The FBI built a small town to simulate cyberattacksLast year, the FBI opened a Cyber Range in Huntsville, Alabama, for simulating cyberattacks. Think of it sort of like the famous Hogan’s Alley, but for modern digital crime training. It’s a massive 22,000 square-foot replica of an entire town, complete with a convenience store, gas station, hospital, and even fully furnished houses.
It’s a training facility where the bureau can recreate real-world scenarios for training and research purposes. All of the various buildings and facilities are hooked up the way they would be in a real town. There’s even a small data center with over 200 servers that can be hacked, infected with malware, and studied. But, importantly, all of the systems in the fake town are cut off from the outside world, which means there’s no danger of any malicious code or anything from escaping containment.
Students practice performing forensic investigations on car entertainment systems, hospital computer networks, and corporate security systems. They can see how various cyberattacks might affect power grids or spread through home networks.
While the facility opened last year, the FBI only shared a video this week, giving the public its first glimpse inside.
#FBI #built #small #town #simulate #cyberattacksNews,Security,Tech
Last year, the FBI opened a Cyber Range in Huntsville, Alabama, for simulating cyberattacks. Think of it sort of like the famous Hogan’s Alley, but for modern digital crime training. It’s a massive 22,000 square-foot replica of an entire town, complete with a convenience store, gas station, hospital, and even fully furnished houses.
It’s a training facility where the bureau can recreate real-world scenarios for training and research purposes. All of the various buildings and facilities are hooked up the way they would be in a real town. There’s even a small data center with over 200 servers that can be hacked, infected with malware, and studied. But, importantly, all of the systems in the fake town are cut off from the outside world, which means there’s no danger of any malicious code or anything from escaping containment.
Students practice performing forensic investigations on car entertainment systems, hospital computer networks, and corporate security systems. They can see how various cyberattacks might affect power grids or spread through home networks.
While the facility opened last year, the FBI only shared a video this week, giving the public its first glimpse inside.
![New Google commercial imagines a Declaration of Independence written with help from AI | TechCrunch
Two hundred and fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a new commercial from Google asks: What if the Founding Fathers had access to Google Workspace?
With the tagline “Group project, but make it 1776,” the ad depicts a largely unseen Thomas Jefferson mid-draft when he gets a nagging text from Ben Franklin, leading to a very Google-centric collaboration process. Edits are suggested in Google Docs, a meeting gets scheduled in Google Calendar and conducted remotely via Google Meet (with every single attendee apparently turning their camera off?), then the whole thing is finalized with e-signatures; cue the fireworks.
Of course, since this is an ad from a tech company in the year 2026, AI has a role to play. The fictionalized founders use Google’s “help me visualize” AI tool to try out different animals on the national seal, Gemini takes notes on the meeting, and the founders also ask the chatbot for advice before declining King George III’s document access request.
The whole thing is very tongue-in-cheek (at one point, Sam Adams asks, “Can we settle this over beers?”), and the AI evangelism is relatively discreet when compared to many other recent ads. And unlike that infamous Google commercial in which a father uses Gemini to write a fan letter for his daughter, this one shies away from any suggestion that the actual text of the Declaration of Independence would be improved with AI. Perhaps the most AI-forward element of the ad is the footage itself, which to my eye has the uncanny glow of AI-generated video.
While viewer comments on YouTube and Instagram appear to be mostly positive, you may not be surprised to learn that the response on Bluesky has been far more critical. Posters declared the commercial “cringey” and “stunningly tone deaf,” and the AI angle was the biggest target — even as many users, including historian Angus Johnston, noted that it’s “amazing how little of this is actually AI.”
“Even in a corny fantasy joke, it’s impossible to make the case that AI is a useful tool for political organizing, writing, or human collaboration,” Johnston said.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3RjZY-rSsc[/embed]
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.#Google #commercial #imagines #Declaration #Independence #written #TechCrunchgemini,Google](https://i2.wp.com/techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/google-declaration-of-independence.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 "New Google commercial imagines a Declaration of Independence written with help from AI | TechCrunch
Two hundred and fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a new commercial from Google asks: What if the Founding Fathers had access to Google Workspace?
With the tagline “Group project, but make it 1776,” the ad depicts a largely unseen Thomas Jefferson mid-draft when he gets a nagging text from Ben Franklin, leading to a very Google-centric collaboration process. Edits are suggested in Google Docs, a meeting gets scheduled in Google Calendar and conducted remotely via Google Meet (with every single attendee apparently turning their camera off?), then the whole thing is finalized with e-signatures; cue the fireworks.
Of course, since this is an ad from a tech company in the year 2026, AI has a role to play. The fictionalized founders use Google’s “help me visualize” AI tool to try out different animals on the national seal, Gemini takes notes on the meeting, and the founders also ask the chatbot for advice before declining King George III’s document access request.
The whole thing is very tongue-in-cheek (at one point, Sam Adams asks, “Can we settle this over beers?”), and the AI evangelism is relatively discreet when compared to many other recent ads. And unlike that infamous Google commercial in which a father uses Gemini to write a fan letter for his daughter, this one shies away from any suggestion that the actual text of the Declaration of Independence would be improved with AI. Perhaps the most AI-forward element of the ad is the footage itself, which to my eye has the uncanny glow of AI-generated video.
While viewer comments on YouTube and Instagram appear to be mostly positive, you may not be surprised to learn that the response on Bluesky has been far more critical. Posters declared the commercial “cringey” and “stunningly tone deaf,” and the AI angle was the biggest target — even as many users, including historian Angus Johnston, noted that it’s “amazing how little of this is actually AI.”
“Even in a corny fantasy joke, it’s impossible to make the case that AI is a useful tool for political organizing, writing, or human collaboration,” Johnston said.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3RjZY-rSsc[/embed]
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.#Google #commercial #imagines #Declaration #Independence #written #TechCrunchgemini,Google")
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