№ 04 — FIELD LESSON · 59s
The $55,000 bill from one leaked API key
A leaked API key ran up a $55,444.78 Google Cloud bill overnight (reported by Cybernews).
If you build apps by chatting with an AI, never paste your key into the chat. The assistant bakes it into your app's files, the app goes online, and bots that hunt the web for keys drain the account. Make the agent set up a file you fill in yourself, so it never sees the key, then put a $50 cap on it.
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▸ 0:59The agent that deleted a company's database in 9 seconds
An AI agent wiped a company's entire database, and the backups, in nine seconds.
▸ 0:49Left alone for 90 minutes, the agent burned $1,400
An AI agent left alone for 90 minutes burned $1,400.
▸ 0:56Filmed at your own desk: when the AI proctor accuses you
A university told students to buy a mirror big enough to show their whole desk and film themselves during the test, just to prove to a machine they were not cheating. Others had to sit through exams with their arms crossed. AI cheating accusations are exploding, and the detectors doing the judging are guessing.
▸ 1:0023 invented court cases, a $110,000 fine
Two lawyers let an AI write their court filing. It invented 23 cases that do not exist, and the judge fined them $110,000.