Nature Climate Change, Published online: 13 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02438-3

The rise of generative AI presents both risks and opportunities for shaping climate discourse. New findings suggest it can help lower climate scepticism and bolster support for climate action.

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 13 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02424-9

Climate sceptics tend to avoid climate information, making it even harder to reduce scepticism. This study shows that generative AI can enhance sceptics’ engagement with climate news by tailoring headlines to their existing perspective and shift their beliefs towards the scientific consensus.

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 13 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02461-4

Climate risk increasingly threatens World Heritage sites, yet its integration into conservation planning remains underexplored. By analysing 1,868 World Heritage documents, this study reveals regional disparities of climate awareness and highlights the gap between awareness and action.

Online surveillance is everywhere—and understanding how you’re being tracked, and how to fight back, is more important than ever. That’s why EFF partnered with Women In Security and Privacy (WISP) for our annual Global Members’ Speakeasy, where we tackled online behavioral tracking and the massive data broker industry that profits from your personal information. 

Our live panel featured Rory Mir (EFF Associate Director of Community Organizing), Lena Cohen (EFF Staff Technologist), Mitch Stoltz (EFF IP Litigation Director) and Yael Grauer, Program Manager at Consumer Reports. Together, they unpacked how we arrived at a point where a handful of major tech companies dictate so much of our digital rights, how these monopolies erode privacy, and what real-world consequences come from constant data collection—and most importantly, what you can do to fight back. 

Members also joined in for a lively Q&A, exploring practical steps to opt out of some of this data collection, discussing the efficacy of privacy laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and sharing tools and tactics to reclaim control over their data. 

We're always excited to find new ways to connect with our supporters and spotlight the critical work that their donations make possible. And because we want everyone to learn from these conversations, you can now watch the full conversation on YouTube or the Internet Archive: 

WATCH THE FULL DISCUSSION

EFF’s Global Member Speakeasy: You Are the Product 

Events like the annual Global Members’ Speakeasy are just one way we like to thank our members for powering EFF’s mission. When you become a member, you’re not only supporting our legal battles, research, and advocacy for digital freedom—you’re joining a global community of people who care deeply about defending privacy and free expression for everyone. 

Join EFF today, and you’ll receive invitations for future member events, quarterly insider updates on our most important work, and some conversation-starting EFF gear to help you spread the word about online freedom. 

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us and our partners at WISP for helping make this event happen. We’re already planning upcoming in-person and virtual events, and we can’t wait to see you there. 

Video.

As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.

Blog moderation policy.

Austin, Texas is a major tech hub with a population that’s engaged in advocacy and paying attention. Since 1991, EFF-Austin an independent nonprofit civil liberties organization, has been the proverbial beacon alerting those in central Texas to the possibilities and implications of modern technology. It is also an active member of the Electronic Frontier Alliance (EFA). On a recent visit to Texas, I got the chance to speak with Kevin Welch, President of EFF-Austin, about the organization, its work, and what lies ahead for them:

How did EFF-Austin get started, and can you share how it got its name?

EFF-Austin is concerned with emerging frontiers where technology meets society. We are a group of visionary technologists, legal professionals, academics, political activists, and concerned citizens who work to protect digital rights and educate the public about emerging technologies and their implications. Similar to our namesake, the national Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), “the dominion we defend is the vast wealth of digital information, innovation, and technology that resides online.” EFF-Austin was originally formed in 1991 with the intention that it would become the first chapter of the national Electronic Frontier Foundation. However, EFF decided not to become a chapters organization, and EFF-Austin became a separately-incorporated, independent nonprofit organization focusing on cyber liberties, digital rights, and emerging technologies.

What's the mission of EFF-Austin and what do you promote?

EFF-Austin advocates for establishment and protection of digital rights and defense of the wealth of digital information, innovation, and technology. We promote the right of all citizens to communicate and share information without unreasonable constraint. We also advocate for the fundamental right to explore, tinker, create, and innovate along the frontier of emerging technologies.

EFF-Austin has been involved in a number of initiatives and causes over the past several years, including legislative advocacy. Can you share a few of them?

We were one of the earliest local organizations that began to call out the Austin City Council over their use of automated license plate readers (ALPRs). After several years of fighting, EFF-Austin was proud to join the No ALPRs coalition as a founding member with over thirty local and state activist groups. Through our efforts, Austin decided not to renew our ALPR pilot project, becoming one of the only cities in America to reject ALPRs. Building on this success, the coalition is broadening its scope to call out other uses of surveillance in Austin, like proposed contracts for park surveillance from Liveview Technologies, as well as data privacy abuses more generally, such as the potential partnership with Valkyrie AI to non-consensually provide citizen data for model training and research purposes without sufficient oversight or guardrails. In support of these initiatives, EFF-Austin also partnered with the Austin Technology Commission to propose much stricter oversight and transparency rules around how the city of Austin engages in contracts with third party technology vendors.

