Politico Europe
Pope Leo XIV is creating a Vatican commission on AI to coordinate the Catholic Church’s response to the rapid growth of AI and its effects on humanity. The initiative comes ahead of his first encyclical, which will frame AI within Catholic social teaching on issues such as human dignity, justice, labor, and peace. The Vatican said the commission reflects concern about AI’s impact on people and society, particularly children and young adults.
From "Pope Leo Launches AI Commission"
Politico Europe (05/17/26) Mari Eccles
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Reuters
U.S. national laboratories are diversifying chip suppliers as AI reshapes the semiconductor industry and shifts priorities away from traditional high-precision computing workloads. The U.S. Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories, for example, which relies on high-performance systems for sensitive nuclear weapons simulations, is testing chips from NextSilicon, an Israeli startup whose chips use an energy-efficient architecture designed for precise scientific calculations.
From "As Chip Industry Chases AI, U.S. National Labs Look to Newcomers for Supercomputers"
Reuters (05/18/26) Stephen Nellis
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Krebs on Security
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is investigating a security lapse after a contractor allegedly exposed AWS GovCloud credentials and internal system passwords in a public GitHub repository. Researchers at security firm GitGuardians said the leak included plaintext passwords, cloud access keys, software deployment files, and administrative credentials tied to critical CISA systems. The repository, reportedly maintained by an employee of government contractor Nightwing, remained public for months before being removed.
From "CISA Admin Leaked AWS GovCloud Keys on GitHub"
Krebs on Security (05/18/26)
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Tom's Hardware
Chinese media reports that an offshore wind-powered underwater datacenter near Shanghai has begun full commercial operation. The 24-megawatt facility houses about 2,000 servers and supports AI, big data annotation, and 5G infrastructure workloads while using surrounding seawater for passive cooling. Connected to offshore wind farms, the project reportedly achieves a highly efficient power usage effectiveness below 1.15, with more of its energy use directed to cooling and supporting infrastructure than to computation.
From "Offshore Wind-Powered Underwater Datacenter Enters Full Operation in China"
Tom's Hardware (05/18/26) Etiido Uko
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IEEE Spectrum
Researchers led by Meng Chen at Zhejiang University in China developed “AudioHijack,” an attack that secretly manipulates AI voice and audio systems using sounds humans cannot hear. The technique targets large audio-language models used in assistants, transcription tools, and smart devices by embedding hidden instructions into audio clips, enabling unauthorized actions such as Web searches, file downloads, or sending emails. Tested on 13 major models, including systems linked to Microsoft and Mistral, the attack achieved success rates between 79% and 96%.
From "Voice AI Systems Vulnerable to Hidden Audio Attacks"
IEEE Spectrum (05/18/26) Edd Gent
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The Register (U.K.)
Poland is urging government officials to stop using Signal in favor of a state-developed encrypted messenger called mSzyfr for security reasons. Polish cybersecurity agencies warned that attackers have impersonated Signal support staff to steal account access and sensitive government communications. Developed by Poland’s Ministry of Digital Affairs and Scientific and Academic Computer Network – National Research Institute (NASK), the Polish government called mSzyfr "the first secure instant messenger fully under Polish jurisdiction."
From "Poland Directs Officials to Ditch Signal for 'Secure' State-Developed Alternative"
The Register (U.K.) (05/18/26) Connor Jones
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