All-Source Intelligence Fusion

All-Source Intelligence Fusion Substack examines the overlapping realms of technology and national security, elucidating the entanglements between tech firms, intelligence agencies, and national security operations. It delves into issues like censorship, surveillance, information warfare, and the commercialization of intelligence data, highlighting actions of global governments and corporations.

Technology and National Security Surveillance and Privacy Artificial Intelligence in Defense Information Warfare Government and Corporate Censorship Intelligence Agencies' Operations Data Brokerage and Persona Management Corporate and Military Surveillance Contracts Campaigns and Political Influence Legal and Ethical Implications of Surveillance

The hottest Substack posts of All-Source Intelligence Fusion

And their main takeaways

Brief: Pentagon's new AI chief is former Google Trust & Safety exec who previously helped guide U.S. special operations

561 implied HN points • 14 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Digital Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Social media
  1. Radha Iyengar Plumb, a former Google Trust & Safety exec, will become the Pentagon's new Chief Digital and AI Officer in April, replacing Craig Martell.
  2. Iyengar Plumb has had a diverse career, transitioning from a professor to roles at RAND, the National Security Council, Google, Facebook, and now the Pentagon.
  3. Executives like Iyengar Plumb moving between tech companies like Google and roles in the defense and intelligence community highlights the intersecting realms of technology and national security.

'The Apps Are Not What They Seem'

882 implied HN points • 01 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Intelligence
  1. Byron Tau's book 'Means of Control' examines the evolution of data brokers aiding US counter-terrorism.
  2. Tau highlights covert practices like using consumer apps for intelligence by US Special Operations Forces.
  3. The book delves into how a few people in high-tech companies shape significant counter-terrorism programs.

The robotics company working with OpenAI to eat every warehouse worker's lunch

642 implied HN points • 05 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Robotics Artificial Intelligence Automation Investment Competition
  1. Brett Adcock's humanoid robot company aims to replace human workers in warehouses with subscription-based robots that can work 20 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  2. Figure AI collaborates with OpenAI to combine robotics and AI, aiming to create 'embodied AI' by leveraging OpenAI's strengths in language models and Figure's expertise in robotics.
  3. Adcock positions Figure AI to compete with Elon Musk's humanoid robotics effort 'Optimus' and dismisses other competitors due to limitations in hardware or software capabilities.

Former Obama CIA Chief Backs Nikki Haley

762 implied HN points • 20 Feb 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Election Intelligence Government National Security Campaign
  1. Former Obama CIA Chief Michael Morell publicly supports Nikki Haley's presidential campaign with both donations and endorsements.
  2. Morell organized efforts to shape the 2020 presidential election by discrediting a report on Hunter Biden, a move tied to intelligence officials interfacing with the Biden campaign.
  3. Several high-ranking former intelligence and national security officials, including Michael Morell and Douglas Feith, are backing Nikki Haley's campaign for president despite limited voter support.

Brief: Google received cloud contract supporting U.S. Special Operations Forces

220 implied HN points • 18 Mar 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Military Technology Contracts Cloud Computing
  1. Google received a cloud contract to support U.S. Special Operations Forces as part of a $9 billion program run by the Pentagon, along with Microsoft, Oracle, and Amazon.
  2. The U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) with roughly 60,000 personnel works closely with elite units for direct action missions and core activities like counter-insurgency operations.
  3. The cloud computing contracts are seen as linking the CIA's cloud contract and the Pentagon's JWCC initiative, suggesting a bridge between intelligence and military operations.
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Anomaly detection firm tied to numerous former CIA officials affiliated with Beacon Global accidentally published its confidential data brokerage and persona management agreements

842 implied HN points • 15 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Intelligence Security National Defense Surveillance Government Contracts
  1. Orbis Operations, led by former CIA officials, accidentally published confidential data agreements.
  2. Anomaly detection techniques used by intelligence agencies and corporations focus on detecting anomalies and insider threats.
  3. National security data brokers like Orbis fuse various data sources for surveillance and intelligence gathering.

