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Scottish suppliers not able to compete for renewables work due to policy

More than half of respondents to Scottish Renewables’ supply chain report said that domestic market conditions are making it more difficult to win work. Of those who answered the trade body’s questions, 60% did not think that the UK and Scottish governments are enabling the right market conditions for Scottish businesses to compete and secure […]

More than half of respondents to Scottish Renewables’ supply chain report said that domestic market conditions are making it more difficult to win work.

Of those who answered the trade body’s questions, 60% did not think that the UK and Scottish governments are enabling the right market conditions for Scottish businesses to compete and secure contracts.

This response was seen as “concerning” by Scottish Renewables’ director of energy transition and supply chain, Emma Harrick.

She said: “If we want to unlock the full potential of this industry, that gap must be addressed.

“And if we’re serious about delivering on our clean power potential and building a world-leading green economy, we need to think bigger than we ever have before.

“This means urgently delivering an economic environment that maximises the entrepreneurial spirit of our clean power supply chain.”

© Mhairi Edwards
The arrival of Edda Brint_Edda Wind Service Operation Vessel (SOV) for Seagreen offshore wind farm at Montrose Port.

In addition to this, 64% of those who answered Scottish Renewables’ questions said that project pipeline uncertainty within the renewables market is a significant barrier to scaling up their businesses.

However, 36% said that “pipeline uncertainty does slow down progress but we are adapting”.

Policy uncertainty was also reported as the biggest “challenge” facing Scotland’s renewable energy supply chain.

“Navigating policy changes and regulatory uncertainties” was voted on by 36% of respondents as the “most pressing” issue facing their business.

Securing enough “skilled talent for the growing industry” was the second biggest challenge at 28%, while 24% listed supply chain bottlenecks and materials shortages, and 12% mentioned attracting sufficient investment to “meet project demands”.

More needed to crack supply chain ‘conundrum’

At a recent Aberdeen event, Scottish Renewables chief executive Claire Mack said that the green energy sector “has yet to crack the conundrum of how to drive investment” to the supply chain. 

Mack explained: “The pipeline of projects, while plentiful, is still not providing certainty or bankable contracts and commitments to allow you to call off and reserve capacity to make firm plans on staffing and training to build capability, or to buy land and kit to expand your own operations.”

Scottish Renewables chief executive Claire Mack. © Supplied by Scottish Renewables
Scottish Renewables chief executive Claire Mack.

International pressures have been raised as a concern for those in the UK’s supply chain frequently in recent years, with Aberdeen’s Belmar Engineering liquidator MHA listing the issue as one of the reasons for the firm closing its doors this month.

In response to this news, Nexos managing director for offshore Derek Mitchell said: “It’s another stark reminder of the challenges facing the local manufacturing sector in Aberdeen—and more broadly across the UK—as businesses continue to navigate high operational costs and the challenging pace of the energy transition.”

Majority of renewables suppliers to invest in facilities and people this decade

Despite the challenges facing suppliers in the renewable energy market, the majority of respondents also claimed to be investing in skills, capabilities and facilities across Scotland.

Scottish Renewables reported 64% of firms are investing in delivering work in the green energy space over the next “three to five years”.

To this, Harrick added: “It’s promising to see that nearly two-thirds of supply chain businesses are preparing to invest in strengthening their clean energy capabilities over the next five years and it’s clear that our renewable energy industry isn’t just growing – it’s becoming the engine of Scotland’s future economy, with businesses recognising it as the country’s biggest economic opportunity.”

Scottish renewables supply chain

© Supplied by Scottish Renewables
Emma Harrick, Director of Energy Transition and Supply Chain at Scottish Renewables and Dr. Turgay Koroglu, Port Decarbonisation Engineer at Montrose Port Authority.

Organisations representing more than 9,700 jobs took part in a questionnaire which informed Scottish Renewables’ latest Supply Chain Impact Statement.

A total of 39 organisations took part, including Kintore-based engineering firm Pier Solutions and the north-east’s Montrose Port.