EFF-Austin has also provided expert testimony on a number of major technology bills at the Texas Legislature that have since become law, including the Texas Data Privacy And Security Act (TDPSA) and the Texas Responsible AI Governance Act (TRAIGA).

How can someone local to central Texas get involved?

We conduct monthly meetups with a variety of speakers, usually the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00pm at Capital Factory (701 Brazos St, Austin, TX 78701) in downtown Austin. These meetups can range from technology and legal explainers to digital security trainings, from digital arts profiles to shining a spotlight on surveillance. In addition, we have various one-off events, often in partnership with other local nonprofits and civic institutions, including our fellow EFA member Open Austin. We also have annual holiday parties and SXSW gatherings that are free and open to the public. We don't currently have memberships, so any and all are welcome.

While EFF-Austin events are popular and well-attended, and our impact on local technology policy is quite impressive for such a small nonprofit, we have no significant sustained funding beyond occasional outreach to our community. Any local nonprofits, activist organizations, academic initiatives, or technology companies who find themselves aligned with our cause and would like to fund our efforts are encouraged to reach out. We also always welcome the assistance of those who wish to volunteer their technical, organizational, or legal skills to our cause. In addition to emailing us at info@effaustin.org, follow us on Mastodon, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Meetup, and visit us at our website at https://effaustin.org.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Investment Management Company (MITIMCo) announced today that MIT’s unitized pool of endowment and other MIT funds generated an investment return of 14.8 percent during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, as measured using valuations received within one month of fiscal year end. At the end of the fiscal year, MIT’s endowment funds totaled $27.4 billion, excluding pledges. Over the 10 years ending June 30, 2025, MIT generated an annualized return of 10.7 percent.

The endowment is the bedrock of MIT’s finances, made possible by gifts from alumni and friends for more than a century. The use of the endowment is governed by a state law that requires MIT to maintain each endowed gift as a permanent fund, preserve its purchasing power, and spend it as directed by its original donor. Most of the endowment’s funds are restricted and must be used for a specific purpose. MIT uses the bulk of the income these endowed gifts generate to support financial aid, research, and education.

The endowment supports 50 percent of undergraduate tuition, helping to enable the Institute’s need-blind undergraduate admissions policy, which ensures that an MIT education is accessible to all qualified candidates regardless of financial resources. MIT works closely with all families of undergraduates who qualify for financial aid to develop an individual affordability plan tailored to their financial circumstances. In 2024-25, the average need-based MIT undergraduate scholarship was $62,127. Fifty-seven percent of MIT undergraduates received need-based financial aid, and 39 percent of MIT undergraduate students received scholarship funding from MIT and other sources sufficient to cover the total cost of tuition.

Effective in fiscal 2026, MIT enhanced undergraduate financial aid, ensuring that all families with incomes below $200,000 and typical assets have tuition fully covered by scholarships, and that families with incomes below $100,000 and typical assets pay nothing at all for their students’ MIT education. Eighty-eight percent of seniors who graduated in academic year 2025 graduated with no debt.

MITIMCo is a unit of MIT, created to manage and oversee the investment of the Institute’s endowment, retirement, and operating funds.

MIT’s Report of the Treasurer for fiscal year 2025, which details the Institute’s annual financial performance, was made available publicly today.

AI agents are now hacking computers. They’re getting better at all phases of cyberattacks, faster than most of us expected. They can chain together different aspects of a cyber operation, and hack autonomously, at computer speeds and scale. This is going to change everything.

Over the summer, hackers proved the concept, industry institutionalized it, and criminals operationalized it. In June, AI company XBOW took the top spot on HackerOne’s US leaderboard after submitting over 1,000 new vulnerabilities in just a few months. In August, the seven teams competing in DARPA’s AI Cyber Challenge ...

Soot emissions from power plants rose nearly 20 percent above average when enforcement stalled during the shutdown seven years ago.

Lawmakers said the cases threaten to “bankrupt” the energy industry.

Several GOP senators have expressed interest in attending the climate talks, Utah Sen. John Curtis said.

The facility would be among the world's biggest direct air capture hubs. It comes as President Trump has slashed subsidies for the industry in the U.S.

A new approach to forecasting would give local authorities more information as they prepare for deadly heat waves.

The governor ordered “any and all steps” to permit wind and solar development before federal subsidies expire.

The new laws encourage fire-resistant landscaping, expand insurance for mobile homes and expand insurer access to financing.

Brussels has signaled it won’t yield to U.S. pressure to ignite a bonfire to green regulations as part of their trade deal, a top official tells diplomats.

Researchers are exploring possibilities for using "metal-organic frameworks" to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and pollution from industrial sites or to harvest moisture from desert air.

The debut was marred by the company’s worst trading day since going public in 2016.

The cyclical La Niña will likely last through February 2026, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center said.

Adaptation projects have so far only won a fraction of climate finance, with investors and banks focusing on decarbonization technologies.