California Judiciary cancelled its purchase of ChatGPT Plus

782 implied HN points • 12 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Government Startups Data processing Social media
  1. The California Judiciary cancelled its purchase of ChatGPT Plus after submitting a $4,080 purchase order on January 2nd.
  2. The procurement was intended for a proof of concept to see if ChatGPT could aid in website tasks, but was cancelled due to the lack of comparable quotes.
  3. Justice Guerrero announced plans for artificial intelligence at a Judicial Council meeting, focusing on developing model rules for state courts regarding AI usage.

Admist uncertain merger with Woz's Privateer Space, Orbital Insight CEO Kevin O'Brien bails to cryptocurrency surveillance firm Chainalysis

361 implied HN points • 15 Feb 24
💼 Business Technology Cryptocurrency Finance Surveillance Investments
  1. Orbital Insight CEO Kevin O'Brien moved to the cryptocurrency surveillance firm Chainalysis, leaving behind the collapse and financial struggles of Orbital.
  2. Orbital Insight faced challenges leading to financial decline, including defaulting on rent, a nonfunctional main phone line, and failed attempts at a merger with Privateer Space.
  3. Despite substantial funding and strategic partnerships, Orbital's downfall was partially attributed to market changes, such as Apple's privacy measures affecting their commercial data analysis business.

Inside the Pro-Israel Information War

860 HN points • 08 Dec 23
🌍 World Politics Israel Palestine Media Advocacy Campaigns
  1. There is a concerted effort to shape online discourse and silence pro-Palestinian voices by pro-Israel forces in Silicon Valley.
  2. Pro-Israel groups are heavily involved in shaping media coverage and advocating for Israel in the public discourse.
  3. Efforts to suppress pro-Palestinian speech, influence media outlets, and lobby lawmakers are prominent in the pro-Israel information war.

CEO of Gig-work Surveillance Firm Resigns

742 implied HN points • 18 Dec 23
💼 Business Tech Surveillance Leadership Finance Legal
  1. CEO of Gig-work Surveillance Firm, Maury Blackman, resigned after years of court battles and exposure of clandestine surveillance.
  2. Premise Data, an analogue of Uber for data-gathering, faced revenue stagnation despite investments and high-profile board members.
  3. Blackman's resignation led to Matt McNabb taking over as CEO, revealing a history of controversial events and legal issues within Premise.

Exclusive: British government funded a plan for international censorship of critiques of NATO

1284 implied HN points • 25 Sep 23
🌍 World Politics Censorship NATO Intelligence Agencies Funding Disinformation
  1. A leaked report reveals a British government-funded plan for international censorship of critiques of NATO.
  2. The plan includes redefining disinformation to include factual criticism of the U.S. military and NATO.
  3. Recommendations include exerting coordinated action to pressure social media and digital market actors to moderate such speech.

Leaked details of new collaboration between U.S. and Australian intelligence, by way of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt

622 implied HN points • 04 Dec 23
🌍 World Politics Intelligence Collaboration Technology Policy Security
  1. Leaked details reveal collaboration between U.S. and Australian intelligence officials and tech industry executives.
  2. The workshop focused on 'human-machine teaming' for AI policy in defense and intelligence sectors.
  3. The event involved key figures from major tech companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Scale AI, and Palantir.

Fraudulent DMCA Takedown Submitted to Hide Details of Felony Domestic Violence Arrest of Premise CEO Delwin Maury Blackman

581 implied HN points • 20 Nov 23
📰 News Legal issues Crime Journalism Ethics
  1. A fraudulent DMCA takedown request was submitted to hide details of a CEO's felony domestic violence arrest.
  2. The fraudulent request involved purposefully sloppy English and impersonation of the author.
  3. Despite the request's clear falsity, the hosting service complied to minimize legal liability.

The NSF is using Clearview AI to investigate grant applicants with common names

501 implied HN points • 17 Nov 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Investigations Privacy Concerns Government Contracts
  1. The National Science Foundation is using Clearview AI to investigate grant applicants with common names.
  2. The NSF is focusing on situations involving foreign influence, foreign recruitment, and foreign talent programs.
  3. Privacy concerns are not being addressed in the NSF's purchase of Clearview AI's facial recognition capabilities.

