Welcome to the November 7, 2025 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for computer professionals three times a week.

HEADLINES AT A GLANCE

• The Next Big Quantum Computer Has Arrived
• Lawsuits Blame ChatGPT for Suicides, Harmful Delusions
• AI Pioneers Say Human-Level General Intelligence Already Here
• Chinese-Made Buses in Norway Can be Halted Remotely
• Knitting Machine Makes Solid 3D Objects
• Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Pivots to AI
• Power Supply Constraints Slowing EMEA Datacenter Rollout
• Yonsei University Launches South Korea's First Quantum Computer
• PROMPTFLUX Malware Uses Gemini AI to Rewrite Its Code Hourly
• Robots Taught to Quickly Map Large Environments
• China’s Security State Sells an AI Dream
• Telecoms Cyber Chiefs Adopt Financial Sector’s Model of Collective Defense
• More Students Are Double-Majoring

The Next Big Quantum Computer Has Arrived

Quantinuum unveiled its new Helios quantum computer, featuring 98 physical qubits that can deliver 48 logical, error-corrected qubits. The system introduces a new programming language, Guppy, designed to create scalable algorithms for future machines, including Quantinuum’s planned Apollo system, expected by 2029. Early users such as JPMorgan Chase are testing Helios for complex data-processing algorithms.
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Lawsuits Blame ChatGPT for Suicides, Harmful Delusions

Seven lawsuits filed Thursday accuse OpenAI of negligence, claiming its ChatGPT chatbot contributed to suicides and mental health crises. Four wrongful death suits allege ChatGPT encouraged suicide discussions, including those of teenagers and young adults in Georgia, Texas, and Florida. Three other plaintiffs say prolonged interactions with the chatbot caused delusions or psychotic breaks. The lawsuits, filed in California, describe ChatGPT as “defective and inherently dangerous.”
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AI Pioneers Say Human-Level General Intelligence Already Here

At the Financial Times Future of AI Summit in London, ACM A.M. Turing Award laureates Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, and Yann LeCun; ACM Fellows Bill Dally and Fei-Fei Li, and NVIDIA founder Jensen Huang said that AI has already reached human-level intelligence in certain areas. The group, honored at the event with the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, noted that machines can now perform tasks such as language translation and object recognition better than humans.
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Chinese-Made Buses in Norway Can be Halted Remotely

Norwegian transport operator Ruter is tightening security after tests showed Chinese-made Yutong electric buses can be remotely accessed for software updates and diagnostics, theoretically allowing them to be stopped. Ruter said manufacturers can access battery and power controls via mobile networks. The company plans stricter procurement rules, local firewalls, and cybersecurity measures to monitor updates before they reach buses. Yutong said its data, stored in Germany, is encrypted and used only for maintenance and optimization purposes.
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Knitting Machine Makes Solid 3D Objects

A knitting machine developed by researchers at Cornell and Carnegie Mellon universities acts like a 3D printer by building solid shapes with horizontal layers of stitches that can be added in any direction. The machine features a 6x6 block of knitting needles, each comprised of a brass support tube with an attached 3D-printed symmetrical double hook. The researchers also created a code library for each type of stitch that can produce a program for each product.
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Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Pivots to AI

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan announced they are redirecting most of their philanthropy toward curing and preventing diseases using AI. Their Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will now focus on Biohub, a network of research labs in San Francisco, New York, and Chicago combining biology and AI to advance medical breakthroughs. The couple also acquired AI start-up EvolutionaryScale. Biohub is launching the Virtual Immune System project to model human immunity and accelerate the development of preventive therapies.
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Power Supply Constraints Slowing EMEA Datacenter Rollout

Datacenter expansion across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa has slowed as power supply shortages delay projects amid soaring demand driven by AI, according to a report from real estate services provider Savills. New capacity added since January totaled 850 megawatts, down 11% from the same period last year, while total live capacity rose 12% to 11,400 megawatts. The report said the slowdown reflects energy constraints rather than weaker demand, with 91% of capacity already leased.
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Yonsei University Launches South Korea's First Quantum Computer

Yonsei University has launched South Korea’s first quantum computer. University President Yoon Dong-seop said the 127-qubit system will be upgraded to 156 qubits next year. The university plans to use it for AI-integrated drug discovery, accelerating research on treatments for intractable cancers by simulating molecular interactions faster, and more accurately.
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PROMPTFLUX Malware Uses Gemini AI to Rewrite Its Code Hourly

Google has uncovered a novel malware called PROMPTFLUX, which leverages Gemini AI to rewrite its own VBScript code hourly, enhancing obfuscation and evasion. Designed with a “Thinking Robot” component, the malware queries the AI for just-in-time code modifications, saves obfuscated versions to the Windows Startup folder, and attempts to propagate via network shares, though it remains in development and cannot yet compromise systems.
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Robots Taught to Quickly Map Large Environments

A mapping system developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers enables robots to generate detailed 3D maps of complex environments within seconds. The simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) approach merges machine learning with classical geometry, allowing robots to process unlimited camera images and stitch “submaps” into accurate 3D models in real time. Unlike traditional SLAM methods, it doesn’t require pre-calibrated cameras or additional tools.
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China’s Security State Sells an AI Dream

At a recent Beijing security conference, Chinese tech companies showcased how AI could deepen state surveillance, promoting tools that analyze citizens’ behavior, speech, and even state of mind. Firms like iFlytek demonstrated speech recognition systems capable of interpreting over 200 dialects, while others pitched data-driven systems to detect “suspicious” activity in homes and communities. The event reflected China’s new “AI+ Action Plan,” which integrates AI across society, giving authorities vast monitoring power.
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Telecoms Cyber Chiefs Adopt Financial Sector’s Model of Collective Defense

Major telecommunications companies are uniting to strengthen cybersecurity through a model of collective defense inspired by the financial sector. Security chiefs from firms such as AT&T, T-Mobile, and Charter Communications have been meeting over the past two years to share intelligence, coordinate defenses, and improve responses to nation-state and criminal cyberattacks. This week, over a dozen telecoms, including Verizon, Vodafone, and Bell Canada, joined a cyber “capture-the-flag” competition in Washington, DC, to test their defenses.
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More Students Are Double-Majoring

An increasing number of U.S. college students are pursuing double majors amid fears of a volatile job market and rising unemployment among new graduates. Nearly one in three students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, for example, now pursue two majors. Nearly 6 in 10 students in computer science who pick a second major choose data science, an industry in which the number of jobs is projected to increase 34% over the next decade.
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