Welcome to the August 8, 2025 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for computer professionals three times a week.

HEADLINES AT A GLANCE

• Google Commits $1 Billion for AI Training at U.S. Universities
• OpenAI To Give Away Some of the Technology That Powers ChatGPT
• Germany and Japan Teamed Their ISS Robots for Seek-And-Photograph Mission
• Trump Exempts Tech Companies That Invest in U.S. From 100% Chip Tariffs
• Two-Factor Authentication Just Got Simpler
• Python Popularity Boosted by AI Coding Assistants – Tiobe
• German Police Expands Use of Surveillance Software
• ‘Speaking’ Tactile Sidewalks Enrich Lives of Visually Impaired
• Google's AI-Powered Bug Hunting Tool Finds Major Issues in Open Source Software
• 3D Printing, AI Used to Slash Nuclear Reactor Component Construction Time
• Ambitious Project Aims to Win Back U.S. Lead in Open-Source AI From China
• A Hybrid Photonic-Terahertz Chip for Communications and Sensing
• Spikes in Malicious Activity Precede New Security Flaws in 80% of Cases

Google Commits $1 Billion for AI Training at U.S. Universities

Google has announced a three-year, $1-billion initiative to provide AI training and tools to U.S. higher education institutions and nonprofits. Major public systems like the University of North Carolina and Texas A&M were among the more than 100 universities to join the program. The program offers participating schools resources such as cloud computing credits towards AI training for students, AI-related research topics, and funding. The initiative also will provide students with an advanced version of the Gemini chatbot at no cost.
[ » Read full article ]

OpenAI To Give Away Some of the Technology That Powers ChatGPT

OpenAI has released two AI models, gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b, marking a significant departure from its prior closed-source approach. While less powerful than ChatGPT, the models still rank highly in performance benchmarks. The move aligns OpenAI with competitors like Meta and China’s DeepSeek, which have already embraced open-source AI. OpenAI says the decision aims to retain developer interest and collect user feedback.
[ » Read full article *May Require Paid Registration ]

Germany and Japan Teamed Their ISS Robots for Seek-And-Photograph Mission

On the International Space Station, Germany's DLR aerospace center and Japan's space agency JAXA completed the first collaboration between their independently developed robots, JAXA's JEM Inboard Portable Video Camera System Demonstration Unit 2 (Int-Ball2) and DLR's Crew Interactive Mobile companion (CIMON). The Int-Ball2 aerial drone is remotely operated by JAXA ground staff and flies inside the ISS to take photos. CIMON, developed by DLR with Airbus and IBM, features AI-assisted voice recognition to respond to astronaut commands.
[ » Read full article ]

Trump Exempts Tech Companies That Invest in U.S. From 100% Chip Tariffs

On Aug. 6, Donald Trump announced plans for a 100% tariff on semiconductor imports while promising to exempt tech companies that move production back to the U.S. The comments were, however, not a formal tariff announcement, and much remains unclear about how companies and countries around the world will be impacted.
[ » Read full article *May Require Paid Registration ]

Two-Factor Authentication Just Got Simpler

Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico developed a new variation of two-factor authentication (TFA) that does not depend on time-based codes. The new method uses a random number generator and enables direct device-to-device authentication without requiring third-party services or GPS connectivity. Intended for devices lacking sufficient processing power, network bandwidth, or GPS access, such as remote sensors, drones, and smart thermostats, this system performs computations once upfront, reducing the need for continuous processing and conserving energy.
[ » Read full article ]

Python Popularity Boosted by AI Coding Assistants – Tiobe

Python remains the top language in the Tiobe index of programming language popularity, scoring 26.14% in August 2025 after reaching a record 26.98% in July. Tiobe CEO Paul Jansen attributes the continuing preference for Python to AI coding assistants, which benefit from Python’s widespread usage and extensive documentation. The trend reflects a consolidation around major languages, as developers increasingly favor tools with strong AI support.
[ » Read full article ]

German Police Expands Use of Surveillance Software

As of mid-2025, U.S. company Palantir's surveillance software Gotham has been deployed by police in the German states of Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Bavaria, with Baden-Württemberg planning adoption. Gotham utilizes AI to generate detailed individual profiles from personal information, criminal records, mobile device data, and social media content within seconds. Privacy advocates and civil rights organization have raised concerns that the software may infringe on the privacy and constitutional rights of innocent individuals.
[ » Read full article ]

‘Speaking’ Tactile Sidewalks Enrich Lives of Visually Impaired

Researchers at Japan’s Kanazawa Institute of Technology and W&M Systems have developed a tactile paving system that uses coded markers and smartphone-based image recognition to deliver audio guidance to users. The enhanced braille blocks, already deployed in 10 prefectures including Tokyo and Osaka, enable visually impaired individuals to receive real-time location information through a mobile app. By scanning marked surfaces with a phone camera, users can access descriptions of nearby features.
[ » Read full article ]

Google's AI-Powered Bug Hunting Tool Finds Major Issues in Open Source Software

Big Sleep, Google's AI-driven bug detection tool, autonomously discovered and reproduced 20 security vulnerabilities in open source software projects, including FFmpeg and ImageMagick. Human security workers verified each vulnerability, which remained secret until they were mitigated under Google's 90-day patching policy. The verification process by human experts was done to assuage any concerns about false positives of AI hallucinations. The full list of vulnerabilities ranked by level of impact (low to high) are available from Google.
[ » Read full article ]

3D Printing, AI Used to Slash Nuclear Reactor Component Construction Time

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee, in collaboration with Kairos Power, Barnard Construction, Airtech, TruDesign, Additive Engineering Solutions, Haddy, and the University of Maine, used AI and 3D printing to make polymer concrete forms for the Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor under construction in East Tennessee. The 3D printing enabled precise casting of complex forms for radiation shielding and reduced construction time from weeks to just 14 days.
[ » Read full article ]

Ambitious Project Aims to Win Back U.S. Lead in Open-Source AI From China

U.S. officials and company leaders want to surpass China in the realm of AI for economic and national security reasons. However, a recent analysis from Artificial Analysis found that only five of the top 15 AI models are open source, and all of those models were developed by Chinese companies. The American Truly Open Models (ATOM) Project would create a domestic AI lab with access to 10,000 GPUs, that would seek to produce competitive open-source models for AI start-ups or projects.
[ » Read full article *May Require Paid Registration ]

A Hybrid Photonic-Terahertz Chip for Communications and Sensing

Researchers at EPFL and Harvard have developed a lithium niobate photonic chip capable of bi-directional conversion between optical and terahertz (THz) signals. The device integrates THz and optical waveguides on a single platform, enabling compact, power-efficient solutions for high-speed communication, ranging, and spectroscopy. The chip demonstrated THz fields over 100 times stronger and bandwidth expanded to 3.5 THz. The work advances efforts to integrate THz technologies into existing photonics and could support future applications such as 6G networks and self-driving car sensors.
[ » Read full article ]

Spikes in Malicious Activity Precede New Security Flaws in 80% of Cases

Researchers at threat monitoring firm GreyNoise found new Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) involving edge networking devices often were preceded by increases in network reconnaissance, targeted scanning, brute-forcing attempts, and other malicious activity. In a study of 216 spike events, the researchers identified a new CVE within three weeks of 50% of these events and within six weeks of 80% of these events.
[ » Read full article ]