS). "Satellites may be in our skies, but they are the anchor tenant in our communications future," said Rosenworcel, calling for seamless integration of fiber, cellular, wireless, and satellite infrastructure into a unified network. The vision comes as the FCC's Affordable Connectivity Program recently ended due to funding depletion.



[1] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/29/fcc_chair_gives_a_taste/