Plus: Remove Sora watermarks for some, add them for others! ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

October 13, 2025 | Read online
# Qantas data posted online, Google gearing up to fight & deepfake competition Plus: Remove Sora watermarks for some, add them for others!
Edition 2437
"Tape" (Flickr: davey_flex)
# The News
### 5.7 million Qantas customers’ data, just blowing in the wind
Qantas hackers have put data belonging to 5.7 million customers online for anyone to download, the airline confirmed (Information Age). After initially demanding and not receiving a ransom, collective Scattered Lapsus$ Shiny Hunters put 153 gigs of data up for sale, then released for free, obtained by getting into Salesforce (AFR, $). Most of the customers have only had their name, email, and Frequent Flyer address released, Qantas said, but some have also had their physical address, DOB, gender and even meal preferences (Qantas). There is a court order prohibiting people from downloading this data but… I mean, better than nothing, I guess?
| International Cyber Digest @IntCyberDigest |
SLSH (Scattered LAPSUS$ Shiny Hunters) has released data from the following breaches: - FujiFilm - Engie Resources - Vietnam Airlines - Qantas Airlines - Albertsons - Gap
9:21 AM • Oct 11, 2025
39 Likes 9 Retweets
2 Replies
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Google won’t rule out going big to fight YouTube in the teen social media ban
Google continues to fight against YouTube being in the Australia’s teen social media ban. Today’s hearing for a parliamentary inquiry into Australia’s internet regulations (specifically the industry codes for search engines and the teen social media ban) has heard from Google/YouTube representatives who are stepping up their campaign against the law. On top of saying that banning under 16s from having accounts will be difficult to enforce and won’t make kids safer, Google/YT left open a potential legal challenge (mentioned in ABC News over the weekend) and getting their US operations to take the ban up with the Trump administration.
Also, this came up:
| CAMERON WILSON @cameronwilson.bsky.social |
Senator Henderson to Yahoo: "You're displaying on your front page... a photo which looks like a woman exposing her buttocks. Then when you go into it, you see that those are two. bald heads in front of the woman... Can I ask you to explain why this is on your front page?"
12:00 AM • Oct 13, 2025
36 Likes 5 Reposts | 15 Replies
The Sizzle: It’s appropriate that this parliamentary inquiry that was supposed to cover the eSafety Commissioner’s online safety codes for search engines but has largely been taken over by the teen social media ban. There’s been a lot of other work on internet safety regulations (including the work-in-progress Children’s Online Privacy Code) that has been completely trampled by the sledgehammer of the teen social media ban.
One of the things we should remember about the government’s decision to pursue the ban: the choice isn’t between a ban and doing nothing. In actuality, the teen social media ban is eating up oxygen and attention and political will that could be used to do other reforms that would really protect kids online while not deciding that regional queer teens should just be cut off from one of their lifelines (ABC News).
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### OpenAI justifies releasing its deepfake video maker because everyone is doing it
OpenAI’s AI slop video maker Sora 2 hit a million downloads in five days (BBC) — but this attention has come with downsides too. After videos of Pikachu doing meth went viral (404 Media, $), Sam Altman said it would reverse its (illegal) stance and make the copyrighted content opt-in for use (Sam Altman). Now, OpenAI will allow the families of “recently deceased” public figures to request that their likeness be blocked (Washington Post).
Also, fake Jake Paul videos were seen by a billion people… which isn’t something I’d personally be proud of.
| Greg Brockman @gdb |
1B views for Jake Paul cameos over the past week:
Jake Paul @jakepaul People have been asking me “Jake why are there all these AI videos of you on the internet?!” There’s a method to the madness… I’m a proud OpenAI investor @antifundvc@geoffreywoo and have been advising Sora team @markchen90@billpeeb this year and agreed to become the first
11:45 PM • Oct 9, 2025
720 Likes 38 Retweets
62 Replies
The Sizzle: There was a quote that jumped out to me by an OpenAI exec around the release of Sora 2 in the newsletter Newcomer:
“We’re also in a competitive landscape where we see other companies also allowing these same sorts of generations”
Varun Shetty, OpenAI head of media partnerships
Remember just a few years ago when all of the AI companies were talking about how we needed to be responsible about AI? Well, apparently the only thing that matters about whether you release an industrial grade deepfake maker that’s already tricking people into believing that a AI-generated reporter was arrested and sowing doubt about real videos is whether any of your competitors are doing the same thing.
