This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.
The first trial of generative AI therapy shows it might help with depression
The first clinical trial of a generative AI therapy bot suggests it was as effective as human therapy for people with depression, anxiety, or risk for developing eating disorders. Even so, it doesn’t give a go-ahead to the dozens of companies hyping such technologies while operating in a regulatory gray area. Read the full story.
—James O’Donnell
How a bankruptcy judge can stop a genetic privacy disaster
—Keith Porcaro
The fate of 15 million people’s genetic data rests in the hands of a bankruptcy judge now that 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy. But there’s still a small chance of writing a better ending for users—and it’s a simple fix. Read the full story.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Meet the online activists fighting back against ICE raids
Their networks are warning migrants about ICE officer hotspots in major cities. (WP $)
+ Noncitizens are growing increasingly anxious. (NPR)
2 US health experts were ordered to bury a measles forecast
The assessment warned the risk of catching the virus was high in areas with lower vaccination rates. (ProPublica)
+ The former US covid chief has called the outbreak wholly preventable. (Politico)
+ How measuring vaccine hesitancy could help health professionals tackle it. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Donald Trump is confident a TikTok deal is forthcoming
Ahead of the impending deadline on Saturday. (Reuters)
4 China’s efforts to clean up air pollution are accelerating global warming
Its dirty air had been inadvertently cooling the planet. (New Scientist $)
+ Who’s to blame for climate change? It’s surprisingly complicated. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Brands are spending small amounts on X to appease Elon Musk
They’re doing what they can to avoid triggering a public fallout with the billionaire. (FT $)
+ Musk’s X has a new owner—it’s, err, Musk’s xAI. (CNBC)
6 Campaigners are calling to pause a mental health inpatient monitoring system
The Oxevision system remotely tracks patients’ breathing and heart rates. (The Guardian)
+ This AI-powered “black box” could make surgery safer. (MIT Technology Review)
7 The US and China are locked in a race to produce the first useful humanoid robot
The first to succeed will dominate the future of many labor-intensive industries. (WSJ $)
+ Beijing is treating humanoid robots as a major future industry. (WP $)
8 Data center operators are inking solar power deals
It’s a proven, clean technology that is relatively low-cost. (TechCrunch)
+ The cost of AI services is dropping. (The Information $)
+ Why the US is still trying to make mirror-magnified solar energy work. (MIT Technology Review)
9 H&M plans to create digital replicas of its models
Which means the retailer could outsource entire photoshoots to AI. (NYT $)
+ The metaverse fashion stylists are here. (MIT Technology Review)
10 What it’s like to drive a Tesla Cybertruck in Washington DC
Expect a whole lot of abuse. (The Atlantic $)
+ Protestors are gathering at Tesla showrooms across America. (Insider $)
Quote of the day
“Viruses don’t need a passport.”
—Dr William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, warns CNN that the US measles outbreak could spread widely to other countries.
The big story
Marseille’s battle against the surveillance state
Across the world, video cameras have become an accepted feature of urban life. Many cities in China now have dense networks of them, and London and New Delhi aren’t far behind. Now France is playing catch-up.
Concerns have been raised throughout the country. But the surveillance rollout has met special resistance in Marseille, France’s second-biggest city.
It’s unsurprising, perhaps, that activists are fighting back against the cameras, highlighting the surveillance system’s overreach and underperformance. But are they succeeding? Read the full story.
—Fleur Macdonald
We can still have nice things
A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)
+ The online pocket computer museum is exceptionally charming.
+ There’s an entirely new cat color emerging, and scientists have finally worked out why.
+ Experiencing Bluesky ‘skeets’ posted in real time is a seriously trippy business.
+ Never underestimate the power of a good deed.
YouTube now has a range of monetization pathways to consider.
TikTok’s stedily expanding its presence in Africa.
Some cool new looks for your digital depictions.
LinkedIn says that users aren’t necessarily eligible for a free Premium trial every year.
Some new updates to streamline your Reddit ads creation process.
Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings Inc (MARA) is looking to sell up to $2 billion in stock to buy more Bitcoin as part of a plan that bears a resemblance to Michael Saylor’s Strategy.
MARA Holdings, formerly Marathon Digital, said in a March 28 Form 8-K and prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it entered into an at-the-market agreement with investment giants, including Cantor Fitzgerald and Barclays, for them to sell up to $2 billion worth of its stock “from time to time.”
