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14 May 2025

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New attack can steal cryptocurrency by planting false memories in AI chatbots
Malicious "context manipulation" technique causes bot to send payments to attacker's wallet.

This $20 smart plug lets you control any power outlet with an app
Smartening up your home these days can be fairly cheap, especially if you know what to pick. One of the best ways to go about things is to get Amazon Smart Plugs because they’re easy to use, seamlessly mesh with Alexa, and they’re on sale for $20 a piece right now. What’s a smart plug, you might be asking? It’s a tiny little device that plugs into a regular power outlet and turns it into one that you can control via your phone over your home wireless network. Anything you plug into the smart plug can be turned on or off via Alexa, whether that’s through the Alexa app or voice control with an Alexa device. Picture this. It’s late, you’re heading to bed, you snuggle in and get comfy, only to remember that your living room lamp is still on. Instead of crawling out of bed and losing that cozy feeling, you just say the magic words: “Alexa, turn off the living room lamp.” And it’s done! Of course, you can use it with more than just lamps. Pretty much any household device that’s essentially just on/off—like fans, coffee makers, or even Christmas lights—can be controlled this way. And if you ask me, for lamps, a smart plug is way better than a smart bulb because bulbs need frequent replacing whereas the plug lasts a long time. You can also use the Alexa app to set up routines for the smart plug, effectively automating your everyday tasks. For instance, if you say “Goodnight Alexa,” you could tie it to a routine that cuts off all your smart plugs and all your lights with one fell swoop. Normally, one of these smart plugs goes for $25. Right now, they’re discounted by 20% and available for $20 each. If you want to dip your toes into smart home tech, this is a great way to do that. These nifty Wi-Fi smart plugs are now just $20 eachBuy now at Amazon

'Bamboozled' Draper recovers to reach Rome quarters
Britain's Jack Draper recovers from being "bamboozled" by Corentin Moutet in a lively match to reach the Italian Open quarter-finals.

US seeks to thwart smuggling of Nvidia GPUs with location tracking
The United States has reportedly been investigating reports that Nvidia GPUs have landed illegally in China to be used by Chinese LLMs like DeepSeek, and one US lawmaker will be introducing a new bill that aims to track the locations of AI chips—like the ones made by Nvidia—after they’re sold, reports Reuters and Neowin. The smuggling of CPUs and GPUs is nothing new. PC components have often been smuggled across the ocean to countries like China and other East Asian countries for years. But with the rising power of AI and the implications of AI on technological prowess, it’s not unusual that the US government wouldn’t want that tech falling into rival hands. The proposed legislation would oblige US authorities to develop regulations for location verification of AI chips. This would purportedly prevent cutting-edge chips and processors from being smuggled into other countries and being put into operation there without proper export licenses—a kind of kill-switch function. Google as a role model Former President Biden’s administration and the current Trump administration have gradually tightened export controls for technologies such as GPUs from Nvidia. Even so, around $17 billion (or 13 percent of Nvidia’s total turnover) was generated on the Chinese market. According to Reuters, Nvidia claims it can’t continue to pursue its chips after sales are made, bu the US government disagrees. According to experts, the technology to track these computer chips is readily available, and the necessary functions are already integrated into Nvidia chips. And with competitors like Google already use such location-tracking technology for their own AI chips in data centers as a security measure, it’s hard to believe Nvidia can’t do the same. What would the law require? The proposed bill still needs to be presented and voted on, but what would happen if it were passed? Here’s a quick overview. Within six months of the law coming into force, a mechanism to verify and track the whereabouts of highly developed and export-controlled chips (or products containing them) will become mandatory. When products are diverted from their intended destinations or have been the subject of tampering attempts, every incident must be reported. In coordination with the Department of Defense, potential security mechanisms for AI chips are to be investigated next year. In the coming years, these are to be defined and then implemented following further evaluation. This should also make export controls more flexible in order to simplify deliveries to other countries.