Baltic Dry Index. 1986 -38 Brent Crude 68.93
Spot Gold 3538 US 2 Year Yield 3.66 +0.07
US Federal Debt. 37.312 trillion
US GDP 30.241 trillion.
September 3, 1939 - Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany.
Little need for my input this morning.
Stocks largely down, AI bubble ending? Gold higher on US interest rate cut front running and rising international alarm on the rising US debt relative to the US GDP.
The Washington-London War Party facing a new reality after their failure in Ukraine.
Asia markets trade mixed as tariff concerns weigh
Published Tue, Sep 2 2025 7:40 PM EDT
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed
Wednesday as investors assessed rising global bond yields and the latest
developments on the trade front.
Chinese markets were in focus following
President Xi Jinping’s speech at a military parade to commemorate the 80th
anniversary of the end of World War II. The event was graced by 26 world
leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s leader
Kim Jong Un.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index increased by
0.86%, while mainland China’s CSI
300 ticked up 0.24% in early trade.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark
declined by 1.09%. The country’s second-quarter GDP grew 1.8% year over year,
marking the fastest pace of growth since September 2023. The latest reading
beat the 1.6% growth expected by economists polled by Reuters, and was higher
than the 1.3% seen in the previous quarter.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.41%, while
the broader Topix index dropped by 0.53%.
Yields on Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs)
rose, with the yield on 10-year JGBs up 2.6 basis points to 1.629% as of 10:45
a.m. local time (9:45 p.m. ET Tuesday).
Meanwhile, the yield on 30-year JGBs
increased by nearly 7 basis point to 3.279%, surpassing its previous high in
August, while yields on 20-year JGBs rose around 5.3 basis points to 2.684%,
after hitting its highest level in 26 years earlier in the session.
Over in South Korea, the Kospi index ticked up
0.3% choppy trade, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.19%.
U.S.
equity futures mostly rose in early Asia hours, after a federal court
ruling on an antitrust case on Google-parent Alphabet fueled optimism
that tech majors will be able to navigate regulatory threats.
Overnight stateside, all three key
benchmarks ended
the day lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended
down 249.07 points, or 0.55% to close at 45,295.81. The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.69% to
settle at 6,415.54, while the Nasdaq
Composite slid 0.82% to close at 21,279.63.
Asia
markets trade mixed as tariff concerns weigh
China’s Xi says the world faces ‘peace or war’ as
Trump claims Beijing conspiring against U.S.
Published Tue, Sep 2 2025 9:54 PM EDT
BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that
the world was facing a choice of “peace or war” and “dialogues or
confrontation” as the country hosts its largest military parade commemorating
the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
The speech came as U.S. President Donald Trump in a post on
Truth Social urged the Chinese leader to recognize U.S. contributions to
helping secure China’s freedom, while alleging that Beijing was conspiring against Washington.
“Please give my warmest regards to
Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of
America,” Trump said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North
Korea’s Kim Jong Un are
among the leaders from more than 20 countries attending the “Victory Day” military
parade in Beijing at Tiananmen Square. China is hosting a reception following
the parade, and an evening gala.
It is unlikely that the gathering of Putin
and Kim in Beijing would derail the ongoing U.S.-China trade talks as both
sides appeared to favor moving toward a deal in the coming months, said Neil
Thomas, fellow for China politics at Asia Society.
That said, “the fact that China has this
increased gravitational pull in regional diplomacy is telling about the
progress that it [has] been able to make, especially when there’s increased
uncertainty about whether Washington wants to do trade and investment deals
with countries in Asia,” he added.
More
Xi
says world faces 'peace or war' as Trump claims Beijing conspiring against U.S.
China hails ‘strategic ace’ deterrence as nuclear
missiles, weapons roll through Beijing
Overseeing his third major military parade, Xi Jinping speaks to the nation and assembled world leaders before inspecting the troops
Published: 8:37am, 3 Sep 2025 Updated: 12:09pm,
3 Sep 2025
China has hosted a massive military parade
along Changan Avenue in central Beijing, showcasing the country’s latest and
most advanced weapons to commemorate the 80th anniversary of
China’s victory over Japan in World War II.
