President-elect Donald Trump spent plenty of time on the campaign trail railing against key portions of the Inflation Reduction Act, from solar and wind tax credits to electric vehicles and environmental justice initiatives. 

But his return to the presidency doesn’t necessarily spell the end of the landmark legislation. While Trump’s administration is unlikely to be supportive of certain climate tech startups, it will have a harder time ending the broadly popular law.

The Inflation Reduction Act, enacted in 2022, ushered in a range of tax credits and incentives aimed at reducing carbon pollution in the U.S. and attracting climate-friendly industries to the country. On both accounts, it’s been successful. Carbon emissions are down, and investment in climate tech is up.

Startups have broadly benefited from the Inflation Reduction Act. Tax credits have encouraged investors to plow money into nuclear power, hydrogen, and all things EV-related. Nuclear power, which is one of the more expensive sources of electricity in the U.S., receives a production tax credit under the law. Green hydrogen does, too, which could help it achieve cost parity with fossil fuel-derived hydrogen much more quickly. Battery startups have benefited as major manufacturers look to develop domestic supply chains for new factories in the U.S.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Further downstream, startups have sprouted to help homeowners and landlords install heat pumps and electric vehicle chargers. It’s the sort of knock-on effect that broadens the impact beyond the hit to the U.S. treasury.

By many measures, the law has been a success: In the first year alone, more than 270 clean energy projects were announced and private investments in the space topped $130 billion. Companies invested in manufacturing, and consumers spent on everything from EVs to heat pumps, according to the Rhodium Group. Batteries destined for EVs and grid-scale storage have arguably benefited the most: Investors have bet $110 billion on the space to date, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

The biggest hurdle Trump will face is the fact that the Inflation Reduction Act is already on the books. Repealing it will require a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate; many previous climate-related policies under Barack Obama were executive orders, which are easier to reverse, or regulatory changes, which take longer but can be a lighter lift than repealing a law. Trump’s administration might be able to water down some provisions and redirect some funding. But given support from moderate Republicans and the public popularity of certain provisions of the law, it’s unlikely that Trump will be able to eliminate the law entirely.

The Federal Trade Commission has charged Sitejabber, an online review platform, with violating its new fake reviews rules by using point-of-sale reviews to misrepresent what customers think about products. In one of its first enforcement actions under new rules banning companies from making or selling fake reviews, the FTC is ordering the company to stop.

The FTC says Sitejabber “deceptively” punched up businesses’ review counts by incorporating responses to point-of-sale questionnaires asking customers to rate and review their shopping experience, before they’d actually gotten any products or services. It also alleges that by giving its clients tools to publish that feedback on their own sites, Sitejabber enabled them to mislead people to think the ratings and reviews were based on actual experience with what the companies were selling.

The FTC now forbids Sitejabber from “misrepresenting, or assisting anyone else in misrepresenting” that such reviews are based on customer experience with a product or service. The company is also barred from helping other companies misrepresent the reviews that “it collects, moderates, or displays.”

The regulator’s new anti-fake review rules, which went into effect last month, aim to address AI-generated reviews online, including on Amazon and other e-commerce sites. The FTC prohibits a swath of deceptive practices, such as offering incentives to leave feedback or creating a fake review website that seems independent but is actually owned by the very company that makes the products being reviewed. Or at least, it will for the next couple of months, after which the next US President will be sworn in and (probably) replace its leadership — and we’ll see what happens next.

• Nvidia and xAI collaborate on Colossus development
• xAI has markedly cut down ‘flow collisions’ during AI model training
• Spectrum-X has been crucial in training the Grok AI model family

Nvidia has shed light on how xAI’s ‘Colossus’ supercomputer cluster can keep a handle on 100,000 Hopper GPUs – and it’s all down to using the chipmaker’s Spectrum-X Ethernet networking platform.

Spectrum-X, the company revealed, is designed to provide massive performance capabilities to multi-tenant, hyperscale AI factories using its Remote Directory Memory Access (RDMA) network.

