←back to thread

Anthropic’s paper smells like bullshit

(djnn.sh)
1160 points vxvxvx | 10 comments | 16 Nov 25 11:32 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom

Earlier thread: Disrupting the first reported AI-orchestrated cyber espionage campaign - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45918638 - Nov 2025 (281 comments)
Show context
jmkni ◴[16 Nov 25 12:56 UTC] No.45944780[source]▶
That whole article felt like "Claude is so good Chinese hackers are using it for espionage" marketing fluff tbh
replies(5): >>45944894 #>>45945102 #>>45947137 #>>45948298 #>>45956447 #
1. ndiddy ◴[16 Nov 25 13:44 UTC] No.45945102[source]▶
Reminds me of how when the Playstation 2 came out, Sony started planting articles about how it was so powerful that the Iraqi government was buying thousands of them to turn into a supercomputer (including unnamed military officials bringing up Sony marketing points). https://www.wnd.com/2000/12/7640/
replies(4): >>45945451 #>>45945524 #>>45946742 #>>45949891 #
2. jmkni ◴[16 Nov 25 14:39 UTC] No.45945451[source]▶
Ironically the US millitary actually did this with the Playstation 3
replies(1): >>45948427 #
3. y-curious ◴[16 Nov 25 14:50 UTC] No.45945524[source]▶
Is there any compelling evidence that this was marketing done by Sony? Yes, the sniff test does not pass for me about the government officials advertising the device, but this Reddit thread[1] makes the whole story seem plausible. America and Japan really did impose restrictions on shipping to Iraq and people did eventually chain PS3s together for cheap computing.

1: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/l3hp2i/did_s...

replies(1): >>45945876 #
4. Keyframe ◴[16 Nov 25 15:39 UTC] No.45945876[source]▶
Apple used similar marketing tactics with G4 since it was "so powerful" it was under restricted export control, where in reality it was an outdated regulation that needed an update.
replies(1): >>45952630 #
5. bongodongobob ◴[16 Nov 25 17:24 UTC] No.45946742[source]▶
But it was that good for the price point. And you could run Linux on it. That was the Beowulf cluster era. Lots of universities were doing that.
replies(1): >>45949461 #
6. crabmusket ◴[16 Nov 25 21:12 UTC] No.45948427[source]▶
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_cluster
7. duskwuff ◴[16 Nov 25 23:33 UTC] No.45949461[source]▶
You may be mixing up the PS2 and PS3. The PS3 found some marginal use in computing clusters; the PS2 did not.
replies(1): >>45949625 #
8. bongodongobob ◴[16 Nov 25 23:53 UTC] No.45949625{3}[source]▶
A quick google will show you that it was. I remember because I was in college at the time and that's how I learned what a Beowulf cluster was. Maybe PS3 was more successful or more popular, but there were definitely PS2 clusters.
9. duxup ◴[17 Nov 25 00:41 UTC] No.45949891[source]▶
I remember when Sony doing video game related presentations couldn't help but have some marketing about how soon the Playstation 2 processor would be everywhere, your TV, your refrigerator.

At the time I was thinking "Why would my fridge need a pricey expensive processor?"

Many years later I still don't need that.

10. semi-extrinsic ◴[17 Nov 25 11:17 UTC] No.45952630{3}[source]▶
Many hardware manufacturers do the same with claiming MIL-STD-810 compliance. Which can mean almost anything without further details specified.

E.g. you can choose to test against MIL-STD-810 500.6 procedure I, to see that the device is compatible with low pressure such that it can be safely transported via air freight. Which no consumer electronics product in existence is going to fail.