Google security hackers have confirmed a confidential computing compromise that targets AMD Zen-based devices.

Chipmaking giant AMD has confirmed it recently patched a high-severity vulnerability affecting its Zen 1 to Zen 4 CPUs. The company published a new security advisory, detailing the bug and its potential for exploitation,

Malicious microcode vulnerability discovered, fixes rolling out for Epycs at least Googlers have not only figured out how to break AMD's security – allowing them to load unofficial microcode into its processors to modify the silicon's behavior – but also demonstrated this by producing a microcode patch that makes the chips always output 4 when asked for a random number.

Google has quietly deleted its pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance, a promise that had been in place since 2018.

Google published principles in 2018 barring its AI technology from being used for sensitive purposes. Weeks into President Donald Trump’s second term, those guidelines are being overhauled.