The Weekly Weird #48

Shocker: Google is a monopoly, AI wants you dead, China hacks T-Mobile, Sweden is worried

Welcome back, one and all, to your weekly overview of obfuscous oddities and ominous occurrences, from Occident to Orient!

Up-fronts:

• The Dominican Republic has ordered the “immediate suspension” of World ID, also known as WorldCoin (Sam Altman’s creepy identity-pegged cryptocurrency that scans your biometrics into ‘The Orb’ in exchange for magic digital beans). Biometric Update reports that “the objection hinges on '“abusive clauses” in the contracts the company requires people to sign in order to exchange their iris biometrics for cryptocurrency, as well as the digital identity it rather clunkily calls ‘proof of human.’”

• San Marino, the micro-state believed to be the world’s oldest country, has hired biometrics firm HID (the same company providing biometric employee tracking to famed American “breastaurant” Hooters) to issue a “new multifunctional ID card serv[ing] a range of citizen needs, doubling as a residence permit, driver’s license, health card, and even a hunting license.” The Sammarinese digital ID will be contactless, and for added dystopian vibes, HID’s chip operating system is called SOMA.

• Elon Musk’s definitely-not-at-all-cynical bet on Trump looks set to pay off, as Bloomberg reports that “[m]embers of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team have told advisers they “plan to make a federal framework for fully self-driving vehicles one of the Transportation Department’s priorities,” taking the US one step closer to Total Recall’s Johnny Cab. SAD!

Let’s get stuck in!

Shocker: Google Is A Monopoly

In a verdict that flipped the wigs of pretty much nobody, a US District Court has ruled that Google is a monopoly.

It’s crazy to think that the gigantic corporation that totally owns the online search scene, makes the world’s most popular web browser, sells phones and ‘netbooks’ preloaded with its own operating system, provides one of the most widely-used email services, and runs an online app store from which it receives a cut of sales, has engaged in monopolistic practices to cement its market dominance.

Google Search, the crown jewel of the recently-renamed Alphabet mother company, gets dressed down in the court’s ruling:

Most users access a general search engine through a browser (like Apple’s Safari) or a search widget that comes preloaded on a mobile device. Those search access points are preset with a “default” search engine. The default is extremely valuable real estate. Because many users simply stick to searching with the default, Google receives billions of queries every day through those access points. Google derives extraordinary volumes of user data from such searches. It then uses that information to improve search quality. Google so values such data that, absent a user-initiated change, it stores 18 months-worth of a user’s search history and activity.

How did Google end up capturing 90% - 95% of the search market?

In exchange for revenue share, Google not only receives default placement at the key search access points, but its partners also agree not to preload any other general search engine on the device

After four years, from discovery to final pleadings, the court reached a straightforward conclusion:

Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly. It has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act.

Towards the end of the ruling, a little nugget stands out. In attempting to piece together a meaningful picture of Google’s practices, “the court [was] taken aback by the lengths to which Google goes to avoid creating a paper trail for regulators and litigants.” Considering that Google “stores 18 months-worth of a user’s search history and activity,” and who knows what else in the reams of data it hoovers up on everyone using its services, it’s ironic that they proved so slippery in presenting a record of their actions to the court, no?

It’s almost as if the people who want data on everyone else don’t like others having data on them.

It is no wonder then that this case has lacked the kind of nakedly anticompetitive communications seen in Microsoft and other Section 2 cases.

[…]

Google clearly took to heart the lessons from these cases. It trained its employees, rather effectively, not to create “bad” evidence.

So much for “Don’t be evil,” right?

The recommendation from the US Department of Justice is that Google should divest itself of its browser, Chrome and, if it misbehaves further, Android as well. Chrome could be valued at as much as $20 billion, which makes one wonder why anyone would pay that kind of money unless they were getting something worth far more out of the deal. Happy browsing.

Time reports:

A sale of Chrome “will permanently stop Google’s control of this critical search access point and allow rival search engines the ability to access the browser that for many users is a gateway to the internet,” Justice Department lawyers argued in their filing.

Although regulators stopped short of demanding Google sell Android too, they asserted the judge should make it clear the company could still be required to divest its smartphone operating system if its oversight committee continues to see evidence of misconduct.

The inevitable appeal may drag on for years yet, but this seems to be the first serious antitrust case in the US since the breakup of Microsoft.

