A likely Russian threat group tracked as GreyVibe has been using AI-generated lures and a rich set of custom malware tools to target entities in the military, government, civilian, and business sectors.
The cyberespionage campaign has been active since at least August 2025 and appears to align with Russian state interests, although researchers cannot confidently classify it as a nation-state operation.
Cybersecurity company WithSecure discovered the activity in January this year and determined that its focus is on Ukrainian or Ukraine-related organizations.
The link to a Russian-speaking threat actor is supported by the language for the malware panels, comments in code artifacts, and command-and-control (C2) server time configured to UTC+3 (Moscow time).
According to the researchers, GreyVibe has used several attack chains against its targets, including:
The diversity and quality of these lures are notable, and WithSecure says this is the result of using multiple AI tools, including ChatGPT, Ideogram AI, and Google Gemini, to generate detailed and realistic content to support them.
The use of AI extends to the creation of tools as well, with the researchers mentioning LOOKVALPS, LOOKVALJS, DAYLIGHT, and TEASOUP, all custom obfuscators that were likely developed with LLM assistance.
A PowerShell-based remote access trojan named LegionRelay was also likely developed with assistance from AI tools, the researchers say.
LegionRelay supports file theft, screenshot capturing, browser credential theft, Telegram and WhatsApp data exfiltration, and RDP access setup.
Another malware used by GreyVibe is PhantomRelay, also a PowerShell RAT. The malware supports system fingerprinting, dynamic script loading, and PowerShell and Windows command execution.
.jpg)
Finally, the hackers employed the FallSpy Android spyware on the PrincessClub and Nebo campaigns, which is designed purely for collecting intelligence.
The malware collects contact lists, call logs, device and network information, location data, media files, and SIM information.
WithSecure notes that while GreyVibe activity is consistent with a nation-state operation, the threat actor “lacked the level of sophistication and operational discipline typically associated with mature nation-state actors.”
Furthermore, the PhantomRelay malware has been seen in cybercrime activity, although researchers could distinguish its usage from state-aligned operations. This led the researchers to believe that GreyVibe may include “current or former cybercriminal actors.”
Some evidence pointing to this theory includes the use in early and test samples of a unique ISO builder associated with a group of former TrickBot members (UAC-0098) that targeted Ukraine at the start of the Russian invasion.
Furthermore, the threat actor uploaded development and test samples to a public scanning platform, which is not typical with nation-state actors. Additionally, a cryptocurrency miner was deployed on some victim machines.
The researchers are unsure “whether former or current cybercriminal members have been absorbed into a state-backed group, operate independently but with state-directed tasking, or have formed a hybrid team involving state-affiliated and cybercriminal members.”
Organizations can set up defenses against GreyVibe’s malicious activity by using the indicators of compromise (IoCs) provided by WithSecure.
Automated pentesting tools deliver real value, but they were built to answer one question: can an attacker move through the network? They were not built to test whether your controls block threats, your detection rules fire, or your cloud configs hold.
This guide covers the 6 surfaces you actually need to validate.
The Abxylute M4 joins the growing trend of tiny iPhone controllers with an excellent concept, but its tiny layout and iPhone placement make it tough to use.
I have mixed feelings about the Abxylute M4. It should be the perfect pocketable companion controller for my iPhone.
However, multiple problems emerged the first time I picked it up.
This device wants to be small enough that it can snap to the back of your iPhone when it isn’t in use. It also has to be pocketable while holding a battery and having all of the buttons a modern game would need.
Abxylute achieves these goals, and I’m glad they pursued it in the first place. The problem isn’t with the device’s execution, but the issues created by such a tiny form factor.
I definitely don’t hate it, but I’m not sure it fits entirely into its intended use case very well. Let’s get into it.
The Abxylute M4 is a 2 3/4-inch by 3-inch square-ish controller with a magnetic ring stand attachment. It is meant to attach to the rear of your iPhone while holding it aloft in landscape.
Abxylute M4 review: The smallest viable iPhone controller
This is in direct opposition to the GameSir Pocket Taco, a similarly sized controller that grips the bottom of the iPhone in landscape. They both connect via Bluetooth, but they’re distinct in nearly every other aspect.
The model I’m reviewing has Gamecube-like controllers with a purple case, green A button, red B button, and yellow right analog stick. It is downright cute and nostalgic.
On paper, this should be the perfect portable controller. I believe it is the smallest-sized minimum viable controller with all of the buttons needed for modern games.
Yes, you can play Minecraft with this controller. It might be an old game, but it is one that uses all of the buttons, so I find it a good test case.
