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Var Energi Makes Gas, Condensate Find Offshore Norway

Var Energi announced, in a statement posted on its website, that it has made a new “commercial” gas and condensate discovery in the Vidsyn exploration well, which is situated near the Var Energi operated Fenja field in the Norwegian Sea. The company noted in the statement that the discovery was made on the Vidsyn ridge, […]

Var Energi announced, in a statement posted on its website, that it has made a new “commercial” gas and condensate discovery in the Vidsyn exploration well, which is situated near the Var Energi operated Fenja field in the Norwegian Sea.

The company noted in the statement that the discovery was made on the Vidsyn ridge, which it said has the potential to hold up to 100 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) gross. Var Energi said in the statement that the Vidsyn well confirms discovered recoverable resources in the range of 25 to 40 mmboe gross.

“The remaining potential of the ridge will be assessed through an appraisal program, to facilitate for a fast track development,” Var revealed in the statement.

“The well encountered very good quality reservoirs with over 200 meters of hydrocarbon column. The discovery is located updip of a previous exploration well, providing a clear framework confirming commerciality and supporting further evaluation of the broader Vidsyn ridge,” the company added.

“The reservoir contains high quality gas-condensate only eight kilometres from the existing Fenja subsea infrastructure, which is tied into the Njord host facility,” it continued.

Var Energi highlighted in the statement that the find is the third commercial discovery for the company so far in 2025 and noted that it will be evaluated as a potential tie-in to Fenja.

“Vidsyn is an exciting discovery unlocking a much larger potential along the ridge in our operated Fenja area and adding high-value barrels to be developed leveraging existing infrastructure in which Vår Energi holds significant equity,” SVP Exploration at Var Energi, Luca Dragonetti, said in the statement.

“We are actively exploring in this area and are currently maturing new prospects. The Vidsyn discovery is the consequence of our disciplined and selective exploration strategy focused on expanding our ability to deliver value through proximity to existing infrastructure,” Dragonetti added.

In a statement posted on its website, Var’s partner in the discovery, DNO ASA, confirmed a gas and condensate find on the Vidsyn prospect.

“Preliminary estimates put gross recoverable resources in the range of 25 to 40 mmboe with a mean of 31 mmboe, above the pre-drill estimate range,” DNO said in that statement.

“The Vidsyn discovery was made in Middle Jurassic high-quality reservoir sandstones of the Ile formation. The partnership, including Vår Energi ASA … considers the discovery commercial and sees a potential to unlock a larger volume in the license,” it added.

DNO Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani said in the statement, “Vidsyn is another exciting addition to our string of Norway discoveries”.

“Together with Var Energi, we will work hard to put it into production faster than is the norm in Norway,” Mossavar-Rahmani added.

In its statement, DNO noted that, since re-entering Norway in 2017, it has participated in over a dozen discoveries on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, including three on permits operated by the company.

Var Energi has a 75 percent operated interest in the find. DNO outlined in its statement that it has a 25 percent stake in the discovery, “up from 7.5 percent prior to the recent acquisition of Sval Energi Group AS last month”.

A statement posted on the Norwegian Offshore Directorate website also highlighted that Var Energi and its partners had made a gas/condensate discovery in the Vidsyn prospect.

That statement pointed out that the discovery well was the eighth wildcat well to be drilled in production license 856 and that the well was drilled by the Deepsea Yantai rig.

“Extensive data acquisition and sampling have been carried out,” the Norwegian Offshore Directorate said in the statement.

“The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 3,857 meters below sea level and was terminated in the Åre Formation from the Late Triassic. Water depth at the site is 310 meters. The well will be permanently plugged and abandoned,” it added.

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CISPE seeks to annul Broadcom’s VMware takeover

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CompTIA updates Linux+ certification

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Humana slashes engineering hours with network automation overhaul

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Data centers seek flexible power solutions for resilience, sustainability

