Day: October 7, 2025

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What to Know: The Perils of AI Browsers

Last week, Perplexity announced that its AI-powered browser, called Comet, would be made free for all users after previously requiring a paid subscription. Comet is a new kind of browser, containing an integrated AI chatbot that can surf the web on your behalf, plus carry out autonomous actions like making purchases, sending emails, or creating calendar events.

There’s just one problem. Comet’s internal AI could until recently be hijacked by malicious links, which caused the browser to siphon personal information from connected services like Gmail and send it to mock attackers, according to new research by the cybersecurity firm LayerX. It’s a sign that even as AI-powered browsers might make users more productive, they can also introduce new vulnerabilities.

The attack — LayerX discovered a vulnerability called “CometJacking,” in which a malicious prompt to the browser’s AI is hidden within a URL. When the user clicks that link, the browser mistakes the malicious prompt for an instruction from the user—and begins carrying it out. In LayerX’s example, the mock attacker manages to get Comet to extract data from the user’s email and calendar accounts. While Comet has safeguards against data theft, the attacker was able to bypass them by instructing the AI to encode the stolen information in base64 (essentially scrambling it to look like harmless text) before sending it to a remote server under their control.

A sign of things to come—Today, Google Chrome is by far the most popular browser. But some believe a new “browser war” may soon arrive, fueled by new entrants like Perplexity’s Comet. (OpenAI is also believed to be working on its own AI-powered browser, although it has not released it yet.) But as browser creators rush to add AI features, they may also be adding new classes of vulnerability, says Or Eshed, LayerX’s CEO. We may be about to enter “a world in which browsing becomes riskier,” Eshed says. “We’ll see old kinds of attacks that have gone nearly extinct coming back, or even new kinds of attacks like the one that we just discovered.”

Perplexity’s response — When LayerX informed Perplexity of the vulnerability last month, the company “replied that it could not identify any security impact,” LayerX wrote in a blog post. But in a statement to TIME, a Perplexity spokesperson said that LayerX’s bug report had been poorly worded, that it had not responded to requests for clarification, and that Perplexity “later identified the issue independently and patched it.” The spokesperson said the vulnerability was never exploited, and continued: “We are grateful to the security community that participates in our thriving bounty program, and we’re working to ensure these types of miscommunication do not occur in the future.”

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Who to Know: Lisa Su, AMD CEO

On Monday, chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) announced it had struck a multi-billion dollar deal with OpenAI, which would see the ChatGPT maker acquire 6 gigawatts-worth of its latest AI chip over several years—or the equivalent in power consumption of around 4 million U.S. homes. It’s just the latest megadeal for OpenAI, which struck a $100 billion arrangement with Nvidia last month, as it seeks the computing power required to train and run its voracious AI models—including last week’s Sora 2.

When I sat down with Lisa Su last year, she was in the midst of pivoting her company toward building a new type of AI accelerator chip. Her effort seems to have paid off. AMD remains in distant second place to Nvidia in the wider semiconductor industry, but the OpenAI deal is a vote of confidence that AMD chips are suitable for top-line AI workloads. It’s also yet another sign that OpenAI is seeking to reduce its dependence on Nvidia, even as it draws Jensen Huang’s company closer.

OpenAI and AMD did not disclose the dollar value of the deal, although they did say that it gives OpenAI the right to acquire up to 10% of the company. AMD shares jumped some 25% on the news.

AI in Action

A week or so after launching its video-generation app Sora, OpenAI is allowing users more options to restrict how their likenesses appear in videos. Previously, users had the option to either allow or disallow their likeness (called a “cameo” in OpenAI parlance) in Sora videos. Now, users can give instructions like “don’t put me in videos that involve political commentary” or “don’t let me say this word,” according to OpenAI’s head of Sora, Bill Peebles.

What We’re Reading

Breakneck, by Dan Wang

Not an article this time, but a highly readable book that has been doing the rounds about China’s inexorable rise. Dan Wang’s main argument is that China is an engineering state, focused on building at all costs, whereas the U.S. is a lawyerly society, where it is easier to stop things from being built than to build them. The result, as Wang lays out in compelling detail, is that China now has gleaming public infrastructure and a robust manufacturing economy, while the U.S. has built no major public works in decades, and is forgetting its manufacturing know-how. Breakneck raises a sobering question about AI, as the U.S. economy doubles down on the technology: What use is abundant digital intelligence if it arrives into an economy that has forgotten how to apply it?

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has warned that air traffic controllers are feeling increasing pressure at work amid the government shutdown for which Republicans and Democrats are both holding each other responsible.

“I want them to think about the departures and arrivals of airplanes. I want to make sure they keep Americans, and airplanes, safe,” said Duffy during a press conference at Newark Liberty International airport in New Jersey on Monday. “But they’re not just thinking about the airspace, they’re thinking about: ‘Am I going to get a paycheck?’ ‘How am I going to pay my mortgage?’ ‘How do I make my car payment?’ ‘Do I have to take a second job and drive Uber?’”