Abxylute M4 review: The L/LZ and R/RZ buttons aren’t ideal
The L/LZ and R/RZ buttons on the rear are crammed next to each other on a horizontal axis. It’s a usable setup, but it feels backwards even if it is the correct order.
Of the four buttons, LZ and RZ are used the most, yet they’re the smaller buttons tucked away in the back. Any first-person shooter is going to become much harder because of this arrangement.
Thankfully, there’s a way to fix this in software. Games like Minecraft let users adjust what each button does, but there is a better option in Apple’s Settings app.
Go to Settings -> General -> Game Controller and select the Abxylute M4, which shows up as “Pro Controller.” You can either set a default button configuration for all games or on a per-game basis.
Even so, those trigger buttons aren’t ideal.
Abxylute M4 review: Attach the M4 to the rear of your iPhone when not in use
I’m glad Abxylute included joysticks on this controller, because they could have easily avoided the complexity. However, without them, the controller would be limited to very specific games and retro games.
This is a Bluetooth controller with a 300 mAh battery that provides about 12 hours of gameplay. It can be connected with anything that accepts Bluetooth controllers, even a Nintendo Switch 2.
It charges via USB-C and powers on with a simple button press. Overall, it’s a cute controller that does what Abxylute set out to do — connect to an iPhone via MagSafe and still be pocketable when not in use.
Where the GameSir Pocket Taco emulates what it was like to use a Game Boy Color, the Abxylute M4 is doing its own thing. The closest modern equivalent is the PSP Go, which had controls that slid up from the bottom.
Abxylute M4 review: Stiff joysticks only really work on non-twitchy games
The problem here, versus the PSP Go, and yes, even when compared to the Pocket Taco, is button size, placement, spacing, and controller grip depth.
Your hands don’t like being held in such close proximity continuously. You’ll find yourself pinching tightly while bearing the weight of an iPhone being pulled down by simple fulcrum mechanics.
Meanwhile, you’re supposed to navigate buttons and tiny joysticks while playing a game. That makes the whole experience feel awkward and uncomfortable.
Yeah, needless to say, it’s all a bit rough. I don’t even think this is a hand-size issue. My wife noticed instantly that the controller was hard to grip while using the joysticks.
A child would struggle with the weight of an iPhone after a while, too. So sure, let’s put the iPhone on a table with the included kickstand.
Abxylute M4 review: Playing detached is better, but only by a bit
The problems are less pronounced when using the controller on its own, but they’re still there. It’s easier to grip and navigate, but the joystick’s stiffness feels even more pronounced.
I found that the Abxylute M4 was best for games that relied on the D-pad for movement or didn’t have much going on gameplay-wise. I could easily play the emulated Digimon World 3 with joysticks because I wasn’t aiming at anything.
Games like Pokemon Emerald also excelled because I’m just moving with the D-Pad or selecting menus.
Even still, the cramped size and spacing of the controller won out eventually. You just get fatigued gaming in such close quarters, and I’m not sure there’s a solution without simply making the controller bigger.
Abxylute M4 review: At least it’s cute
When I tried playing Minecraft, I had trouble moving the character, steering the camera with the other analog stick, and hitting the blocks I wanted. This is trivial on any other controller, but on the Abxylute M4, I found my fingers slipping on the tiny joysticks.
I don’t think there’s anything Abxylute could have done with this form factor to change these complaints. It’s a great controller with good construction, but it’s simply too small.
Oh, and don’t try playing this while lying down. The magnets are strong, but the force of gravity could result in an iPhone to the nose.
There are many ways to play games on your iPhone these days. Abxylute makes one of the best grip-style controllers that turn your iPhone into a little Nintendo Switch-like device, but it’s gigantic even when not in use.
Abxylute M4 review: a tough set of compromises for its size
Another option is propping up your iPhone and using a standard controller like the PlayStation DualSense 5. You can find a lot of third-party options with different grips, sizes, and styles, too.
GameSir’s Pocket Taco is too limited and niche to be a true controller alternative.
Out of everyone, I think the Ohsnap MCON might be the winner in terms of size, grip, feature set, and form factor, though I can’t say for sure. I haven’t used one, but Andrew O’Hara reviewed it and said it was great, even if it wasn’t the most comfortable way to game.
I would say the MCON’s iPhone-sized spacing and grips would make it a much more ideal experience versus the Abxylute M4. It’s more compact and portable than grip controllers like the Backbone One Pro or GameSir G8 Galileo.
At least the Abxylute M4 is low-priced enough to give it a shot if you’re curious. I can’t recommend it for serious use, but if you’d like a great way to play Game Boy, Nintendo 64, or PlayStation One games, it might fit that niche fairly well.