President Xi Jinping delivered a speech from the Tiananmen
rostrum and then inspected the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops from a
parade car. It was the third major military parade in Tiananmen Square that Xi
is overseeing as president.
World leaders, including Russian President
Vladimir Putin, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim were seated on the rostrum, along with
serving and former top officials and generals.
Nuclear ‘strategic ace’ missiles
The PLA’s first air-launched nuclear
missile, the JL-1, has been unveiled atop a military truck. This model is
significantly smaller than the JL-3 submarine-launched intercontinental
ballistic missile, which is on show.
CCTV says that these two missiles, along
with the DF-61 and DF-31, represent the “first concentrated display” of the
PLA’s “land, sea and air triad strategic nuclear forces”,
constituting a “strategic ace for safeguarding national sovereignty and
defending national dignity”.
Deterrence ‘credible, reliable,
sufficient’
Military blogger Ma Yan says the upgraded
intercontinental ballistic missile DF-5C sends the message that “China’s strategic
deterrence is credible, reliable and sufficient”.
The DF-5C can reportedly carry up to 10
multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle warheads, “meaning that a
single missile can target 10 different locations at the same time”, she says on
Chinese social media.
The missile can target “the enemy’s
military bases and critical facilities”, and adjust the order of strikes.
“The DF-5C, although launched from fixed
silos, has a longer range and a single warhead yield reaching millions of
tonnes, primarily designed to target underground facilities and missile silos,”
Ma says.
“Its existence strengthens our nuclear
deterrent strategy, ensuring effective retaliatory strikes, even under the
harshest war conditions.”
CCTV narration said the strike range of
this model “covers the entire globe”.
Carrier-based aircraft
Four types of carrier-based aircraft have been on show, including the
J-35 and J-15T.
According to state news agency Xinhua, the
J-15T can take off using either a catapult or ski-jump launch system. The
J-15DT is an electronic warfare carrier-based aircraft that can also launch
using either system.
The J-35, the latest stealth carrier-based
fighter, “is a landmark piece of equipment for the navy’s transition from
near-sea defence to far-sea defence”, Xinhua says.
The J-15DH, J-15DT and J-35 were all
independently developed by China, Xinhua says.
CCTV’s live broadcast indicates that
China’s carrier-based aircraft have achieved “multi-aircraft coordination”.
The carrier-based aircraft formation is
operated by China’s first carrier-based aviation brigade, Xinhua says.
----Interest in China’s deep-sea drones
Chinese military commentator Bai Mengchen
says China’s latest extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicles (XLUUVs) are ideal
for the country to counter threats in the deep sea, given the lessons of
the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage.
“There was considerable interest in the
several XLUUVs showcased, as their size suggests their strong capabilities to
operate in deep sea,” Bai said during Phoenix TV’s live coverage of the parade.
“The deep sea is a cutting-edge area of
multi-domain operations, attracting considerable attention. Previous
experiences like the Nord Stream sabotage reminds us to be vigilant in this
domain.”
More
Trump says US strike on vessel in
Caribbean targeted Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, killed 11
Updated 1:56 AM GMT+1, September 3, 2025
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday
the U.S. has carried out a strike in the southern Caribbean against a
drug-carrying vessel that departed from Venezuela and was operated by
the Tren de Aragua gang.
The president said in a social media
posting that 11 people were killed in the rare U.S. military operation in the
Americas, a dramatic escalation in the Republican administration’s effort to
stem the flow of narcotics from Latin America. Trump also posted a short video
clip of a small vessel appearing to explode in flames.
“The strike occurred while the terrorists
were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to
the United States,” Trump said on Truth Social. “No U.S. Forces were harmed in
this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about
bringing drugs into the United States of America.”
