The Download: brain implant removal, and Nvidia’s AI payoff

Leggett told researchers that she “became one” with her device. It helped her to control the unpredictable, violent seizures she routinely experienced, and allowed her to take charge of her own life. So she was devastated when, two years later, she was told she had to remove the implant because the company that made it […]

How it feels to have a life-changing brain implant removed

Burkhart’s device was implanted in his brain around nine years ago, a few years after he was left unable to move his limbs following a diving accident. He volunteered to trial the device, which enabled him to move his hand and fingers. But it had to be removed seven and a half years later. His […]

Among AI dangers, deepfakes worry Microsoft president most

Enlarge / An AI-generated image of a “wall of fake images.” Stable Diffusion reader comments 24 with On Thursday, Microsoft President Brad Smith announced that his biggest apprehension about AI revolves around the growing concern for deepfakes and synthetic media designed to deceive, Reuters reports. Smith made his remarks while revealing his “blueprint for public […]

Unearthed: CosmicEnergy, malware for causing Kremlin-style power disruptions

Getty Images reader comments 7 with Researchers have uncovered malware designed to disrupt electric power transmission and may have been used by the Russian government in training exercises for creating or responding to cyberattacks on electric grids. Known as CosmicEnergy, the malware has capabilities that are comparable to those found in malware known as Industroyer […]

OpenAI CEO raises $115M for crypto company that scans people’s eyeballs

Enlarge / Worldcoin’s “Orb,” a device that scans your eyeballs to verify that you’re a real human. reader comments 35 with A company co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has raised $115 million for Worldcoin, a crypto coin project that scans users’ eyeballs in order “to establish an individual’s unique personhood.” In addition to leading the […]

Minnesota enacts right-to-repair law that covers more devices than any other state

Enlarge / Minnesota’s right-to-repair bill is the first to pass in the US that demands broad access to most electronics’ repair manuals, tools, and diagnostic software. Game consoles, medical devices, and other specific gear, however, are exempted. Getty Images reader comments 15 with It doesn’t cover video game consoles, medical gear, farm or construction equipment, […]

A brain implant changed her life. Then it was removed against her will.

“A patient should not have to undergo forcible explantation of a device,” says Nita Farahany, a legal scholar and ethicist at Duke University in North Carolina, who has written a book about neuro rights.  “If there is evidence that a brain-computer interface could become part of the self of the human being, then it seems […]