Welcome to the April 23, 2025 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for computer professionals three times a week.

HEADLINES AT A GLANCE

• Apple, Meta Fined for Breach of EU Law
• Draft Executive Order Outlines Plan to Integrate AI into K-12 Schools
• U.S. Asks Judge to Break Up Google
• Macron Invites Scientists to Work in France
• AI Outsmarts Virus Experts in the Lab
• Tool That Finds Fake Online Profiles Also Detects Abnormal Protein Activity
• Oscars OK the Use of AI, with Caveats
• North Koreans Use Real-time Deepfakes to Secure Remote Jobs
• Could AI Text Alerts Help Save Snow Leopards?
• Solar-Powered Tech Transforms Remote Learning
• Sam's Club Is Betting Big on AI
• Game Tech Enhances Nuclear Fusion Stability
• Italian Newspaper Gives Free Rein to AI

Apple, Meta Fined for Breach of EU Law

The European Commission on Wednesday fined Apple 500 million euros (US$568 million) and fined Meta 200 million euros (US$227 million) in its first sanctions under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The EC said Apple must remove restrictions that prevent app developers from steering users to cheaper deals outside the App Store, and that Meta's binary pay-or-consent model breached the DMA.
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Draft Executive Order Outlines Plan to Integrate AI into K-12 Schools

A draft circulated by the White House to several federal agencies on Monday suggests U.S. President Trump is considering an executive order that would create a policy integrating AI into K-12 schools. Under the draft executive order, federal agencies would be instructed to take steps to train students in using AI and to incorporate it into teaching-related tasks. The agencies would also be asked to partner with the private sector to develop relevant programs in schools.
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U.S. Asks Judge to Break Up Google

The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday said the best way to address Google’s monopoly in Internet search was to force it to sell its Chrome Web browser. Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for D.C. ruled in August that Google had broken antitrust laws to maintain its dominance in online search. He is now hearing arguments from the government and the company over how to best fix Google’s monopoly and is expected to order “remedies” by the end of the summer.
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Macron Invites Scientists to Work in France

France has unveiled its "Choose France for Science" platform, operated by the French National Research Agency, which will allow schools, universities, and research organizations to apply for co-funding to host international researchers. In a post on X, French President Emmanuel Macron invited international scientists to work in France (or elsewhere in Europe), where "research is a priority, innovation a culture, [and] science a limitless horizon."
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AI Outsmarts Virus Experts in the Lab

Top AI models can outperform Ph.D.-level virologists in problem-solving in wet labs, where scientists analyze chemicals and biological material, according to a study from researchers in the U.S. and Brazil. The researchers consulted virologists to create a difficult practical test measuring the ability to troubleshoot complex lab procedures and protocols. While doctorate-level virologists scored an average of 22.1% in their declared areas of expertise, OpenAI’s o3 attained 43.8% accuracy.
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Tool That Finds Fake Online Profiles Also Detects Abnormal Protein Activity

An interdisciplinary research team at Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev used an algorithm designed to identify suspicious social media behavior to detect abnormal activity in protein networks inside cells in the human body. The weighted graph anomalous node detection (WGAND) algorithm can identify abnormal activity in proteins in critical biological processes and connected to heart conditions and brain disorders.
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Oscars OK the Use of AI, with Caveats

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has addressed the use of generative AI in the Oscar rules, stating that AI and other digital tools "neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination." The rules state, however, that the Academy will take "into account the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship when choosing which movie to award" so that the greater role a human played in a film’s creation, the better.
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North Koreans Use Real-time Deepfakes to Secure Remote Jobs

Researchers at Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 found North Korean threat actors are shifting from the use of static fake profiles and stolen credentials to real-time deepfake technology to secure remote IT jobs at companies across the globe. The technology could enable a single threat actor to interview for the same position several times through the use of multiple synthetic personas.
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Could AI Text Alerts Help Save Snow Leopards?

The World Wide Fund for Nature and Pakistan's Lahore University of Management Sciences are collaborating on a trial of AI-powered cameras to protect endangered snow leopards from being killed for attacking livestock. Ten cameras have been placed in the rugged mountain terrain of three villages in Gilgit-Baltistan, equipped with AI software capable of distinguishing between humans, snow leopards, and other animals. The goal is to send text messages to villagers to move their livestock when a snow leopard is detected.
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Solar-Powered Tech Transforms Remote Learning

Swiss educational technology firm Beekee is offering a Raspberry Pi-based microserver that allows popup digital classrooms to be opened in any location. The Beekee e-learning box can operate on a 20,000 milliamp-hour power bank for more than 12 hours, or on compact solar panels with battery backup. As many as 40 students can connect at one time via smartphones, tablets, or laptops without Internet access or apps. Beekee features a browser-based interface, hosts various e-learning tools, and includes open educational resources.
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Sam's Club Is Betting Big on AI

Sam's Club said it would phase out traditional checkouts, replacing them with its “Scan & Go” system, which it just augmented with the "Just Go" AI check. Customers would use the Sam's Club mobile app to scan products, with an AI scanner verifying their purchases as they exit, eliminating receipt checks at the door. "Just Go" already has been deployed at the retail chain’s Grapevine, TX, store.
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Game Tech Enhances Nuclear Fusion Stability

An algorithm developed by researchers at South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology can detect collisions between high-speed particles and the interior walls of a virtual nuclear fusion reactor. The algorithm is based on a collision detection algorithm used in games to determine whether bullets hit targets. When applied to V-KSTAR, a digital twin of the KSTAR nuclear fusion experimental reactor, the algorithm was 15 times faster in collision detection than the system previously was.
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Italian Newspaper Gives Free Rein to AI

Claudio Cerasa, editor of Italian newspaper Il Foglio, said a four-page daily insert written entirely by AI and sold with the normal newspaper over a one-month span led to increased sales, prompting it to publish a separate weekly section written by AI. Cerasa said AI would not replace journalists in his newsroom and praised the AI program's sense of irony and ability to produce insightful book reviews within minutes, but added that the program lacked critical thinking and occasionally generated content with factual errors.
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