Elon Musk’s DOGE Team Granted ‘Full Access’ To Federal Payment System



Elon Musk’s government-slashing crew, the “department of government efficiency”, has been given access to the federal payment system, exposing the sensitive personal data of millions of Americans as well as details of public contractors who compete directly with Musk’s own businesses, a influential US senator has confirmed, The Guardian reported.

Ron Wydan, a Democratic senator from Oregon and the ranking member of the Senate finance committee posted on Bluesky that sources had confirmed to him that the Treasury’s highly-sensitive database had been opened up to the tech billionaire and his team.

Donald Trump’s new treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, had granted the billionaire’s Doge team “full access to this system.”

Wyden added that the data bonanza included “social security and medicare benefits, grants, payments to government contractors … All of it.”

Confirmation to the arrangement suggests that Musk, the world’s richest person, now has entry to one of the most sensitive US government databases. The system controls more than $6tn of federal cash flow each year, with millions of Americans depending on it for social security and medicare benefit, federal salaries, and more.

TechCrunch reported: A senior U.S. lawmaker says representatives of Elon Musk were granted “full access” to a U.S. Treasury payments system used to disperse trillions of dollars to Americans each year, and warned that Musk’s access to the system poses “a national security risk.”

Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democratic senator from Oregon and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a post on Bluesky on Saturday that sources told his office Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Musk’s team, known as the Department Of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, authorization to access the highly sensitive Treasury system on Friday. The authorization comes following a standoff earlier in the week, in which the Treasury’s highest-ranking career official left the department following requests from Musk’s team for access to the system.

“Social Security and Medicare benefits, grants, payments to government contractors, including those that compete directly with Musk’s own companies. All if it,” wrote Wyden in the post, referring to DOGE’s access.

Fortune reported: The Trump administration’s placed two top security chiefs at the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave after they refused to turn over classified material in restricted areas to Elon Musk’s government-inspection teams, a current and former U.S. official told The Associated Press.

Members of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, eventually did gain access Saturday to the aid agency’s classified information, which includes intelligence reports, the former official said.

Musk’s DOGE crew lacked high-enough security clearance to access that information, so the two USAID security officials — John Vorhees and deputy Brian McGill — were legally obligated to deny access.

In my opinion, I don’t think it is a good idea to have the richest man in the world access to the U.S. Treasury. Elon Musk has plenty of money was not elected to any governmental office.


Apple Kills Augmented-Reality Glasses



Apple apparently no longer sees the future through augmented reality-tinted glasses. The company is ditching a project to build AR lenses that would have competed with Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, putting the company at risk of falling far behind its rivals following the commercial failure of the Apple Vision Pro headset Gizmodo reported.

The glasses project, codenamed N107, was never made public, but Bloomberg reports that the plan was to build tech-equipped glasses that looked like any other pair but offered augmented reality features that could display information visible only to the person wearing the frames. 

An initial version of the product would have connected to an iPhone, but that was scrapped once it turned out the processing power needs of the glasses stressed out the handset and rapidly drained its battery. Apple shifted gears to paring the glasses to Mac devices, but it continued to fall short of expectations in testing. Reportedly, the company threw in the towel on the project altogether earlier this week.

The Verge reported: While Mark Zuckerberg and Meta press forward with augmented glasses projects buoyed by its million-selling set of smart Ray-Bans, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman says that Apple just pulled the plug on an AR glasses protect. Codenamed N107, they’re described as something that would’ve looked similar to regular glasses but with added displays in the lenses that could connect to a Mac.

With features that sound similar to devices like the Xreal One AR glasses, the glasses could’ve delivered on the Vision Pro feature that’s closest to being any kind of killer app (popping up huge virtual monitor anywhere) without the $3,499 price and heavy design that required a head strap. The glasses also would have tint-changing lenses that, like the Vision Pro’s Eye Sight, could signal to onlookers whether the wearer was busy or not. While other details are fuzzy, it doesn’t appear as if the N107 glasses would’ve had a camera or any of the mixed -reality features of the Vision Pro.

The most recent cancellation puts a big question mark over Apple’s future AR and XR plans. Apple purportedly canceled a separate AR glasses projected in 2023, and rumor has it that work on a Vision Pro 2 has been put on hold in favor of trying to create a cheaper Vision Pro. Meanwhile, the Vision Pro itself has struggled to find foothold.

AppleInsider reported: According to a new leak, Apple has pulled the plug on a project that allegedly hoped to produce lower-cost augmented reality glasses after the project seemingly couldn’t meet executive expectations.

The device in question would have looked like a standard pair of glasses, but would feature built-in displays. It also would have required a persistent tether to a Mac.

This device, which was code-named N107, would have been seen as a more affordable alternative to the Apple Vision Pro. After all, one of the biggest complaints about the Apple Vision Pro is nearly $3,500 price tag — before taxes.

In my opinion, it appears that Apple has decided to not continue the N107 smart glasses. This might disappoint those who wanted to use to try them out.


