Welcome to the January 8, 2025 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for computer professionals three times a week.

HEADLINES AT A GLANCE

• Rohingya in Malaysia Turn to Tech to Maintain Identity
• Driver in Las Vegas Cybertruck Explosion Used ChatGPT to Plan Blast
• Cybersecurity Expert Amit Yoran Dies at 54
• Pentagon Adds Chinese Social Media Giant to Military Blacklist
• Uber, Lyft Gear Up for the Robotaxi Revolution
• China's 'High-Speed Rail for Computers' Operational
• Meta Getting Rid of Fact Checkers
• ASU Research Park Named Flagship R&D Facility for Microchips
• AI Interprets Throat Vibrations to Create Sentences
• ‘WithdrarXiv' Database of 14,000 Retracted Preprints Launches
• Deere Going Driverless Beyond Midwest Farms
• Taiwan Suspects China of Latest Undersea Cable Attack
• HDMI 2.2, DisplayPort 2.1b Display Standards Announced

Rohingya in Malaysia Turn to Tech to Maintain Identity

Computer scientist Muhammad Noor (pictured) devised a plan to use blockchain technology to restore the identities of Rohingya Muslims, a stateless population of close to 3 million. Having been denied citizenship by Myanmar, many of the Rohingya do not have identity documents. The Rohingya Project is working to create a digital framework that recognizes the group's roots in Myanmar and provides what Noor calls "a decentralized identity" that no one controls.
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Driver in Las Vegas Cybertruck Explosion Used ChatGPT to Plan Blast

The driver of a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded on New Year's Day in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas used ChatGPT to learn how to construct an explosive and other facets of the attack. An OpenAI spokesperson said, "ChatGPT responded with information already publicly available on the Internet and provided warnings against harmful or illegal activities."
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Cybersecurity Expert Amit Yoran Dies at 54

Cybersecurity firm Tenable Holdings said its CEO and Chair Amit Yoran passed away on Jan. 3 at age 54 following a battle with cancer. Yoran co-founded Riptech Inc., a Virginia-based firm that built sensor networks to safeguard corporate and government computers, founded threat detection and response platform NetWitness, and served for a year as director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's National Cyber Security Division.
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Pentagon Adds Chinese Social Media Giant to Military Blacklist

The U.S. on Monday labeled Chinese social media and gaming giant Tencent as a Chinese military business operating in the U.S. Each year, the U.S. Defense Department updates its list of “Chinese military companies,” entities it has identified as having both military and commercial technology. There are now 134 companies on the list, which was posted to the Federal Register. Chinese chipmaker Changxin Memory Technologies and drone maker Autel Robotics also were added to the list.
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Uber, Lyft Gear Up for the Robotaxi Revolution

After selling their self-driving vehicle units during the pandemic, Uber and Lyft are entering the autonomous vehicle arena through partnerships with companies that already have deployed robotaxi technology successfully. Uber has partnered with Waymo to offer driverless rides through its app in Austin, TX, and Atlanta, while Lyft has partnered with May Mobility in Atlanta. The rideshare companies will be responsible for maintaining cameras, LiDAR sensors, and other vehicle technologies.
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China's 'High-Speed Rail for Computers' Operational

China has completed construction of the China Environment for Network Innovations (CENI), which is expected to serve as a "high-speed rail for computers" in that nation. Researchers at the Zijin Mountain Laboratory led the development of the computer network, which will expand high-capacity data services across China through a combination of optical communication technology and deterministic networking.
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Meta Getting Rid of Fact Checkers

Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday that Meta will adjust its content review policies on Facebook and Instagram, replacing fact checkers with user-generated “community notes.” In doing so, Zuckerberg follows in the footsteps of Elon Musk who, after acquiring Twitter, dismantled the company’s fact-checking teams. Said Zuckerberg, “Fact checkers have been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they’ve created."
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ASU Research Park Named Flagship R&D Facility for Microchips

Arizona State University (ASU) Research Park has been chosen as the site of one of three national microchip research and development flagship facilities, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Center for the Advancement of Semiconductor Technology (Natcast), a nonprofit entity of the U.S. Commerce Department, announced Monday. Said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, "This new facility will strengthen our domestic supply chain, drive advanced manufacturing breakthroughs, and secure America’s leadership in this critical industry.”
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AI Interprets Throat Vibrations to Create Sentences

Researchers at the U.K.'s University of Cambridge and University College London and China's Beihang University developed a model that determines what a person who finds it difficult to speak is trying to say based on throat muscle vibrations and carotid pulse. The data, obtained using textile strain sensors, is fed into two large language models, both based on GPT-4o-mini. The token synthesis agent is used to identify words mouthed by the user and arrange them in sentences, while the sentence expansion agent expands these sentences using contextual information and data on the user's emotional state.
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‘WithdrarXiv' Database of 14,000 Retracted Preprints Launches

Computer scientists created a searchable database containing more than 14,000 studies withdrawn from arXiv since the preprint server's 1991 rollout. In addition to providing insights on why the preprints were retracted, the WithdrarXiv dataset aims to spur the creation of automated tools that flag potential errors to researchers hoping to submit manuscripts, according to Delip Rao at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, co-author of a study describing the tool.
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Deere Going Driverless Beyond Midwest Farms

Deere & Co., whose robotic plows already are in use on Midwest farms, wants to bring its autonomous machines to orchards, quarries, and lawns across the country. At the CES trade show in Las Vegas, Deere showcased its new autonomous fleet, which includes an autonomous tractor for large crop farms, an autonomous articulated dump truck for quarries, and a battery-powered autonomous mower for large campuses.
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Taiwan Suspects China of Latest Undersea Cable Attack

Taiwanese officials suspect a Cameroon-flagged cargo ship owned by Je Yang Trading Limited of Hong Kong, led by Chinese citizen Guo Wenjie, was responsible for cutting an international undersea telecom cable on Jan. 3. The Shunxin-39 was intercepted by Taiwan's coast guard, but rough weather prevented an on-board investigation, and the ship continued on to a South Korean port.
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HDMI 2.2, DisplayPort 2.1b Display Standards Announced

The HDMI Forum has announced HDMI 2.2, which increases bandwidth to 96 Gbps to support higher resolutions and refresh rates for use in data-intensive applications. HDMI 2.2 also features the Latency Indication Protocol to better align audio and video signals to prevent lag. Meanwhile, the Video Electronics Standards Association announced the DisplayPort 2.1b specification, which allows more flexible device placement and setup configurations.
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