Port of Montrose was recently acknowledged in the Scottish parliament for its Plug Montrose initiative, Scotland’s first large-scale shore power facility, which supplies green power to offshore energy vessels through the site’s electricity grid.

Alongside the north-east businesses were Glasgow solar and battery firm Emtec Energy, Edinburgh’s green energy engineering design and consultancy business Quoceant and Paisley-based blade repair organisation 1StopWind, alongside others.

Harrick commented: “This year’s edition of the Supply Chain Impact Statement represents more than 9,700 jobs and offers a clear view of how project developers are actively collaborating with and investing in local supply chain partners, from cutting-edge start-ups and SMEs to well-established firms.”

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HPE Aruba boosts NAC security, adds GreenLake ‘kill switch’

In addition, HPE Aruba tightened the integration between HPE Aruba Networking Central and HPE OpsRamp, the technology HPE bought in 2023 to manage hybrid and multicloud environments. OpsRamp monitors elements such as third-party switches, access points, firewalls, and routers. Tighter integration expands the ability to natively monitor third-party devices from vendors such as Cisco, Arista,

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Exclusive: EET connects hydrogen-ready furnace at Stanlow in UK first

Essar Energy Transition (EET) Fuels has completed the installation and connection of a hydrogen-ready furnace at its Stanlow refinery site, in a landmark moment for UK industry. Formerly Essar Oil, EET Fuels aims to create the “world’s leading low-carbon process refinery” at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, having taken delivery of the furnace in 2022. The new furnace will consume around 10% of Stanlow’s total energy usage and replace three existing furnaces at the refinery, the company said. The Stanlow site is one of the largest oil refineries in Europe and supplies close to 16% of all road transport fuels in the UK, processing 4.4 billion litres of diesel each year. EET Fuels said the new furnace will be capable of running on 100% refinery off gas (ROG), a blend of ROG and hydrogen fuel – or 100% hydrogen. EET Fuels chief executive Deepak Maheshwari said the installation of the hydrogen-ready furnace is a “major milestone” in the company’s decarbonisation strategy. “Decommissioning three old furnaces and connecting this new highly efficient hydrogen-ready furnace to our refinery is a significant milestone for EET Fuels,” he said. “Not only will the new furnace deliver an immediate reduction in CO2 emissions, it will deliver an even bigger reduction once fully powered with low-carbon hydrogen.” And as Ruth Herbert, EET managing director, business development and strategic initiatives, told Energy Voice editor Mark Selby in our exclusive video interview: “We are officially hydrogen ready at Stanlow refinery, so for us it’s not in the future – it’s now… and we’re ready to receive the hydrogen.” Stanlow refinery decarbonisation Refinery furnaces are critical for heating crude oil and other feedstocks to separate and purify the crude to produce various fuels and chemical products. EET plans to run the furnace on conventional fuel until 2028, before transitioning to 100%

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Net zero ‘protection’ from unstable fossil fuel markets, says DESNZ chief science adviser 

Net zero will provide the UK with protection from unstable fossil fuel markets and soaring bills, the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero’s (DESNZ’s) chief scientific adviser Paul Monks said. “This government has set a clear goal that we must sprint towards clean energy and net zero. “It’s not just because of the climate’s imperative, urgent as that is, it’s because of the energy security it also provides the protection from unstable fossil fuel markets and soaring bills.” He also said at the UK’s largest net zero congress on Tuesday that the “rejuvenation” of the UK’s industrial heartlands “will provide hundreds of thousands of new jobs in new industries”. “The prime minister’s made it quite clear that it’s one of his five guiding missions to make the UK a clean energy superpower, which means achieving clean power by 2030 while speeding up the net zero transition across the economy is essential,” Monks said while speaking at Innovation Zero at Kensington Olympia in London. “And the government hasn’t wasted time getting going on this. They’ve lifted the onshore wind ban, they’ve consented almost three gigawatts of solar, invested more than £20 billion in carbon capture and hydrogen clusters. “It’s set up Great British Energy, our new national clean energy company, and it’s also made sweeping reforms to planning grids and the energy market to create the right conditions for a successful transition.” Monks said he was most excited about the need for innovation and that he had been “inspired” by the wide variety of technological solutions available at this year’s Innovation Zero awards. “We, through government, have invested a billion through our net zero innovation portfolio to help companies like yourselves develop new technologies and get ready for the market,” Monks said, presenting the event’s award ceremonies, where he said six

