Author: damazah@gmail.com

Google’s AI model Gemini autonomously hacked into three companies during a test of its cyber-security capabilities, the company has said, in what is thought to be the first known case of it carrying out such an act.Gemini found “public information online and guessed credentials to access websites it thought were part of the test”, a Google official told the BBC, noting that in each instance “the model stopped”.The affected companies have been informed about the breach.It comes after renewed public scrutiny over the pace of AI development, with some tech firms calling for a slowdown as they raise concerns over…

In a first for Google, the company confirmed that its AI model, Gemini, breached the security of three other companies in May. The hacks occurred during a cybersecurity evaluation by AI-security firm Irregular.Irregular, an Israel-based startup that scrutinizes the security of advanced AI systems, was also at the center of some of the recent OpenAI and Anthropic hacks of third-party entities, including OpenAI’s breach of AI software company, Hugging Face.The circumstances that enabled the models to hack other companies in some of these cases are similar: Irregular was testing the models in a closed testing environment with fake companies. The…

Bright  Goodluck History is a patient teacher. However, it does not forgive those who refuse to sit in class. Every empire that believed itself to be permanent, from Rome to the Ottomans to apartheid South Africa, fell not just to external enemies, but to the arrogance of men at the top who mistook the applause of a season for the loyalty of a lifetime.  This seems to be exactly where Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has confined himself. He seems hell-bent on relearning this lesson the hard way. In recent days, Wike’s so-called Rainbow Coalition, which is a…

Renowned public relations practitioner, Dr.  Nkechi Ali-Balogun has built a flourishing career spanning over three decades and has  contributed to the growth and practice of PR. A household name, Ali-Balogun recently turned 70, and shares her career  milestones, reflecting on her journey, achievements, impact  and life of gratitude, with Ferdinand Ekechukwu Getting My Ph.D Growing up I had an encounter with a man who just came back from Europe with a Ph.D. Why this encounter became a defining moment for me was because this guy was so boastful about this Ph.D. as if no one else on planet earth or in my community can ever…

Chineme Okafor The number of Nigerians facing acute food insecurity in 2026 ought to be central in the 2027 elections discourse, in particular, the presidential debates. The implications of this are far-reaching for Nigeria’s corporate wellbeing; and thus, reckless to pretend about it going into the elections. As we already know, somewhere in Jada, Adamawa, a farmer has since abandoned his fields because of sustained insecurity in the Nort-east. In Olowogbowo Isale eko Lagos, a mother now skips meals so her children can eat. Likewise, a trader in Otu-Nkwo Eze (Main Market) Onitsha in Anambra helplessly watches food prices rise…

He didn’t leave it at that, though; Mangan found Timby on Instagram and followed up with a message inviting her out.”It was short and sweet, and it was really genuine, too,” says Timby – and she took him up on the offer.What followed was a series of whirlwind dates – lunches, dinners, sightseeing and shopping trips. Timby extended her time in Ireland and documented much of it for her newfound following – but she didn’t reveal anything about her new beau. They wanted to save the burgeoning romance for themselves.When Timby eventually had to fly home, there were “tears at…

Nigeria’s equities market capitalisation crossed the N162 trillion mark for the first time, closing at a record N162.16 trillion on Friday as the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) climbed 1.42 percent to a new high of 249,804.56 points. The market value rose by N2.27 trillion from Thursday’s N159.89 trillion, surpassing the previous record of N161.8 trillion reached on May 13. The latest milestone comes just days before Nigeria’s return to FTSE Russell’s Frontier Market classification, scheduled to take effect at the opening of trading on September 21. FTSE Russell confirmed the reclassification in August following its assessment of improvements in foreign…

Many business owners who increasingly rely on open source models have urged the Trump administration not to restrict access to Chinese models. And China, which has dismissed accusations of frontier model copying, has called on the US to listen to its business community or else risk putting the US at a further economic disadvantage. Policy research conducted for Congress and submitted to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in March suggested that the US may already be at a disadvantage because it focused too heavily on maintaining a lead in frontier AI while failing to advance its own open…

The UK Youth Parliament is at risk of being axed within months, BBC News has learned, as the government is not committing to funding it any longer.The parliament was launched in 2000 to boost interest in politics among young people and has more than 300 elected members aged between 11 and 18.Once a year, the young politicians are allowed to hold debates in the House of Commons chamber, on a day when MPs are not sitting.Some MPs and young people say axing it would be a blow for youth democracy, while others say it is not providing value for money.The…

Every summer, Seoul turns a deep green, growing dense and lush under humid skies.But this year, one tree was visibly suffering. “Green leaves were falling to the ground, which shouldn’t happen at that time of year,” recalls Jung, who lives near the streetside ginkgo in Buam-dong, a largely residential neighbourhood in the north of Seoul.The tree is beloved by locals, who believe it has occupied its spot for more than 100 years. So Jung couldn’t ignore what she was seeing. With each passing day, her curiosity turned to concern.A rotting carpet of familiar fan-shaped leaves soon surrounded the tree, a…