Thomas Brewster

AI Coding Startup Cognition In Talks To Raise At $10 Billion Valuation The deal, backed by Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures, comes as the startup announced it is buying up the remains of rival Windsurf.

SCOOP: AI coding startup Cognition, which recently acquired Windsurf, is in talks to raise north of $300 million at a $10 billion valuation, according to sources familiar. Founders Fund and KV are involved. With @richardnieva.bsky.social and @iainmartin.bsky.social.

www.forbes.com/sites/richar...

@1s4.bsky.social Hey Isabela, I've been trying to get in touch re a press enquiry - have you been getting my emails? If not, can you message here?

The FBI froze a guy's crypto account because he was allegedly linked to a $7m pig butchering scam that promised AI-juiced investments.

According to the DOJ's account, he tried to bribe the FBI into releasing his $3m in digital funds.

Maybe not the smartest move...

The obvious but only perfect meme for this.

Bizarre and unethical are words that come to mind.

How is this delivering fairness?

You’re Not Imagining It: AI Is Already Taking Tech Jobs Since the rise of generative AI, many have feared the toll it would take on the livelihood of human workers. Now CEOs are admitting AI’s impact and layoffs are starting to ramp up.

I wrote about layoffs due to AI and automation. Fiverr’s CEO, who sent a memo to employees about AI coming for jobs, told me he wrote it after hearing chatter around the office. "I felt like this needed validation from me — that they aren’t imagining stuff."
www.forbes.com/sites/richar...

Lol. So after years of "release the Epstein files" the new spin is "releasing the Epstein files is bad because it's publishing CSAM"

How do they not have whiplash?

A job well done, DOJ. Just knocked this right out of the park. It'll really reassure the public. Nothing to see here. etc. etc.

In all seriousness, though, why aren't the Epstein case files public by now?

Both of the badges here are very very cool

Retail cyber attacks: NCA arrest four for attacks on M&S, Co-op and Harrods Four people have been arrested in the UK as part of a National Crime Agency investigation into cyber attacks targeting M&S, Co-op and Harrods.

Of course Scattered Spider suspects are very young... Two males aged 19, another aged 17, and a 20-year-old female www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/retail-...

The Wiretap: A Man Had His Identity Stolen By A Child Exploitation Trader. Then The FBI Raided His Home. An Ohio man has his identity was stolen and used to spread child sexual abuse material. Then the FBI raided his home.

🚨NEW🚨 In The Wiretap newsletter this week:

A man had his identity stolen by someone trading child sexual abuse material, according to a warrant.

The FBI investigated, raided his home, searched his electronics and realised he was innocent.

An awful case of ID theft.

www.forbes.com/sites/thomas...

This Secretive Company Built An Empire By Hawking Bad Financial And Health Advice On Facebook The Agora Companies, sued by the SEC, FTC, and two state AGs, reach hundreds of millions of people across social media with misleading promises of wealth and wellness.

New from me! An investigation into the "1.5bn+ company" known as The Agora, which sells misleading health and investing advice to seniors, and which was one of Meta's largest political advertisers this year (until many of their pages went down after this story).

www.forbes.com/sites/emilyb...

ICE Is Using a New Facial Recognition App to Identify People, Leaked Emails Show The new tool, called Mobile Fortify, uses the CBP system which ordinarily takes photos of people when they enter or exit the U.S., according to internal ICE emails viewed by 404 Media. Now ICE is usin...

New from 404 Media: ICE is using a new facial recognition app to identify people, leaked emails show. Point camera at person, reveal their identity. It uses the CBP system that records peoples' faces as they enter or exit the U.S. Now, turned inwards to be used by ICE www.404media.co/ice-is-using...

Also see this re AI fakes around Iran-Israel.

The Wiretap: Google AI Is At The Center Of An Iran-Israel Disinformation War Google's Veo 3 video and photo AI generation tool is being used in information warfare in the Iran-Israel conflict.

NEW - A Google AI model has been used to generate "a slew of fabricated hyper realistic fakes circulating claiming to depict scenes from the Israel-Iran conflict," according to experts at GetReal.

In The Wiretap newsletter this week:

www.forbes.com/sites/thomas...

Interesting though I'm really not sure LAPD has a $2bn a year budget...

US And Israel Should Prepare For Destructive Iranian Cyberattacks, Ex-Intel Officer Says A former intelligence operative in Israel’s military warned of Iran’s cyber capabilities. But the U.S.’s cyber agency may struggle to respond.