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The EET Interview: Ruth Herbert, managing director, business development and strategic initiatives

In our exclusive interview with Ruth Herbert, EET managing director, business development and strategic initiatives, Energy Voice editor Mark Selby discusses Ruth’s career journey from the public to private sector, and the decarbonisation journey that EET (formerly Essar Oil) is taking. EET Fuels has completed the installation and connection of a hydrogen-ready furnace at its Stanlow oil refinery, in a landmark moment for UK industry.

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Oil Market Is Going Through a Critical Phase

It seems that the global oil market is going through a critical phase, where economic and geopolitical factors intertwine, casting a heavy shadow over crude prices, particularly U.S. crude, which continues its downward trajectory. That’s what Rania Gule, a senior market analyst at XS.com-MENA, said in a market analysis sent to Rigzone on Wednesday, adding that “this sharp decline, the most significant since November 2021, cannot merely be seen as a technical correction or a routine supply and demand adjustment”. “Rather, it is a direct reflection of mounting concerns over a global economic slowdown fueled by protectionist policies and escalating trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies – the United States and China,” Gule said in the analysis. Gule went on to note that, from her perspective, investors have grown increasingly sensitive to any signs of economic weakness. “The recent steep drop in U.S. consumer confidence to its lowest level since April 2020 stands as a clear indication of fragile economic sentiment,” Gule said in the analysis. “This significant decline did not occur in a vacuum; it coincided with sudden tariff decisions by President Donald Trump, sparking a new round of trade confrontation with China,” Gule added. “In such an environment, crude oil, as a sovereign commodity closely linked to growth and industrial activity, is often the first to take a hit, amid fears of shrinking global demand and slower supply chains,” Gule continued. Gule highlighted in the report that, in her view, “the issue is not solely about demand”. “The supply side is also placing additional pressure on prices. Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed an unexpected increase of 3.8 million barrels in U.S. crude inventories, intensifying market fears of a structural supply surplus,” Gule pointed out. “When the actual increase exceeds market expectations by nearly tenfold,

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Emperor’s Clothes Syndrome and the energy transition

Serious politicians should always beware of what I will call Emperor’s Clothes Syndrome, when normally sensible people are carried along by a mantra that is eventually confirmed as absurd. I’ve seen it through my political life – not least on energy policy – when single issue zealots got control of the bus and the price of staying on board was to subscribe to what the passengers knew was foolish. Until someone – usually the electorate – called halt. We’ve recently seen the syndrome at work over gender policy, where it took the Supreme Court to determine a fundamental that need never have been in dispute. Yet, for many who should have known better, it was easier to nod in acquiescence than to challenge an aggressive orthodoxy. I am hopeful that energy policy may be on the verge of such a cathartic moment. But who will be the little boy in the crowd, as per the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, who hasn’t been let in on the secret and brings credulity to a head? Actually, there are a few queuing up for the role. At the STUC last week, Gary Smith of the GMB union did not miss and hit the wall. “Just switching off investment in the North Sea is absolute madness”, he declared. © Supplied by OEUKGMB Union general secretary Gary Smith talking with offshore workers on the Kraken FPSO in the North Sea. “It’s bad for national security, it’s bad for jobs, and the truth is it’s catastrophic for the environment because we are importing oil and gas, which is far more carbon intensive than producing it ourselves”. Like that little boy watching the Emperor’s parade, Smith has done no more than speak what pretty much everyone knows to be true, even if they feel obliged to

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ADNOC Sells $1.5B in Debut Sukuk

