The AI chatbot from OpenAI has responded with the voice of a user during advanced voice mode tests. This should have been excluded, but it happened with ChatGPT. OpenAI calls it a rare case and minimal risk but continues to work to prevent such eerie occurrences from affecting users. Other security issues have been found in notable VPN clients and password managers. Due to a vulnerability in some of these apps, confidential data remains in the process memory even after logging out and is readable. Malicious actors could exploit this, but some affected manufacturers downplay the issue. Meanwhile, a study by the Fraunhofer ISE shows that photovoltaics with battery storage are cheaper than conventional power plants. The German Nuclear Industry Association disagrees, stating that the study only addresses technology-specific electricity generation costs and is based on unrealistic assumptions – the key headlines in brief.
The recently introduced voice mode for ChatGPT by OpenAI is currently only a feature in the alpha stage. Only a few (paying) users can verbally communicate with the AI chatbot. In this natural conversation, it should be excluded that ChatGPT takes on the voices of users. However, during internal tests of the „Advanced Voice Mode,“ ChatGPT responded with a user’s voice in isolated cases. In one example provided by OpenAI, the AI model answered a user’s sentence with a firm „No!“ and continued speaking with the voice of a tester. The fact that the AI model responds with a user’s voice is not only unexpected but also eerie: ChatGPT mimicked the user’s voice in internal OpenAI tests of the voice mode.
Security experts have identified another security failure in an examination of various security-related applications such as OpenVPN, Bitwarden, or 1Password. A critical vulnerability results in confidential information such as passwords or login credentials remaining in plain text in the process memory even after users log out, making it easily accessible to potential attackers. For the study, experts tested various applications, including VPN clients and password managers explicitly designed to protect such user information. The result is a serious gap in critical applications: plain text passwords in the process memory.
Photovoltaic ground-mounted systems and onshore wind energy systems are the most cost-effective technologies in Germany among all types of power plants, with costs ranging from 4.1 to 9.2 cents per kWh. This is according to a new study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, which compares the electricity generation costs for various energy sources; nuclear power performs particularly poorly. However, the study neglects system- and location-specific cost factors, which the German Nuclear Industry Association criticizes. The study exhibits a noticeable bias in favor of renewable energies: Renewable energy is cheaper than conventional power plants according to Fraunhofer ISE.
In addition to these key points:
– Russia is blocking the encrypted messaging service Signal and causing disruptions when accessing YouTube videos: Russia disrupts Signal messenger service and YouTube.
– GitClear analyzes data from over 850,000 developer years and evaluates the impact of AI on productivity in a report: Future small developer teams with highly productive senior developers.
– Saxony-Anhalt would like to introduce speed section controls. Currently, this is not possible due to a lack of providers: Speed section radar cannot be introduced anywhere in Germany at the moment.
– Kioxia presented a PCIe 4.0 SSD with a fiber optic connection, PCI-SIG demonstrated PCIe 6.0 – and Cadence even showcased Version 7.0: PCI-Express transitioning from copper to fiber optics.
– Security researchers discovered a security vulnerability named Sinkclose in AMD CPUs and presented it at Defcon 32 in Las Vegas: CPU security flaw in AMD processors allows malware infections.
– German researchers found vulnerabilities in individual RISC-V CPUs from T-Head Semiconductors. The flexible, young architecture turns out to be a risk: Vulnerabilities in Chinese RISC-V CPUs.
– To make the decommissioning visible, the cooling towers of the Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant will be demolished next Friday: Cooling towers of the Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant will be demolished.
– 25 years ago, a computer game was released that redefined the meaning of the word „atmosphere.“ We look back on 25 years of „System Shock 2“: Look at you, hacker!
These additional insights and details provide a comprehensive overview of the security issues, technological advancements, and energy cost comparisons discussed in the original article, offering readers a deeper understanding of the topics at hand.
