Welcome to the February 24, 2025 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for computer professionals three times a week.

HEADLINES AT A GLANCE

• Microsoft Says New Chip Shows Quantum Computers Are 'Years, Not Decades' Away
• AI Is Prompting an Evolution, Not Extinction, for Coders
• DeepSeek 'Shared User Data' with TikTok Owner ByteDance
• Bio-hybrid Drone Boosts Odor Tracking for Rescue Missions
• CISA Adds Palo Alto Networks, SonicWall Flaws to Exploited Vulnerabilities List
• Nose-Computer Interface to Identify Explosives, Narcotics
• U.S. States Eye Bans on 'Surveillance Pricing' That Exploits Personal Data
• Young Europeans Face Rising Threat from Misinformation as Social Media Becomes Main News Source
• This Could Be Baseball's Last Season Without 'Robot Umpires'
• Graduates of Chinese Universities Drive AI Research in U.S.
• Espionage Groups Target Drone Technology Makers, Researchers Say

Microsoft Says New Chip Shows Quantum Computers Are 'Years, Not Decades' Away

Microsoft said its Majorana 1 chip demonstrates quantum computing is only years, not decades, away. The chip is based on a subatomic particle known as Majorana fermion, which is difficult to find and control but makes the chip less prone to errors than competing chips. The indium arsenide and aluminum chip uses a superconducting nanowire to observe the particles, and can be controlled with standard computing equipment.
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AI Is Prompting an Evolution, Not Extinction, for Coders

The research firm Evans Data found that almost two-thirds of software developers use AI coding tools, which studies have shown improve their daily productivity in actual business settings by 10% to 30%. IDC analyst Arnal Dayaratna noted, "The skills software developers need will change significantly, but AI will not eliminate the need for them. Not anytime soon anyway."
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DeepSeek 'Shared User Data' with TikTok Owner ByteDance

South Korea said Chinese AI startup DeepSeek shares user data with TikTok owner ByteDance, but it has "yet to confirm what data was transferred and to what extent." Data protection concerns prompted the removal of DeepSeek from app stores in South Korea. A review of DeepSeek's Android app by U.S. cybersecurity firm Security Scorecard found "multiple direct references to ByteDance-owned" services, "suggest[ing] deep integration with ByteDance's analytics and performance monitoring infrastructure."
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Bio-hybrid Drone Boosts Odor Tracking for Rescue Missions

A bio-hybrid drone developed by researchers from Japan's Shinshu and Chiba universities has improved odor tracking and navigation abilities thanks to the integration of silkworm moth antennae, which use odor-source localization to detect pheromones from distant sources. The drone features a "stepped rotation algorithm" that mimics the intermittent pauses made by insects as they track odors, in addition to an electroantennography sensor to measure the electrical signals from the antennae.
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CISA Adds Palo Alto Networks, SonicWall Flaws to Exploited Vulnerabilities List

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added security vulnerabilities affecting Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS and SonicWall SonicOS SSLVPN to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. The two flaws, an authentication bypass vulnerability in the PAN-OS management Web interface and an improper authentication vulnerability in the SSLVPN authentication mechanism, are being actively exploited by threat actors. As a result, Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies have until March 11 to remediate the vulnerabilities and secure their networks.
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Nose-Computer Interface to Identify Explosives, Narcotics

A nose-computer interface developed by researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and neurotechnology firm Canaery can enhance animals' scent detection capabilities to identify explosives, narcotics, and other important scents. The researchers built a 767-channel microelectrode array that can digitize olfactory signals from a rodent's brain. This was the first neural interface developed using LLNL's high-density nanofabrication process, which can create patterns of nanometer-scale features using electron beam lithography.
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U.S. States Eye Bans on 'Surveillance Pricing' That Exploits Personal Data

Legislation to ban "surveillance pricing" has been introduced in California, Colorado, Georgia, and Illinois. The issue was pushed to the forefront when retail chain Kroger said it was considering the use of facial recognition technology, raising concerns about using personalized data to charge customers different prices based on appearance, financial circumstances, or shopping habits. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission under the Trump administration has indicated it may not continue a probe into surveillance pricing that was launched last year.
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Young Europeans Face Rising Threat from Misinformation as Social Media Becomes Main News Source

The European Parliament Youth Survey found 42% of European 16- to 30-year-olds get news about politics and social issues primarily from social media platforms. According to the survey, TikTok and Instagram are the most trusted platforms among 16- to 18-year-olds, while Facebook is preferred by 25- to 30-year-olds. However, those between 25 and 30 are more likely than those aged 16 to 18 to get news from online press platforms and radio.
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This Could Be Baseball's Last Season Without 'Robot Umpires'

Major League Baseball is testing the Hawk-Eye Automated Ball-Strike system (ABS) during spring training games. The "robot umpire" uses cameras to track the ball's trajectory from multiple angles, with its final location determined by a computer vision algorithm. Human officials will make the calls, but Hawk-Eye will track every pitch, with each team given two "challenges" per game to contest the human umpire's call.
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Graduates of Chinese Universities Drive AI Research in U.S.

The Paulson Institute's MacroPolo think tank found that roughly a third (38%) of top AI researchers in the U.S. in 2022 had obtained undergraduate degrees from Chinese universities, up from 27% in 2019, versus 37% with degrees from U.S. institutions. An analysis of papers presented that year at the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems found the U.S. accounted for seven of the 10 entities affiliated with these AI experts; China’s Tsinghua and Peking universities also were in that top 10.
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Espionage Groups Target Drone Technology Makers, Researchers Say

As drones are used in warfare, the risk of cyber spies gaining access to sensitive data is on the rise. Resecurity Inc. researchers found espionage groups have searched the dark web for stolen files from drone manufacturers with the goal of using it to hijack drones and spy on customers. Drone manufacturers and anti-drone technology vendors reported hacks across Taiwan, North America, Europe, and the Middle East.
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