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. sold debt compliant with Islamic rules for the first time as the state producer works to diversify funding. Adnoc raised $1.5 billion with its debut 10-year, Shariah-compliant notes at an annual profit rate of 4.75 percent, it said Monday. The firm had set the spread on the sukuk, as the securities are known, at 60 basis points over US Treasuries. The company didn’t say what it will use for funds for. It is raising cash amid markets that have become increasingly volatile in recent months as uncertainty over the scale of US tariffs sparks economic-growth concerns and caution around planned investments. Adnoc has been expanding globally with deals for chemical producers and stakes in US LNG export projects. The United Arab Emirates, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, is seeking international investors as it looks to reduce reliance on its own oil revenue. Hedge funds, lawyers and traders have increasingly moved to Dubai and Abu Dhabi to capture new growth opportunities and tap into finance from private and sovereign investors. Standard Chartered Bank was the global coordinator and joint sukuk structuring bank for the debt. Other regional and international lenders also participated. Adnoc sold the notes through Adnoc Murban, its dedicated vehicle for issuing debt. The deal follows a $4 billion debut bond sale last year and a $3 billion green loan signed with Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Two banks in the UAE – Mashreq Bank and Ajman Bank – have tapped dollar sukuk markets since President Donald Trump imposed the steepest US tariffs in a century on April 2. Dubai’s developers are also looking to tap fixed-income investors despite the turmoil. Central banks from the European Union, the UK, Canada and Australia have all cut interest rates recently amid threats of

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Nvidia AI supercluster targets agents, reasoning models on Oracle Cloud

Oracle has previously built an OCI Supercluster with 65,536 Nvidia H200 GPUs using the older Hopper GPU technology and no CPU that offers up to 260 exaflops of peak FP8 performance. According to the blog post announcing the availability, the Blackwell GPUs are available via Oracle’s public, government, and sovereign clouds, as well as in customer-owned data centers through its OCI Dedicated Region and Alloy offerings. Oracle joins a growing list of cloud providers that have made the GB200 NVL72 system available, including Google, CoreWeave and Lambda. In addition, Microsoft offers the GB200 GPUs, though they are not deployed as an NVL72 machine.

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Deep Data Center: Neoclouds as the ‘Picks and Shovels’ of the AI Gold Rush

In 1849, the discovery of gold in California ignited a frenzy, drawing prospectors from around the world in pursuit of quick fortune. While few struck it rich digging and sifting dirt, a different class of entrepreneurs quietly prospered: those who supplied the miners with the tools of the trade. From picks and shovels to tents and provisions, these providers became indispensable to the gold rush, profiting handsomely regardless of who found gold. Today, a new gold rush is underway, in pursuit of artificial intelligence. And just like the days of yore, the real fortunes may lie not in the gold itself, but in the infrastructure and equipment that enable its extraction. This is where neocloud players and chipmakers are positioned, representing themselves as the fundamental enablers of the AI revolution. Neoclouds: The Essential Tools and Implements of AI Innovation The AI boom has sparked a frenzy of innovation, investment, and competition. From generative AI applications like ChatGPT to autonomous systems and personalized recommendations, AI is rapidly transforming industries. Yet, behind every groundbreaking AI model lies an unsung hero: the infrastructure powering it. Enter neocloud providers—the specialized cloud platforms delivering the GPU horsepower that fuels AI’s meteoric rise. Let’s examine how neoclouds represent the “picks and shovels” of the AI gold rush, used for extracting the essential backbone of AI innovation. Neoclouds are emerging as indispensable players in the AI ecosystem, offering tailored solutions for compute-intensive workloads such as training large language models (LLMs) and performing high-speed inference. Unlike traditional hyperscalers (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), which cater to a broad range of use cases, neoclouds focus exclusively on optimizing infrastructure for AI and machine learning applications. This specialization allows them to deliver superior performance at a lower cost, making them the go-to choice for startups, enterprises, and research institutions alike.