One of the best SSD deals around is available at Best Buy today: You can buy the Samsung 990 Evo 1TB SSD for just $70 meaning, you’re saving $50 off the regular price of $120. That’s a huge saving on something that will be a massive upgrade to your PC, boosting performance speeds compared to a regular hard drive. It also means more room — SSD speeds are a better option than any of the external hard drive deals happening. If that instantly sounds appealing, read on while we take you through all you need to know about this deal.

Why you should buy the Samsung 990 Evo 1TB SSD

If you’ve read through our SSD buying guide, you’ll know the Samsung 990 Evo 1TB SSD has a ton of potential. It promises read/write speeds of up to 5,000/4,2000 MBps while also being highly energy efficient. That means up to 70% improved performance per watt over the 970 EVO Plus that came before it. It uses Samsung’s fine tuned Smart Thermal Control and heat spreading label to provide effective thermal control so there are no performance drops, circumventing one issue with these kinds of SSDs.

The Samsung 990 Evo 1TB SSD is compatible with both PCIe 4.0 x4 and PCIe 5.0 x2, so it’s all good for your future proofing plans. If you’re still unsure about the difference between SSD and HDD, trust us when we say that SSD is faster. Besides the raw performance, the Samsung 990 Evo 1TB SSD also comes with Magician Software for easy updates. Adding to the simplicity, the Samsung 990 Evo 1TB SSD is super easy to install once you open up your PC. It’s hard to pick fault in this, especially at this price.

Usually priced at $120, the Samsung 990 Evo 1TB SSD is currently reduced by $50 at Best Buy, down to a bargain price of $70. That’s a budget price for a great, easy upgrade to your PC. Check it out now by tapping the button below to be one step nearer to improving your PC’s performance. It’s a super easy upgrade that will make a big difference to your PC.

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Earthshot Prize 2024 – Full list of winners

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What is the Earthshot Prize?

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Multiple Android devices have been infected by a new trojan dubbed “ToxicPanda”. It primarily targets bank accounts but spoofs common apps to infect devices.

Android trojan ‘ToxicPanda’ threatens banking with advanced attack strategy

Smartphones are now one of the most widely used devices to perform banking functions. Mobile banking apps offer a secure and quick pathway for on-the-go banking. However, this presents an enticing opportunity for hackers and malware creators.

Back in 2023, Trend Micro, a popular antivirus platform, detected TgToxic, a powerful Android malware. TgToxic could steal credentials and funds from crypto wallets.

It appears another hacker or a group has borrowed TgToxic’s tech, and further weaponized the malware. Attackers are still targeting Android devices, but this time, the malware is going after banking apps using a clever technique.

The Cleafy’s Threat Intelligence team first discovered ToxicPanda. Believed to have originated in China, ToxicPanda has reportedly infected over 1500 Android devices around the world. The trojan seems to be preferring Android devices in Europe and Latin America.

How does ToxicPanda infect and spread on Android devices?

ToxicPanda is primarily a banking malware. However, it acts like a trojan. Moreover, it masquerades as several popular non-banking apps. When users download and side-load infected apps on their Android devices, ToxicPanda uses sophisticated methods to evade detection. It then monitors banking activities. Gradually, it initiates money transfers from compromised devices via Account Takeover (ATO), mentioned Cleafy researchers Michele Roviello, Alessandro Strino, and Federico Valentini.

ToxicPanda isn’t spreading via the Google Play Store or other popular Android app stores. Instead, it relies on unsuspecting victims’ habit of side-loading apps on their devices.

Simply put, Android device users must exercise extreme caution while obtaining Android installer files from outside official app stores. Smartphone users must completely avoid the practice if their Android device has banking apps. Additionally, users must regularly update apps and the Android OS installed on their devices from official sources.

Several cybersecurity experts have also warned banks and financial institutions. Banking apps, as well as users, must opt for multi-factor authentication, passkeys, OTPs, and other methods to safeguard their accounts.