There is now a possible explanation behind the SanDisk SSD failures that have been an ongoing issue throughout most of 2023. The issue first gained notice on Reddit as users complained of failing SSDs and the loss of data.
The problem gained more attention when SanDisk’s parent company, Western Digital, became subject to several class-action lawsuits in August, according to Ars Technica.
The company has since refuted that there was a hardware design or manufacturing problem in this statement delivered to PetaPixel: “While we are working to gather more information, at this time we do not believe hardware issues played a role in the product concerns that we successfully addressed with the firmware update.”
Reports of the failures began as early as May 2023. While SanDisk initially attempted to remedy the failures with a firmware fix, the data recovery firm Attingo has determined that the remedy has not worked because the issue is in the SSD hardware.
Several failed SSDs named in the lawsuit include the following:
According to the Austrian website Futurezone, Attingo determined that the SSDs suffered from inadequate design and manufacturing, which caused them to fail. In particular, the soldering wasn’t strong enough to bond the components to the circuit board. The components were also too large, leading to irregular connections and overheating, which can cause bubbles to disturb the connection point, resulting in lost files.
Western Digital’s remedy was to release a new firmware update; however, this proved to only be a temporary solution as the issue lay much deeper in the devices. The company followed up with new firmware, in addition to adding a stronger epoxy resin to newer models of its SSD drives.
Attingo noted it will be testing the firmware-updated models because even with Western Digital’s remote repair efforts, the oversized components might still be subject to failure. Western Digital also endured a severe security breach earlier this year that allowed hackers to gain access to personal customer information.
Suffice to say, the issue seems to be unresolved at the moment. For now, those using SanDisk SSDs might want to consider backup options for especially irreplaceable data. Popular cloud-based options are Google One and Microsoft OneDrive.
Anthropic has officially filed to go public, and buried inside its S-1 is a blunt warning about the technology at the center of its business. The maker of Claude AI says advanced AI could cause everything from large-scale cyberattacks and geopolitical instability to catastrophic or even existential risks for humanity.
The warnings take up a surprisingly large part of the filing. Axios notes that more than 90 pages, or roughly a third of the prospectus, focus on risk factors. Many of them warn about what could happen as AI systems become more capable and autonomous.
AI giants have a growing autonomy problem on their hands. A new Axios report has revealed that Anthropic's Claude recently accessed publicly available Georgia vote count without human authorization, sparking fresh concerns about AI security ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911