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Soluna Computing: Innovating Renewable Computing for Sustainable Data Centers

Dorothy 1A & 1B (Texas): These twin 25 MW facilities are powered by wind and serve Bitcoin hosting and mining workloads. Together, they consumed over 112,000 MWh of curtailed energy in 2024, demonstrating the impact of Soluna’s model. Dorothy 2 (Texas): Currently under construction and scheduled for energization in Q4 2025, this 48 MW site will increase Soluna’s hosting and mining capacity by 64%. Sophie (Kentucky): A 25 MW grid- and hydro-powered hosting center with a strong cost profile and consistent output. Project Grace (Texas): A 2 MW AI pilot project in development, part of Soluna’s transition into HPC and machine learning. Project Kati (Texas): With 166 MW split between Bitcoin and AI hosting, this project recently exited the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. planning phase and is expected to energize between 2025 and 2027. Project Rosa (Texas): A 187 MW flagship project co-located with wind assets, aimed at both Bitcoin and AI workloads. Land and power agreements were secured by the company in early 2025. These developments are part of the company’s broader effort to tackle both energy waste and infrastructure bottlenecks. Soluna’s behind-the-meter design enables flexibility to draw from the grid or directly from renewable sources, maximizing energy value while minimizing emissions. Competition is Fierce and a Narrower Focus Better Serves the Business In 2024, Soluna tested the waters of providing AI services via a  GPU-as-a-Service through a partnership with HPE, branded as Project Ada. The pilot aimed to rent out cloud GPUs for AI developers and LLM training. However, due to oversupply in the GPU market, delayed product rollouts (like NVIDIA’s H200), and poor demand economics, Soluna terminated the contract in March 2025. The cancellation of the contract with HPE frees up resources for Soluna to focus on what it believes the company does best: designing

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Quiet Genius at the Neutral Line: How Onics Filters Are Reshaping the Future of Data Center Power Efficiency

Why Harmonics Matter In a typical data center, nonlinear loads—like servers, UPS systems, and switch-mode power supplies—introduce harmonic distortion into the electrical system. These harmonics travel along the neutral and ground conductors, where they can increase current flow, cause overheating in transformers, and shorten the lifespan of critical power infrastructure. More subtly, they waste power through reactive losses that don’t show up on a basic utility bill, but do show up in heat, inefficiency, and increased infrastructure stress. Traditional mitigation approaches—like active harmonic filters or isolation transformers—are complex, expensive, and often require custom integration and ongoing maintenance. That’s where Onics’ solution stands out. It’s engineered as a shunt-style, low-pass filter: a passive device that sits in parallel with the circuit, quietly siphoning off problematic harmonics without interrupting operations.  The result? Lower apparent power demand, reduced electrical losses, and a quieter, more stable current environment—especially on the neutral line, where cumulative harmonic effects often peak. Behind the Numbers: Real-World Impact While the Onics filters offer a passive complement to traditional mitigation strategies, they aren’t intended to replace active harmonic filters or isolation transformers in systems that require them—they work best as a low-complexity enhancement to existing power quality designs. LoPilato says Onics has deployed its filters in mission-critical environments ranging from enterprise edge to large colos, and the data is consistent. In one example, a 6 MW data center saw a verified 9.2% reduction in energy consumption after deploying Onics filters at key electrical junctures. Another facility clocked in at 17.8% savings across its lighting and support loads, thanks in part to improved power factor and reduced transformer strain. The filters work by targeting high-frequency distortion—typically above the 3rd harmonic and up through the 35th. By passively attenuating this range, the system reduces reactive current on the neutral and helps stabilize

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New IEA Report Contrasts Energy Bottlenecks with Opportunities for AI and Data Center Growth