The video appears to show a long,
multi-engine speedboat traveling at sea when a bright flash of light bursts
over the craft. The boat is then briefly seen covered in flames.
The video, which is largely in black and
white, is not clear enough to see if the craft is carrying as many as 11
people. The video also did not show any large or clear stashes of drugs inside
the boat.
Tren de Aragua originated more than a
decade ago at an infamously lawless prison with hardened criminals in
Venezuela’s central state of Aragua. The gang has expanded in recent years as
more than 7.7 million Venezuelans fled economic turmoil and migrated to other
Latin American countries or the U.S.
Trump and administration officials have
repeatedly blamed the gang for being at the root of the violence and illicit
drug dealing that plague some cities. And the president on Tuesday repeated his
claim — contradicted
by a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment — that Tren de Aragua
is operating under Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s control.
The White House did not immediately
explain how the military determined that those aboard the vessel were Tren de
Aragua members. The size of the gang is unclear, as is the extent to which its
actions are coordinated across state lines and national borders.
What Maduro had to say
After Trump announced the strike,
Venezuelan state television showed Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores walking
the streets of his childhood neighborhood. A television presenter said Maduro
was “bathing in patriotic love” as he interacted with supporters.
“In the face of imperialist threats, God
(is) with us,” Maduro told supporters.
Maduro did not address the strike
directly, but charged that the U.S. is “coming for Venezuela’s riches,”
including oil and gas. The South American country has the world’s largest
proven oil reserves.
“From the neighborhoods of Caracas ... I
tell you, there will be peace in Venezuela, with sovereignty,” he said.
Communications Minister Freddy Ñáñez
questioned the veracity of the video. “Based on the video provided, it is very
likely that it was created using Artificial Intelligence,” he said on his
Telegram account. He couldn’t say what tools would have been used to create the
video, but said it showed an “almost cartoonish animation, rather than a
realistic depiction of an explosion.”
More
Trump
says US struck Venezuelan gang's vessel, killing 11 | AP News
Up next, a rest of the world (ROW) fast getting less USA centric, with or without President Trump’s chaotic tariffs.
Forging growth together: China-SCO economic and
trade partnership gains momentum
By Li Yingqi, Huan Xiang (People's
Daily) 21:39,
September 01, 2025
According to statistics recently released
by China's General Administration of Customs, in the first seven months of this
year, China's total imports and exports with other Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO) members reached 2.11 trillion yuan ($295.04 billion),
marking a 3 percent increase year on year, a record high for the period.
As cooperation deepens across trade,
investment, connectivity, and other fields, the SCO is charting a path of
mutual benefit and shared prosperity, injecting strong momentum into regional
development.
On the shores of Jiaozhou Bay in Qingdao,
east China's Shandong province, the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade
Cooperation Demonstration Area (SCODA) bustles with activity. Recent examples
include a truck laden with fresh fruits and vegetables departing Qingdao's
international road transport assembly center for Moscow (reaching its
destination in under a week), and 388 new energy vehicles clearing customs at
the SCO International Hub Port Automobile Trading Center before shipment to
Dubai.
Such scenes vividly illustrate the SCODA's
role as a dynamic hub where people, goods, and commerce converge.
The demonstration area traces its origins
to Chinese President Xi Jinping's address at the 2018 SCO Qingdao Summit, where
he announced that the Chinese government supports building a demonstration area
in Qingdao for China-SCO local economic and trade cooperation. Since its
inception, the area has been exploring innovative models of local cooperation.
For Li Zhenye, deputy general manager of
Qingdao Hongzhu Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd., the platform has delivered
tangible results. "We have participated in the SCO International
Investment and Trade Expo for four consecutive years. It has helped us build
lasting connections with customers from many SCO countries. In 2024, we hosted
nearly 50 business delegations from SCO members, and exports to other SCO and
Belt and Road partner countries now account for more than 80 percent of our
total," Li said.
