US military uses high-energy lasers to shoot down three Mexican cartel drones over the southern border — narcos suspected of using UAVs for surveillance and reconnaissance to support illegal activities

The US military has successfully deployed a laser defense system on the southern border of the country and shot down alleged Mexican cartel drones. These UAVs are suspected of spotting U.S. law enforcement operations and help the criminal organizations traffic humans and goods into the United States.

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Startup raises $7 million to build backpack-portable 8.8-ounce drone interceptors — Mara claims 20x cost advantage over other interceptors, priced one-for-one against attack drones

San Francisco defense startup Mara has secured $7 million in a pre-seed round to produce what it calls Spike, a portable counter-drone system housed inside a backpack.

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Microsoft-backed AI data center faces backlash over alleged unpermitted gas turbines and 1.5M-gallon LNG tank — groups’ issues with $19.4B facility range from illegal construction to noise pollution
 Microsoft-backed AI data center faces backlash over alleged unpermitted gas turbines and 1.5M-gallon LNG tank — groups’ issues with $19.4B facility range from illegal construction to noise pollution

The community surrounding the DataOne data center in Vineland, New Jersey, are complaining about the Microsoft-linked project. The company’s deployment of several unpermitted gas turbines is just one of the issues that has been hounding the project, with potential water issues also surfacing in recent weeks.

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US Navy launches missiles from its first drone sailboat — Saildrone Surveyor launches dual JAGM missiles, carrier strike group tests armed USV and electronic warfare

The U.S. Navy successfully tested a sail-powered autonomous drone in live-fire exercises in the Pacific.

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New US export controls reportedly target Chinese access to remote AI servers — Trump admin’s cut-down AI diffusion rule could be shared with industry as soon as September
 New US export controls reportedly target Chinese access to remote AI servers — Trump admin’s cut-down AI diffusion rule could be shared with industry as soon as September

The Trump administration is reportedly drafting a rule to close a loophole around remote access to advanced AI compute, and it could be shared with trade groups as early as September.

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Nvidia gears up its influence in Washington, forming PAC — tells employees that decisions Congress makes over the coming years could have substantial consequences for the AI industry, according to report
 Nvidia gears up its influence in Washington, forming PAC — tells employees that decisions Congress makes over the coming years could have substantial consequences for the AI industry, according to report

Nvidia establishes its employees federal political action committee (PAC) to fund politicians whose positions are favorable to Nvidia’s interests.

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Security researchers find surveillance implants in Chinese-made routers sold worldwide — three different backdoor-like implants hidden in firmware
 Security researchers find surveillance implants in Chinese-made routers sold worldwide — three different backdoor-like implants hidden in firmware

Security researchers at Vulncheck discovered intentionally masked surveillance implants embedded in the firmware of numerous devices from Shenzhen Zhibotong Electronics.

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Nvidia denies pausing AI cloud commitments initiative after reported partner backlash — report claims company told cloud providers it could only lease its GPUs to Nvidia-approved customers
 Nvidia denies pausing AI cloud commitments initiative after reported partner backlash — report claims company told cloud providers it could only lease its GPUs to Nvidia-approved customers

Nvidia denies putting AI cloud commitments initiative on hold despite reports that some deals were paused amid partner pushback over customer controls and concerns about potential antitrust scrutiny.

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Micron workers increasingly support strike over bonus pay — labor union wants profit-sharing scheme, as employees at Samsung, SK hynix enjoy bonuses worth hundreds of thousands of dollars
 Micron workers increasingly support strike over bonus pay — labor union wants profit-sharing scheme, as employees at Samsung, SK hynix enjoy bonuses worth hundreds of thousands of dollars

80% of Micron workers in Taiwan have signaled that they’re willing to go on strike if the company does not strike a deal over bonuses. The employees want to replace the current bonus system with a profit-sharing scheme, allowing them to take advantage of the AI-driven memory boom.

X busts 200,000-strong Chinese bot farm, including accounts making claims about AI data centers and electricity — suspect accounts posted claims about pricing and grid strain to ‘manipulate’ debate
 X busts 200,000-strong Chinese bot farm, including accounts making claims about AI data centers and electricity — suspect accounts posted claims about pricing and grid strain to ‘manipulate’ debate

The X Safety Team said that at least 200 bot accounts have been making posts to influence public opinion data centers and energy policy. The accounts share links to legitimate news stories and then add their own spin designed to inflame emotions.

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