Her next line had a very Trumpian feel to it, "The agency was focused on censorship, branding and electioneering instead of defending America’s critical infrastructure."

www.forbes.com/sites/thomas...

US And Israel Should Prepare For Destructive Iranian Cyberattacks, Ex-Intel Officer Says A former intelligence operative in Israel’s military warned of Iran’s cyber capabilities. But the U.S.’s cyber agency may struggle to respond.

🚨NEW🚨 In response to claims CISA has been hobbled by staff losses, particularly problematic if Iran uses cyber in retaliation for Israel-US strikes, CISA's comms chief comes out fighting.

Says agency was “lost and unfocused under Biden,” with a “ballooning budget.”

www.forbes.com/sites/thomas...

Aww amazing!

Forget Tesla. Amazon’s Zoox Is On Track To Be Waymo’s Biggest Robotaxi Rival The self-driving tech company has begun building its small, custom-designed vehicle at a new Bay Area factory ahead of its commercial ride-service launch in Las Vegas.

NEW: Forget Tesla. Amazon’s Zoox is preparing to be Waymo’s biggest rival with its custom-designed robotaxi #selfdriving www.forbes.com/sites/alanoh...

Hackers steal and destroy millions from Iran's largest crypto exchange | TechCrunch It's the latest cyberattack on Iran claimed by a pro-Israeli hacking group since the latest flare up in tensions between the two countries.

New: Iran’s largest crypto exchange Nobitex said it was hacked and funds drained.

Pro-Israel hacking group Predatory Sparrow claimed responsibility for the hack, which saw the group steal and destroy some $90 million in crypto. A day earlier, the group claimed it hacked a major Iranian bank.

YouTube video by The Diary Of A CEO Godfather of AI: I Tried to Warn Them, But We’ve Already Lost Control! Geoffrey Hinton

How many times can Geoffrey Hinton say the same thing in another interview? www.youtube.com/watch?v=giT0...

LA Residents Foil ICE Raids Using Amazon Ring’s Neighborhood Watch App Concerned citizens have turned to the Neighbors app, once used largely to look for lost deliveries, to make public service announcements about ICE raids in their communities.

🚨NEW🚨 As the LA protests exploded amid ICE raids, citizens turned to all kinds of apps to raise the alarm.

One of the most popular was Amazon Ring's Neighbors.

As one user put it, Amazon Ring cams helped save families' lives.

I spoke to users for this story:

www.forbes.com/sites/thomas...

Revolut Billionaire Nik Storonsky Has A New Luxury Travel Company Nik Storonsky built a $7.9 billion fortune cofounding digital bank Revolut. Now he’s building a network of high-end rental properties in Spain, Brazil and the Dominican Republic.

Nik Storonsky built a $7.9 billion fortune cofounding digital bank Revolut. Now he’s building a network of high-end rental properties in Spain, Brazil and the Dominican Republic via @forbes www.forbes.com/sites/iainma...

The Wiretap: A Horrific Grooming Of A 10-Year-Old That Began On Roblox A mother says her ten-year-old repeatedly tried to take her own life after being harassed by a man she met on Roblox.

NEW - A mother called the FBI about her 10-year-old getting harassed on Roblox, then having her virtual school accounts hacked by the same stalker, according to court doc.

The girl tried to take her own life multiple times as a result, her mother told investigators:

www.forbes.com/sites/thomas...

Ah yes, should be fixed now!

Hey Nic - I'm a writer with Forbes and I'm doing some reporting on the use of Ring Neighbors re ICE alerts/notifications from users. Would love some help on this - feel free to direct message here or email me at tbrewster@forbes.com.

Hey - I'm a writer with Forbes and I'm doing some reporting on the use of Ring Neighbors re ICE alerts/notifications from users. Would love some help on this - feel free to direct message here or email me at tbrewster@forbes.com.

Hey Robbi - I'm a writer with Forbes and I'm doing some reporting on the use of Ring Neighbors re ICE alerts/notifications from users. Would love some help on this - feel free to direct message here or email me at tbrewster@forbes.com.

Hey Ozzie - I'm a writer with Forbes and I'm doing some reporting on the use of Ring Neighbors re ICE alerts/notifications from users. Would love some help on this - feel free to direct message here or email me at tbrewster@forbes.com.