REUTERS👻: Ghost in the machine? Rogue communication devices found in Chinese inverters

U.S. energy officials are reassessing the risk posed by Chinese-made devices that play a critical role in renewable energy infrastructure after unexplained communication equipment was found inside some of them, two people familiar with the matter said.

Power inverters, which are predominantly produced in China, are used throughout the world to connect solar panels and wind turbines to electricity grids. They are also found in batteries, heat pumps and electric vehicle chargers.

While inverters are built to allow remote access for updates and maintenance, the utility companies that use them typically install firewalls to prevent direct communication back to China.

However, rogue communication devices not listed in product documents have been found in some Chinese solar power inverters by U.S experts who strip down equipment hooked up to grids to check for security issues, the two people said.

Over the past nine months, undocumented communication devices, including cellular radios, have also been found in some batteries from multiple Chinese suppliers, one of them said.
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🎥🎬We told you all you were watching a movie:

Former President Joe Biden’s allies reportedly brought in a renowned filmmaker to help cover up his deteriorating mental state during his 2024 reelection campaign.

Steven Spielberg was recruited to use “Hollywood magic” to help make Biden look better for high-stakes appearances during his campaign last year, including his prime-time State of the Union address and presidential debate, according to a New Yorker report by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios‘s Alex Thompson.

In their book, Tapper and Thompson said Spielberg tinkered with lighting and microphones as well as crafted campaign videos for Biden to help offset “communication struggles” caused by a mental decline suspected by the public for years.

Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, a mega-Democratic donor and long-time Biden ally, reportedly recruited Spielberg to make Biden look better to voters.

In another incident mentioned in the piece, Jon Favreau, a former speechwriter for former President Barack Obama, expressed shock at Biden’s mental state during a visit to the White House in 2024 and at a campaign event at a Los Angeles theater later that year.

Favreau, now one of the hosts of the popular Democratic political podcast, Pod Save America, and his wife, Emily Black, visited Biden in the White House in April 2024. Favreau said Biden was “incoherent” and “seemed to have aged 50 years in sixteen months,” as well as told “meandering and confusing” stories.

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