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Anthropic, Palantir follows Meta’s lead taking AI to war

Anthropic’s AI model will be integrated into one of Palantir’s data systems, which is authorized to contain “secrets” critical to US national security.

AI firm Anthropic has become the latest firm to give the United States government access to its AI models for national security purposes — following a similar lead to Meta’s announcement earlier this week.

US defense departments will be granted access to Anthropic’s Claude 3 and 3.5 AI models, which will be integrated into Palantir’s AI Platform and secured on Amazon Web Services, Palantir said in a Nov. 7 statement.

“Our partnership with Anthropic and AWS provides U.S. defense and intelligence communities the tool chain they need to harness and deploy AI models securely, bringing the next generation of decision advantage to their most critical missions,” Palantir’s chief technology officer Shyam Sankar explained.

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Government of Bhutan Holds $828M in Bitcoin, Arkham Data Shows

Government of Bhutan Holds 8M in Bitcoin, Arkham Data ShowsThe government of Bhutan is currently holding over $828 million in bitcoin, according to onchain data by Arkham Intelligence. “Unlike most governments, Bhutan’s BTC does not come from law enforcement asset seizures, but from bitcoin mining operations, which have ramped up dramatically since early 2023,” the crypto intelligence firm explained. Bhutan Revealed as a Major […]

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SEC’s Gary Gensler believes AI can strengthen its enforcement regime

The Securities and Exchange Commission chair highlighted market surveillance and other instances where agency staff could benefit from making greater use of AI.

Gary Gensler, the chair of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, believes staff at its agency could benefit from greater use of artificial intelligence.

During a July 17 speech before the National Press Club, where he later broke his silence about the recent Ripple court ruling, Gensler listed several potential use cases of AI that could assist the regulator in its role as securities watchdog.

"We at the SEC also could benefit from staff making greater use of AI in their market surveillance, disclosure review, exams, enforcement, and economic analysis,” he said.

SEC Chair Gensler speaking before the National Press Club on July 17. Source: SEC

The SEC has hit up at least 54 cryptocurrency firms with enforcement actions between 2018 and the first half of 2023. The collapse of FTX in November was followed by a dramatic increase in the rate of these actions.

While Gensler didn’t provide more detail on how the agency could use AI, the SEC chair spoke highly of the technology and the positive impact that it can have on humanity on financial markets:

“AI opens up tremendous opportunities for humanity, from healthcare to science to finance. As machines take on pattern recognition, particularly when done at scale, this can create great efficiencies across the economy.”

“I believe it’s the most transformative technology of our time, on par with the internet and mass production of automobiles,” Gensler added.

Issues with AI still linger, says Gensler

Despite the overall positive sentiment, Gensler highlighted that many AI systems are filled with bias and deception, infringe on privacy rights and present several conflicts of interest.

On the issue of bias, Gensler said some predictive AI models reflect historical biases which makes the system less accurate and in some cases, lead to an entirely false prediction.

Gensler highlighted that he was even a victim of misinformation when a fake AI-generated text of his resignation began circulating on the internet.

Related: Breaking: Judge rules XRP is not a security in SEC's case against Ripple

Gensler added that conflicts of interest could arise when AI systems are trained to take into account the interests of the company as opposed to the interests of the customer. He added:

“That’s why I’ve asked SEC staff to make recommendations for rule proposals for the commission’s consideration regarding how best to address such potential conflicts across the range of investor interactions.”

He also believes the emergence of a few AI monopolies may shake up the economy and potentially play a role in a “future financial crisis.”

In a follow up interview with Yahoo Finance on July 17, Gensler said that the regulator will enforce action against culprits who use AI to defraud investors:

“Fraud is fraud. If a bad actor uses artificial intelligence to try to deceive the public, we’re authorized but also mandated by Congress to go after that,” he said.

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Arkham CEO rebuts claims of ‘snitch-to-earn’ program, says it’s to find bad actors

Arkham CEO Miguel Morel said public blockchains are "probably the worst possible way of keeping one's private information private.”

The chief of the startup blockchain intelligence platform Arkham has refuted claims by the crypto community that its new “Intel Exchange” is a “snitch-to-earn” or “dox-to-earn” system.

On a July 11 Twitter Space, Arkham CEO Miguel Morel discussed the public relations debacle that has unfolded this week over its marketplace.

Arkham’s Intel Exchange aimed to “deanonymize the blockchain” by rewarding users with a new token, ARKM, for revealing the identities behind otherwise anonymous blockchain addresses. It was launched on Binance Launchpad as a token sale this week.

The platform rapidly generated a lot of criticism on Crypto Twitter and was dubbed a “snitch-to-earn” system.

Morel disagreed with these claims and justified the platform saying it was designed to uncover scammers and hackers behind crypto exploits.

“Publicly available blockchains are probably the worst possible way of keeping one's private information private,” he said before adding that Arkham would retain control of the data:

“It's not a completely free market. So it's not like anybody can just post any piece of information and then it can go online.”

“There are a bunch of restrictions and guidelines, all of which we will be rolling out,” he added.