DeepSeek Security Lapses #1795



DeepSeek, the AI platform that’s taken the world by storm, is now under fire for a significant security lapse. Researchers at Wiz discovered that DeepSeek left a critical database exposed, potentially compromising over a million records, including user data, API keys, and system logs. While there’s no evidence of malicious access, the ease of discovery raises serious concerns. This isn’t the first AI security breach, and experts warn that as AI advances, so do its vulnerabilities. What does this mean for the future of AI security?

Thinking of buying a Starlink? Use my link to support the show.

Subscribe to the Newsletter.
Join the Chat @ GeekNews.Chat
Email Todd or follow him on Facebook.
Like and Follow Geek News Central’s Facebook Page.
Download the Audio Show File
New YouTube Channel – Beyond the Office

Support my Show Sponsor: Best Godaddy Promo Codes
$11.99 – For a New Domain Name cjcfs3geek
$6.99 a month Economy Hosting (Free domain, professional email, and SSL certificate for the 1st year.) Promo Code: cjcgeek1h
$12.99 a month Managed WordPress Hosting (Free domain, professional email, and SSL certificate for the 1st year.) Promo Code: cjcgeek1w
Support the show by becoming a Geek News Central Insider

Continue reading DeepSeek Security Lapses #1795


Amazon Raises Its Spending On Elon Musk’s X



Amazon is ramping up ad spending on ElonMusk’s X, according to people familiar with the situation,  a major shift after pulling much of its advertising more than a year ago, when many brands had concerns about hate speech on the platform, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Amazon Chief Executive Andy Jassy was involved in the decision, which could result in the company spending significantly more on X. Apple, which pulled all of its ad dollars from X in late 2023, in recent weeks had discussions about testing out ads on the platform, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Some large companies that have cut or zeroed out advertising on X are re-evaluating their stances in a challenging political and social climate. Musk, X’s owner, has championed a lighter touch in online content moderation and has emerged as one of the most powerful people in President Trump’s orbit. Business and world leaders have worked to improve relations with him, given his elevated role in Washington.

Ad buyers said that some brands that are returning to X are doing so at spending levels that are still well below their spending before Musk acquired the company, then known as Twitter, for $44 billion in 2022.

9To5 Mac reported: More than a year has passed since Apple paused advertising on X over brand safety concerns. Soon, however, Apple may begin advertising on X again.

That’s according to the Wall Street Journal, which has published a report on Amazon’s decision to buy in in X and Apple’s talks to reconsider the pause.

The report adds that companies who have already returned to advertising on X are doing so with spend rates much lower than before Elon Musk acquired Twitter and named it X. 

Prior to pausing advertising on X, Tim Cook was asked directly by CBS’s John Dickerson about the companies views on the platform.

“It’s something that we ask ourselves. Generally, my view is Twitter’s an important property,” Cook said in that interview. “I like the concept that it’s there for discourse and there as a town square. There’s also some things I don’t like about it.

MacRumors reported: Apple held discussions with X (formerly Twitter) about once again showing ads on the social media site, reports The Wall Street Journal. The talks are said to have taken place in “recent weeks.”

Given that Musk just recently made a hand gesture that was widely interpreted as a Nazi salute at Donald Trump’s inauguration, Apple’s decision to resume purchasing ads on X could be perceived as ill-advised.

In my opinion, it sounds like some major companies are starting to reconsider putting their posts on Elon Musk’s X.


Meta Platforms Soar To Record Bolstering Zuckerberg’s Spending Spree



Meta Platforms posted record revenue in the fourth quarter, aided by artificial-intelligence improvements to its ads business, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Facebook and Instagram parent reported a 21% increase in sales and $20.8 billion in net income, both ahead of analyst expectations.

Meta estimated that revenue growth would slow in the January-to-March quarter, reaching 8% to 15%, a level that would represent the lowest increase in two years. 

The company’s shares rose slightly in after-hours trading Wednesday, following a rally over the past week after it announced plans to increase spending on AI. Its capital-expenditure estimate for 2025 was roughly 70% over 2024 projections.

Meta operates a suite of AI products, including an open-source model called Llama that developers can use to create their own applications, and AI chatbots embedded in its apps. The company is also planning to create an AI engineer that will start contributing increasing amounts of code to its research and development projects. Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg wants Meta AI to be the leading assistant in the world in 2025.

CNBC reported: Meta shares were up slightly in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat the top and the bottom.

Mark Zuckerberg said he expects 2025 to redefine the company’s relationships with governments.

“We now have a U.S. administration that is proud of our leading companies, prioritizes American technology winning and that will defend our values and interests abroad,” Zuckerberg told investor on a call. “I am optimistic about the progress and innovation that this can unlock.”

The company’s Meta AI chatbot surpassed 700 million monthly active users, finance chief Susan Li told analysts. That’s up from 600 million in December. Zuckerberg said he expects an AI chatbot will reach more than 1 billion users in 2025, and Meta AI is already used more than any other assistant, he said. 