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Air traffic controllers would have typically received their next paycheck on Oct. 14, Duffy said, but they will now not be paid until the government reopens.

An estimated 13,000 air traffic controllers and 61,000 TSA staff are expected to continue working without pay throughout the shutdown.

“In a job that’s already stressful, this shutdown has put way more stress on our controllers… we ask them to do their jobs on old equipment and keep our airports operational,” said Duffy, echoing President Donald Trump’s former comments about the “obsolete” U.S. air traffic control system, which he has vowed to “modernize.”

Duffy went on to blame Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for the shutdown. Republicans and Democrats are locked in a bitter stalemate over spending and health care items. Democrats are demanding a reversal of the Medicaid cuts in Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” and fighting to extend Obamacare tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of the year.

“I want to make sure that Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries know that this is not consequence free, there are issues that arise throughout America that impact our everyday lives, that can impact our safety, when you shut the government down,” Duffy stated.

Although citing significant concerns, Duffy went on to emphasize that the U.S. airspace is not unsafe, despite the increasing pressure on air traffic controllers.

“If we have additional sick calls, we will reduce the flow consistent with a rate that’s safe for the American people,” he assured the public, before adding that training personnel could soon be subjected to layoffs, potentially causing further delays and cancellations.

Major flight delays, cancellations, and closures cause upset for travelers

FlightAware tracked over 6,200 delays and over 90 cancellations in the U.S. across Monday and early Tuesday. Over 40% of all flights were delayed out of both Orlando International Airport and Chicago O’Hare International, as well as 23% at Hollywood Burbank Airport in Los Angeles County.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party publicly blamed his long-time sparring partner Trump for the disarray at Burbank Airport, which was left without air traffic controllers for six hours on Monday.

“Thanks, Donald Trump! Burbank Airport has ZERO air traffic controllers from 4:15pm to 10pm today because of YOUR government shutdown,” Newsom said on Monday evening, after local news reported the absence of staff.

Newark Liberty International encountered delays on 16% of its total flights on Monday. Denver International faced similar chaos, with delays for 247 outbound and 358 inbound flights.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s website featured a staffing issue notice on Monday night at around 7 p.m., lasting into Tuesday morning until 1 a.m. ET.

On Tuesday morning, the FAA warned that further ground delays are expected at airports including Denver International and Boston Logan. Closures, similar to that seen at Burbank on Monday, could also strike Tampa International and Miami International, with both airports flagged as “ground stop possible” by the FAA.

In response to TIME’s request for further information, the FAA said that “due to a lapse in funding” it will have “limited communications, but will send any significant safety messaging.”

Aviation workers face six-day weeks with no pay

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union that represents air traffic control staff, urged workers to keep on turning up for their shifts amid a rise in recorded sick absences over the past week.

“We’re tracking sick calls and sick leave. And have we had a slight tick up in sick calls? Yes. And then you’ll see delays come from that,” Duffy told reporters. 

“NATCA does not endorse, support, or condone any federal employees participating in or endorsing a coordinated activity that negatively affects the capacity of the NAS (National Airspace System),” said the union on Monday. 

“Participating in a job action could result in removal from federal service. It is not only illegal, but it also undermines NATCA’s credibility and severely weakens our ability to effectively advocate for you and your families.”

Per NATCA, many traffic control staff and other aviation workers will have to work six-day weeks, often on 10-hour shifts, during the shutdown. The union stated that during the 2018-2019 government shutdown, many of its members had to take up second jobs to fill the missing pay.

Roughly 2,350 NATCA-represented aviation safety professionals will be furloughed during the shutdown. “Critical safety support, operational support, and modernization work will stop,” NATCA has warned.

Staff shortages within control towers across the country has already been a concern prior to the government shutdown. A CBS analysis of FAA data in January found that only 10% of U.S. towers are sufficiently staffed to meet FAA standards.

Subsidies for rural airline services could expire as soon as Sunday

The federal funding that provides access to air travel for smaller and rural communities is set to run out on Oct. 12, according to the Trump Administration.

“There’s many small communities across the country that will now no longer have the resources to make sure they have air service,” said Secretary Duffy. “Every state across the country will be impacted by the inability to provide the subsidies to airlines to service these communities.” 

Duffy went on to say that the Essential Air Service (EAS) has long been a program supported by both Republicans and Democrats. 

As of November 2024, EAS provides subsidies “to 65 communities in Alaska and 112 communities in the 48 contiguous states, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico that otherwise may not receive any scheduled air service.”

In May, the White House proposed to cut EAS’ funding by $308 million, arguing that the program subsidizes “half-empty flights from airports that are within easy commuting distance from each other” and fails “to effectively provide assistance to most rural air travelers.”

The world’s tallest bridge, the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in Guizhou, China, opened to traffic. Standing 625 meters above the Beipan River, it spans 2,890 meters and has a main span of 1,420 meters, the largest in a mountainous area. The bridge, part of the Liuzhi-Anlong highway, reduces travel time between Zhenfeng and Guanling counties from two hours to just two minutes.