The Abxylute M4 is well designed and does what it sets out to do. The problem isn’t with how the product works specifically, but the form factor.
If you’d like what might be the most portable controller, even at the compromise of comfort, then this is worth checking out.
If you want to give the Abxylute M4 a try, it is very reasonably priced at $49.99 on the Abxylute website. It is currently discounted to $42.49 on Amazon.
The year-old Dutch startup is folding in a seven-year-old performance-marketing platform, betting that customers want AI, automation and human specialists in one place.
Most startups spend their first year trying to survive. Aizy has spent its first year buying a company older than itself.
The Breda-based AI-marketing firm announced that it has acquired Uptmz, a rival performance-advertising platform, merging the two into a single system that serves more than 600 customers.
The combined platform spans advertising across Google, Microsoft and Meta, pairing Uptmz’s automation software with Aizy’s AI optimisation and its bench of performance specialists.
Financial terms were not disclosed. Customers of both will move onto one integrated platform, able to run campaigns themselves, lean on specialists, or hand over the whole job.
The two halves come at the problem from different ends. Uptmz grew out of the Dutch agency group Springbok Group and spun out as an independent company in 2022, building over seven years into a technically strong, scalable platform for Google and Microsoft ads, weighted towards automation.
Aizy, barely a year old, has built in the other direction, starting from AI intelligence and human support rather than raw tooling.
That contrast is the stated logic of the deal. “This combination gives us the best of both worlds,” said Stefan Nuijten, Aizy’s founder, describing user-friendly software on one side and real intelligence on the strategy and execution side, and claiming a lead over the rush of similar initiatives that have appeared lately.
Vincent Stoit, co-founder of Uptmz, said companies increasingly want a multichannel approach and strategic support that goes beyond software alone, and that Aizy could carry his platform into its next phase.
The wager beneath the language is that the market for advertising software is consolidating away from single-purpose AI tools and towards integrated platforms.
Plenty of products optimise one channel or automate one task; Aizy’s bet is that mid-market advertisers would rather buy AI, automation and specialist help as one bundle than assemble them from parts.
Acquiring a built-out platform is a faster way to make that case than building it.
Aizy’s short history has been unusually well-funded for its age. The company raised early backing from investors including DeGiro co-founder Gijs Nagel and the tech investors Michiel Mol and Joost van der Klooster, and a €2m injection in February 2026 valued it at around €22m, less than a year after launch, on roughly €2m of annual recurring revenue and more than 150 customers at the time.
The Uptmz deal is what that capital is now buying: scale, bought rather than grown.
The company says the combination lays the groundwork for international expansion across the European AI-performance-marketing market. That is the ambition; the integration is the test.
Merging a year-old AI-first startup with a seven-year-old automation platform, and keeping 600 customers happy through it, is the kind of operational work that decides whether an acquisition this early is bold or premature.
James Cameron finally made a threequel, and now we know why he usually doesn’t. Despite stepping in to write and direct one of the greatest sequels ever made with Aliens, and later delivering true event sequels to his own films with Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Avatar: The Way of Water, last year’s Fire and Ash feels oddly familiar. The man is the undisputed champ of boundary-pushing cinematic spectacle, so it’s an impressive achievement for sure, but somewhere along the way he forgot to give audiences something new.
The title is a metaphor for hatred and grief, both weighing heavily on Na’vi warrior Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), who lost a son in the last chapter. Her husband Jake (Sam Worthington) is still being hunted by his former-human nemesis, Quaritch (Stephen Lang), as an alleged terrorist and traitor to his race, while their sort-of-foster-son Spider (Jack Champion) has problems of his own. The family decides that the best place for this “pink-skin” is with his own kind, so they’re off on a new journey, one cut short by the marauding Ash People, a clan of infidels who have turned their back on Pandora’s divine Eywa. Led by the ruthless, seductive Varang (Oona Chaplin), they target anyone who clings to their spiritual connection to Pandora, and an unholy alliance soon makes them a serious threat to all who would oppose them.
This of course leads to jungle skirmishes, aerial battles, whalefights and plenty of other action set pieces…all of which we’ve seen before. Honestly, Fire and Ash feels a lot like a redux of The Way of Water. So if you’re a fan of more-of-the-same sequels, and I do mean more, this one runs three hours and 17 minutes, the longest Avatar film yet, this one’s for you.
