Horizon cutting-room links: Monday, 23 December 2024

Sunny, with a high near 35. North wind around 6 mph. Federal agencies in the Washington, DC area are Open. Employees are expected to begin the workday on time. Normal operating procedures are in effect

“Congress Approves Spending Extension, Ending Shutdown Crisis,” New York Times

“The 85-to-11 Senate vote followed earlier House passage of the legislation, which also provided $100 billion in disaster relief for parts of the nation still reeling from storms. The action pushed major spending decisions into 2025 and the first months of the incoming Trump administration and a fully Republican-controlled Congress. … The White House said that President Biden would sign the measure on Saturday and that no agencies would shut down despite the technical lapse in funding. … The end to days of shutdown drama came after House Republicans stripped out a provision demanded by President-elect Donald J. Trump to suspend the federal debt limit and spare him the usually politically charged task of doing so when he takes office.”

“US Army extends Palantir’s contract for its data-harnessing platform,” Defense News

“The U.S. Army has awarded Palantir a $400.7 million contract to continue providing its artificial intelligence-enabled Vantage system as the service’s main data platform, the company announced Wednesday. The contract covers a period of up to four years and could ultimately be worth nearly $620 million if additional options are exercised.”

“Vantage now has over 100,000 users within the service and that number is growing, Palantir said. … The company famously sued the Army over its DCGS-A procurement strategy in 2016 — and won — prior to scoring the new contract for the system.”

“Taiwan Is Getting Its U.S. Weaponry—but Years Behind Schedule,” the Journal

“According to the original plan, the Taiwanese military was to receive its first batch of cutting-edge M1A2 Abrams tanks in 2022, replacing the Vietnam War-era Patton tanks that Taiwan’s army has relied on for decades. But the U.S. missed that timeline by two years as the Covid-19 pandemic and new wars in Ukraine and the Middle East strained the U.S. defense industry.”

“By the end of this year, a shipment of TOW-2B antitank missiles is expected to arrive after delays the Taiwanese military partly attributed to strains on the U.S. defense industry. Taiwan’s air force says it is optimistic that it will receive the F-16V jet fighters by 2026.”

“America’s Private Prison Complex Gears Up for Trump Deportation Bonanza,” the Journal

“Some executives are considering whether to take up the controversial work of detaining families or unaccompanied children. Others are preparing to hire new staff and snapping up well-connected lobbyists. ‘This is, to us, an unprecedented opportunity,’ George Zoley, executive chairman of the GEO Group, a private prison company, told investors on an earnings call days after the election.”

“GEO has enough empty or idle detention beds to quickly spin up the number of migrants it detains from a current 13,500 to more than 31,000. They would bring GEO more than $400 million in annual revenues if reactivated for a mass deportation, CEO Brian Evans said. The company also said it could move hundreds of thousands of people as they boost air and ground transportation.”

“Pegasus spyware maker NSO Group is liable for attacks on 1,400 WhatsApp users,” the Verge

“NSO Group is liable for charges of violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, violation of the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, and breach of contract, according to today’s ruling. A trial will now move forward “only on the issue of damages.” The spyware maker has argued that it isn’t liable because Pegasus was operated by clients investigating crimes and cases of national security but the judge rejected those arguments, which could establish a precedent for other companies in the same business.”

“OpenAI teases new reasoning model—but don’t expect to try it soon,” the Verge

“According to the company, o3 surpasses previous performance records across the board. It beats its predecessor in coding tests (called SWE-Bench Verified) by 22.8 percent and outscores OpenAI’s Chief Scientist in competitive programming. The model nearly aced one of the hardest math competitions (called AIME 2024), missing one question, and achieved 87.7 percent on a benchmark for expert-level science problems (called GPQA Diamond). On the toughest math and reasoning challenges that usually stump AI, o3 solved 25.2 percent of problems (where no other model exceeds 2 percent).”