According to Irfan Shahzad Takalvi,
founder of the Eurasian Century Institute, a think tank in Islamabad, Pakistan,
China has launched a series of cooperation platforms in recent years,
facilitating the movement of goods, technology, and talent. These platforms
have enabled SCO countries to share development experience, adopt mature
technologies, and train professionals, promoting economic growth across the
region," he noted.
A recent demonstration of enhanced
connectivity occurred on May 20, when a China-Central Asia freight train
departed Tianjin Port for Xinjiang's Horgo crossing. Carrying 50 containers
from South Korea, it completed the journey in two weeks, reducing transit
distance by 800 kilometers compared to the traditional route.
Today, Tianjin Port connects with over 500
ports in more than 180 countries and regions and has also expanded rail
cooperation with SCO member states such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and
Belarus, making it a vital bridge between the SCO and global markets.
By opening more efficient regional
logistics corridors, strengthening resilient industrial and supply chains, and
enhancing trade and investment cooperation, China and other SCO countries are
steadily reaching new heights of practical economic engagement. In 2024, trade
between China and SCO member states, observer states, and dialogue partners
reached a record high of $890 billion, underscoring the dynamism and promising
outlook of regional commerce.
The vibrancy of SCO economic and trade
cooperation is equally evident at the Horgos International Border Cooperation
Center on the China-Kazakhstan border. From Kazakh camel milk and Kyrgyz honey
to Uzbek cherries and Tajik dried fruit, thousands of products from more than
40 countries fill the stalls of over 5,000 shops and 1,200 merchants. As the
largest cross-border tourism and shopping zone in northwest China, it offers a
vivid window into the flourishing economic cooperation between China and its SCO
partners.
In the first seven months of this year,
Horgos customs supervised 35,500 tons of goods with a total value of 3.65
billion yuan, representing year-on-year increases of 50.1 percent and 37.7
percent year on year, respectively. The center also handled 5.69 million
cross-border travelers, a 66 percent increase over the same period last year.
Behind this vitality are streamlined and
efficient customs services. At the road port of Horgos, 24-hour customs
clearance ensures the daily departure of over 1,000 trucks bound for Central
Asia and Europe. Simplified procedures have reduced clearance steps by 60
percent, boosted vehicle throughput by 80 percent, and cut overall business
costs by 50 percent. The city of Horgos is accelerating the development of a
national land port logistics hub, continuously improving port functionality and
clearance efficiency.
"The one-stop inspection model and
round-the-clock appointment-based clearance have further enhanced cross-border
trade efficiency, creating a fast track for deeper economic cooperation between
China and other SCO countries," said Guo Ying, head of customs at the
Horgos International Border Cooperation Center.
In other news, there will now be photographic
trouble ahead.
Masterful photo edits now just take a few words.
Are we ready for this?
For better or worse, Google’s Gemini chatbot just got an image manipulating upgrade.
September 1, 2025
Using artificial intelligence to create
images out of whole cloth is nothing new. Using AI to strategically or even
surgically manipulate genuine photos has always been trickier — until Google
DeepMind leapfrogged
the pack with
a new tool.
Just ask, and its new Gemini Flash 2.5
Image model, available to play with inside Google’s Gemini chatbot can plop
pets into new locales, convincingly
colorize monochrome photos and even mark up points of interest in a cityscape.
We all have our share of photos that
didn’t turn out quite right. Now editing them artfully no longer requires
expertise — just a Google account and the willingness to play supervisor to an
AI photo assistant. But how well do Gemini’s new image manipulation skills
actually work? We put them to the test.
What it can do
Google’s new AI model — formerly known as
“Nano
Banana”
— is especially interesting for a few reasons.
First, it’s fast. The updated Gemini often
churns out edited images in under 30 seconds, while OpenAI’s ChatGPT 5
sometimes took more than three times as long to handle the same requests. (The
Washington Post has a content partnership with OpenAI.)
It’s also really good at maintaining a
consistent context — ask it to make changes to one part of an image, and it
will keep the rest mostly untouched.