Fire and Ash was captured in native 4K and native 3D, so there is no upscaling or 3D conversion in the chain. The studio also states that no AI was used here, despite Cameron’s comments that those tools could factor into the fourth and fifth installments. The Oscar-winning special effects are mind-blowingly realistic: We believe that the skin, hair and other elements are genuine, right down to the tiny bumps and cracks in the warpaint. I haven’t seen this many shades of blue since… The Way of Water, and there’s even some unspoken sunburn on one character who stays out too long without his SPF. The lush, glowing forest is as beautiful as we remember, its supernatural energy all around us, and the bright daytime scenes are very bright, some might say too bright in places, but I wasn’t bothered by it.
Credit where it’s due, Cameron doesn’t just compose for 3D, he conceives for 3D, and his storytelling benefits tremendously from the technology. (I keep a first-gen curved LG OLED hooked up for such occasions.) The HD 3D movie is split across two discs to reduce compression and the detail is extraordinary, surprisingly good in the darker areas of the 1.85:1 image. The layers of action are convincingly separated with an appreciable depth that serves to enhance the sense of scale on any size TV. Some of the more dramatic shots had me clutching the armrest, but there was no recurrence of the fleeting vertigo I experienced when watching The Way of Water in IMAX 3D four years ago. In fact, beyond the expected step down in brightness, I encountered no real issues with the 3D.
Theatrical audio for the 4K is Dolby Atmos with a TrueHD 7.1 core. If you prefer the cleaned-up, family-friendly track, you’ll be stepping down to a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1. Over on the bundled 1080p Blu-ray, the audio maxes out at DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. On the Blu-ray 3D presentation, listen for DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1. The Atmos height channels are put to good use, as we spend a lot more time in the air this go-around, with plenty of wind and lots of swooshing when we’re under the water. There’s generous LFE when the story demands it, particularly in Act III when the battles get explosive, and the frenetic combat between the airborne banshees and heavy metal gunships sends objects all around your home theater.
In all cases, there are no extras on any of the movie discs, and the bundled 1080p Blu-ray and bonus disc are identical between these two separate releases. An almost-three-hour “making of” documentary resides on the final platter, broken into a series of neat, focused topics. Other highlights include a Miley Cyrus music video and an extremely respectful tribute to the late producer Jon Landau, to whom the movie is dedicated. The same extras are accessible via the supplied Movies Anywhere digital copy. As meaty as this bonus content is, past experience leads me to wonder if there’s some super-special edition in the offing.
Nearly $1.5B at the box office proves that James Cameron’s sci-fi epic still has plenty of juice left and these Fire and Ash discs triumph in terms of 4K video, immersive 3D and ferocious surround sound. Behind the scenes, however, the creative gears are clearly grinding and the Avatar formula is showing its age.
★★★★★★★★★★ Movie
★★★★★★★★★★ Picture (for both 4K and 3D)
★★★★★★★★★★ Sound
★★★★★★★★★★ Extras
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against 23andMe, now Chrome Holding Co., over the company’s failure to protect sensitive customer genetic and personal information.
Improper security led to a high-profile data breach in 2023 that exposed the sensitive information of nearly 7 million customers, including 855,541 Californians.
The incident came to light that year in October, after threat actors offered to sell a large number of records stolen from 23andMe, and leaked data samples (and later larger parts of the dataset) to prove the authenticity of the information.
The California-based company confirmed that the leaked data was genuine and claimed that it had been extracted following a credential-stuffing attack targeting accounts with weak credentials.
Soon, it became clear that the attackers had exfiltrated data from users opting into the platform’s ‘DNA Relatives’ feature, and then accessed a second, much larger set of accounts that didn’t use the feature.
In total, the incident exposed data of roughly 6.9 million customers, including genetic data, health predisposition information, ancestry and ethnicity information, biological relatives, and DNA matches.
By the end of 2023, the company was already facing multiple lawsuits. In early 2024, national data protection authorities launched investigations that ultimately resulted in multi-million-dollar fines, leading the company to file for bankruptcy.
The latest lawsuit filed by AG R. Bonta claims that 23andMe failed to implement reasonable safeguards against credential-stuffing attacks, missed multiple opportunities to detect the intrusion, and failed to catch the coding error in DNA Relatives that led to the widespread breach.
In addition to the data protection failures, Bonta also underlines the misleading public statements 23andMe made before and after the incident.
Specifically, the firm claimed before the incident that its security met high standards. After the breach, it attempted to downplay the incident’s severity, suggesting that the exposed data was largely public, and blamed customers for password reuse, stating that its systems had not been breached.
Overall, the Attorney General argues that these actions violated several state laws, including the California Genetic Information Privacy Act, the California Reasonable Data Security Law, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the False Advertising Law, and the Unfair Competition Law.
