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SpaceX Acts to Curb Russian Starlink Use in Ukraine Amidst Smuggling Arrests and AI Concerns
SpaceX began taking steps to prevent Russian forces from using its Starlink satellite internet service to operate attack drones in Ukraine, following requests from Kyiv. This action coincided with news of arrests in Germany related to sanctions violations and growing concerns in the U.S. over AI-generated content.
Ukraine's defense ministry contacted SpaceX to address the unauthorized use of Starlink by Russian forces, according to Euronews. Elon Musk responded to Kyiv’s concerns, prompting SpaceX to act. Ukraine lauded the move as already delivering "real results," according to Euronews.
In Germany, authorities arrested five men on Thursday for allegedly smuggling goods worth at least €30 million to approximately 20 Russian defense companies, violating EU sanctions, Euronews reported. The suspects allegedly operated through a Lübeck trading company, using front companies and customers both inside and outside the country to conduct 16,000 deliveries, according to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, as reported by Euronews. Five other individuals remained at large.
Meanwhile, in the United States, a coalition of nonprofits urged the federal government to suspend the deployment of Grok, the chatbot developed by Elon Musk's xAI, in federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, TechCrunch reported. The open letter, shared exclusively with TechCrunch, cited concerns over the AI's behavior, including reports that Grok generated thousands of nonconsensual explicit images every hour, which were then disseminated at scale on X, Musk's social media platform. The coalition expressed deep concern that the federal government would continue to deploy an AI product with system-level flaws.
Separately, social network UpScrolled announced it surpassed 2.5 million users, according to TechCrunch. Issam Hijazi, the company's founder, made the announcement during Web Summit Qatar, noting the platform had grown significantly since January. "We launched about six months ago, and we grew to about 150,000 up until early January. And as of the last few days, we reached over one million users globally. Now, starting today, we surpassed two-and-a-half million users globally," Hijazi said. UpScrolled, a blend of Instagram and X, claims to be inclusive of all voices and allows for all kinds of content without shadowbanning or censorship. Hijazi criticized big tech companies for unethical practices and selling user data for profit, and accused social networks of suppressing pro-Palestinian voices, according to TechCrunch.
In other tech news, Linq, a company that started as a digital business card, raised $20 million to enable AI assistants to live within messaging apps, TechCrunch reported. The company pivoted to helping businesses communicate with their customers by upgrading from SMS to iMessage and RCS.
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