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Elon Musk’s brain-implant startup Neuralink may have misled regulators about Musk’s leadership role

Neuralink, the startup cofounded and run by Elon Musk that hopes to implant computer chips in people’s brains, may have misled federal securities regulators about the billionaire entrepreneur’s role at the company.

That’s according to government documents and Fortune interviews with securities lawyers and a half-dozen former employees of the company. The employees mostly spoke anonymously out of concern for violating nondisclosure agreements and possible retaliation from Musk.

The episode involves a 2018 letter in which an attorney representing Neuralink downplayed Musk’s leadership role at the company in a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The attorney’s characterization contradicts former employees’ accounts, which depict Musk as very much in charge. Neuralink and the attorney involved in the filing did not respond to requests for comment. lawyer for Neuralink told the SEC that Musk had “no executive or management role” at the company. Former employees say that’s far from the truth.

Fujitsu to stand up AI ethics and governance office

Fujitsu said it will establish an AI ethics and governance office to ensure the safe and secure deployment of AI technologies.

To be headed by Junichi Arahori, the new office will focus on implementing ethical measures related to the research, development, and implementation of AI and other machine learning applications.

“This marks the next step in Fujitsu’s ongoing efforts to strengthen and enforce comprehensive, company-wide measures to achieve robust AI ethics governance based on international best-practices, policies, and legal frameworks,” the company stated.

Pfizer pushes to intervene in lawsuit seeking COVID vaccine information from FDA

Pfizer Inc wants to intervene in a Texas federal lawsuit seeking information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration used in licensing the company’s COVID-19 vaccine, a litigation move that plaintiffs who are suing for the data say is premature.

Pfizer’s lawyers at DLA Piper told U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman on Jan. 21 it wanted a role in the proceedings to help the FDA avoid “inappropriately” disclosing trade secret and confidential commercial information.


Visit the COVID-19 Information Center for vaccine resources.

Google warns that defamation case ruling will force it to ‘censor’ the internet

The Guardian reports that the case revolves around George Defteros, a Victoria defense lawyer who previously represented Melbourne gangland figures. He sued Google over claims that its publication of search results showing a 2004 article defamed him.

The article from The Age implied that Defteros had become more than just a lawyer for criminal elements but was also a friend and confidant, crossing professional boundaries. The piece also reported on the murder charges Defteros faced in relation to the killing of three men. Prosecutors withdrew the charges in 2005.

Defteros’ lawyers contacted Google in February 2016 and asked it to remove the article, but Google refused as it said The Age was a reputable source. The piece was eventually removed in December 2016 after it had been accessed a further 150 times.

Russia proposes ban on use and mining of cryptocurrencies

Russia’s central bank on Thursday proposed banning the use and mining of cryptocurrencies on Russian territory, citing threats to financial stability, citizens’ wellbeing and its monetary policy sovereignty.

The move is the latest in a global cryptocurrency crackdown as governments from Asia to the United States worry that privately operated and highly volatile digital currencies could undermine their control of financial and monetary systems.

Russia has argued for years against cryptocurrencies, saying they could be used in money laundering or to finance terrorism. It eventually gave them legal status in 2020 but banned their use as a means of payment.

There’s a Hidden Mathematical ‘Law’ in The Sand Megaripples Found All Over Earth

Universal law always works perfectly well.


Wherever there is sand and an atmosphere, prevailing winds may whip the grains into undulating shapes, pleasing to the eye with their calming repetition.

Certain sand waves, with wavelengths between 30 centimeters (almost 12 inches) and several meters (around 30 feet), are known as megaripples: they’re between ordinary beach ripples and full dunes in size, and we’ve seen them not just on Earth, but even on other planets such as Mars, well known for its all-encompassing dust storms.

Aside from their size, a key characteristic of these middle-ground ripples is the grain size involved – a surface of coarse grains over an interior of much finer material. Yet this mix of grains is never the same, and nor are the winds that blow across the sand to create the ripples in the first place.

Dr. Claudia Mahler — IE, Human Rights Of Older Persons — United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)

Advocating enhanced international action on human rights of older persons — dr. claudia mahler, IE, united nations human rights, UNHCR.


The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC — https://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/hrc/pages/aboutcouncil.aspx) is a United Nations (https://www.un.org/en/) body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world.

The Council investigates allegations of breaches of human rights in United Nations member states, and addresses thematic human rights issues such as freedom of association and assembly, freedom of expression, freedom of belief and religion, women’s rights, LGBT rights, and the rights of racial and ethnic minorities. In recent years, there have been significant advocacy efforts calling for enhanced international thinking and action on the human rights of older persons, and the four main challenges older persons are facing, in terms of human rights as discrimination, poverty, violence and abuse, as well as the lack of specific measures and services to remedy these issues.

Dr. Claudia Mahler (https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/olderpersons/ie/pages/ieolderpersons.aspx) currently serves as an Independent Expert on the human rights of older persons at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Dr. Mahler has been working for the German Institute for Human Rights as a senior researcher in the field of economic, social and cultural rights since 2010. She is also a visiting professor at the Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin.

Responding To The Washington Post Hatchet Job On Electric Cars & Winter Driving

An editorial writer and columnist for the Washington Post wrote a screed attacking electric cars this week. His heavily slanted piece was filled with misinformation. Here’s the truth about driving an electric car in winter.


Last week, hundreds of motorists on I-95 in Virginia were stuck for hours when a blizzard closed the highway south of Washington, DC. Highway crews couldn’t spread ice-melting chemicals before the storm arrived because the rain that preceded it would have washed them away. But when temperatures dropped, the rain quickly turned to ice. Then the snow came and made the ice treacherously slippery. Tractor trailers trying to get off the highway lost control, blocking many exit ramps. Senator Tim Kaine was trapped in the tangled mess of stalled cars for 27 hours.

Afterwards, Charles Lane, an editorial writer and columnist for the Washington Post, wrote a blistering opinion piece entitled, “Imagine Virginia’s Icy Traffic Catastrophe — But With Only Electric Vehicles.” In it, he wails about the Tesla driver who banged on the door of a tractor trailer, begging for help because he was afraid his family might freeze to death if his battery ran out of power. “If everyone had been driving electric vehicles, this mess could well have been worse,” Lane writes.

He goes on to say even Tesla warns on its website the cold temperatures can reduce range. Charging a cold battery takes longer, and besides, he says, there aren’t that many charging stations anyway. And what happens if the power goes out? What then? Lane, a graduate of Yale law school, apparently lacks the mental capacity to realize that when the power goes out, gas pumps stop working as well.

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