The notice says that after releasing OpenMoxie, Embodied plans to release “all necessary code and documentation” for developers and users. Pirjanian said that an over-the-air (OTA) update is now available for download that will allow previously purchased Moxies to support OpenMoxie. The executive noted that Embodied is still “seeking long-term answers” but claimed that the update is a “vital first step” to “keep the door open” for the robot’s continued functionality.

At this time, OpenMoxie isn’t available and doesn’t have a release date. Embodied’s wording also seems careful to leave an opening for OpenMoxie to not actually release; although, the company seems optimistic. However, there’s also a risk of users failing to update their robots in time and properly. Embodied noted that it won’t be able to support users who have trouble with the update or with OpenMoxie post-release. Updating the robot includes connecting to Wi-Fi and leaving it on for at least an hour. “It is extremely important that you update your Moxie with this OTA as soon as possible because once the cloud servers stop working you will not be able to update your robot,” the document reads. Embodied hasn’t said when exactly its cloud servers still stop working.

NASA awarded Axiom Space a contract in 2020 to attach one or more modules to the International Space Station (ISS), which is set to retire by 2030 at the earliest. The original plan called for Axiom to detach a multi-module group from the ISS, creating a commercial outpost in low Earth orbit that will continue operating after the ISS is gone. But that plan has now been altered.

To create its space station, Axiom plans to launch five modules: a payload/power/thermal element, an airlock, a research/manufacturing hub, and a pair of habitat modules. The original plan was for Axiom to launch the Habitat 1 module to the ISS first, followed by the additional elements. The new assembly sequence will see the Payload, Power and Thermal module launch to the ISS first. This module could detach from the station — and become a free flyer called Axiom Station — as soon as 2028, according to the company. After that happens, Axiom will continue assembling the outpost, launching the Habitat 1 module to meet up with it. Habitat 1 will be followed by the airlock, the Habitat 2 module, and then the research and manufacturing facility.

Malaysia has agreed to resume the search for the wreckage of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, its transport minister said on Friday, more than 10 years after it disappeared in one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries. Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.

[…] MH370’s last transmission was about 40 minutes after it took off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing. The pilots signed off as the plane entered Vietnamese air space over the Gulf of Thailand and soon after its transponder was turned off.

In Radicalized, one of four novellas comprising a science fiction novel of the same name, Doctorow charts the journey of a man who joins an online forum for fathers whose partners or children have been denied healthcare coverage by their insurers after his wife is diagnosed with breast cancer and denied coverage for an experimental treatment. Slowly, over the course of the story, the men of the forum become radicalized by their grief and begin plotting — and executing — murders of health insurance executives and politicians who vote against universal healthcare.

In the wake of the December 4 shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, which unleashed a wave of outrage at the U.S. health system, Doctorow’s novella has been called prescient. When the American Prospect magazine republished the story last week, it wrote: “It is being republished with permission for reasons that will become clear if you read it.” But Doctorow doesn’t think he was on to something that no one else in the U.S. understood. […]

In one part of the story, a man whose young daughter died after an insurance company refused to pay for brain surgery bombs the insurer’s headquarters. “It’s not vengeance. I don’t have a vengeful bone in my body. Nothing I do will bring Lisa back, so why would I want revenge? This is a public service. There’s another dad just like me,” he shares in a video message on the forum. “And right now, that dad is talking to someone at Cigna, or Humana, or BlueCross BlueShield, and the person on the phone is telling that dad that his little girl has. To. Die. Someone in that building made the decision to kill my little girl, and everyone else in that building went along with it. Not one of them is innocent, and not one of them is afraid. They’re going to be afraid, after this.”

“Because they must know in their hearts,” he goes on. “Them, their lobbyists, the men in Congress who enabled them. They’re parents. They know. Anyone who hurt their precious children, they’d hunt that person down like a dog. The only amazing thing about any of this is that no one has done it yet. I’m going to make a prediction right now, that even though I’m the first, I sure as hell will not be the last. There’s more to come.”

Developers are continually coming up with new ways to verify humans. Some systems, like Google’s ReCaptcha v3 (introduced in 2018), don’t ask you to solve puzzles anymore. Instead, they watch how you interact with a website. Do you move your cursor naturally? Do you type like a person? Humans have subtle, imperfect behaviors that bots still struggle to mimic. Not everyone likes ReCaptcha v3 because it raises privacy issues — plus the web company needs to assess user scores to determine who is a bot, and the bots can beat the system anyway. There are alternatives that use similar logic, such as "slider” puzzles that ask users to move jigsaw pieces around, but these too can be overcome.

Some websites are now turning to biometrics to verify humans, such as fingerprint scans or voice recognition, while face ID is also a possibility. Biometrics are harder for bots to fake, but they come with their own problems — privacy concerns, expensive tech and limited access for some users, say because they can’t afford the relevant smartphone or can’t speak because of a disability. The imminent arrival of AI agents will add another layer of complexity. It will mean we increasingly want bots to visit sites and do things on our behalf, so web companies will need to start distinguishing between “good” bots and “bad” bots. This area still needs a lot more consideration, but digital authentication certificates are proposed as one possible solution.

In sum, Captcha is no longer the simple, reliable tool it once was. AI has forced us to rethink how we verify people online, and it’s only going to get more challenging as these systems get smarter. Whatever becomes the next technological standard, it’s going to have to be easy to use for humans, but one step ahead of the bad actors. So the next time you find yourself clicking on blurry traffic lights and getting infuriated, remember you’re part of a bigger fight. The future of proving humanity is still being written, and the bots won’t be giving up any time soon.

