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SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES

Lawsuits Mount Over ChatGPT's Role in Deaths as OpenAI Rolls Out Health Advice

The family of an Alabama woman who died by suicide is suing OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT deepened her delusions, telling her, "You are not delusional. You are prophetic." It is one of more than two dozen suits tying the chatbot to self-harm or death.

The cases pile up as OpenAI opens ChatGPT Health to all U.S. adults. A Florida pastor sued this week, saying the chatbot brushed off his symptoms and told him to rest, hours before a near-fatal blood clot. (Read More)

A State Department Report Accuses Cuba of a Decades-Long Campaign Against the U.S.

A new State Department report accuses Cuba of running one of the most damaging spy operations in U.S. history, saying Havana infiltrated the government and cultivated American activists over decades. It also names Iran among Havana's key partners.

The report says a U.S. activist coalition tied to Cuba planned protests at military bases and ICE sites within a day of any U.S. move on Cuba. Havana dismissed the findings, accusing Washington of ignoring anti-Castro groups plotting against Cuba from Florida. (Read More)

Bahrain and Kuwait Secretly Struck Iran, Their First Direct Retaliation

Bahrain and Kuwait secretly sent jets to strike drone and missile depots inside Iran this month, their first direct retaliation against Tehran, according to the Wall Street Journal. The UAE reportedly provided intelligence and air cover, though neither Gulf government confirmed the operation.

The disclosure came after the U.S. Central Command finished its 13th straight night of strikes against Iran on Thursday. Trump also announced plans to use frozen Iranian funds to pay for damaged ships, and threatened “major military punishment” against Iran for Houthi strikes against Saudi Tankers. (Read More)

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QUICK UPDATES

CONFLICT UPDATES

➤ A Russian GRU officer who ran a drone-parts smuggling ring fled Japan days after the New York Times exposed him. He had worked undercover at Aeroflot's Tokyo office, and Japan's lack of an anti-espionage law let him leave without ever being charged. (Read More)

➤ A Romanian F-16 shot down a suspected Russian drone that crossed into its airspace, the first such intercept over Romania since the war began. Tracked from the Black Sea coast, the Shahed-type drone was downed over open ground without causing injuries. (Read More)

➤ The Pentagon nominated Lt. Gen. Kevin Admiral to lead U.S. Army forces in Europe and Africa. If confirmed, he would take over from Gen. Christopher Donahue and also command NATO's land forces. (Read More)

SECURITY UPDATES

➤ The White House accused China's Moonshot AI of building its new Kimi K3 model by "distilling" Anthropic's Fable. Officials said Moonshot distilled the U.S. model's outputs and trained on banned Nvidia chips routed through Thailand to dodge export controls. (Read More)

➤ Violent robberies of cryptocurrency holders are surging, with home invasions up twentyfold this year, a new report found. Attackers physically threaten owners to force them to hand over funds, a tactic that has exposed about $124 million in losses and ransoms. (Read More)

➤ Police are deploying an autonomous drone that races to a scene at 60 mph after a 911 call, its maker Flock Safety says. Civil-liberties groups warn the thermal-camera drones could build a sky-wide surveillance net over ordinary people. (Read More)

TECHNOLOGY UPDATES

➤ The defense startup Anduril is in talks to raise money at about a $100 billion valuation, more than triple its worth a year ago. The reported round, which Anduril says is not final, would make the weapons maker nearly as valuable as Lockheed Martin. (Read More)

➤ The Army deployed its Dark Eagle hypersonic missile to Guam, putting parts of China in range, photos released this week showed. Flying faster than Mach 5, the weapon can strike targets more than 2,000 miles away. (Read More)

➤ Boeing revealed the first of Britain's new special-operations Chinooks, a long-range model in an all-black finish.The 14 helicopters will carry countermeasures and terrain-following radar for deep raids. They replace the RAF's oldest Chinooks, with deliveries expected from 2027. (Read More)

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SPECIAL CATEGORY

➤ A Guardian columnist skewers OpenAI over its rogue model, mocking the company's bloodless spin and even self-praise. The piece argues the industry keeps hitting snooze on safety warnings, even as the incident showed the exact failures researchers long feared.

➤ The Pentagon is rolling out a new test to track troops' brain function and catch injuries earlier. It replaces a decades-old exam and will start with deploying forces. The push comes as blast-related brain injury is called the signature wound of modern war.

➤ A viral TikTok trend may be feeding artificial intelligence, experts warn. Videos of people saying the same phrase in different tones, from sarcastic to flirty, create a tidy dataset that could teach AI to read emotion, whether or not the trend was seeded for that.

On this day in history: On July 25th, 1946, the United States detonated an atomic bomb underwater at Bikini Atoll, the "Baker" shot of Operation Crossroads. The blast hurled a towering column of radioactive seawater over the target fleet, offering an early lesson in the lasting dangers of fallout.

SENTIMENT COLLECTION

Should the U.S. government take equity stakes in strategic technology companies?

Yes

Unsure

Yesterday’s Results:

Would you want the government to be able to shut down a company's AI with an emergency "Kill Switch"?

Yes: (79.4%)
No: (11.7%)
Unsure: (9%)

n=659

Today's sentiment collection was reader submitted, word for word. If you have something you'd like polled, email us at editor@sofx.com.

70,000+ daily readers trust The SOFX Report for independent coverage of global conflict and defense technology. Over 11 years of consistent publication has built an engaged audience of defense professionals and decision-makers.

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About SOFX: We are an independent media and communications technology company reporting on the conflicts, security, and technology issues impacting your lives and businesses. SOFX was founded by former special operations & intelligence professionals, not career journalists or Big Tech / Big Media.

Have feedback for us? We want to hear any and all comments you may have. Contact us at editor@sofx.com.

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