Welcome to the March 10, 2025 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for computer professionals three times a week.

HEADLINES AT A GLANCE

• Thousands Protest Trump Research Cuts
• Pentagon Signs AI Deal to Help Commanders Plan Military Maneuvers
• Beijing to Roll Out AI Courses for Kids
• Backdoor Found in Bluetooth Chip Used By a Billion Devices
• U.S. to Use AI to Review Foreign Student Visa Holders for Terrorist Sympathies
• EU Lawmakers Push Back on U.S. Criticism of Tech Antitrust Regulation
• AI-enabled BCI Allows Paralyzed Man to Control Robot Arm
• Uber, Waymo Partner for Driverless Rides in Austin
• McDonald's Gives Its Restaurants an AI Makeover
• Malaysia Bets Big on Chips with $250-Million Arm Deal
• AI to Search for the Trillions of Viruses in Our Bodies
• U.K. Tells Social Media Sites to Reveal Plans to Stop Illegal Content

Thousands Protest Trump Research Cuts

Thousands of researchers and supporters of science protested in more than 30 cities across the U.S. and Europe on Friday against actions taken by the Trump administration to cut the U.S. science workforce and federal spending on research. The Stand Up for Science rallies were organized by five U.S. scientists who see the protests as the start of a movement. “It’s not a one-and-done thing,” said organizer Samantha Goldstein at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
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Pentagon Signs AI Deal to Help Commanders Plan Military Maneuvers

Illustrating growing collaboration between the U.S. military and private tech sector, the Pentagon has contracted startup Scale AI to find ways to use AI to speed up military decision-making. Scale will develop AI programs that commanders could query for recommendations about how to most efficiently move resources throughout a region, combining data from intelligence sources and battlefield sensors.
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Beijing to Roll Out AI Courses for Kids

Starting in the fall, schools in Beijing will introduce AI courses to primary and secondary students. At least eight hours of AI classes will be offered per academic year, according to the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, which said schools will be able to run them as standalone courses or integrate them with existing curricula.
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Backdoor Found in Bluetooth Chip Used By a Billion Devices

Researchers at European cybersecurity service provider Tarlogic Security said they had found undocumented commands in the ESP32 microchip made by China's Espressif, used by over 1 billion IoT devices as of 2023, that could be leveraged for attacks. The researchers said a backdoor in the ESP32 microcontroller "would allow hostile actors to conduct impersonation attacks and permanently infect sensitive devices such as mobile phones, computers, smart locks or medical equipment by bypassing code audit controls."
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U.S. to Use AI to Review Foreign Student Visa Holders for Terrorist Sympathies

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is launching an AI-enabled "Catch and Revoke" effort to cancel the visas of foreign nationals who appear to support designated terror groups, sources say. The effort includes AI-assisted reviews of tens of thousands of student visa holders' social media accounts, focusing on evidence of alleged terrorist sympathies.
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EU Lawmakers Push Back on U.S. Criticism of Tech Antitrust Regulation

In a March 5 letter to U.S. officials, members of the European Parliament discredited claims that the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) unfairly targets U.S. companies. The European Commission launched investigations into Apple, Google, and Meta last year under the DMA, but the letter noted that TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, and Netherlands-based Booking.com also face probes. The letter also cited several U.S. companies that hope to use the law to their advantage.
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AI-enabled BCI Allows Paralyzed Man to Control Robot Arm

A brain-computer interface (BCI) developed by University of California, San Francisco researchers enabled a patient who was paralyzed after suffering a stroke to operate a robotic arm for seven months without significant calibration. The researchers created an AI model that adjusted for day-to-day shifts in brain activity, overcoming a common challenge associated with BCIs. The AI learned from the patient's brain signals while he visualized simple movements and practiced with a virtual robotic arm.
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Uber, Waymo Partner for Driverless Rides in Austin

Through a partnership with Alphabet unit Waymo, Uber is offering users the option to summon self-driving taxis in Austin, TX, though its ride-hailing app. The partnership begins in Austin and is expected to expand to Atlanta later this year. Uber competitor Lyft also plans to rollout self-driving taxis in Atlanta before the end of the year.
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McDonald's Gives Its Restaurants an AI Makeover

McDonald's is rolling out edge computing to its restaurants, enabling them to process and analyze data on-site with the goal of improving the customer and employee experience. AI will be used to analyze data from Internet-connected kitchen equipment to predict maintenance issues, while in-store mounted cameras will use computer vision to ensure order accuracy. In addition, voice AI will be used at the drive-through, and generative AI virtual managers will handle shift scheduling and other administrative tasks.
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Malaysia Bets Big on Chips with $250-Million Arm Deal

In partnership with the Malaysian government, SoftBank's Arm Holdings will create a base of operations in that nation for ASEAN and Oceania. The Malaysian government's $250-million, 10-year investment will give local chip developers access to the Arm Neoverse Compute Subsystems (CSS) and the Arm Flexible Access (AFA) program. Seven CSS licenses will be granted to local semiconductor companies, and 25 local startups and midtier companies will gain access to Arm's IP libraries through the AFA program.
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AI to Search for the Trillions of Viruses in Our Bodies

Five universities are participating in the Human Virome Program, aimed at identifying more of the tens of trillions of viruses living in the human body. The project, which has received $171 million in federal funding, will use AI systems to analyze saliva, stool, blood, milk, and other samples from thousands of volunteers. Researchers hope the program will provide insights on how the virome influences health.
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U.K. Tells Social Media Sites to Reveal Plans to Stop Illegal Content

The U.K. Office of Communications (Ofcom) has launched an enforcement program to assess whether technology firms are becoming compliant with the Online Safety Act. Online regulator Ofcom said platforms had until March 31 to report their first risk assessment, setting out how likely it is users could encounter illegal content on their service. The Online Safety Act requires social media platforms to follow new codes of practice on a range of topics.
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