Month: January 2025
Tesla Full Self Driving Computer Failures Are Bricking Cars And Disabling Features
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Read Meta’s memo to employees rolling back DEI programs
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Meta disbands diversity team and says DEI has become ‘charged’
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge
Meta is eliminating its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs because of the “legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts” in the US, according to a memo to employees seen by Axios. Meta will also roll back representation goals and end its “diverse slate approach” to hiring.
The memo, which was written by Janelle Gale, Meta’s vice president of human resources, said the company would replace DEI programs with ones “that focus on how to apply fair and consistent practices that mitigate bias for all, no matter your background,” as reported by Axios. The company will also “end efforts to source business suppliers from diverse-owned businesses.”
“The Supreme Court of the United States has recently made decisions signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI,” Gale wrote. “The term ‘DEI’ has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others.”
Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton confirmed to The Verge that Axios’ reporting is accurate.
The news follows Meta’s appointment of the Trump-friendly policy chief Joel Kaplan. Meta also recently announced its plans to replace third-party fact-checking with a Community Notes system similar to Elon Musk’s X.
Meta also overhauled its Hateful Conduct Policy, adding rules that now “allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation,” among other horrible things, and announced plans to move its moderation teams from California to Texas due to concerns about “bias.”
Update, January 10th: Added confirmation from Meta.
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge
Meta is eliminating its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs because of the “legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts” in the US, according to a memo to employees seen by Axios. Meta will also roll back representation goals and end its “diverse slate approach” to hiring.
The memo, which was written by Janelle Gale, Meta’s vice president of human resources, said the company would replace DEI programs with ones “that focus on how to apply fair and consistent practices that mitigate bias for all, no matter your background,” as reported by Axios. The company will also “end efforts to source business suppliers from diverse-owned businesses.”
“The Supreme Court of the United States has recently made decisions signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI,” Gale wrote. “The term ‘DEI’ has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others.”
Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton confirmed to The Verge that Axios’ reporting is accurate.
The news follows Meta’s appointment of the Trump-friendly policy chief Joel Kaplan. Meta also recently announced its plans to replace third-party fact-checking with a Community Notes system similar to Elon Musk’s X.
Meta also overhauled its Hateful Conduct Policy, adding rules that now “allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation,” among other horrible things, and announced plans to move its moderation teams from California to Texas due to concerns about “bias.”
Update, January 10th: Added confirmation from Meta.
Judge ends man’s 11-year quest to dig up landfill and recover $765M in bitcoin
Hard drive that could provide access to $750M bitcoin trove is buried at the dump.
A British judge ruled against a man who wants to excavate a landfill where he says a hard drive with access to thousands of bitcoins was mistakenly dumped over 11 years ago.
Since 2013, James Howells has been hoping to recover a laptop hard drive that he says contains the private key for cryptocurrency which he says he mined in 2009. We wrote about it at the time, noting that the value of a bitcoin had just passed $1,000, making 7,500 bitcoins worth $7.5 million.
The alleged number of bitcoins has changed a bit, with Howells now saying he lost 8,000 bitcoins. The bitcoin price exceeded $100,000 last month and was worth over $95,636 as of this writing, or $765 million for 8,000 bitcoins.
NATO wants to build an alternative satellite-based internet to be used in case of emergency
Threat of undersea cable sabotage raises concerns for alternate arrangements.
Project HEIST wants to mitigate physical sabotaging of underwater cables
HEIST is expected to use laser optics rather than radio
Exabytes of data flow in more than 1 million Km of fiber across the globe
NATO is reportedly developing a satellite-based backup for global internet communications to address vulnerabilities exposed by recent undersea cable disruptions.
The project, known as HEIST (hybrid space-submarine architecture ensuring infosec of telecommunications), comes in response to the February 2024 incident when the cargo ship Rubymar, struck by a Houthi missile attack, dragged its anchor across the Red Sea floor, severing three fiber-optic cables.
A report by IEEE Spectrum claims these cables carried about a quarter of all internet traffic between Europe and Asia, forcing data rerouting and highlighting the fragile nature of global internet infrastructure.
Ready for testing
Over 95% of intercontinental internet traffic relies on undersea fiber-optic cables, with more than 1.2 million kilometers of them stretching across the planet. These thin cables lie unburied across deep-sea floors, making them vulnerable to accidental damage and sabotage.
The Rubymar incident was unintentional, but Western officials have evidence of deliberate undersea cable sabotage by state actors, such as Russia and China. NATO has already announced plans to prevent this happening in the future using undersea drones.
HEIST aims to address such threats by ensuring critical internet pathways remain operational even when fiber lines are compromised.
The project has two key objectives: to rapidly detect cable damage and precisely locate breaks, and to expand the capacity to reroute data through alternative channels, including satellites. The focus will be on diverting high-priority data to satellites, reducing reliance on vulnerable seabed cables.
The project will begin testing in 2025 at the Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden. Researchers from multiple countries, including the US, Sweden, Iceland, and Switzerland, will work to develop faster break detection systems capable of pinpointing damage with accuracy to within one meter.
The researchers will also explore satellite-based failsafes using higher-bandwidth laser optics, which can transmit far more data than current radio-based satellite systems.
While satellite throughput is limited compared to fiber, the HEIST team is focusing on expanding bandwidth through technologies like infrared lasers, already in use on Starlink satellites.
Although no single solution currently exists, NATO’s goal is to create a diverse and resilient network, ensuring secure global communications in emergencies.
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Undersea cable board launched to combat damage and sabotage
NATO plans to deploy sea drones to monitor and protect undersea cables
Russian-Chinese undersea cable sabotage “barely affected” internet service
Meta Deletes Trans and Nonbinary Messenger Themes. Amid a series of changes that allows users to target LGBTQ+ people, Meta has deleted product features it initially championed.
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Everyone agrees: 2024 the hottest year since the thermometer was invented
An exceptionally hot outlier, 2024 means the streak of hottest years goes to 11.
Over the last 24 hours or so, the major organizations that keep track of global temperatures have released figures for 2024, and all of them agree: 2024 was the warmest year yet recorded, joining 2023 as an unusual outlier in terms of how rapidly things heated up. At least two of the organizations, the European Union’s Copernicus and Berkeley Earth, place the year at about 1.6° C above pre-industrial temperatures, marking the first time that the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5° has been exceeded.
NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration both place the mark at slightly below 1.5° C over pre-industrial temperatures (as defined by the 1850–1900 average). However, that difference largely reflects the uncertainties in measuring temperatures during that period rather than disagreement over 2024.
It’s hot everywhere
2023 had set a temperature record largely due to a switch to El Niño conditions midway through the year, which made the second half of the year exceptionally hot. It takes some time for that heat to make its way from the ocean into the atmosphere, so the streak of warm months continued into 2024, even as the Pacific switched into its cooler La Niña mode.
TikTok’s US Supreme Court Trial: Here’s What Was Said Today
The Supreme Court appeal is Tiktok’s last chance to stop a ban from happening through litigation. Here’s what happened.
The Supreme Court appeal is Tiktok’s last chance to stop a ban from happening through litigation. Here’s what happened.