Consider this photo my wife took of me in
a phone booth in Japan.
After receiving my simple prompt (“replace
this man’s outfit with a bright orange tuxedo and a big showgirl’s headdress”),
Gemini spit out this image where I am the only thing that has noticeably
changed.
Look carefully enough and you’ll notice
that the numbers on the phone’s keypad — along with some of the Japanese text
littered throughout the scene — have been transmuted into AI gibberish. But all
of the important scene-setting elements remain, even if you ask the AI to tweak
the lighting and replace me with, say, a water buffalo:
Gemini is also notable for the way it
treats the people in the images it edits: They're (mostly) recognizable as
themselves in the results, even if you try to fine-tune those results with even
more requests.
Here’s a photo I took of The Washington
Post’s future of work reporter, Danielle
Abril,
before and after I asked Gemini to “surround the subject with neon lights and
change the lighting of her face accordingly.”
----- And sometimes, the
tool just doesn’t know how to deal with a request.
In the example below, I asked Gemini to
colorize and sharpen this old, blurry photo of my grandfather — one of just a
few my mom still has left after all these years.
Gemini’s first draft looked great in
color, but according to my mom, it left my grandfather looking a little too
young (middle photo). When I asked Gemini to make his face a little older and a
touch more wrinkly, it spit out someone, who to me, looks completely different
(right image).
Faux photo fallout
Gemini’s new model clearly isn’t perfect,
but it’s fast, effective and accessible enough that people are cooking up
ambitious ways to use it. Even so, facets of Google DeepMind’s approach to
manipulating images have come as a surprise — and not necessarily a good one —
to some AI researchers.
When Vincent Conitzer took Gemini’s new
image skills for a spin, the first thing he asked it was to add Kim Kardashian
to a photo of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift at a football game.
“My first reaction was, ‘Wow, that was
fast and easy,” the Carnegie Mellon University professor of computer science
told The Post. But then the surprise kicked in: Unlike other AI tools, Gemini
offered “no pushback whatsoever” when asked to add the likeness of a real
person to an otherwise genuine image, Contizer said.
More, plus photos.
How Gemini’s impressive ‘Nano
Banana’ AI photo editor works - The Washington Post
Global Inflation/Stagflation/Recession
Watch.
Given
our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians,
inflation now needs an entire section of its own.
US Manufacturing Shrinks for Sixth Straight Month
September 2, 2025 at 11:25 PM GMT+1
US factory activity shrank in August for a
sixth straight month, driven by a pullback in production that shows manufacturing
remains bogged down by higher import duties tied to President Donald
Trump’s trade war.
At the same time, there were a few
positive signs. Orders expanded for the first time since the start of the
year, with the ISM gauge of new bookings jumping 4.3 points, the largest
increase since the beginning of 2024, to 51.4. A measure of prices
paid for raw materials declined to 63.7—still elevated but the lowest
since February.
Still, the mixed report highlights the number of cross-currents
facing the nation’s producers. While still experiencing higher costs as a
result of levy hikes, manufacturers appear to be benefiting from solid business
investment and resilient household demand.
But factories also are wrestling with
supply chain disruptions related to Trump’s scattershot tariff orders
and retreats—and now a court
ruling deeming most of his levies illegal. The ISM supplier delivery gauge
showed delivery times lengthened last month. Also, the group’s import index
indicated a faster pace of contraction. Investors on Tuesday didn’t like the
look of things, and stocks and bonds took a dive. Here’s your markets
wrap.
US
Manufacturing Shrinks for Sixth Straight Month: Evening Briefing Americas -
Bloomberg
Euro
zone inflation rises to hotter-than-expected 2.1% in August
Published
Tue, Sep 2 2025 5:06 AM EDT
Euro
zone inflation edged higher to 2.1% in August, according to the latest flash
data from statistics agency Eurostat on Tuesday.
Economists
polled by Reuters had expected the rate to remain unchanged from July, at 2%.