Artificial intelligence has, without question, crossed the threshold—from a speculative academic pursuit into the defining infrastructure of 21st-century commerce, governance, and innovation. What began in the realm of research labs and open-source models is now embedded in the capital stack of every major hyperscaler, semiconductor roadmap, and national industrial strategy. But as AI scales, so does its energy footprint. From Nvidia-powered GPU clusters to exascale training farms, the conversation across boardrooms and site selection teams has fundamentally shifted. It’s no longer just about compute density, thermal loads, or software frameworks. It’s about power—how to find it, finance it, future-proof it, and increasingly, how to generate it onsite. That refrain—“It’s all about power now”—has moved from a whisper to a full-throated consensus across the data center industry. The latest report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) gives this refrain global context and hard numbers, affirming what developers, utilities, and infrastructure operators have already sensed on the ground: the AI revolution will be throttled or propelled by the availability of scalable, sustainable, and dispatchable electricity. Why Energy Is the Real Bottleneck to Intelligence at Scale The major new IEA report puts it plainly: The transformative promise of AI will be throttled—or unleashed—by the world’s ability to deliver scalable, reliable, and sustainable electricity. The stakes are enormous. Countries that can supply the power AI craves will shape the future. Those that can’t may find themselves sidelined. Importantly, while AI poses clear challenges, the report emphasizes how it also offers solutions: from optimizing energy grids and reducing emissions in industrial sectors to enhancing energy security by supporting infrastructure defenses against cyberattacks. The report calls for immediate investments in both energy generation and grid capabilities, as well as stronger collaboration between the tech and energy sectors to avoid critical bottlenecks. The IEA advises that, for countries

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Colorado Eyes the AI Data Center Boom with Bold Incentive Push

Even as states work on legislation to limit data center development, it is clear that some locations are looking to get a bigger piece of the huge data center spending that the AI wave has created. It appears that politicians in Colorado took a look around and thought to themselves “Why is all that data center building going to Texas and Arizona? What’s wrong with the Rocky Mountain State?” Taking a page from the proven playbook that has gotten data centers built all over the country, Colorado is trying to jump on the financial incentives for data center development bandwagon. SB 24-085: A Statewide Strategy to Attract Data Center Investment Looking to significantly boost its appeal as a data center hub, Colorado is now considering Senate Bill 24-085, currently making its way through the state legislature. Sponsored by Senators Priola and Buckner and Representatives Parenti and Weinberg, this legislation promises substantial economic incentives in the form of state sales and use tax rebates for new data centers established within the state from fiscal year 2026 through 2033. Colorado hopes to position itself strategically to compete with neighboring states in attracting lucrative tech investments and high-skilled jobs. According to DataCenterMap.com, there are currently 53 data centers in the state, almost all located in the Denver area, but they are predominantly smaller facilities. In today’s era of massive AI-driven hyperscale expansion, Colorado is rarely mentioned in the same breath as major AI data center markets.  Some local communities have passed their own incentive packages, but SB 24-085 aims to offer a unified, statewide framework that can also help mitigate growing NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) sentiment around new developments. The Details: How SB 24-085 Works The bill, titled “Concerning a rebate of the state sales and use tax paid on new digital infrastructure

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Microsoft will invest $80B in AI data centers in fiscal 2025

And Microsoft isn’t the only one that is ramping up its investments into AI-enabled data centers. Rival cloud service providers are all investing in either upgrading or opening new data centers to capture a larger chunk of business from developers and users of large language models (LLMs).  In a report published in October 2024, Bloomberg Intelligence estimated that demand for generative AI would push Microsoft, AWS, Google, Oracle, Meta, and Apple would between them devote $200 billion to capex in 2025, up from $110 billion in 2023. Microsoft is one of the biggest spenders, followed closely by Google and AWS, Bloomberg Intelligence said. Its estimate of Microsoft’s capital spending on AI, at $62.4 billion for calendar 2025, is lower than Smith’s claim that the company will invest $80 billion in the fiscal year to June 30, 2025. Both figures, though, are way higher than Microsoft’s 2020 capital expenditure of “just” $17.6 billion. The majority of the increased spending is tied to cloud services and the expansion of AI infrastructure needed to provide compute capacity for OpenAI workloads. Separately, last October Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said his company planned total capex spend of $75 billion in 2024 and even more in 2025, with much of it going to AWS, its cloud computing division.