AI data centers in the United States could consume 33.8 gigawatts of power by 2030, or about 3% of the country’s generating capacity, Schneider Electric said earlier this year. Some AI power demand projections are even more aggressive, like a 2024 RAND Corporation forecast cited by Schneider that sees 130 GW of data center demand in 2030. With data center projects worth at least $64 billion delayed or blocked by local opposition and state policymakers and regulators placing restrictions on development, a backlash appears to be brewing.  Data center opponents cite a litany of concerns, from noise to water pollution, but some of the most frequently cited center on the local impacts of onsite power generation and broader effects on the electric grid. Earlier this month, Elon Musk’s xAI overcame local opposition to secure an air permit for a fleet of gas generators at its AI training center in Memphis, Tenn.  Texas lawmakers recently passed a law requiring new data centers to disconnect from the grid during periods of high power demand. Several states have implemented or are considering special utility tariffs requiring data center companies to cover the costs of grid upgrades they benefit from. North Carolina utility regulators plan a technical conference in October on data centers’ potential impacts on power reliability. Data centers’ appetite for power and the growing recognition that unchecked growth would be a problem for the grid could cause short-term growing pains for the industry, said Kelcy Pegler, CEO of FlexGen, a battery management software company. “From a societal perspective, we are underestimating the impact that data centers will have on the grid,” Pegler said in an interview. “We’re going to have a break-in period where data center ambitions will have trouble coming to fruition.” Earlier this year, FlexGen partnered with electrical contractor Rosendin

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Saskatchewan, Ontario, Alberta Sign MoU to Facilitate O&G Transportation

Three Canadian provinces are collaborating to facilitate the transportation of oil and gas across the country. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to coordinate the safe transportation and export of Western Canadian oil, natural gas and critical minerals to refineries, seaports and storage facilities across Canada and beyond, according to a statement from the Canadian government. The MoU establishes a collaborative framework to explore multiple pipeline and rail corridors, and expansion of processing hubs for critical minerals. The framework aims to create new and critical avenues to reach domestic and international markets, the statement said. The agreement will help strengthen interprovincial trade by linking Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Alberta through shared infrastructure development and coordinated market strategies, according to the statement. “We are sending a clear signal that Canada’s energy future will be built by Canadians, for Canadians,” Moe said. “This agreement commits our provinces to work together to unlock new markets, shore up our supply chains from mine to port and advocate for the federal reforms our industry needs. By advancing pipelines, rail connections and critical-mineral processing capacity, we are safeguarding thousands of jobs, strengthening our energy security and fostering sustainable growth”. “As the world grapples with President Trump’s unfair tariffs, it is more important than ever to build a resilient and self-reliant economy here at home,” Ford said. “This agreement sends a clear message: Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan are ready to get shovels in the ground and move forward on projects that will secure our long-term prosperity”. “We are taking action to grow our economy, build real infrastructure and get major projects moving,” Smith said. “Alberta is proud to lead the way in uniting with provinces that share a vision for responsible development, economic freedom and

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Enbridge to Supply Meta with Power from 600-MW Solar Project in Texas

Enbridge Inc. said it has reached a final investment decision on Clear Fork, a 600-megawatt (MW) solar project in Texas, with Meta Platforms, Inc. signing a long-term contract for 100 percent of the renewable output of the project. Clear Fork is planned to be a utility-scale solar facility located near San Antonio. Construction is underway, and the facility is expected to enter service in the summer of 2027, the company said in a news release. Enbridge’s estimated project cost is $900 mllion and the project is expected to be accretive to cash flow and earnings per share starting in 2027, the company said. “Clear Fork demonstrates the growing demand for renewable power across North America from blue-chip companies who are involved in technology and data center operations,” Enbridge Executive Vice President Matthew Akman said. “Enbridge continues to advance its world-class renewables development portfolio using our financial strength, supply chain reach and construction expertise under a low-risk commercial model that delivers strong competitive returns”. “We are thrilled to partner with Enbridge to bring new renewable energy to Texas and help support our operations with 100 percent clean energy,” Meta Head of Global Energy Urvi Parekh said. First Nations Stake Acquisition Earlier in the month, Stonlasec8 Indigenous Alliance Limited, representing 38 Indigenous communities in British Columbia, completed a CAD 715 million ($512.75 million) equity investment to acquire a 12.5 percent ownership interest in Enbridge’s Westcoast natural gas pipeline system, the first to be competed under the program. The acquisition was supported by two separate bond financings by TD Securities Inc., as a bond placement agent, and a syndicate of institutional investors who provided CAD 400 million through a secured bond issuance to facilitate the Indigenous Partnership’s investment, according to a separate statement. The bond financing was backed by a CAD 400 million

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Canteen Workers at Exxon Refinery Suspend Strike

