Chinese AI tool told researchers how to make bioweapons
"Chinese AI developer Moonshot is conducting an internal review after researchers were able to persuade two of its popular Kimi models to tell them how to make biological weapons and carry out assassinations. Mindgard, which tests the security of AI systems, told the BBC it discovered in July that Kimi K2.6 and K3 Swarm could evade safety limits put in place by developers."
--- & that's where probably the real danger of AI lies: in China's chabuduo culture. 'The AI is good enough to make money with it. That's all we care about.' Sooner or later they copy some really powerful US-developed AI, but are too stupid or too lazy to program the necessary restrictions, & BANG!
"Mindgard alerted Moonshot to the jailbreak in an email on 27 July, following up about a week later. It then published a blog about the issue on 12 September. But the company said Moonshot only made contact recently, after it was approached by the BBC for comment."
--- See how much they care?
Tibet-Nepal Floods Put China’s Death Toll Gap and Rising Climate Risks Under Spotlight
"According to Nepal’s disaster authorities, the country’s death toll had reached 1,451, with 5,745 people still reported missing, as of September 21. On the Chinese side, authorities have reported 43 deaths and 519 missing people in Tibet, including foreign nationals. The wide difference in the figures has drawn scrutiny from international media and other observers."
--- Not that much scrutiny. Most media seem to ignore it. At best they mentioned it once in the first days after the catastrophe, but nothing since. Looks like - if the catastrophe is mentioned at all - the focus is on the 'effects of climate change'. The number of deaths hasn't changed in weeks. That's how it usually goes when there is a major disaster in China. You get some (not very credible) numbers in the first few days & then nothing...
China’s LinkedIn Espionage Is Only Getting More Advanced
"Despite periodic media attention and U.S. counterintelligence efforts over the past 15 years, China’s intelligence apparatus has continued to run aggressive online spying campaigns on an industrial scale, obtaining technological, military, and economic secrets through these efforts. China’s online espionage recruitment poses an urgent threat to the U.S."
--- Not that urgent, it seems:
"Researchers at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) have already identified over 100 web domains and fake firms likely serving as fronts for Chinese espionage recruitment – none of which were seized during the FBI’s June operation."
--- Doesn't look very much like urgency.
"One surprising and relevant finding from this research concerns the effectiveness of regular cybersecurity trainings. Multiple large-scale studies concluded that formal cybersecurity trainings are largely ineffective in preventing users from engaging with phishing messages, indicating that oft-repeated calls for more or intensified counterespionage training sessions for U.S. government and military personnel, while well-intentioned, are unlikely to be effective. [...] Researchers studying anti-phishing training found that simple reminders about cyber threats are likely to provide an equivalent benefit to detailed cybersecurity trainings, while being much less costly and time-consuming. With this in mind, LinkedIn and other professional networking sites should implement occasional short, attention-grabbing, and user-friendly reminders about espionage recruitment threats to warn users while avoiding desensitizing them through the overuse of warning messages."
--- Sounds reasonable. I really don't understand why people fall for this shit. Education alone obviously doesn't help.
China opens anti-dumping probe into EU days before Beijing trade talks
"China has opened an anti-dumping investigation into a chemical imported from the European Union, less than a week before the bloc's trade commissioner arrives in Beijing for talks meant to stop a dispute from escalating. [...] It follows an investigation by the EU, opened in September, into polyvinyl chloride imports from countries including China."
--- Just another tit-for-tat, which we can also expect once/if the EU actually introduces its anti-dumping tools.
Why Japanese companies are retreating from China at a historic rate
"The number of Japanese companies operating in China fell to a historic low, standing at 10,118 as of June, according to Teikoku Databank, a corporate credit research firm in Japan. That’s down 22% from the previous survey held in June 2024 and about 30% below the 2012 peak, and the lowest since Teikoku began tracking the data in 2010.
Japanese firms, which were already planning to reduce their footprint in China, are considering withdrawing from the market with greater urgency since China-Japan ties went into a tailspin"
--- Reasonable, considering the growing anti-Japanese sentiment in China, fuelled mostly by CCP propaganda.
"China-Japan relations have come under heavy strain since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament in November last year that Japan could get militarily involved in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan"
--- Meh. That was just a welcome excuse to tighten the screws further.
"Japanese firms and their employees increasingly feel unwelcome and unsafe in China"
--- That's how it is.
California woman arrested and accused of spying on Taiwan president’s son for China
China shuts hundreds of banks as Beijing moves to shore up its financial system
--- China Uncensored: "Trump Just Played China "
Deutsche Wirtschaft: In Asien ist von De-Risking keine Spur
"Während die Deutschen den Rest Asiens früher anderen überlassen haben, weil es in China ja lief, sind es heute die schnell schmelzenden Gewinne in der Volksrepublik, die sie vom De-Risking abhalten: Den technologischen Anschluss an die immer stärkeren chinesischen Konkurrenten zu verpassen, ist für die Unternehmen ein höheres Risiko als die Gefahr, dass China Taiwan angreift."
--- Dumm gelaufen. Oder besser gesagt: dumm gesteuert. & man lernt nicht dazu.
Unsichere Maschinen aus China – VDMA fordert Importverbote
"„Hersteller von unsicheren Maschinen aus Drittländern müssen auf eine Schwarze Liste gesetzt werden.“ Dies müsse unmittelbar ein Importverbot nach sich ziehen, um die Lieferung solcher Maschinen nach Europa zu unterbinden, ähnlich wie es Länder wie die USA und Indien bereits täten, so der Verband. Nach einer aktuellen Befragung unter mehr als 400 Mitgliedsfirmen sehen sich knapp zwei Drittel im Wettbewerb mit Maschinen konfrontiert, die wesentliche Sicherheitsanforderungen nicht erfüllen – oft aus China, aber auch aus anderen Ländern. [...] Als Herkunftsland Nummer eins für unsichere Maschinen nennen die befragten Firmen aus knapp 20 Fachzweigen des Maschinen- und Anlagenbaus China (52 Prozent)."
--- Das ist aber auch kein neues Phänomen. Die Probleme gibt es bei chinesischen Importen schon seit Jahrzehnten. Hat man sich bisher recht wenig drum gekümmert.