The complaint seeks an injunction to prevent any further violations of the above, including the imposition of statutory penalties of $1,000-$7,500 per violation, depending on the case.
The AG announcement notes that the bankruptcy dispute regarding the proposed sale of Californians’ genetic data and biological materials is a separate proceeding.
Automated pentesting tools deliver real value, but they were built to answer one question: can an attacker move through the network? They were not built to test whether your controls block threats, your detection rules fire, or your cloud configs hold.
This guide covers the 6 surfaces you actually need to validate.
Anthropic’s run-rate revenue crossed $47bn earlier this month, growing multi-fold from $14bn in February.
Anthropic overtook OpenAI’s valuation after a $65bn raise valued the company at $965bn.
The AI race is reaching fever pitch, with both of the fierce rivals planning for initial public offerings later this year.
The Series H round, led by Altimeter, Dragoneer, Greenoaks and Sequoia, comes as Claude enterprise adoption continues to permeate worldwide.
The round was co-led by big-name investors, including Capital Group, Coatue, D1 Capital Partners, GIC, Iconiq and XN, and included significant support from more than a dozen other groups.
The new valuation is higher than analysts’ estimates, which had projected Anthropic to be valued at up to $950bn following this round.
Anthropic said its run-rate revenue crossed $47bn earlier this month, growing multi-fold from $14bn in February and $5bn in August last year.
Claude’s paid subscriptions have more than doubled this year, according to Anthropic. A Tech Crunch report from March estimated the company’s non-enterprise paid subscriptions growing in record numbers.
Meanwhile, a different report from March found that Anthropic was capturing more than 73pc of first-time enterprise AI customers, with OpenAI only holding around 26pc.
While Anthropic does not disclose its user base, OpenAI, in February, said it crossed more than 900m weekly active users and more than 50m consumer subscribers.
The Claude maker said that the raise will help support safety research and expand computing capacity to keep up with the growing demand for its product.
“Claude is increasingly indispensable to our growing global community of customers, and we work tirelessly to make tools like Claude Code and Cowork more helpful, more powerful and more adaptable to their needs,” said Krishna Rao, Anthropic’s chief financial officer.
“This funding will help us serve the historic demand we are experiencing, stay at the research frontier and bring Claude to more of the places where work happens.”
The round also includes $15bn in previously committed investments from hyperscalers, including $5bn from Amazon for 5GW of new capacity, which is part of a wider $25bn investment plan.
Over recent weeks, the company has also signed agreements with Google and Broadcom for next-generation TPU capacity, and with SpaceX for access to GPU capacity in its Colossus 1 supercomputer.
Also joining the latest round were Anthropic’s strategic infrastructure partners, Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix. “As demand for Claude continues to grow, these relationships will help us scale our compute reliably at the pace our customers need,” the company said.
Anthropic’s popularity skyrocketed following a dispute with the US defence department earlier this year after the company refused to change its safeguards related to using its AI for fully autonomous weapons, or for mass surveillance of US citizens.
The company has since been battling the US administration in court over the banning of its products within government.
In April, Anthropic launched its cybersecurity model Mythos, which sent shockwaves through the industry over its capabilities. Since then, governments and businesses worldwide have sought to adopt the model, so far launched only in a limited capacity to select users.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
It’s been less than two weeks since the Justice Department created the obviously illegal and unconstitutional $1.776 billion slush fund to pay off MAGA loyalists and January 6th insurrectionists. There are a variety of lawsuits looking to put a stop to it, and we just wrote about dozens of former federal judges asking the original judge in Trump’s bizarre “have my IRS give me $10 billion” case to reopen the case to stop the corrupt fund.
But in one of those cases, a judge has told the Justice Department to halt all activity related to the fund until there’s been more briefing.
The case was filed by a semi-random collection of people and organizations, including a former AUSA who headed up the prosecution of January 6th insurrectionists (and who Trump fired) named Andrew Floyd, but also a California professor who was arrested for protesting ICE nonsense, the city of New Haven in Connecticut, the National Abortion Federation, and Common Cause. Each has credible reasons to try to stop this slush fund from coming into existence.
The complaint details the MAGA obsession with the mostly false claims that Democrats weaponized the government against MAGA:
The creation of the Anti-Weaponization Fund follows directly from President Trump and his allies’ longstanding and frequent accusations that Democrats used the government and the legal system as political weapons.
For example, in June 2023, after DOJ charged then-former President Trump with mishandling classified documents, Trump posted a video on social media exclaiming, “This is warfare for the law . . . . Our country is going to hell, and they come after Donald Trump, weaponizing the Justice Department, weaponizing the FBI.”
