The New York Times
Although economists contend the labor market remains strong by historical standards, white-collar workers have seen slower wage growth and larger gains in unemployment than other groups in recent years. Some of the job losses can be attributed to a rebalancing after aggressive pandemic-related hiring, but there are concerns that advances in AI signal a permanent decline in knowledge work. In the tech industry, executives and investors are relying on AI as they reduce headcount.
From "Has the Decline of Knowledge Work Begun?"
The New York Times (03/31/25) Noam Scheiber
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The Wall Street Journal
China’s government has said it wants the country to be a world leader in humanoid robots by 2027. Amid competition with the U.S. to produce truly useful humanoid workers, some give China the advantage. Said Jeff Burnstein, president of the Association for Advancing Automation, China has “more companies developing humanoids and more government support than anyone else. So, right now, they may have an edge.” The U.S., meanwhile, still has advantages in semiconductors, software, and some precision components.
From "Humanoid Robots Are Lousy Co-Workers. China Wants to Change That"
The Wall Street Journal (03/31/25) Raffaele Huang; Josh Chin
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Ars Technica
Researchers at the universities of Wisconsin and California, San Diego created computer-generated prompt injections against Gemini that have much higher success rates than manually crafted ones. The new method abuses fine-tuning, a feature offered by some closed-weights models for training them to work on large amounts of private or specialized data, which Google makes available free of charge. The researchers' technique provides an algorithm for discrete optimization of working prompt injections.
From "Gemini Hackers Can Deliver Potent Attacks With Help from... Gemini"
Ars Technica (03/28/25) Dan Goodin
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Bloomberg
Hackers who breached Oracle’s computer systems stole patient data in an attempt to extort U.S. medical providers, say sources. Oracle in March alerted some healthcare customers that hackers had accessed company servers earlier in the year and copied patient data to an outside location. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the matter.
From "Oracle Warns Health Customers of Patient Data Breach"
Bloomberg (03/28/25) Jake Bleiberg; Margi Murphy; Brody Ford
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CU Boulder Today
University of Colorado Boulder researchers used a custom-designed drone to take measurements of water vapor almost 5,000 feet above the surface of the Greenland ice sheet. The drone, outfitted with air sampling equipment, captured air samples at different heights to assess the different combinations of hydrogen and oxygen atoms. When this data was compared with an existing computer simulation of the Arctic water cycle, the researchers found the simulation alone had underestimated Greenland's precipitation totals.
From "Drone Experiment Reveals How Greenland Ice Sheet Is Changing"
CU Boulder Today (03/27/25) Yvaine Ye
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CNBC
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox on Wednesday signed a bill that requires Apple and Google’s mobile app stores to verify user ages and require parental permission for those under 18 to use certain apps. The law, the first of its kind in the U.S., shifts the responsibility for age verification to mobile app stores rather than individual apps. The law is scheduled to take effect on May 7, but is expected to face a legal challenge.
From "Utah Law Requires Apple, Google to Verify App Store User Ages"
CNBC (03/27/25) Kif Leswing
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