“We currently intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of bitcoin and for working capital,” MARA added.
MARA’s move copies a tactic made famous by Bitcoin (BTC) bull Saylor, the executive chair of the largest corporate Bitcoin holder Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, which has used a variety of market offerings, including stock sales, to amass 506,137 BTC worth $42.4 billion.
MARA Holdings falls just behind Strategy with the second largest holdings by a public company, with 46,374 BTC worth around $3.9 billion in its coffers, according to Bitbo data.
In July, the company’s CEO, Fred Thiel, said it was going “full HODL” and wouldn’t sell any of the Bitcoin it mined to fund its operations, as is typical for crypto miners, and would purchase more of the cryptocurrency to keep in reserve.
Related: Crusoe to sell Bitcoin mining business to NYDIG to focus on AI
The Bitcoin (BTC) miner’s planned stock sale follows a similar offering it made early last year that offered up to $1.5 billion worth of its shares. It also issued $1 billion of zero-coupon convertible senior notes in November with plans to use most of the proceeds to buy Bitcoin.
Google Finance shows that MARA closed the March 28 trading day down 8.58% at $12.47, following on from crypto mining stocks being rattled a day earlier with reports that Microsoft abandoned plans to invest in new data centers in the US and Europe.
MARA shares have fallen another 4.6% to $11.89 in overnight trading on March 30, according to Robinhood.
Bitcoin is trading just above $82,000, down 1.2% over the past 24 hours after falling from a local high of around $83,500, according to CoinGecko.
Magazine: Bitcoin vs. the quantum computer threat — Timeline and solutions (2025–2035)
Cybersecurity firm Threat Fabric says it has found a new family of mobile-device malware that can launch a fake overlay for certain apps to trick Android users into providing their crypto seed phrases as it takes over the device.
Threat Fabric analysts said in a March 28 report that the Crocodilus malware uses a screen overlay warning users to back up their crypto wallet key by a specific deadline or risk losing access.
“Once a victim provides a password from the application, the overlay will display a message: Back up your wallet key in the settings within 12 hours. Otherwise, the app will be reset, and you may lose access to your wallet,” Threat Fabric said.
“This social engineering trick guides the victim to navigate to their seed phrase wallet key, allowing Crocodilus to harvest the text using its accessibility logger.”
Source: Threat Fabric
Once the threat actors have the seed phrase, they can seize complete control of the wallet and “drain it completely.”
Threat Fabric says despite it being a new malware, Crocodilus has all the features of modern banking malware, with overlay attacks, advanced data harvesting through screen capture of sensitive information such as passwords and remote access to take control of the infected device.
Initial infection occurs by inadvertently downloading the malware in other software that bypasses Android 13 and security protections, according to Threat Fabric.
Once installed, Crocodilus requests accessibility service to be enabled, which enables the hackers to gain access to the device.
“Once granted, the malware connects to the command-and-control (C2) server to receive instructions, including the list of target applications and the overlays to be used,” Threat Fabric said.
Once installed, Crocodilus requests accessibility service to be enabled, granting hackers access to the device. Source: Threat Fabric
It runs continuously, monitoring app launches and displaying overlays to intercept credentials. When a targeted banking or cryptocurrency app is opened, the fake overlay launches over the top and mutes the sound while the hackers take control of the device.
“With stolen PII and credentials, threat actors can take full control of a victim’s device using built-in remote access, completing fraudulent transactions without detection,” Threat Fabric said.
Threat Fabrix’s Mobile Threat Intelligence team has found the malware targets users in Turkey and Spain but said the scope of use will likely broaden over time.
Related: Beware of ‘cracked’ TradingView — it’s a crypto-stealing trojan
They also speculate the developers could speak Turkish, based on the notes in the code, and added that a threat actor known as Sybra or another hacker testing out new software could be behind the malware.
“The emergence of the Crocodilus mobile banking Trojan marks a significant escalation in the sophistication and threat level posed by modern malware.”
“With its advanced Device-Takeover capabilities, remote control features, and the deployment of black overlay attacks from its earliest iterations, Crocodilus demonstrates a level of maturity uncommon in newly discovered threats,” Threat Fabric added.
Magazine: Ridiculous ‘Chinese Mint’ crypto scam, Japan dives into stablecoins: Asia Express