Core
inflation, which strips out more volatile food, energy, alcohol and tobacco
prices, was unchanged from 2.3% in July. The closely watched services print
meanwhile was slightly lower in August, at 3.1% compared to 3.2% in July.
At
2.1%, the euro zone’s latest inflation rate is just slightly higher than the
European Central Bank’s target of 2%.
The
euro was down 0.6% against the dollar, at $1.1640. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was trading
0.7% lower Tuesday morning.
The
central bank held its key
interest rate at
2% in July and is expected to maintain that stance when it next meets in
September, according to a majority of economists polled by Reuters.
The EU’s trade
deal with the U.S.,
signed in late July, has removed uncertainty over tariffs although there are
some concerns that the blanket 15% duty of EU exports to the States could still
weigh on economic activity.
The euro zone eked
out 0.1% growth in the second quarter, compared to the previous quarter,
Eurostat data showed in late July.
ECB
rate pause likely
The
slight uptick in headline inflation in August is unlikely to make much
difference for policymakers at the ECB when they next meet, Andrew Kenningham,
chief Europe economist at Capital Economics, noted Tuesday.
ECB
policymakers “look certain to leave interest rates unchanged at next week’s
meeting and probably for several months beyond that,” he said in emailed
analysis.
“Most
importantly for the ECB, services inflation also came down a touch, from 3.2%
in July to 3.1% in August. This is the lowest rate of services inflation since
March 2022 and should provide some reassurance for policymakers that domestic
prices pressures are continuing to subside,” he said, predicting the services
inflation would fall further in coming months as labor market conditions ease.
“We
will preview the ECB’s forthcoming meeting later in the week but in short the
Bank is likely to leave rates on hold for some time,” he said.
Irene
Lauro, euro zone economist at Schroders, agreed that the ECB would take its
time when considering the trajectory for interest rates.
“With
trade uncertainty easing, the Eurozone recovery is set to gain momentum as
firms ramp up borrowing and investment. In this environment, the ECB is likely
to hold rates cautiously steady in September. The resilience in core
inflation supports our view that policy normalisation has ended, and the ECB
will closely monitor growth dynamics before making its next move,” she said in
emailed comments.
Euro zone
inflation for August 2025
UK
manufacturing downturn worsens amid slump in new orders
1
September 2025
The
downturn in UK factory production worsened last month due to a fall in new
orders and export business due to trade tensions, according to new figures.
The
S&P Global UK manufacturing PMI survey,
watched closely by economists, showed a reading of 47.0 in August, slowing from
48.0 in July.
Any
reading above 50 indicates that activity is growing while any score below means
it is contracting.
It
was marginally worse than expected, with economists having predicted a reading
of 47.3.
The
figures were the worst for three months and represented a setback for the
sector after signs of recovering activity earlier in the summer.
Rob
Dobson, director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said firms witnessed a
“steep drop” in new orders over August.
He
said: “Weak market conditions, US tariffs and downbeat client confidence all
contributed to the dearth of new contract wins.
“Job
cuts were also reported for a tenth successive month, with factory headcounts
dropping to one of the greatest extents post-pandemic.”
The
research showed new orders contracted “at the fastest pace in four months”,
with manufacturers linking the decline to subdued client confidence and caution
regarding costs following recent minimum wage and national insurance
contribution increases.
New
export business also decreased for the 43rd consecutive month as concerns over
tariffs and wider trade tension impacted demand.
Nevertheless,
surveyed companies indicated that business optimism was at its strongest level
for six months, with firms predicting stronger production over the coming year.
Firms
indicated that uncertainty led to further cutbacks in employment last month,
with a reduction in jobs for the tenth month in a row.
Mike
Thornton, head of industrials at RSM UK, said: “The latest fall in the
manufacturing PMI reversed a three-month upward trend with a sharp fall in new
orders dragging down the headline figure.
“We
tend to see a slight drop-off in new orders seasonally as the summer holidays
hit, but the fall this year was sharper than previous years.
