Welcome to the December 23, 2024 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for computer professionals three times a week.

Please note: In observance of the holidays, TechNews will not be published on Wednesday, December 25. Publication will resume on Friday, December 27.

HEADLINES AT A GLANCE

• MIT Engineers Create Database of 8,000 AI-Generated EV Designs
• APpaREnTLy THiS iS hoW yoU JaIlBreAk AI
• Nvidia’s AI Business Collides with U.S.-China Tensions
• CISA Seeking Public Comment on Updated NCIRP
• Congress Funds Removal of Chinese Telecom Gear
• Ukraine Collects War Data Trove to Train AI
• Quantum Teleportation Survives in Busy Internet Cables
• Ireland's Datacenters Consume Too Much Energy
• Arizona School’s Curriculum Will Be Taught by AI
• Albania Bans TikTok for a Year after Fatal Stabbing
• Worldcoin Must Delete All Iris Scan Data, Watchdog Says
• OpenAI Makes ChatGPT Available for Phone Calls and Texts

MIT Engineers Create Database of 8,000 AI-Generated EV Designs

Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created more than 8,000 electric vehicle (EV) designs that can be combined with AI to quickly build cars. The DrivAerNet++ open source database includes designs based on the most common types of cars available now, shown as 3D models that incorporate data on aerodynamics and other features. The dataset produced 39 terabytes of data while consuming 3 million CPU hours with the MIT SuperCloud.
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APpaREnTLy THiS iS hoW yoU JaIlBreAk AI

The Best-of-N algorithm was able to jailbreak "frontier AI systems across modalities.” Created by researchers at Anthropic, the University of Oxford in the U.K., Stanford University, and the ML Alignment & Theory Scholars (MATS) Program, the algorithm works by repeatedly sampling variations of a prompt with a combination of augmentations, such as random shuffling or capitalization for textual prompts, until a harmful response is elicited. Even small changes to other modalities or methods for prompting AI models, such as speech or images, allowed the bypassing of safeguards.
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Nvidia’s AI Business Collides with U.S.-China Tensions

Nvidia and nations interested in its technology are being caught up in U.S. efforts to tighten control over AI chip sales. A proposed framework would allow U.S. allies to make unlimited purchases, while adversaries would be blocked entirely and other nations would receive quotas based on their alignment with U.S. strategic goals. Nvidia chip purchases, under such a model, could require cooperation with approved U.S. and EU cloud service operators and other assurances to the U.S. government that the technology won’t be shared with China.
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CISA Seeking Public Comment on Updated NCIRP

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is accepting public comments on a draft version of its updated National Cyber Incident Response Plan (NCIRP) through Jan. 15, 2025. The NCIRP serves as a framework for how governmental agencies and international organizations respond to higher-severity cyber incidents that could disrupt critical infrastructure or damage equipment. The plan covers asset response, threat response, intelligence support, and affected entity response.
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Congress Funds Removal of Chinese Telecom Gear

U.S. lawmakers approved $3 billion in funding for a project to remove Chinese equipment from networks nationwide over fears they are vulnerable to cyberattacks. As part of the annual defense budget, Congress approved the funding to complete the “Rip and Replace” program to remove equipment made by the Chinese telecommunications manufacturing giants Huawei Technologies and ZTE from rural U.S. phone networks.
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Ukraine Collects War Data Trove to Train AI

Oleksandr Dmitriev, founder of OCHI, a digital system that centralizes and analyzes video feeds from Ukrainian drone crews working on the front lines, says his system has collected 2 million hours of battlefield video from drones since 2022. The footage can be used to train AI models in combat tactics, spotting targets, and assessing the effectiveness of weapons systems.
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Quantum Teleportation Survives in Busy Internet Cables

By finding a wavelength of light where photons experienced the lowest level of disturbance from all other signals, Prem Kumar at Northwestern University and colleagues demonstrated that quantum and classical communications can be carried out through the same fiber cables at the same time. The team's setup allowed as much as 400Gbits/s of classical information to be sent without disruption to quantum teleportation.
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Ireland's Datacenters Consume Too Much Energy

Tax incentives, a highly skilled English-speaking workforce, and membership in the EU have all contributed to making the tech sector a central part of Ireland's economy. Now, the country is wondering whether it was all worth it as tech giants look around the world to build more datacenters to fuel the next wave of AI. Fears of rolling blackouts led Ireland’s grid operator to halt new datacenters near Dublin until 2028. The datacenters last year consumed more than a fifth of the nation’s electricity, according to official records.
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Arizona School’s Curriculum Will Be Taught by AI

The Arizona State Board for Charter Schools approved an application from Unbound Academy to open a fully online school serving grades four through eight. Unbound already operates a private school that uses its AI-dependent “2hr Learning” model in Texas and is currently applying to open similar schools in Arkansas and Utah. Under the model, students spend two hours a day using personalized learning programs from companies such as IXL and Khan Academy.
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Albania Bans TikTok for a Year after Fatal Stabbing

Albania has announced a one-year ban on TikTok following the recent killing of a teenager. Prime Minister Edi Rama has blamed social media, and TikTok in particular, for fueling violence among youth in and outside school. His government’s decision comes after a 14-year-old schoolboy was stabbed to death in November by a fellow pupil.
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Worldcoin Must Delete All Iris Scan Data, Watchdog Says

Spain's data protection regulator AEPD has ordered Sam Altman's company Worldcoin to delete all iris-scanning data collected since the start of a project that has sparked privacy concerns in several countries. AEPD cited a decision earlier on Thursday by its Bavarian counterpart BayLDA, with whom the agency has cooperated on the case, that found the venture in breach of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation. Worldcoin has said it aims to create a global identity system by getting people to have their irises scanned, in exchange for free cryptocurrency and a digital ID.
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OpenAI Makes ChatGPT Available for Phone Calls and Texts

OpenAI is giving users access to its ChatGPT bot by dialing the U.S. number (1-800-242-8478) or messaging it via WhatsApp. At first, the company said, callers will get 15 minutes free per month. For the phone number, users can call without an account, but the company said it is “working on ways” to integrate WhatsApp messages with a person’s ChatGPT credentials.
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