Welcome to the December 11, 2024 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for computer professionals three times a week.
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Google on Monday unveiled a new quantum computer that it says needed less than five minutes to perform a mathematical calculation that one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers could not complete in 10 septillion (1 followed by 24 zeros) years. Google said its computer, using a new chip dubbed Willow, surpassed the “error correction threshold.”
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The New York Times; Cade Metz (December 10, 2024)
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China has opened an antitrust investigation into U.S. chipmaker Nvidia. According to local reports, the Chinese government believes Nvidia’s purchase of Israeli networking company Mellanox, approved by China in 2020, could violate the country’s anti-monopoly laws. The U.S. imposed another round of restrictions on high tech memory chip sales to China last week, which was followed by a Chinese ban on the sale of materials essential for manufacturing chips to the U.S.
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CNN; David Goldman (December 9, 2024)
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The U.S. Commerce Department finalized a $6.165-billion government subsidy for Micron Technology, in support of Micron's long-term plan to invest around $100 billion in manufacturing in New York and $25 billion in Idaho. The funding, under the $52.7-billion 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, will help the U.S. grow its share of advanced memory chip manufacturing from less than 2% to approximately 10% by 2035, according to the department.
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Reuters; David Shepardson (December 10, 2024)
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A study of 145,000 children from 33 countries by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) found that 35% of six-year-olds polled said boys were better than girls at computer science, while 22% said the opposite, and 43% said there was no difference. AIR's David Miller said initiatives "need dedicated attention on girls in computing and engineering. Especially in early childhood, before these stereotypes set in."
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Forbes; Josie Cox (December 9, 2024)
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 A group of musicians has signed the Musicians for Fairness and Preservation Open Letter calling on Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and other record labels to withdraw their lawsuit against the Internet Archive over its Great 78 Project, devoted to preserving music recorded on 78 RPM records. The letter instead calls for the labels to partner with the Internet Archive and similar organizations to preserve original recordings and music culture.
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Engadget; Ian Carlos Campbell (December 9, 2024)
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TikTok and its Chinese parent, ByteDance, filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Dec. 9 to temporarily block a law requiring the platform to be divested by Jan. 19 or be banned in the U.S. In requesting the ban, the companies cited the high likelihood the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case, the need to give the incoming Trump administration an opportunity to determine its position, and the potential for service disruptions to tens of millions of users outside the U.S.
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CNN (December 9, 2024)
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 A solid-state memory device developed by University of Michigan and Sandia National Laboratory researchers can store and rewrite information at temperatures higher than 1100°F (600°C). The device moves negatively charged oxygen atoms instead of electrons. Three platinum electrodes determine whether the heat-tolerant oxygen ions move into or out of a tantalum oxide layer, which acts as either an insulator or conductor and allows the material to move between two voltage states that represent digital 0s and 1s.
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University of Michigan News; Derek Smith (December 9, 2024)
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To ensure AI models achieve advanced proficiency and are profitable, companies are recruiting specialists as data labelers with offers of higher salaries and rates. Ivan Lee, founder and CEO of data labeling firm Datasaur Inc., said, "We are seeing companies tackle more advanced but also increasingly niche problems." Said Wendy Gonzalez, CEO of training-data company Sama, "Less-accurate AI can go off the rails. Businesses can't afford that."
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Bloomberg; Saritha Rai (December 9, 2024)
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Researchers at Google cybersecurity subsidiary Mandiant have developed a technique that uses QR codes to bypass browser isolation technology and achieve command-and-control operations. The method involves encoding commands in a QR code visually displayed on a webpage. In a test involving the latest Google Chrome browser and integrating the implant through Cobalt Strike's External C2 feature, the researchers demonstrated that malware that previously infected the device captured and decoded the QR code to obtain the instructions.
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BleepingComputer; Bill Toulas (December 8, 2024)
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Millions of Ukrainians depend on messaging app Telegram to organize food, medical aid, and other support and for information about impending Russian attacks. However, Ukrainian officials increasingly are concerned Telegram, founded and owned by Russian-born Pavel Durov, is being used as a spying tool for Russia and to spread disinformation. In response, they have ordered military and government officials and those working on critical infrastructure to restrict use of the app on work phones, and to shift sensitive communications to encrypted apps.
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The New York Times; Paul Mozur; Adam Satariano; Sasha Maslov (December 9, 2024)
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The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) will offer a comparative literature class in winter 2025 that will use an AI-generated textbook, homework assignments, and teaching assistant resources. The materials were generated by the textbook platform Kudu based on notes, PowerPoint presentations, and YouTube videos provided by professor Zrinka Stahuljak from previous versions of the class, which covers literature from the Middle Ages to the 17th century.
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Tech Crunch; Anthony Ha (December 8, 2024)
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