Fort Meade's new contract monitoring Twitter

842 implied HN points • 22 Sep 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Surveillance Social media Government Intelligence
  1. Defense Information Systems Agency has a new $2.5 million social media surveillance contract with Dataminr.
  2. Dataminr, associated with Twitter, has been careful to avoid the 'surveillance' label and instead presents itself as an 'alerting' platform.
  3. Despite past commitments, Dataminr continues to provide access to social media data for surveillance purposes.

How Steve Wozniak and Indonesia's CIA collided

561 implied HN points • 21 Oct 23
🌍 World Politics CIA Merger
  1. Orbital Insight's Project Alpha involved a kickoff meeting with Indonesia's State Intelligence Agency and Grandrich Corporation in June.
  2. Orbital Insight's primary revenue source is working with the Indonesian government on a program to track precise locations in the country.
  3. Merger talks are ongoing between Orbital and Steve Wozniak's Privateer, aiming to value Orbital at $20 million in a potentially $90 million merged company.

Campaign to Stop Killer Robots fired its government relations manager to protect relationship with Austria, says former employee

361 implied HN points • 08 Nov 23
🌍 World Politics Activism Human Rights Diplomacy Conflict resolution
  1. The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots fired a government relations manager over comments about Israel's actions in Gaza.
  2. The firing occurred just before a significant vote by the United Nations General Assembly on autonomous weapons.
  3. There were conflicts of interest and controversy surrounding the termination, including involvement of Austria and Palestine.

ICE seemingly inflated its contract with a cellphone location-tracking data broker to work around a "commercial data pause"

461 implied HN points • 06 Oct 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Government Data Privacy
  1. ICE increased a contract with a data broker from $816,700 to over $3.6 million to bypass a 'commercial data pause'.
  2. DHS Inspector General recommended ICE stop using location-tracking data until proper assessments are done.
  3. There were oversight gaps identified in how ICE used cellphone location data, including shared accounts and lack of supervisory review.

Exclusive: Google-backed intelligence contractor is avoiding bankruptcy by attempting to merge with Steve Wozniak's satellite company

461 implied HN points • 01 Oct 23
💼 Business Technology Finance World Politics U.S. Politics International
  1. Orbital Insight, a Google-backed intelligence contractor, is avoiding bankruptcy by planning a merger with Steve Wozniak's satellite company Privateer.
  2. Orbital Insight faced financial troubles including downgrading its value and emergency loans, with its main client being the Indonesian military.
  3. Orbital's expansion plans included military and intelligence contracts worldwide, efforts to court international militaries like the IDF, Saudis, and Emiratis, and possible NATO collaborations.

The Covert Gig-Work Surveillance CEO Arrested for Felony Domestic Violence

220 implied HN points • 14 Sep 23
💼 Business Crime Technology Podcasts Surveillance Legal
  1. CEO of Premise Data, Maury Blackman, was arrested for felony domestic violence after a Christmas party.
  2. The incident involving the CEO and his girlfriend was not publicly reported as the victim recanted her initial statements.
  3. Premise Data, Blackman's company, has been accused of covert surveillance activities for U.S. defense and intelligence agencies.

Surveillance firm backed by Google and CIA allegedly defaulted on $370,000 per month rent

200 implied HN points • 19 Sep 23
💼 Business Surveillance Tech Finance Government Security
  1. Orbital Insight, a surveillance firm backed by Google and CIA, allegedly defaulted on $370,000 per month rent
  2. Orbital Insight was sued by its landlord and subtenants for failing to pay rent for its Silicon Valley HQ
  3. The company had significant investments, including from Google Ventures and the U.S. Intelligence Community

Transparency International defends funding from Western spy agencies — but won't say which

200 implied HN points • 09 Sep 23
🌍 World Politics Corruption Whistleblowers NGOs
  1. Transparency International defends receiving funding from Western spy agencies but refuses to disclose which agencies.
  2. The organization faces criticism for potential conflicts of interest due to its funding sources, which include spy agencies.
  3. Transparency International's autonomy allows chapters to operate independently, leading to varied responses to controversial issues like protecting whistleblowers.