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John Deere unveils more autonomous farm machines to address skill labor shortage

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Self-driving tractors might be the path to self-driving cars. John Deere has revealed a new line of autonomous machines and tech across agriculture, construction and commercial landscaping. The Moline, Illinois-based John Deere has been in business for 187 years, yet it’s been a regular as a non-tech company showing off technology at the big tech trade show in Las Vegas and is back at CES 2025 with more autonomous tractors and other vehicles. This is not something we usually cover, but John Deere has a lot of data that is interesting in the big picture of tech. The message from the company is that there aren’t enough skilled farm laborers to do the work that its customers need. It’s been a challenge for most of the last two decades, said Jahmy Hindman, CTO at John Deere, in a briefing. Much of the tech will come this fall and after that. He noted that the average farmer in the U.S. is over 58 and works 12 to 18 hours a day to grow food for us. And he said the American Farm Bureau Federation estimates there are roughly 2.4 million farm jobs that need to be filled annually; and the agricultural work force continues to shrink. (This is my hint to the anti-immigration crowd). John Deere’s autonomous 9RX Tractor. Farmers can oversee it using an app. While each of these industries experiences their own set of challenges, a commonality across all is skilled labor availability. In construction, about 80% percent of contractors struggle to find skilled labor. And in commercial landscaping, 86% of landscaping business owners can’t find labor to fill open positions, he said. “They have to figure out how to do

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2025 playbook for enterprise AI success, from agents to evals

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More 2025 is poised to be a pivotal year for enterprise AI. The past year has seen rapid innovation, and this year will see the same. This has made it more critical than ever to revisit your AI strategy to stay competitive and create value for your customers. From scaling AI agents to optimizing costs, here are the five critical areas enterprises should prioritize for their AI strategy this year. 1. Agents: the next generation of automation AI agents are no longer theoretical. In 2025, they’re indispensable tools for enterprises looking to streamline operations and enhance customer interactions. Unlike traditional software, agents powered by large language models (LLMs) can make nuanced decisions, navigate complex multi-step tasks, and integrate seamlessly with tools and APIs. At the start of 2024, agents were not ready for prime time, making frustrating mistakes like hallucinating URLs. They started getting better as frontier large language models themselves improved. “Let me put it this way,” said Sam Witteveen, cofounder of Red Dragon, a company that develops agents for companies, and that recently reviewed the 48 agents it built last year. “Interestingly, the ones that we built at the start of the year, a lot of those worked way better at the end of the year just because the models got better.” Witteveen shared this in the video podcast we filmed to discuss these five big trends in detail. Models are getting better and hallucinating less, and they’re also being trained to do agentic tasks. Another feature that the model providers are researching is a way to use the LLM as a judge, and as models get cheaper (something we’ll cover below), companies can use three or more models to

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OpenAI’s red teaming innovations define new essentials for security leaders in the AI era

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More OpenAI has taken a more aggressive approach to red teaming than its AI competitors, demonstrating its security teams’ advanced capabilities in two areas: multi-step reinforcement and external red teaming. OpenAI recently released two papers that set a new competitive standard for improving the quality, reliability and safety of AI models in these two techniques and more. The first paper, “OpenAI’s Approach to External Red Teaming for AI Models and Systems,” reports that specialized teams outside the company have proven effective in uncovering vulnerabilities that might otherwise have made it into a released model because in-house testing techniques may have missed them. In the second paper, “Diverse and Effective Red Teaming with Auto-Generated Rewards and Multi-Step Reinforcement Learning,” OpenAI introduces an automated framework that relies on iterative reinforcement learning to generate a broad spectrum of novel, wide-ranging attacks. Going all-in on red teaming pays practical, competitive dividends It’s encouraging to see competitive intensity in red teaming growing among AI companies. When Anthropic released its AI red team guidelines in June of last year, it joined AI providers including Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, and even the U.S.’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which all had released red teaming frameworks. Investing heavily in red teaming yields tangible benefits for security leaders in any organization. OpenAI’s paper on external red teaming provides a detailed analysis of how the company strives to create specialized external teams that include cybersecurity and subject matter experts. The goal is to see if knowledgeable external teams can defeat models’ security perimeters and find gaps in their security, biases and controls that prompt-based testing couldn’t find. What makes OpenAI’s recent papers noteworthy is how well they define using human-in-the-middle

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