In a statement sent to Rigzone on Friday, UK union Unite announced that workers employed by the Compass Group at ExxonMobil’s Fawley oil refinery who were due to take strike action this weekend have suspended their industrial action. The statement highlighted that the workers were due to go on strike from July 25 until 28 July but noted that they will now not take industrial action in order to consult on a pay offer. Unite added that strike action scheduled for August 1-4 will go ahead as scheduled if workers reject the current pay offer. “Unite has paused its industrial action to allow our members to consult on a pay offer,” Unite Regional Officer Rebeca Johns-Lawrence said in the statement. “If the offer is rejected then the strikes planned for early next month will go ahead as planned,” Unite added. Rigzone has contacted Compass Group and ExxonMobil for comment on Unite’s statement. Rigzone has also contacted Bram Frankhuijzen, EMEA Procurement Director at CBRE Global Workplace Solutions (GWS) EMEA, for comment on Unite’s statement. ExxonMobil previously directed Rigzone to Frankhuijzen, describing him as the staff’s employer. At the time of writing, none of the above have responded to Rigzone. In a statement sent to Rigzone last week, Unite revealed that canteen workers employed by Compass Group at ExxonMobil’s Fawley complex in the UK were due to strike.  “Fawley workers will be famished when the oil refinery’s canteen staff strike over poverty pay,” Unite noted in that statement. “The predominantly female workers, employed by catering outsourcer Compass, are paid only slightly more than the minimum wage,” it added. “They are demanding a pay rise that reflects the rising cost of living and ensures the gap between their wages and the absolute legal minimum does not shrink,” it went on to state. Unite

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Karoon CEO Julian Fowles Stepping Down; Search for Replacement Starts

Karoon Energy Ltd said that its Managing Director and CEO Julian Fowles will be leaving the company by mid-2026. The move follows the company’s decision to relocate key corporate teams and roles to Brazil and the USA, Karoon said in a news release. The company said its board, supported by an international search firm, is leading a global search process to appoint a Houston-based CEO / managing director to succeed Fowles. Fowles will remain in his role until the appointment of the new CEO / managing director or the end of the year. He will then serve a notice period through to mid-2026, where he will be available to provide continuity, if required, the company said. Karoon Chair Peter Botten said, “Following discussions with the Board, Julian will not be relocating as part of the planned transition of key corporate roles, including senior management, from Melbourne to Brazil and the USA”. “The decision to relocate these roles has not been taken lightly. The Board expects that this change, which includes simplifying Karoon’s structure, will increase efficiency and facilitate collaboration between the business units in Brazil and the USA. It will also reduce duplication and allow the Company to source high quality, local talent in our operational locations. The relocation of our corporate teams and roles, which has been carefully planned, will be phased over a period of 12 to 18 months to ensure that a meticulous handover of roles and responsibilities can be undertaken,” Botten continued. “On behalf of the Board, I would like to sincerely thank Julian for all his hard work over the past five years. Joining Karoon in 2020, Julian was instrumental in developing and delivering Karoon’s 2021 Strategic Plan. This included the successful Baúna intervention campaign, the development of the Patola field and the strategic Who

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UK Gov Announces ‘Tailored Support for Aberdeen Oil Workers’

The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has announced “tailored support for Aberdeen oil and gas workers” in a release posted on its website recently. According to the release, “around 200 Aberdeen oil and gas workers are set to benefit from a tailored skills program” launched this week, which the release said “will support them to take advantage of the high-quality job opportunities in Scotland’s growing clean energy sector”.    DESNZ noted in the release that the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund, which it said is backed by GBP 900,000 ($1.2 million) of UK government funding, “will help build the pipeline of skilled workers needed to make Britain a clean energy superpower as part of the government’s Plan for Change”.  The program is open to current and former oil and gas workers who live in or are employed in Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire and are interested in moving into roles within clean energy, the release stated, adding that successful applicants will receive careers advice and funding towards training courses. DESNZ highlighted in the release that the program will be delivered in partnership between the UK government, the Scottish government, and Skills Development Scotland, which describes itself as Scotland’s national skills body. “Aberdeen has been the energy capital of Britain for decades and while oil and gas will be with us for decades to come, we are determined to make sure that workers are supported to access the thousands of jobs in industries such as offshore wind and carbon capture,” Minister for Energy Michael Shanks said in the release. “This funding will help deliver a fair and prosperous transition in the North Sea, unlocking the full potential of renewable energy and reaping the economic benefits from the skills and experiences of Aberdeen’s workforce,” he added. Secretary of State for Scotland