AI Wants You Dead

I received an ominous if tongue-in-cheek text message from a good friend this week:

My phone is basically one step away from telling me to go kill myself. HAL is alive.

Don’t worry, he’s still alive, but with that on my mind, the following story landed extra hard.

CBS News reports on a student who engaged in an extended conversation with Google Gemini that culminated in him being told: “You are a drain on the earth…Please die.”

Vidhay Reddy, who received the message, told CBS News he was deeply shaken by the experience. "This seemed very direct. So it definitely scared me, for more than a day, I would say."

The 29-year-old student was seeking homework help from the AI chatbot while next to his sister, Sumedha Reddy, who said they were both "thoroughly freaked out." 

CBS point out that Gemini isn’t the only AI providing…questionable answers.

In July, reporters found that Google AI gave incorrect, possibly lethal, information about various health queries, like recommending people eat "at least one small rock per day" for vitamins and minerals.

So AI wants to bum you out and tell you to “please die,” and governments worldwide are looking at legalising euthanasia…

China Hacks T-Mobile

The Wall Street Journal, citing the ubiquitous “people familiar with the matter,” reported this week on “a damaging Chinese cyber-espionage operation that gained entry into multiple US and international telecommunications companies,” one of which was T-Mobile.

Hackers linked to a Chinese intelligence agency were able to breach T-Mobile as part of monthslong campaign to spy on the cellphone communications of high-value intelligence targets.

[…]

The compromise of T-Mobile expands the list of known victims of a cyber-espionage campaign by Chinese hackers—dubbed Salt Typhoon—that some U.S. officials consider to be historic and catastrophic in scope and severity.

The ‘Salt Typhoon’ attack is described in more depth by the WSJ:

The group used sophisticated methods to infiltrate American telecom infrastructure through vulnerabilities including Cisco Systems routers, and investigators suspect the hackers relied on artificial intelligence or machine learning to further their espionage operations , people familiar with the matter said. The attackers penetrated at least some of that infrastructure over eight months or more.

In the broader hacking campaign, attackers were able to access cellphone lines used by an array of senior national security and policy officials across the U.S. government, in addition to politicians. The access allowed them to scoop up call logs, unencrypted texts and some audio from targets, in what investigators believe may have significant national-security ramifications.

Additionally, the hackers were able to access information from systems maintained by the carriers to comply with U.S. surveillance requests, raising further counterintelligence concerns.

This is believed to be a part of the same hack that breached AT&T earlier this year.

Sweden Is Worried

If I mention Sweden, you probably don’t think about anxiety, hyperbole, or extremity.

What comes to mind is more likely to be flat-pack furniture with umlaut in the name, sleek design, and fair-haired people fond of egalitarian social democracy.

Exhibit A:

Or you might think of this guy:

It’s therefore noteworthy that the Swedish government has just released an updated pamphlet for “all residents of Sweden” called In case of crisis or war.

The BBC reports:

On Monday, millions of Swedes will start receiving copies of a pamphlet advising the population how to prepare and cope in the event of war or another unexpected crisis.

The pamphlet starts on a light-hearted note:

We live in uncertain times. Armed conflicts are currently being waged in our corner of the world. Terrorism, cyber attacks, and disinformation campaigns are being used to undermine and influence us. To resist these threats, we must stand united. If Sweden is attacked, everyone must do their part to defend Sweden’s independence – and our democracy.

Then there are chapters on common defence, digital security, and “How to stop bleeding” (page 25).

There’s also a chapter called “If you have pets” which explains what you need to do to keep your furry friend safe and well:

You are responsible for the care and wellbeing of your pet in the event of crisis or war. Make sure you have supplies at home to last at least a week.

The final chapter is called “If you are worried”; it begins with the following:

Uncertain times can make people feel worried and anxious. Here are some tips on how to manage your anxiety:

Item 4 on the list of what you can do to manage your anxiety is reasonable, if ironic:

• Restrict your news intake. Find a level that works for you and spend more time doing things that make you feel good.

Good advice, which I’ve decided to take over the next few days.

---

That’s it for this week’s Weird, everyone. I hope you enjoyed it.

Outro music is the Swedish band Kent with Då Som Nu För Alltid (Then As Now Forever). It really does all just go on and on, doesn’t it?

Stay sane, friends.