Republican lawmakers quickly adopted the same language. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis posted that “the weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society,” and then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy pledged on Twitter that House Republicans would “hold this brazen weaponization of power accountable.”
Even before his election to a second term, members of President Trump’s campaign spent months developing a scheme to compensate those of Trump’s political allies who were purportedly the victims of “weaponization.”
It further notes that while MAGA keeps whining about weaponization, it appears to be doing far more weaponization of the government than anything Democrats have ever even been accused of doing. And, they point out that the Trump administration (while weaponizing the government) only seems to point to faux claims of weaponization by Democrats, refusing to even suggest their own side has ever done anything wrong and abused the levers of power:
Notably, none of the administration’s efforts to combat “weaponization” include any mention or review of abuses of government authority by Republican officials.
But Trump himself has used “the levers of government power” in unprecedented ways “to target individuals, groups, and entities for improper and unlawful political, personal, and/or ideological reasons.” See Ex. A ¶ II.C.
During his first term, Trump broke historical norms by being the first president to reject the post-Watergate firewall that separated the White House’s political decisions from independent DOJ criminal investigations.
In his second term, Trump has been arrogating and using power in increasingly unprecedented and abusive ways to carry out his personal political agenda.
For example, DOJ has sought indictments against Trump’s political opponents, including former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and six Democratic members of Congress. 23 It has also launched investigations into Trump’s critics like California Senator Adam Schiff, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and former Special Counsel Jack Smith. 24 Trump revoked the security clearances of 50 people he accused of aiding former President Biden’s presidential campaign, including former top intelligence officials. Exec. Order No. 14152, Holding Former Government Officials Accountable for Election Interference and Improper Disclosure of Sensitive Governmental Information, 90 Fed. Reg. 8343 (Jan. 20, 2025).
The complaint shows how this is nothing more than a slush fund for often law-breaking Trump allies:
Enrique Tarrio, the Proud Boys leader sentenced to 22 years for seditious conspiracy over the January 6 insurrection, said he planned to apply to the Fund. He said that he assumed he could get between $2 and $5 million.
Jenny Cudd, another January 6 defendant, told reporters that “all J6ers will apply for restitution,” noting that news of the Anti-Weaponization Fund was widely circulating among January 6 defendants on social media and “group chats.”
Caroline Engelbrecht, a prominent election denier and founder of True the Vote, a group that amplified conspiracies that the 2020 election was stolen, stated: “I would put myself and True the Vote … squarely in that camp who have been targeted, and we have the receipts to show just how deep that targeting ran. And hopefully, we will see some level of compensation.”
Several attorneys aligned with Trump’s allies have confirmed that they, too, have already received many requests about submitting claims to the Fund.
For example, Steve Crampton, senior counsel at the Thomas More Society, which defends and advocates on behalf of abortion opponents prosecuted under the FACE Act, said his group is “actively exploring available avenues to seek compensation for clients who were unfairly targeted by politically motivated government overreach.”
The judge declined to formally grant a temporary restraining order, but functionally accomplished the same thing by ordering that the DOJ cannot do anything regarding the fund until after there’s been more briefing on the details here.
Because full briefing of the issue will enhance the ability of the Court to make a sound decision. plaintiffs’ Expedited Motion, [Dkt. No. 30], is DENIED and defendants’ request for additional time is GRANTED; however, to ensure that no funds are irreversibly disbursed from the AntiWeaponization Fund (hereinafter, “Fund”) while plaintiffs’ Motion is pending, it is hereby ORDERED that defendants be and are ENJOINED from taking any further action pursuant to the creation or operation of the Anti-Weaponization Fund, which includes the transferring of money to the Fund; the consideration of any claims submitted to the Fund; and the disbursing of any funds from the Fund;
The judge set an aggressive briefing schedule: the government must file its opposition by next Friday, plaintiffs reply by the following Wednesday, with a hearing shortly after.
This is a temporary hold, not a permanent win. The government gets to file its opposition, there will be briefing, there will be a hearing. The fund could still come into existence. But for now, at least one federal judge decided that maybe — maybe — the DOJ shouldn’t be disbursing $1.776 billion to Proud Boys leaders and election deniers before anyone’s had a chance to argue why that’s an extraordinarily bad idea.
Filed Under: andrew floyd, doj, donald trump, insurrection, irs, new haven, todd blanche, weaponization fund
Companies: common cause, national abortion federation
As data center backlash builds nationwide, Microsoft is pointing to Quincy, Wash., as Exhibit A in making the case that it’s a company communities can trust. But it’s not clear whether the conditions that made things work 20 years ago in the rural city still apply today.