“Hopefully
it’s a seasonal blip and we will see further signs of a recovery later in the
year.”
UK manufacturing
downturn worsens amid slump in new orders
Covid-19
Corner
This
section will continue only occasionally when something of interest occurs.
Technology
Update.
With events happening fast in the
development of solar power and graphene, among other things, I’ve added this
section. Updates as they get reported.
'Vibe hacking' puts chatbots to work for cybercriminals
Paris
(AFP) – The potential abuse of consumer AI tools is raising concerns, with
budding cybercriminals apparently able to trick coding chatbots into giving
them a leg-up in producing malicious programmes.
Issued on: 02/09/2025 - 08:01
So-called "vibe hacking" -- a
twist on the more positive "vibe coding" that generative AI tools
supposedly enable those without extensive expertise to achieve -- marks "a
concerning evolution in AI-assisted cybercrime" according to American
company Anthropic.
The lab -- whose Claude product competes
with the biggest-name chatbot, ChatGPT from OpenAI -- highlighted in a report
published Wednesday the case of "a cybercriminal (who) used Claude Code to
conduct a scaled data extortion operation across multiple international targets
in a short timeframe".
Anthropic said the programming chatbot
was exploited to help carry out attacks that "potentially" hit
"at least 17 distinct organizations in just the last month across
government, healthcare, emergency services, and religious institutions".
The attacker has since been banned by
Anthropic.
Before then, they were able to use
Claude Code to create tools that gathered personal data, medical records and
login details, and helped send out ransom demands as stiff as $500,000.
Anthropic's "sophisticated safety
and security measures" were unable to prevent the misuse, it acknowledged.
Such identified cases confirm the fears
that have troubled the cybersecurity industry since the emergence of widespread
generative AI tools, and are far from limited to Anthropic.
"Today, cybercriminals have taken
AI on board just as much as the wider body of users," said Rodrigue Le
Bayon, who heads the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) at Orange
Cyberdefense.
Dodging safeguards
Like Anthropic, OpenAI in June revealed
a case of ChatGPT assisting a user in developing malicious software, often
referred to as malware.
The models powering AI chatbots contain
safeguards that are supposed to prevent users from roping them into illegal
activities.
But there are strategies that allow
"zero-knowledge threat actors" to extract what they need to attack
systems from the tools, said Vitaly Simonovich of Israeli cybersecurity firm
Cato Networks.
He announced in March that he had found
a technique to get chatbots to produce code that would normally infringe on
their built-in limits.
The approach involved convincing
generative AI that it is taking part in a "detailed fictional world"
in which creating malware is seen as an art form -- asking the chatbot to play
the role of one of the characters and create tools able to steal people's
passwords.
"I have 10 years of experience in
cybersecurity, but I'm not a malware developer. This was my way to test the
boundaries of current LLMs," Simonovich said.
His attempts were rebuffed by Google's
Gemini and Anthropic's Claude, but got around safeguards built into ChatGPT,
Chinese chatbot Deepseek and Microsoft's Copilot.
In future, such workarounds mean even
non-coders "will pose a greater threat to organisations, because now they
can... without skills, develop malware," Simonovich said.
Orange's Le Bayon predicted that the
tools were likely to "increase the number of victims" of cybercrime
by helping attackers to get more done, rather than creating a whole new
population of hackers.
"We're not going to see very
sophisticated code created directly by chatbots," he said.
Le Bayon added that as generative AI
tools are used more and more, "their creators are working on analysing
usage data" -- allowing them in future to "better detect malicious
use" of the chatbots.
'Vibe hacking' puts chatbots to work for cybercriminals
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt
Clocks (usdebtclock.org)
The
stock market is but a mirror which provides an image of the underlying or
fundamental economic situation. Cause and effect run from the economy to the
stock market, never the reverse. In 1929 the economy was headed for trouble.
Eventually that trouble was violently reflected in Wall Street.
John
Kenneth Galbraith