Press freedoms are tightening for journalists who report adversarially on NATO

321 implied HN points • 05 Jun 23
🌍 World Politics Journalism International relations
  1. Press freedoms are tightening for journalists adversarial to NATO, facing alignments demands from Western governments
  2. Legendary journalist I.F. Stone emphasized that freedom of the press includes allowing lies to safeguard the truth
  3. Western press freedoms are deteriorating, with concerns raised by organizations like Reporters Without Borders and the National Union of Journalists

Covert gigwork surveillance platform attempts to claw back disclosures of its intelligence clients

140 implied HN points • 18 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Surveillance Legal Battles National Security
  1. Premise Data's CEO is trying to keep the names of the military and spy agencies the company works for a secret.
  2. There is a legal battle over disclosing intelligence clients, with requests for documents to be clawed back and redacted.
  3. The legal dispute involves claims of national security reasons and maintaining marketplace competitiveness for secrecy.

An FBI-partnered chatroom infiltration firm tried to sell me cellphone location data

100 implied HN points • 14 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Surveillance Data Tracking National Security AI Internet
  1. An FBI-partnered firm tried to sell cellphone location data in a chatroom infiltration pitch.
  2. The firm touted the quality and depth of their social media surveillance data compared to competitors.
  3. The firm outsourced cellphone location-tracking to a partner and had key figures from Babel Street in their ranks.

Pollster for Niger coup support is a surveillance platform for U.S. Special Operations Forces

60 implied HN points • 27 Aug 23
🌍 World Politics Surveillance Intelligence
  1. A poll on Niger's coup support was conducted by a company that serves as a surveillance platform for U.S. Special Operations Forces.
  2. Premise Data, the pollster, has connections to U.S. military training and operations in various countries.
  3. Other U.S. intelligence contractors, like Two Six Technologies, also use polling as a cover for covert operations.

Pentagon is Combining Corporate Records and Social Media Surveillance to Guide Hacking and Influence Operations

100 implied HN points • 27 Apr 23
🌍 World Politics Military Intelligence Surveillance Information Warfare
  1. Pentagon is combining corporate records and social media surveillance for hacking and influence operations.
  2. Corporate surveillance firms were discussing providing bulk surveillance data for purposes like protecting the NATO brand.
  3. U.S. military and intelligence agencies are developing offensive information warfare industry using social media surveillance, corporate records analysis, and cellphone location-tracking.

On the former head of Google Cloud AI joining U.S. Central Command

100 implied HN points • 19 Apr 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Military Technology National Security Government Ethics
  1. Former head of Google Cloud AI, Andrew Moore, has joined U.S. Central Command as an advisor on AI, Robotics, and Cloud Computing.
  2. Moore has had a history of moving between Google and Carnegie Mellon University in roles related to AI and technology.
  3. Moore's new role at CENTCOM involves contributing to integrating artificial intelligence into battlefield tasks for Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Former Google CEO promotes integration of Google and Anduril tech for use by Pentagon

80 implied HN points • 10 May 23
🕹 Technology Tech Integration AI Surveillance
  1. Former Google CEO is promoting the integration of Google and Anduril technologies for use by the Pentagon.
  2. The event highlighted the importance of surveillance technologies like Fitbits and GPS watches in military strategy.
  3. Concerns were raised about conflicts of interest and private industry's involvement in military and intelligence events.

The company locking down military and municipal social media out of an abandoned mall in Oklahoma

40 implied HN points • 01 Jun 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Military Government Social media National Security Artificial Intelligence
  1. BaseConnect is a military-focused social media startup providing services for city governments to suppress public criticism.
  2. CEO Tony Weedn aims to turn BaseConnect into Oklahoma's first billion dollar startup and is expanding operations to help cities manage their social media presence.
  3. The company has received millions in contracts, including a secure newsfeed for military bases to hide COVID-19 updates from competitors.