Morel stated that the primary focus of its info exchange is uncovering trading firms, market makers, exchanges and very large institutions.

He added these large hedge funds and trading entities are “making money off of information about who's buying and selling large positions of a particular token.”

Related: Crypto hacks and exploits snatch over $300M in Q2 2023

Another participant in the Twitter Space pointed out that Arkham has a responsibility to prevent abuse and may facilitate false accusations by so-called “crypto detectives,” however Morel maintained it will be properly governed.

“Thankfully, it'll actually be more vetted and more regulated than something like Twitter or Facebook because every bounty needs to be approved.”

This raised even more concerns from TV host Ran Neuner who said, “my issue is not with the system. My issue is with your company managing the data.”

Arkham came under fire this week for leaking user emails via its weblink referrals program which includes an easily decipherable string of characters in referral links that reveal the referring email address.

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Onchain Researchers Discover $63M in Ethereum From Harmony Bridge Attack Moved, Hackers Attempt to Launder Funds on Major Exchanges

Onchain Researchers Discover M in Ethereum From Harmony Bridge Attack Moved, Hackers Attempt to Launder Funds on Major ExchangesOn Jan. 15, 2023, onchain researchers discovered that funds stolen during the Harmony bridge attack had been moved. The suspected thieves, who are allegedly associated with the North Korean hacking syndicate Lazarus Group, moved 41,000 ethereum, worth $63.2 million at current exchange rates. Onchain Researchers Track Stolen Ethereum From Harmony Bridge Attack and Help Major […]

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South Korean Intelligence Service Informs Crypto Exchanges About Cyberthreats

South Korean Intelligence Service Informs Crypto Exchanges About CyberthreatsThe South Korean state intelligence agency is now providing crypto trading platforms with information about attempts to breach their cybersecurity. The help for the country’s digital asset exchanges comes amid growing threats, local media reported. Intelligence Service Offers Cybersecurity Assistance to Major South Korean Crypto Exchanges South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) has started to […]

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UK Intelligence Chief Raises Concerns About Use of Digital Renminbi to Control Global Transactions

UK Intelligence Chief Raises Concerns About Use of Digital Renminbi to Control Global TransactionsThe chief of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), one of the big three intelligence agencies in the U.K., has raised concerns regarding China and its digital renminbi. Sir Jeremy Fleming stated that the already existent Chinese CBDC could be used to collect information from users and, hypothetically, to control and filter global transactions. UK Worried […]

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Nuclear engineer sells classified data to undercover FBI agents for crypto

The FBI paid tens of thousands worth of cryptocurrency to a nuclear engineer in exchange for SD cards containing classified data.

A nuclear engineer and his wife have been arrested in West Virginia on charges of espionage and selling restricted data.

The couple sold classified information regarding the designs of nuclear-powered warships to an individual they believed to represent a foreign nation for almost a year. However, the contact was an undercover FBI agent who sent payments for the data in cryptocurrency.

Jonathan and Diana Toebbe were apprehended by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) on Saturday, Oct. 9. They will appear in federal court on Tuesday, Oct. 12. According to a statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland:

“The complaint charges a plot to transmit information relating to the design of our nuclear submarines to a foreign nation.”

Jonathan Toebbe served as a nuclear engineer assigned to the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program and held active national security clearance through the U.S. Department of Defense.

In April 2020, the FBI became suspicious of Toebbe after spotting that he sent a package containing sample data and instructions on how to establish covert communications and purchase more information.

In June of this year, an undercover agent sent $10,000 in an unspecified cryptocurrency to Toebbe as “good faith” payment after receiving some sample data. The couple used a “dead drop” to hide an SD card containing more information inside half a peanut butter sandwich for which the agent paid a further $20,000 in crypto for the decryption keys.

A second dead drop saw the FBI pay a further $70,000 worth of crypto to Toebbe in exchange for further data on U.S. nuclear submarines. The FBI nabbed the couple after a third drop was organized.

Related: Blockchain could become a part of the US military’s strategic weaponry

The incident is not the first time U.S. federal agencies have used cryptocurrency as part of investigations targeting criminal activity.

In August, the U.S. State Department began offering compensation in the form of cryptocurrency through its “rewards for Justice” website in exchange for information leading to the capture of high-ranking foreign terrorism suspects.

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Chainalysis Announces It Will Include Dogecoin Coverage in Its Reports

Chainalysis Announces It Will Include Dogecoin Coverage in Its ReportsChainalysis, one of the leading blockchain intelligence companies in the world, has announced it will now cover the Dogecoin network in its reports. The company argues that dogecoin became one of the most known cryptocurrencies in the world after being promoted by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla during this year. This, consequently, has attracted criminals […]

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Israel’s Mossad Is Hiring a Cryptocurrency Specialist

Israel’s Mossad Is Hiring a Cryptocurrency SpecialistThe Israeli intelligence service, Mossad, is now looking to hire someone who understands digital currencies. According to the job posting, the role requires extensive expertise in the field of financial technologies. Mossad Recruiting Expert With Fintech Background Israel’s Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations, Mossad, is seeking an expert with a deep understanding of cryptocurrencies […]

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