| Here's a look at today's tech briefing: - 🚗 Rivian pauses EV plant construction, unveils new SUV and crossovers.
- 🖥️ Russian state-sponsored hackers continue to target Microsoft.
- 💍 Oura starts selling smart rings on Amazon.
- ⚕️ UnitedHealth to restore tech systems by mid-March.
- 🇼 New York Times issues takedown requests for Wordle copycats.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | U.S. EV maker Rivian said it will pause construction of a $5B factory in Georgia to cut costs and speed up production of its new SUV. The company announced the pause the same day it revealed three smaller and more affordable electric vehicles. More: - Rivian unveiled its new R2 midsize SUV on Thursday, along with R3 and R3X crossover models.
- The R2 is priced at around $45,000, with the mid-sized R3 expected to be even more affordable.
- While Rivian originally planned to manufacture the R2 at the Georgia plant, it will now produce the EV at its existing factory in Normal, Illinois.
- CEO RJ Scaringe said the move will bring the R2 to market more quickly in H1 2026.
Zoom out: - While the Georgia facility is crucial for scaling production of the R2 and R3, construction will be postponed as the company focuses on launching the R2, he said.
- Rivian will also save $2.25B in capital spending as the company has been rapidly depleting its cash reserves.
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| 2 | | Microsoft says Russian state-sponsored hackers are exploiting executive data to target its source code and internal systems in an ongoing attack. Microsoft first reported in January that Russian group Nobelium, also known as Midnight Blizzard, had hacked and spied on the emails of some top executives. More: - Microsoft revealed on Friday that Midnight Blizzard had gained more unauthorized access than was initially thought.
- The hackers are using discovered "secrets" from the attack to further breach the company and possibly its customers, it said.
- There's been a tenfold surge in attempted "password spray" attacks, where hackers use multiple passwords on accounts.
- Microsoft says there is no evidence that customer-facing systems have been compromised.
Zoom out: - In 2021, Microsoft saw 30,000 email servers hacked through an Exchange Server vulnerability.
- Two years later, U.S. government emails were compromised by Chinese hackers exploiting a Microsoft cloud flaw.
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| 3 | Oura has partnered to sell its smart fitness rings on Amazon, expanding its e-commerce presence as competition intensifies in the smart ring market. Oura faces upcoming competition from Samsung, a leading wearables brand, as it prepares to launch its Galaxy Ring later this year. What happened: Oura is now selling its full range of smart rings and accessories on its own Amazon brand store for U.S. customers, including sizing kits. The Finnish company is selling both its rings — Heritage in four finishes and Horizon in six finishes — on the online storefront starting at $299 and $399, respectively. Why it matters: Amazon is one of the world's top retailers, ranking second globally in sales after Walmart. Oura's new e-commerce strategy expands upon its existing retail partnership with Best Buy. Before that, Oura mostly sold its smart rings to customers directly through its website. What brands should care: Samsung is set to be the first major tech player to challenge Oura with its upcoming Galaxy Ring. Both rings prioritize wellness and fitness tracking, though Samsung has an advantage ranking second in U.S. wearable brand awareness after Apple, while Oura isn't even in the top 20. 
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| 4 | | UnitedHealth has restored electronic prescribing for its tech unit after a cyberattack disrupted major healthcare operations in the U.S. Blackcat hackers breached the IT systems of Change Healthcare, a UnitedHealth subsidiary connecting healthcare providers and insurers, on Feb. 21. The hack interfered with insurance claims and caused backlogs at pharmacies nationwide. More: - The hack on Change's system means healthcare providers have been unable to bill for some services and patients could not pick up prescriptions.
- After the attack, doctors and hospitals could not process insurance payments via Change, forcing some to cover costs upfront.
- Parts of Change's network managing payments and medical claims will now come back online in mid-March, according to UnitedHealth.
- Even after services are restored, the healthcare system will have to address backlogs of unpaid claims slowing payments.
Zoom out: - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has now asked insurers to drop prior authorizations and for Medicare's contractors to accept paper bills from doctors.
- An online forum post has claimed UnitedHealth Group paid $22M to Blackcat ransomware to recover Change's compromised data and systems.
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| 5 | | The New York Times is sending takedown requests to developers who created online games inspired by Wordle. The newspaper bought the daily word puzzle in 2022 for a price "in the low seven figures." More: - The Times has now issued multiple DMCA notices against GitHub coders for Wordle clones, citing ownership of the name and gameplay copyrights.
- The Times's copyright covers the game's 5x6 grid, color-coded tiles for guesses, integrated keyboard, and other features.
- The latest DMCA notice was issued to developer Chase Wackerfuss for "Reactle."
- GitHub reports Reactle's code, copied around 1,900 times, has led to hundreds of other Wordle-inspired games.
- The notice also targets these clones for using the Wordle name in "bad faith" and duplicating its gameplay.
Zoom out: - Brooklyn-based software engineer Josh Wardle created the game as a gift for his girlfriend, a fan of word puzzles.
- Wordle was released publicly in October 2021 and now claims millions of daily players.
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| 6 | | A Microsoft AI engineer has warned the FTC about the company's image-generator tool, citing potential risks of generating unsafe, violent, and sexual imagery. Shane Jones, a Microsoft principal software engineering manager, has spent months voicing safety concerns about Microsoft's Copilot Designer. More: - Jones said he found flaws and security risks in the AI image generator since December.
- After sharing concerns with U.S. Senate staff last month, he sent letters to the Federal Trade Commission and Microsoft's board this week.
- Jones says Copilot Designer can create images featuring sexualized and violent images of women, underage drinking and drug use, political bias, conspiracy theories, religion, corporate trademarks, and more.
- He has urged Microsoft to withdraw Copilot Designer from the public until stronger safeguards are in place.
Zoom out: - In response, Microsoft said it appreciates Jones' efforts to improve safety and is committed to addressing employee concerns about its policies.
- The company has feedback and internal reporting tools to test and fix issues and has held "meetings with product leadership and our Office of Responsible AI to review these reports."
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- Apple plans to launch a MacBook with a foldable screen sometime in 2027, according to trusted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
- Microsoft is introducing "Speak For Me," a tool to help people with ALS and speech disabilities communicate with custom neural voices, later this year.
- Apple is ramping up R&D for a more affordable second-generation VR headset, targeting a 50% cut in display costs for a 2025 launch.
- U.S. trust in AI companies has fallen from 50% to 35% over the last five years, according to an Edelman study. The public relations firm found that trust in AI companies is low across the board, with Democrats at 38%, independents at 25%, and Republicans at 24%.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a contributing editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters. She has written for publications including USA Today, the Arizona Business Gazette, and The Arizona Republic, where she received recognition with a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a First Amendment Award for collaborative reporting on state pension cost increases. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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