US federal courts face sophisticated cyber siege
The federal judiciary’s information technology systems have been targeted by “recent escalated cyberattacks of a sophisticated and persistent nature,” the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said on Thursday.
The statement follows a Politico report that the judiciary’s electronic case filing system had been compromised in a sweeping hack.
Politico reported the incident affected the judiciary’s federal case management system, including Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF), which legal professionals use to upload and manage case documents, and Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER), which provides public pay-for access to court data.
The Administrative Office’s statement did not address the specifics of Politico’s reporting. It said the judiciary was focused on “further enhancing security of the system” and “working with courts to mitigate the impact on litigants.”
The attack is believed to have exposed sensitive court data across several states, marking a significant breach of federal judicial infrastructure.
US and China hit pause on tariff escalation
The US and China have extended their trade truce for another 90 days, just hours before the world’s two biggest economies were set to raise tariffs on imports of each other’s goods.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to keep the pause in place until November 10, while Beijing also announced an extension. The agreement means the US will hold its levy on Chinese imports at 30%, while China will keep a 10% tariff on American goods.
Washington had threatened trade taxes as high as 145% on Chinese products earlier this year, with Beijing hitting back with 125% duties on US shipments before rates were scaled back after Geneva talks in May.
The latest extension will give more time for negotiations about “remedying trade imbalances” and “unfair trade practices,” the White House said. It cited a trade deficit of nearly $300 billion with China in 2024 – the largest among any trading partner.
Tesla’s Dojo reaches evolutionary dead end
Elon Musk confirmed over the weekend reports that Tesla has disbanded the team working on its Dojo AI training supercomputer, just weeks after announcing he expected to have Tesla’s second cluster operating “at scale” in 2026. The strategic pivot abandons years of custom chip development for the ambitious project.
“Once it became clear that all paths converged to AI6, I had to shut down Dojo and make some tough personnel choices, as Dojo 2 was now an evolutionary dead end,” Musk posted on X Sunday.
Tesla is now focusing resources on AI5 and AI6 chips manufactured by TSMC and Samsung respectively.
After bringing its first Dojo supercomputer to life and powering it with a mix of Nvidia GPUs and in-house-made D1 chips, Tesla had planned to build a second Dojo factory, referred to by Musk as “Dojo 2”, that would have been powered by a second-generation D2 chip.
The D2 development has now been shelved entirely. The shift in strategy comes at a time when Tesla is experiencing falling EV sales and significant brand damage after Musk’s forays into politics.
Wikipedia loses UK safety law showdown
Wikipedia’s parent organisation failed to secure legal protection from Britain’s Online Safety Act after a London judge dismissed its challenge to Category 1 classification requirements.
Judge Jeremy Johnson rejected the case but warned his ruling “does not give Ofcom and the Secretary of State a green light to implement a regime that would significantly impede Wikipedia’s operations.” Future challenges remain possible if regulators overreach.
The foundation said the ruling “does not provide the immediate legal protections for Wikipedia that we hoped for”, while welcoming judicial recognition of government responsibility to protect the platform’s operations.
The Wikimedia Foundation argued this status would force identity verification mandates, drastically reducing UK user access.
The 2023 law faces growing platform resistance, with X demanding significant reforms to prevent censorship of legal content. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle defended the legislation as child protection, claiming opponents align with predators.”
M&S clicks back after 15-week hack hiatus
British retailer Marks & Spencer has resumed taking click and collect orders for clothing after a nearly four-month hiatus following a cyber hack and data theft that impacted its earnings during the period.
The 141-year-old retailer stopped taking orders through its website and app for clothing and home deliveries and collection from stores on April 25. This came three days after disclosing it was managing a “cyber incident.”
M&S said on its website Monday that “Click & Collect is back,” with managing director John Lyttle confirming full online delivery offers were restored across fashion, homeware and beauty products. The company now accepts returns of online orders to any M&S store.
Chairman Archie Norman told lawmakers last month that M&S believed the ransomware attack was carried out by hacker group DragonForce.