Variety reported: Meta turned in a big beat for the fourth quarter of 2024, with the parent of Facebook and Instagram reporting record quarterly revenue and net profit to close out the year.

The strong results come as the company is looking ahead to a massive increase in AI-fueled capital spending in 2025 — and as Meta CEO and chairman Mark Zuckerberg has been working to win the favor of President Trump, an erstwhile antagonist of the tech giant.

Meta did not provide revenue guidance for full year 2025, saying that “we expect the investments we are making in our core business this year will give us an opportunity to continue delivering strong revenue throughout 2025.”

In my opinion, it seems like Mark Zuckerberg has big ideas for what Meta will be like in 2025.


OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Gov Built For Government Use



OpenAI on Tuesday announced its biggest product launch since its enterprise rollout. It’s called ChatGPT Gov and was built specifically for U.S. government use. CNBC reported.

The Microsoft-backed company bills the new platform as a step beyond ChatGPT Enterprise as far as security. It allows government agencies, as customers, to feed “non-public, sensitive information” into OpenAI’s models while operating within their own secure hosting environments, OpenAI CPO Kevin Weil told reporters during a briefing Monday.

The user interface for ChatGPT Gov looks like ChatGPT Enterprise. The main difference is that government agencies will use ChatGPT Gov in their own Microsoft Azure commercial cloud, or Azure Government community cloud, so they can “manage their own security, privacy and compliance requirements,” Felipe Millon, who leads federal sales  and go-to-market for OpenAI, said on the call with reporters.

OpenAI posted: We believe the U.S. government’s adoption of artificial intelligence can boost efficiency and is crucial for maintaining and enhancing America’s global leadership in this technology. At OpenAI, we’re building AI to help people solve hard problems, and we see enormous potential for these tools to support the public sector in tackling complex challenges — from improving public health and infrastructure to strengthening national security. 

By making our products available to the U.S. government, we aim to ensure AI serves the national interest and the public good, align with democratic values, while empowering policymakers to responsibly integrate these capabilities to deliver better services to the American people.

Agencies can deploy ChatGPT Gov in their own Microsoft Azure commercial or cloud or Azure Government cloud on top of Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service. Self-hosting ChatGPT Gov enables agencies to more easily manage their own security, privacy, and compliance requirements, such as stringent cybersecurity frameworks (IL5, CJIS, ITAR, FedRAMP High). 

Additionally, we believe this infrastructure will expedite internal authorization of OpenAI’s tools for the handling of non-public sensitive data. Use of ChatGPT Gov is subject to our usage policies, like other OpenAI services.

Reuters reported: Microsoft-backed Intelligence (AI) bellwether OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Gov, a tailored version of ChatGPT designed for U.S. government agencies, it said in a blog post. 

OpenAI said the agencies can deploy ChatGPT in their own Microsoft Azure commercial cloud, and will have access to many of the feature and capabilities of ChatGPT Enterprise, including custom GPTs.

The launch comes hours after CEO Sam Altman said in a post on X that the company will “pull up some releases,” making his first public statement after the low-cost Chinese AI startup DeepSeek jolted AI-linked stocks on Monday.

In my opinion, it is probably a good idea for U.S. government agencies to teach their workers how to use OpenAI properly.


DeepSeek 10 Reason To Not Use it #1794



In today’s episode, we dive into the groundbreaking rise of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup that’s shaking up the industry. With its latest release, the DeepSeek-R1 model, this free AI chatbot rivals ChatGPT in performance yet operates at a fraction of the cost. How did DeepSeek match OpenAI’s cutting-edge models while spending just 3% of the training budget? What makes its innovative reinforcement learning approach so disruptive? And why is Wall Street feeling the shockwaves? Or are they lying do they have Nvidia chips and are just not reporting them, or worse yet, did they steal technology?

We’ll explore the technical advancements behind DeepSeek, its market implications, and how it’s challenging big players like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft. Whether you’re an AI enthusiast, a tech entrepreneur, or just curious about the future of artificial intelligence, this episode is for you. Stay tuned as we unpack how this underdog startup is reshaping the AI landscape—and what it means for you.

Thinking of buying a Starlink? Use my link to support the show.

Subscribe to the Newsletter.
Join the Chat @ GeekNews.Chat
Email Todd or follow him on Facebook.
Like and Follow Geek News Central’s Facebook Page.
Download the Audio Show File
New YouTube Channel – Beyond the Office

Support my Show Sponsor: Best Godaddy Promo Codes
$11.99 – For a New Domain Name cjcfs3geek
$6.99 a month Economy Hosting (Free domain, professional email, and SSL certificate for the 1st year.) Promo Code: cjcgeek1h
$12.99 a month Managed WordPress Hosting (Free domain, professional email, and SSL certificate for the 1st year.) Promo Code: cjcgeek1w
Support the show by becoming a Geek News Central Insider

Continue reading DeepSeek 10 Reason To Not Use it #1794