USAF Aircraft Maintenance Standard, xAI $6B, Postman Leak
The API Changelog issue 2025.01
This is issue 2025.01 of the API Changelog, a mix of API news, commentary, and opinion. In this issue, you'll get to know the most relevant API-related information from the week of December 23, 2024. Subscribe now, so you never miss an issue of the API Changelog.
News highlight
ChatGPT, the popular AI-powered conversational tool developed by OpenAI, and Sora, a leading platform for digital book lending, faced their second service outage this month, causing disruptions for millions of users worldwide.
The outage highlights the challenges of scaling digital services to meet increasing demand, particularly during peak periods like the holiday season. Both companies are actively working to restore services and address the underlying issues to prevent future interruptions.
This incident underscores the growing reliance on AI and digital tools in everyday life, as well as the critical need for robust infrastructure to support them. For updates on the status of these platforms, users are encouraged to follow OpenAI's status page and Sora's support page.
“The status page released by OpenAI showed that at 11:00 AM, they announced the initiation of an investigation, stating that ChatGPT, Sora, and the API were experiencing high error rates. At 11:18 AM, they confirmed that the issue originated from an upstream supplier' and were monitoring the situation,” according to a Longport post.
See more coverage on AOL, Search Engine Land, Silicon Angle, the Independent, Newsweek, 9to5Mac, BGR, CBS, and FOX.
This issue of the API Changelog was crafted with the help of Flotiq.
Flotiq is an intuitive content management system for designing OpenAPI-compliant APIs, offering unparalleled extensibility to accelerate development with easy-to-use SDKs, comprehensive API documentation, and a user-friendly interface for seamless API and content integration.
Announcements
The U.S. Air Force, in partnership with leading industry experts and SAE International, is spearheading the development of a groundbreaking standard designed to standardize aircraft maintenance stands across both military and commercial aviation sectors.
Blackleaf.io has launched an API to integrate its marketing and automation tools with POS systems, optimizing cannabis retail workflow and elevating customer experience. Adopters benefit from automated processes such as personalized promotions, enhancing operational efficiency and increasing ROI.
Funding and M&A
Elon Musk has expressed his honor in having NVIDIA as an investor in artificial intelligence firm xAI. The AI startup xAI, following substantial tech advancements, secured a $6 billion Series C with contributions from notable tech and finance companies.
AI
OpenAI's o3 achieves significant improvements in coding and math, while o3 Mini offers cost-effective, scalable performance. Both aim for an early 2024 release, with safety and adaptability as priorities.
Composio, a platform in the Tech30 2024 list, streamlines building reliable AI agents, reducing development from months to days. With over 12,000 developers, including Fortune 500 engineers, Composio raises agent integration reliability above 90% for faster production deployment.
Google outperforms ChatGPT with Gemini 2.0, elevating benchmarks for sophisticated cognition and diverse query handling. Gemini 2.0 redefines the paradigm for complex problem-solving abilities in AI.
Fintech and Crypto
M2 Compliance, LLC underscores the importance of filers enrolling in EDGAR Next to comply with updated SEC rules. Critical dates include March 24, 2025, for enrollment start and December 19, 2025, as the final deadline for legacy code users.
Nxos, a fintech infrastructure provider, partners with Coins.ph to enable instant stablecoin cross-border payments to the Philippines. The service leverages a unified API, enhancing transaction speed and accessibility for financial institutions and fintechs.
Lithic launched its Commercial Revolving Credit API, designed for building flexible commercial credit card programs. Novo utilized this API to create a Novo Business Credit Card, meeting the unique financial needs of solopreneurs.
Security
CloudSEK's research revealed 30,000 Postman Workspaces exposing sensitive data like API keys, affecting multiple industries. Postman now warns users of exposed secrets and moves to secure workspaces after CloudSEK's findings. See additional coverage on SecurityBrief, Cyber Security News, and SC Media.
BeyondTrust, a security firm, experienced a breach via a compromised API key affecting some Remote Support SaaS users. Patches for two identified vulnerabilities have been applied, with ongoing investigations by the firm and CISA.
Salt Security announces collaboration with CrowdStrike to bolster API defense through joint product integration. The union enhances threat detection and resolution, merging API and NG-SIEM capabilities for proactive security.
Rapido quickly fixed a security flaw that leaked user and driver personal data like names and contact details. The vulnerability was in a feedback form API, risking phishing and data breaches before being made private.
A landmark global cybercrime treaty has been approved, aiming to establish a unified framework to combat issues like hacking, online fraud, and ransomware attacks. While proponents view it as a crucial step in addressing the growing threat of international cybercrime, critics, including digital rights organizations and privacy advocates, have raised concerns about potential overreach, mass surveillance, and restrictions on online freedoms. For more details, visit SC Magazine UK.