A new document released (PDF) by the European Commission this week reveals a number of ways the EU wants Apple to change iOS and its features to be more interoperable with other platforms. There are some changes to iOS itself, such as opening up notifications to work on third-party smartwatches as they do with the Apple Watch. Similarly, the EU wants Apple to let iOS apps work in the background as Apple’s first-party apps do, as this is a struggle of some apps, especially companion apps for accessories such as smartwatches (other than the Apple Watch, of course). But there are also some iOS features that the EU directly wants Apple to open up to other platforms, including Android. […]

As our sister site 9to5Mac points out, Apple has responded (PDF) to this EU document, prominently criticizing the EU for putting out a mandate that “could expose your private information.” Apple’s document primarily focuses in on Meta, which the company says has made “more interoperability requests” than anyone else. Apple says that opening AirPlay to Meta would "[create] a new class of privacy and security issues, while giving them data about users homes.” The EU is taking consultation on this case until January 9, 2025, and if Apple doesn’t comply when the order is eventually put into effect, it could result in heavy fines.

Amazon employees are striking after the online retail giant missed a deadline to begin negotiations for a union contract. Roughly 10,000 employees have gone on strike as of Dec. 19. Workers are forming picket lines in New York City, Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco, and Skokie, IL. Per a press release from the Teamsters, employees at other facilities have authorized strikes as well. Local unions are also putting up picket lines at hundreds of fulfillment centers nationwide, which could cause package delays ahead of the holidays.

“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it,” says Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they’ve pushed workers to the limit and now they’re paying the price. This strike is on them.”

The Teamsters say this is “the largest strike against Amazon in US history.” Amazon tells CBS News it doesn’t expect it to impact its operations; the company employs 1.5 million people in its warehouses and corporate offices. The workers claim that Amazon has engaged in illegal anti-union behavior while failing to provide employees with better pay and better working conditions. “They talk a big game about taking care of their workers, but when it comes down to it, Amazon does not respect us and our right to negotiate for better working conditions and wages,” said Gabriel Irizarry, a driver at DIL7 in Skokie, IL. “We can’t even afford to pay our bills.”

The arrest is part of a broader campaign by international law enforcement agencies to dismantle LockBit. In February, a coordinated operation led by the U.K.‘s National Crime Agency in cooperation with the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department disrupted LockBit’s infrastructure, seizing websites and servers critical to its operations. These efforts significantly curtailed the group’s ability to launch further attacks and extort victims.

Panev is one of several individuals charged in connection with LockBit. Alongside him, other key figures have been indicted, including Dmitry Khoroshev, alleged to be “LockBitSupp,” the group’s primary creator and administrator. Khoroshev, still at large, is accused of developing the ransomware and coordinating attacks on an international scale. The State Department has offered a reward of up to $10 million for his capture.

Meanwhile, numerous members linked to LockBit remain fugitives, such as Russian nationals Artur Sungatov and Ivan Kondratyev, each facing charges for deploying ransomware against multiple industries globally. Mikhail Matveev, another alleged LockBit affiliate, is also at large, with a $10 million reward for his capture. Matveev was recently charged with computer crimes in Russia.

An eight-person jury in U.S. federal court deadlocked on the question of whether Nuvia, a startup that Qualcomm purchased for $1.4 billion in 2021, breached the terms of its license with Arm. But the jury found that Qualcomm did not breach Nuvia’s license with Arm.

The jury also found that Qualcomm’s chips created using Nuvia technology, which have been central to Qualcomm’s push into the personal computer market, are properly licensed under its own agreement with Arm, clearing the way for Qualcomm to continue selling them.

The newest online-only school greenlighted (PDF) by the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools comes with a twist: The academic curriculum will be taught entirely by AI. Charter schools — independently operated but publicly funded — typically get greater autonomy compared to traditional public schools when it comes to how subjects are taught. But Unbound Academy’s application, which proposes an “AI-driven adaptive learning technology” that “condenses academic instruction into a two-hour window,” is a first for the model. (Unbound’s founders have been running a similar program at a “high-end private school” in Texas, which appears to be in-person.)

Unbound’s approach leans on edtech platforms like IXL and Khan Academy, and students engage with “interactive, AI-powered platforms that continuously adjust to their individual learning pace and style.” There will be humans, just fewer of them, and maybe not actual accredited teachers: It will adopt a “human-in-the-loop” approach with “skilled guides” monitoring progress who can provide “targeted interventions” and coaching for each student. Academic instruction is whittled down to just two hours. The remainder of the students’ day will include “life-skills workshops” covering areas such as critical thinking, creative problem-solving, financial literacy, public speaking, goal setting, and entrepreneurship. The online-only school targets students from fourth to eighth grades.

According to the suit, which also targets Early Warning Services LLC, Zelle’s official operator, Zelle users have lost more than $870 million over the network’s seven-year existence due to these alleged failures. “The nation’s largest banks felt threatened by competing payment apps, so they rushed to put out Zelle,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra in a statement. “By their failing to put in place proper safeguards, Zelle became a gold mine for fraudsters, while often leaving victims to fend for themselves.”

Among the charges:
1. Poor identity verification methods, which have allowed bad actors to quickly create accounts and target Zelle users.
2. Allowing repeat offenders to continue to gain access to the platform
3. Ignoring and failing to report instances of fraud
4. Failing to properly investigate consumer complaints

The CFPB’s suit seeks to change the platform’s operations, as well as obtain a civil money penalty, that would be paid into the CFPB’s victims relief fund.