Tech News Day

August 25, 2025 xAI has presented Grok 2.5 as open source — a move likely intended to mirror or challenge OpenAI’s earlier transparency. But the reality is far more restrictive, and industry watchers are pointing it out. Elon Musk, who co-founded OpenAI but parted ways in 2018, has repeatedly accused the company of straying from its original mission.

August 24, 2025 Nvidia has ordered some of its component suppliers, including Amkor Technology and Samsung Electronics, to suspend production of its H20 artificial intelligence chip for the Chinese market, according to multiple reports. The move follows a directive from Chinese authorities urging local technology companies to stop buying the chip. Regulators cited security concerns, including fears of backdoors or remote access features that could threaten national security.

Every month or so I like to step back from the day-to-day news cycle and look at what the research tells us about cybersecurity. This time I had two great guests: Michael Joyce from the Human-Centric Cybersecurity Partnership at the University of Montreal, and my long-time colleague David Shipley from Beauceron Security. Both of them have been digging into the data on phishing training and, as it turns out, some of the results aren’t what you’d expect.

When you sit down with Chandrashekar “LSP,” it feels less like a corporate interview and more like catching up with an old friend. LSP, who heads Zoho’s Canadian operations out of Cornwall, Ontario, has been with the company for more than two decades. Over coffee (virtual, this time), we talked about roadshows, small business AI, and why privacy still matters in an industry that’s racing ahead.

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August 20, 2025 An Edmonton-based company says it has been building artificial intelligence with maternal instincts — a concept recently endorsed by Geoffrey Hinton, one of the world’s most prominent AI researchers. At a conference last week, Hinton, often called the “Godfather of AI,” warned that future systems need to be designed with maternal qualities to avoid controlling humans. He also said he was unaware of anyone pursuing such an approach.

August 18, 2025 The House of Commons has confirmed it was the target of a cyberattack that exposed personal and technical information about employees. The breach, detected Friday, exploited a vulnerability in Microsoft’s SharePoint system that allowed attackers to run malicious code remotely. The flaw, known as CVE-2025-53770 or “ToolShell,” was only recently disclosed. Information taken includes names, job titles, office locations, email addresses and details about staff devices.

August 16, 2025 Nova  Scotia Power has been publicly reprimanded for requesting secrecy in the investigation of its recent ransomware attack, raising concerns about transparency in how the incident is handled. The Nova  Scotia Energy Board, overseeing the inquiry, rejected NSP’s push for confidential handling of key details—including the breach’s origins, scope and timeline—despite the company’s stated need to protect sensitive data.

August 16, 2025 Authorities and industry partners have frozen more than $300 million in cryptocurrency tied to cybercrime and fraud schemes over the past year. The bulk of the seizures came from the T3 Financial Crime Unit, a partnership launched in September 2024 by TRM Labs, TRON, Tether and Binance. The group says it has frozen over $250 million in assets linked to pump-and-dump schemes, romance fraud, investment scams and money laundering.

August 16, 2025 Canada is staring down an unprecedented wave of cyber threats. In the first half of 2025, over 12 billion attack attempts were tracked targeting Canadian networks—an alarmingly high volume that’s stretching cybersecurity teams to their limits. Behind the data is Fortinet, one of the world’s largest cybersecurity firms. At their Burnaby, B.C. campus—a global operations hub—security analysts are working around the clock to defend against the flood. What’s driving the surge?