On Thursday, Microsoft celebrated the community as the home of its first data center, hosting a public party and awarding $210,000 in grants to local organizations. Over its two decades in Quincy, the company has created jobs and contributed to property taxes that helped fund infrastructure including a high school and police station. The local poverty rate more than halved over 10 years, dropping to 13% in 2023.
“The story of Quincy, Washington, and Grant County is a story of data centers gone right,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a GeekWire interview.
However, much has changed since Microsoft flipped the switch on its first server there. In the mid-2000s, the region enjoyed surplus, accessible and affordable energy from hydropower, and statewide droughts were an anomaly. That’s no longer true.
Communities across the country are growing anxious about the rapid deployment of energy-hungry data centers driving up utility bills and straining local water supplies, which the facilities use for cooling. Seattle is considering a one-year moratorium on the computing infrastructure, while Denver; St. Charles, Mo.; a county near Dallas and one in Arkansas have recently approved bans.
A March Gallup survey found that seven in 10 Americans oppose the construction of data centers for AI applications in their local area, with nearly half strongly opposed.
So is the Quincy model still relevant?
Smith says yes — with caveats.
The formula for success “may need to be a little bit different,” he said. To that end, the company launched its Community First AI Infrastructure Initiative in January, pledging to be a good neighbor wherever it builds. That includes paying for its own electricity and forgoing local incentives such as property tax breaks.
In practice, though, it’s more complicated.
Quincy has become Washington’s data center hub, with Microsoft as the largest operator and other tech companies continuing to build there. To meet rising demand, the county’s utility wants to add six new transmission lines — a project affecting private owned properties and estimated to cost $260 million, the Seattle Times reports. It’s unclear who will bear those costs and to what extent. Microsoft has committed more than $2.6 million, according to the Times.
Earlier this year, state lawmakers pursued legislation requiring data center operators to cover costs associated with energy deployment and generation — a measure that could have quelled some of the public concern about the facilities. The bill passed the House, but died in the Senate after Microsoft publicly opposed it.
The company expects to spend $190 billion in capital costs this year, largely on AI infrastructure.
Smith said Microsoft supports state-level legislation broadly, but stressed the need to ensure that the benefits of data center developments flow to local communities and that rate payers are protected. He pointed to efforts underway in La Porte, Ind., and Cheyenne, Wyo., as promising new projects.
“People are smart,” he said. “They have a way of sniffing out whether a developer of data centers is going to be responsible or not, and they’re insisting that people be responsible — and I don’t think that’s the least bit inappropriate.”
Luna has officially unveiled the Luna Band, a new voice-first wearable designed to help users improve their daily routines through real-time health tracking. Supported by the company’s LifeOS intelligence system, the wearable continuously monitors body signals and transforms them into personalized recommendations. Luna designed the device for people who want smarter support for productivity, recovery, and overall health. The invite-only Drop 1 is expected to begin shipping by the end of July 2026.
Luna designed the Luna app to make health tracking simpler and more organized by consolidating several wellness features into a single platform. This app integrates features that involve stress management, nutrition, exercise, supplements, and recovery into a single application. Another customization option available to users is creating personal health modules in the app.
The application brings together aspects of stress, diet, fitness, nutritional supplements, and productivity within the app’s micro-apps. Users can also sync third-party devices and other relevant health-related data sources for a more personalized experience.
The company also allows users to create their own health modules in the app rather than relying solely on prebuilt features. Alongside this, Luna highlights its voice-logging feature, which eliminates the need for manual data entry. Users can quickly record meals, workouts, and daily habits through simple voice commands, making health tracking faster.
Luna designed LifeOS as one of its main AI-powered features to simplify health tracking through personalized insights and recommendations. The system continuously studies body signals, lifestyle habits, biomarkers, and health trends to deliver a better understanding of overall wellness. Luna says LifeOS is included with the Luna Band platform.
Luna has confirmed that the first release of the Luna Band, called Drop 1, will be available through an invite-only system. Users interested in the wearable can sign up through the company’s official waitlist before shipping starts later in July 2026.
Dual-mode gaming monitors have been around long enough that the novelty has worn off. MSI has decided that two modes simply aren’t enough and has unveiled the MPG OLED 322URDX36 ahead of Computex 2026.
It is the world’s first Triple Mode gaming monitor, and if the execution is as good as it sounds, it could be one of the few gaming monitors that I’d be genuinely interested in.
The MPG OLED 322URDX36 lets you switch between three resolution and refresh rate combinations: 4K at 360Hz, 2K at 520Hz, and FHD at 680Hz. Even when you want to prioritize resolution, you still get 360Hz of refresh rate.
