Author: Frank Salvato

The 911 system occupies a unique place in American life. It is not merely another government service, call center, or technological platform. When someone dials those three numbers, the person on the other end may be the final barrier between an ordinary emergency and a catastrophe. That reality should make Americans extremely cautious about allowing artificial intelligence to move from assisting emergency dispatchers to actually triaging calls and determining which emergencies deserve immediate human attention. There is an understandable argument for using AI in emergency communications. Many 911 centers face chronic staffing shortages, exhausted dispatchers, increasing call volumes, and large…

A Northern California municipality has declared a local state of emergency after a cyberattack compromised key government computer systems and temporarily disrupted critical public services, including portions of its 911 communications infrastructure. The attack prompted officials to disconnect the city’s entire information technology network to contain the intrusion, preserve forensic evidence, and prevent additional damage while federal, state, and local investigators began assessing the scope of the incident. Although emergency calls were rerouted and public safety services continued operating, numerous municipal functions, online services, and City Hall operations were suspended. The emergency declaration allows the city to access additional resources,…

Five former Albany, Georgia, police officers have been fired and arrested after an internal audit uncovered repeated misuse of the department’s Flock Safety automated license plate reader system. According to investigators, the officers allegedly accessed confidential license plate data for personal, non-law-enforcement purposes, prompting the Albany Police Department to terminate the employees and request an independent criminal investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The officers now face charges including misuse of license plate data and violation of oath by a public officer. The case underscores both the growing reliance on surveillance technology in modern policing and the importance of…

New Orleans has become the first major U.S. city to deploy an artificial intelligence system that can answer certain 911 calls under limited circumstances, marking a significant technological shift in emergency communications. City officials say the AI Emergency Call Triage system is designed to reduce dispatcher overload by handling repeat reports of already-known incidents—primarily traffic crashes—only when all human call-takers are occupied. Supporters argue the technology will free dispatchers to focus on life-threatening emergencies and improve response efficiency in a city that receives more than 1,000 emergency calls daily. Critics, however, contend that introducing AI into any part of the…

German authorities are intensifying their investigation after an explosive-laden drone was discovered near Ukrainian cargo aircraft at Leipzig/Halle Airport, an incident that temporarily shut down one of Europe’s most important logistics hubs and has heightened concerns over hybrid warfare targeting NATO infrastructure. Investigators determined the drone contained professional-grade explosives and a detonator, while a separate object reportedly struck a cargo aircraft during the same period. Although German officials have stopped short of publicly assigning blame, senior officials have described the event as a significant escalation in the threat posed by hostile drone operations. Subsequent reporting indicates U.S. intelligence believes the…

Researchers say a coordinated Russian-linked disinformation campaign is increasingly influencing responses generated by leading artificial intelligence chatbots, raising concerns that AI systems are becoming a new battlefield in information warfare. According to a report by the U.K.-based think tank Demos, large language models including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Mistral, and Grok were found to repeat or discuss fabricated pro-Kremlin narratives after those claims had been deliberately seeded across networks of deceptive websites using a tactic known as Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). The findings suggest that hostile actors are shifting their focus from manipulating social media users directly to manipulating the information…

A Scottish wave-energy company is proposing a novel solution to one of artificial intelligence’s fastest-growing infrastructure challenges: relocating data centers from land to the open sea. Mocean Energy’s “Blue Core” concept envisions floating, modular data centers powered primarily by wave energy supplemented by solar power and battery storage, while using cold seawater for natural cooling. The company argues that offshore facilities could ease pressure on increasingly congested electrical grids, reduce land-use conflicts, lower cooling costs, and provide sovereign computing infrastructure within national waters. The proposal comes as governments and technology companies confront rapidly rising electricity demands from AI computing, with…

Wall Street is increasingly questioning whether the unprecedented spending spree on artificial intelligence infrastructure can generate returns sufficient to justify its staggering cost. The largest technology companies—including Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft—are collectively investing roughly $745 billion in AI-related capital expenditures, much of it financed through debt and devoted to data centers, specialized chips, and computing infrastructure. While executives argue that AI demand will ultimately produce substantial long-term revenue, investors are becoming more selective, rewarding companies that can demonstrate tangible AI monetization while punishing those that continue spending aggressively without corresponding earnings growth. The debate has shifted from whether AI…

Apple is facing a proposed $32.5 billion class-action lawsuit alleging that its Photos app unlawfully collected and stored biometric facial data from millions of Illinois iPhone users without obtaining the written consent required under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Plaintiffs contend Apple’s facial-recognition technology creates unique “faceprints” that qualify as protected biometric identifiers under Illinois law and that the company failed to provide legally required notice and retention policies. Apple argues that the feature is privacy-protective, that the data is anonymized and inaccessible, and that it does not constitute the type of biometric information covered by the statute.…

Artificial intelligence is often described as a revolution in software, but its most immediate physical consequence is decidedly old-fashioned: America needs enormous amounts of electricity, land, cooling capacity, transmission infrastructure, and industrial equipment to keep the AI economy running. As hyperscale data centers multiply, the question is no longer simply where to put them. Increasingly, it may be worth asking whether some of them should be put at sea—and whether the ocean itself could help power them. The concept sounds futuristic, but the underlying logic is surprisingly practical. Data centers convert tremendous quantities of electricity into computation and heat. Keeping…