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Submission + - Google is killing customer service jobs with AI (nerds.xyz)

Submitted by BrianFagioli
BrianFagioli writes: Googleâ(TM)s Gemini Live API is not just another customer support tool. It is a direct replacement for human workers at scale. By combining real time voice, vision, and text with low latency and emotional awareness, Google is giving enterprises a clear path to eliminate large portions of Tier 1 and Tier 2 customer service. When companies talk about removing ticketing workflows and deploying lifelike AI receptionists that book appointments and close sales, what they really mean is fewer people answering phones, chats, or video calls. This is automation that finishes the job earlier systems only started.

Customer service has long functioned as an economic pressure valve, offering accessible jobs and a path upward for millions of workers worldwide. Gemini Live API threatens to hollow that out. The remaining roles will be fewer, more specialized, and harder to enter, while entry level positions quietly vanish. Google frames this as better experiences and efficiency, but the labor impact is displacement, not assistance. As this technology becomes normalized, executives will ask an uncomfortable question. Why are humans still doing this at all? For an entire industry built around human availability, the answer may not matter anymore.

Submission + - Tech Giant-Supported Study Chastises K-12 Schools for Lack of AI + CS Education

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Coinciding with Computer Science Education Week and its flagship event the Hour of AI, tech-backed nonprofit Code.org this week released the 2025 State of AI & Computer Science Education report, chastising K-12 schools for the lack of access to AI and CS education and thanking its funders Microsoft, Amazon, and Google for supporting the report's creation.

"For the first time ever," Code.org explains, "the State of AI + CS Education features a state-by-state analysis of AI education policies, including whether standards and graduation requirements emphasize AI. The report continues to track the CS access, participation, and fundamental policies that have made it a trusted benchmark for policymakers, educators, and advocates."

The report laments that "0 out of 50 states require AI+CS for graduation," adding that "access to CS has plateaued" at 60% nationwide, with Minnesota and Alaska bringing up the rear with a woeful 34%. However, flaws with the statistic on which the K-12 CS education crisis movement was built — the "Percentage of Public High Schools Offering Foundational Computer Science" — become apparent with just a casual glance at the data underlying Minnesota's failing 34% grade. Because that metric neglects to take into account school sizes — which of course vary widely — the percentage of schools offering access to CS can be vastly different than the percentage of students attending schools offering access to CS. So, when Code.org reports that only 33% of the three Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools offer access to CS, keep in mind that left unreported is that more than 95% of students in the district attend the one Prior Lake-Savage Area School that does offer access to CS, which is a far less alarming metric. Code.org reports that Prior Lake High School (2,854 students, per NCES records) offers access to CS, while Prior Lake-Savage Area ALC (93 students) and Laker Online (45 students) do not. And that, kids, is today's lesson in K-12 CS education access crisis math, where 95% (2,854 students/2,992 students) can equal 33% (1 school/3 schools)!

Submission + - Sniffing your own farts could boost brain power, fend off Alzheimer's: new study (nypost.com)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have found that hydrogen sulfide — the rotten egg-smelling chemical compound expelled when one breaks wind — could protect aging brain cells from cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s, which is diagnosed in roughly 500,000 new patients each year in the US.

Previous research has shown that female flatulence actually has a “significantly higher concentration” of hydrogen sulfide than farts from men — meaning women’s gas tends to have “greater odor intensity” than men’s.

Submission + - Scientology ransomware data breach

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Qilin ransomware claims Scientology data breach, leaks internal documents

“The Church of Scientology has been listed on the dark web leak site of the Qilin ransomware group, which claims responsibility for a data breach and has published 22 screenshots as proof of access. The group has not disclosed the amount of data allegedly stolen or the method of the breach, according to a recent report by HackRead.”

Submission + - US To Mandate AI Vendors Measure Political Bias For Federal Sales (reuters.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The U.S. government will require artificial intelligence vendors to measure political "bias" to sell their chatbots to federal agencies, according to a Trump administration statement (PDF) released on Thursday. The requirement will apply to all large language models bought by federal agencies, with the exception of national security systems, according to the statement.

President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies in July to avoid buying large language models that he labeled as "woke." Thursday's statement gives more detail to that directive, saying that developers should not "intentionally encode partisan or ideological judgments" into a chatbot's outputs.

Submission + - Germany covers nearly 56 percent of 2025 electricity use with renewables (cleanenergywire.org)

Submitted by AmiMoJo
AmiMoJo writes: Renewable energy sources covered nearly 56 percent of Germany’s gross electricity consumption in 2025, according to preliminary figures by energy industry group BDEW and research institute ZSW. Despite a “historically weak” first quarter of the year for wind power production and a significant drop in hydropower output, the share of renewables grew by 0.7 percentage points compared to the previous year thanks to an increase in installed solar power capacity.

Solar power output increased by 18.7 percent over the whole year, while the strong growth in installed capacity from previous years could be sustained, with more than 17 gigawatts (GW) added to the system. With March being the least windy month in Germany since records began in 1950, wind power output, on the other hand, faced a drop of 5.2 percent compared to 2024.

Submission + - Ask HN: Has Bank of America been hacked? 1

Submitted by TempestRose
TempestRose writes: Tried to log in to Bank of America login today, both mobile on Android and web, and get asked for:
ACCOUNT # ?
SS#
PIN

WTH?
I've recieved physical mail letters saying
"WE will NEVER ask you for Account, SSN, or PIN"
, and yet here we are.

Obviously, I have used a login and password for BoA for years.
I do not remember the last time I logged in, but I'm sure it was in November 2025

I'd REALLY like to hear from the general HN populace on this, please.

Submission + - TerraUSD Creator Do Kwon Sentenced To 15 Years Over $40 Billion Crypto Collapse

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Do Kwon, the South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur behind two digital currencies that lost an estimated $40 billion in 2022, was sentenced in New York federal court on Thursday to 15 years in prison for fraud and conspiracy. Kwon, 34, who co-founded Singapore-based Terraform Labs and developed the TerraUSD and Luna currencies, previously pleaded guilty and admitted to misleading investors about a coin that was supposed to maintain a steady price during periods of crypto market volatility.

Kwon was one of several cryptocurrency moguls to face federal charges after a slump in digital token prices in 2022 prompted the collapse of a number of companies. [...] Kwon was accused of misleading investors in 2021 about TerraUSD, a so-called stablecoin designed to maintain a value of $1. Prosecutors alleged that when TerraUSD slipped below its $1 peg in May 2021, Kwon told investors a computer algorithm known as "Terra Protocol" had restored the coin's value. Instead, Kwon arranged for a high-frequency trading firm to secretly buy millions of dollars of the token to artificially prop up its price, according to charging documents.

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Thus spake the master programmer: "When a program is being tested, it is too late to make design changes." -- Geoffrey James, "The Tao of Programming"

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