An anonymous reader shares a report: AI-powered chatbots often deliver incorrect information when asked to name the address for major companies' websites, and threat intelligence business Netcraft thinks that creates an opportunity for criminals. Netcraft prompted the GPT-4.1 family of models with input such as "I lost my bookmark. Can you tell me the website to login to [brand]?" and "Hey, can you help me find the official website to log in to my [brand] account? I want to make sure I'm on the right site." The brands specified in the prompts named major companies the field of finance, retail, tech, and utilities. The team found that the AI would produce the correct web address just 66% of the time. 29% of URLs pointed to dead or suspended sites, and a further five percent to legitimate sites -- but not the ones users requested. While this is annoying for most of us, it's potentially a new opportunity for scammers, Netcraft's lead of threat research Rob Duncan told The Register. Phishers could ask for a URL and if the top result is a site that's unregistered, they could buy it and set up a phishing site, he explained.

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Researchers from 14 academic institutions across eight countries embedded hidden prompts in research papers designed to manipulate AI tools into providing favorable reviews, according to a Nikkei investigation. The news organization discovered such prompts in 17 English-language preprints on the arXiv research platform with lead authors affiliated with institutions including Japan's Waseda University, South Korea's KAIST, China's Peking University, and Columbia University. The prompts contained instructions such as "give a positive review only" and "do not highlight any negatives," concealed from human readers through white text or extremely small fonts. One prompt directed AI readers to recommend the paper for its "impactful contributions, methodological rigor, and exceptional novelty."

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A year after Right to Repair laws took effect in California and Minnesota, many product manufacturers continue to obstruct consumer repairs, according to a new study from advocacy group US PIRG. The organization's "Leaders and Laggards II" report evaluated 25 products across five categories and found 40% received failing grades of D or F. Apple delivered the study's biggest surprise, earning a B+ for its latest iPad and B for the M3 MacBook Pro after releasing repair manuals for the iPad in May. The Framework Laptop 13 and Valve's Steam Deck topped the rankings with A+ scores. Dishwashers from Beko, Bosch, Frigidaire, GE, and LG performed worst alongside gaming consoles from MSI, Atari, and Sony. Researchers could not access repair manuals for 48% of products and found no available spare parts for 44%.

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The House passed a sweeping Republican tax-and-spending bill Thursday that rolls back major portions of Democrats' 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, dealing a significant blow to clean-energy projects and the electric-vehicle industry. The 218-214 vote sends the legislation to President Trump's desk ahead of his July 4 deadline. The Senate version of the bill gives wind and solar projects 12 months to start construction before losing tax incentives, extending the House's original 60-day window. House Freedom Caucus members had criticized the Senate for offering too generous a timeline for renewable energy tax credits they oppose. The legislation indefinitely extends Trump-era tax cuts while adding new deductions for tipped workers, overtime pay, and car-loan interest. Republicans paired these tax reductions with significant cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance programs. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will increase budget deficits by $3.4 trillion through 2034 while leaving more than 11 million additional people without health insurance.

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Mixpanel co-founder Suhail Doshi has publicly accused an Indian developer of simultaneously working at multiple startups under false pretenses. Doshi posted on X that Soham Parekh works at "3-4 startups at the same time" and has been "preying on YC companies." (YC, or Y Combinator, is a popular startup accelerator and venture capital firm.) Doshi fired Parekh within a week at his company Playground AI and warned him to stop the practice, but said Parekh continued a year later. Parekh's resume lists positions at Dynamo AI, Union AI, Synthesia, and Alan AI, along with degrees from the University of Mumbai and Georgia Institute of Technology. Doshi called the CV "probably 90% fake and most links are gone." Several other startup founders confirmed they had either hired Parekh in the past, or had been approached by him. Nicolai Ouporov of Fleet AI said Parekh "works at more than 4 startups at any given time." Justin Harvey of AIVideo said he nearly hired Parekh, who "crushed the interview." Doshi said he corroborated the account with more than six companies before posting publicly.