Cool that we’re just making up things so people doubt everything
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Australia:
‘No playbook’: eSafety boss backs social media ban despite expert warnings (The Sydney Morning Herald, $) Two years after school phone bans were implemented in Australia, what has changed? (The Guardian) Australian scientist, quantum researchers win Nobel Prizes (Information Age)
| CAMERON WILSON @cameronwilson.bsky.social |
Nationals senator Ross Cadell says he has a "beautiful Alienware" computer at home. (Typical Alienware laptop included for reference)
10:47 PM • Oct 12, 2025
21 Likes 2 Reposts | 5 Replies
Rest of the world:
Inside Apple’s Glasses Pivot, M5 MacBook Pro and iPad Pro Launches (Bloomberg, $) Meta’s new AI adviser is a rightwing influencer who amplified conspiracy theories (The Guardian) ‘I ChatGPT-ed my way into his bed’: the rise of AI-assisted ‘chatfishing’ on dating apps (The Guardian) Barron Trump tipped for top TikTok job (The Telegraph, $) Arizona sees spike in demand for VPNs following the introduction of age verification laws (Tom's Guide) Wikipedia:Why Wikipedia cannot claim the Earth is not flat (Wikipedia) How hard do you have to hit a chicken to cook it? (James Simon)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### Remove Sora watermarks for some, add them for others!
Following on from the last bit, one of OpenAI’s Sora safety features is its telltale watermark.
Except, people are already finding ways to remove it (404 Media, $). Even more confusingly, someone has released a tool that will add a Sora watermark to any video. The website appears to be down, but just goes to show you can’t even assume fake videos are fake anymore.
| Theo - t3.gg @theo |
Introducing SoraMarker - the easiest way to add the Sora watermark to any video
1:25 AM • Oct 9, 2025
6.58K Likes 370 Retweets
403 Replies
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & electronics
UGREEN FineTrack Smart Tracker Tag (Compatible with Apple Find My) at UGREEN Amazon AU 1 for $16.19 3 for $45.87 Ring Indoor Camera (2nd Gen) at Amazon AU 1 for $38 2 for $59 Tuya ZigBee Motorized Roller Blind Controller - ~$48 at Smart Homehacks Store Aliexpres Shokz Openswim Pro - $239 at Shokz Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless Headphones - $249 at Amazon AU Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (Selected Colours Only) - $299.95 at Bose Google Pixel Watch 4 LTE at Telstra 41mm for $599 45mm for $679
Computing
MSI B650M BOMBER Wi-Fi 6E AM5 mATX Motherboard - $143 at smarthomestoreau eBay Seagate 8TB IronWolf 3.5in SATA III NAS Hard Drive (ST8000VN002) - $269 at Umart Crucial T705 2TB PCIe Gen 5.0 NVMe SSD - $273 at Amazon US via AU Corsair Vengeance SODIMM DDR5 96GB (2x48GB) 5600MHz - $354 at Amazon AU Amazon eero Pro 7 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 7 Mesh Router (1-Pack) - $370 at Amazon AU Gigabyte MO27Q28G 27" 280Hz 1440p Tandem WOLED Monitor, 30cm CAT6 Cable & $50 Steam Voucher - $780 at Mwave Alienware AW2725Q 27" 4K 240hz QD-OLED Gaming Monitor - $830 at Dell
Mobil
Global Reward eSim - Free at Roamless Lyca Mobile 20GB/28-Day Prepaid Mobile Plan - $6 at Lyca Mobile EzySim "Ultimate 12" 100GB 12-Month Prepaid Plan - $109 (Down from $175) Optus Nubia Focus 5G with $39 SIM Card [Locked to Optus] - $159 at Big W iPhone Air 256GB - $1650 at Skytree
# The End
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