Dual-mode monitors on the market can toggle between 4K and FHD or 2K and FHD, but none reach 360Hz at 4K, and none of them offer three modes. MSI is the first to do both.
The monitor features a 32-inch fifth-generation QD-OLED panel built using Samsung’s Penta Tandem technology, the same architecture that Samsung has used to push brightness and longevity on its recent models.
Peak HDR brightness sits at 1,500 nits, which should help enhance visibility, even in bright rooms. MSI has also carried over its DarkArmor Film from previous models, which improves black levels by 40% compared to regular OLED panels.
The MPG OLED 322URDX36 sports a DisplayPort 2.1a port with UHBR20, which pushes 4K at 360Hz without compression, along with a USB Type-C port that supports 98W power delivery. That USB-C charging speed is meaningful for creators and professionals.
MSI will officially launch the MPG OLED 322URDX36 at Computex 2026, which opens on June 2, 2026. Pricing and availability have not been announced yet.
While the gaming monitor market has been revisiting the same dual-refresh rate formula for nearly two years now, MSI’ Triple Mode is the first genuinely structural innovation since dual-mode arrived. The supply chain and pricing might still need work, but the technology itself is quite promising.
Spaceflight Now shared their video of the explosion, which the Orlando Sentinel describes as showing Blue Origin’s rocket “become engulfed in flames. The fireball expands out and covers the entire launch pad as the fuselage of the rocket can be seen crumbling into the flames.”
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos said on X.com “It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it. Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.” (SpaceX founder Elon Musk posted “Sorry to see this, I hope you recover quickly.”)
It’s unclear how this will impact future launches. “The rocket was destroyed,” reports CBS News, “and as the smoke cleared, there was no sign of the erector-gantry used to move the New Glenn from its hangar to the pad and to raise it from horizontal to vertical. Likewise, one of two tall lightning towers was no longer visible.”
It was the first such on-pad explosion at the Cape since a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blew up on nearby pad 40 on Sept. 1, 2016… Blue Origin only has one New Glenn pad, the one that was damaged in the Thursday test. The New Glenn, which has launched three times, is a heavy lift rocket designed to compete head-to-head with SpaceX Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. During New Glenn’s most recent flight in April, an upper stage malfunction prevented a commercial internet satellite from reaching its planned orbit…
The New Glenn destroyed Thursday was to send 48 Leo internet satellites owned by Amazon into space [which were not on board for the hot-fire test]
Blue Origin posted on X.com that “Debris from our recent hotfire anomaly may wash ashore in the coming days/weeks. If you encounter any debris, do not touch or approach it for your safety.”
“Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult…” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman posted on X.com.
“âWe will provide information on any impacts to the Artemis and Moon Base programs as it becomes available.”
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader symbolset for sharing the news.
NYT Strands Answers May 24 2026 Revealed for Puzzle No. 812 Theme Summer Essentials
Bridgerton Season 5: Cast, Release Date And Everything We Know So Far
Robinhood crypto COO Tanya Denisova exits
Microsoft’s quiet Claude Code retreat and the real cost of enterprise AI
Micron Crosses $1 Trillion Market Cap as AI Demand Reshapes Memory Sector
Selena Gomez Reportedly Upset Over Benny Blanco’s Comments on Her ‘Terrible’ Diet
BTS Sells Out Four Las Vegas Shows at Allegiant Stadium for ARIRANG World Tour
The Samsung pay deal is the moment Korean unions changed register
Waymo dominates autonomous vehicle registrations as Tesla trails behind
Westone Audio and Etymotic Acquired by Fidelity Collective in Major IEM Market Move
Millions of AI agents imperiled by critical vulnerability in open source package
Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Calls on Super Micro to Strengthen Export Controls Amid Smuggling Probe
China assigns ID codes to 28,000+ humanoid robots
SpaceX’s $2 Trillion IPO: Why Tech Giants Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), and Microsoft (MSFT) May Face Pressure
NASA taps Blue Origin to deliver lunar rovers for Moon Base initiative
Israel says it has killed new Hamas military leader in Gaza City airstrikes
‘Breaking Bad’ Star’s Easy-to-Binge 6-Part Crime Series Spin-Off Is Finally Heading to Free Streaming
Brian Armstrong Outlines Crypto Vision for the Future Financial System
Yatra Online, Inc. 2026 Q4 – Results – Earnings Call Presentation (NASDAQ:YTRA) 2026-05-25
Spain blocks prediction markets Polymarket Kalshi
You must be logged in to post a comment Login