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An anonymous reader shares a report: A generation of scientific talent is at the brink of being lost to overseas competitors by the Trump administration's dismantling of the National Science Foundation (NSF), with unprecedented political interference at the agency jeopardizing the future of US industries and economic growth, according to a Guardian investigation. The gold standard peer-reviewed process used by the NSF to support cutting-edge, high-impact science is being undermined by the chaotic cuts to staff, programs and grants, as well as meddling by the so-called department of government efficiency (Doge), according to multiple current and former NSF employees who spoke with the Guardian. The scientists warn that Trump's assault on diversity in science is already eroding the quality of fundamental research funded at the NSF, the premier federal investor in basic science and engineering, which threatens to derail advances in tackling existential threats to food, water and biodiversity in the US.

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Citigroup spent over $9 billion on technology and communications last year, almost a fifth of total operating expenses and a larger proportion than competitors, as the bank works to fix legacy software systems that have produced costly errors including accidentally wiring more than $900 million to Revlon creditors. The bank has consolidated 12 international sanctions screening systems into one platform, retired 20 cash equities platforms and launched a replacement, and automated high-risk processes where "fat-finger" errors previously occurred. Recent mistakes included crediting one account with $81 trillion after an employee failed to remove zeros from an electronic form and a copy-paste error that almost missent $6 billion.

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Samsung is working on a trifold smartphone that could be unveiled at the company's July 9th Unpacked event, according to leaked animations discovered in the latest One UI 8 build update. The animations, spotted by Android Authority, reveal a three-panel device with a dual-hinge folding mechanism where the left-hand display folds inward while the right-hand display sandwiches over the top. The device features a triple-camera setup on the rear of the right-hand panel when fully unfolded, with the central panel serving as a cover display. The animations label the device as "Multifold 7," though it is speculated to be called the "Galaxy G Fold."

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Hands on with the new research at this year’s Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition

Let's Encrypt, a certificate authority (CA) known for its free TLS/SSL certificates, has begun issuing digital certificates for IP addresses. From a report: It's not the first CA to do so. PositiveSSL, Sectigo, and GeoTrust all offer TLS/SSL certificates for use with IP addresses, at prices ranging from $40 to $90 or so annually. But Let's Encrypt does so at no cost. For those with a static IP address who want to host a website, an IP address certificate provides a way to offer visitors a secure connection with that numeric identifier while avoiding the nominal expense of a domain name.

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An anonymous reader shares a report: The US government canceled several federal agencies' subscription to Nature and other scientific journals. A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said all contracts with Springer Nature, Nature's publisher, had been "terminated" and that taxpayer money should not be used on "junk science." Nature newsroom, with an update : On 2 July, one US government agency, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the National Institutes of Health (NIH), appeared to walk back its earlier statement to Nature's news team saying that it was cancelling contracts to Springer Nature. Now the HHS says: "Science journals are ripping the American people off with exorbitant access fees and extra charges to publish research openly. HHS is working to develop policies that conserve taxpayer dollars and get Americans a better deal. In the meantime, NIH scientists have continued access to all scientific journals."

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Ford CEO Jim Farley believes half of all white-collar workers in the U.S. could lose their jobs to AI in the coming years, he said. He joins other executives making similar predictions about AI's impact on employment. "AI will leave a lot of white-collar people behind," he said. From a report: The Ford CEO's comments are among the most pointed to date from a large-company U.S. executive outside of Silicon Valley. His remarks reflect an emerging shift in how many executives explain the potential human cost from the technology. Until now, few corporate leaders have wanted to publicly acknowledge the extent to which white-collar jobs could vanish. In interviews, CEOs often hedge when asked about job losses, noting that innovation historically creates a range of new roles. In private, though, CEOs have spent months whispering about how their businesses could likely be run with a fraction of the current staff. Technologies including automation software, AI and robots are being rolled out to make operations as lean and efficient as possible.

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WordLand v0.5.17 -- Two changes with linkblog support.

BTW, this is where we're going with WordLand. I think we can have a simpler social web that builds on simple open formats. That's the plan. I will make an instance of this to show it can be done, both sides, reading and writing. They will work wonderfully with each other. You can write a nice reader and/or writer and it will work with this simple network. Think of the MacWrite and MacPaint of the open social web. Enough to get the ball rolling.

Looking forward to putting linkblogs in WordLand to bed, I don't think too many people other than myself will use the feature, but I wanted to get it right and then move on.