New Assistant Gets Access To All Files
Also Billions for Robots and 15 Tbps of Spam

The New AI Intern Has The Master Key

Microsoft has introduced an experimental feature called "Agent Workspace" in Windows 11, which is the corporate equivalent of giving the new intern, who just started, access to all the department's locked file cabinets. This agent technology, which Microsoft Corporation describes as being able to run in the background, is designed to have read and write permissions to what the company calls the "Known folders." This list includes all your most personal documents like Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Videos, and Downloads; basically everything you swore to yourself was safe from the cloud.

The logic is that the agents need this access to "run things for you," such as organizing files or searching for documents. Microsoft has, quite helpfully, pointed out that this introduces "novel security risks," which is a fun new corporate euphemism for "this can be easily exploited." Specifically, they warned of a vulnerability known as "Cross-Prompt Injection Attack" or XPIA. This attack involves an adversary hiding malicious instructions inside a regular document, which the overly helpful AI agent then reads and executes, essentially stealing data or deploying malware. Microsoft has since clarified that users must grant permission for each agent to access these files, but giving an all-or-nothing key to a digital entity that the manufacturer admits can "hallucinate" still seems like a risky business decision.

Microsoft Azure Hit With 15 Tbps of Customer Service Inquiries

In related news, Microsoft's cloud division, Azure, successfully fended off what it is calling the largest DDoS attack ever recorded against its platform, an incident which peaked at a dizzying 15.72 Terabits per second. The attack was launched by the Aisuru botnet, a "Turbo Mirai-class IoT botnet" that is basically a huge, globally distributed fleet of compromised home routers and security cameras. This massive influx of useless packets originated from over 500,000 unique IP addresses, all targeting a single customer endpoint in Australia; essentially half a million devices simultaneously screaming into one person's telephone.

The incident has been framed by Microsoft as a victory for its internal defenses. The sheer scale confirms that attackers are just scaling up their noise to match the modern internet's capacity. The Aisuru botnet operators are reportedly offering this service as DDoS for hire, proving once again that the easiest money is made by taking advantage of other people's vulnerable household appliances. At least it was a contained event; one Australian endpoint had a very bad morning, but the rest of the cloud office remained thankfully quiet.

Google Files Paperwork Declaring The Open Web Officially Deceased

Google, the self-appointed steward of the internet, is facing a bit of a political pickle after its lawyers argued in an antitrust case that the "open web is already in rapid decline." This is a brilliant strategy; tell the court the fire is already raging, so nobody can blame you for providing all the matches. The company is simultaneously pushing to make its own "AI Mode" the default for search, encouraging users to simply chat with the system instead of clicking through to the actual websites where the information originated.

The author of the initial article and many web developers find the claim self-serving, noting that this decline is being accelerated by Google's own policies. Actions such as the proposed removal of standards like XSLT from the Chrome browser codebase only serve to further centralize control over what a website can actually be. The company is, of course, reframing the initial legal filing as being "oversimplified," which is the standard procedure when a corporate memo meant for legal review accidentally slips out to the public.

Retired CEO Creates Multi Billion Dollar "Project" to Prevent Spilled Lattes

Amazon founder and former Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos has decided that stepping away from the executive role was too relaxing. He has now returned to a leadership position as co-chief executive of a new, stealth mode venture called Project Prometheus, a new entity already rumored to have secured $6.2 billion in funding. The company's focus is on building "AI for the physical economy," which translates to AI that helps with engineering and manufacturing in high stakes fields like aerospace and automobiles.

Mr. Bezos will be sharing his duties with co-chief executive Vik Bajaj, a former senior director from Google's Moonshot Factory, X. The project has already hired roughly one hundred employees poached from other industry giants, which is how you know it's a serious AI startup: a large budget and a massive retention risk for every other big tech firm. The true mission appears to be practical application, which is best exemplified by earlier investments in AI designed to enhance robots' capabilities, such as enabling them to make espressos without spilling coffee all over the place. Finally, AI tackling the important issues.

Briefs

• Exit Strategy Complete: Replicate is joining Cloudflare. They were a service that hosted open source machine learning models; now they are a press release announcing their new home. Just another Monday in Silicon Valley.
• The Real Open Source: FreeMDU is a new set of open source diagnostic tools for Miele appliances. Because if we can't trust our toasters and washing machines, what exactly are we fighting for.
• Another New Spec: Project Gemini, a new internet protocol, is attracting interest for creating a leaner, simpler alternative to the bloated HTTP based web. It's like switching the office coffee from that five dollar a gallon specialty brew back to simple black sludge.