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Storage vendors bring record capacity devices to handle massive data generation

Both are built on Seagate’s Mozaic3+ with advanced storage technology called HAMR, or Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording. By heating the platter to as much as 500°C, they can squeeze up to 3TB per platter. Other than that, it looks like a standard hard drive: 3.5-inch enclosure, 7,200 RPM spin rotation, and SATA III interface with 6Gbps/s transfer speeds. The drivers are available now and are rather affordable. The 30TB Exos is just $599 on NewEgg.com. On the enterprise solid state drive (SSD) front, KIOXIA America has expanded its high-capacity KIOXIA LC9 Series enterprise SSD lineup with the introduction of a 245.76TB NVMe SSD. The drive comes in a 2.5-inch and Enterprise and Datacenter Standard Form Factor (EDSFF) E3.L form factor and is purpose-built for the performance and efficiency demands of generative AI environments.

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Technology is coming so fast data centers are obsolete by the time they launch

 Tariffs aside, Enderle feels that AI technology and ancillary technology around it like battery backup is still in the early stages of development and there will be significant changes coming in the next few years. GPUs from AMD and Nvidia are the primary processors for AI, and they are derived from video game accelerators. They were never meant for use in AI processing, but they are being fine-tuned for the task.  It’s better to wait to get a more mature product than something that is still in a relatively early state. But Alan Howard, senior analyst for data center infrastructure at Omdia, disagrees and says not to wait. One reason is the rate at which people that are building data centers is all about seizing market opportunity.” You must have a certain amount of capacity to make sure that you can execute on strategies meant to capture more market share.” The same sentiment exists on the colocation side, where there is a considerable shortage of capacity as demand outstrips supply. “To say, well, let’s wait and see if maybe we’ll be able to build a better, more efficient data center by not building anything for a couple of years. That’s just straight up not going to happen,” said Howard. “By waiting, you’re going to miss market opportunities. And these companies are all in it to make money. And so, the almighty dollar rules,” he added. Howard acknowledges that by the time you design and build the data center, it’s obsolete. The question is, does that mean it can’t do anything? “I mean, if you start today on a data center that’s going to be full of [Nvidia] Blackwells, and let’s say you deploy in two years when they’ve already retired Blackwell, and they’re making something completely new. Is that data

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‘Significant’ outage at Alaska Airlines not a security incident, but a hardware breakdown

The airline told Network World that when the critical piece of what it described as “third-party multi-redundant hardware” failed unexpectedly, “it impacted several of our key systems that enable us to run various operations.” The company is currently working with its vendor to replace the faulty equipment at the data center. The airline has cancelled more than 150 flights since Sunday evening, including 64 on Monday. The company said additional flight disruptions are likely as it repositions aircraft and crews throughout its network. Alaska Airlines emphasized that the safety of its flights was never compromised, and that “the IT outage is not related to any other current events, and it’s not connected to the recent cybersecurity incident at Hawaiian Airlines.” The airline did not provide additional information to Network World about the specifics of the outage. “There are many redundant components that can fail,” said Roberts, noting that it could have been something as simple as a RAID array (which combines multiple physical data storage components into one or more logical units). Or, on the network side, it could have been the failure of a pair of load balancers. “It’s interesting that redundancy didn’t save them,” said Roberts. “Perhaps multiple pieces of hardware were impacted by the same issue, like a firmware update. Or, maybe they’re just really unlucky.”

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Cisco upgrades 400G optical receiver to boost AI infrastructure throughput

“In the data center, what’s really changed in the last year or so is that with AI buildouts, there’s much, much more optics that are part of 400G and 800G. It’s not so much using 10G and 25G optics, which we still sell a ton of, for campus applications. But for AI infrastructure, the 400G and 800G optics are really the dominant optics for that application,” Gartner said. Most of the AI infrastructure builds have been for training models, especially in hyperscaler environments, Gartner said. “I expect, towards the tail end of this year, we’ll start to see more enterprises deploying AI infrastructure for inference. And once they do that, because it has an Nvidia GPU attached to it, it’s going to be a 400G or 800G optic.” Core enterprise applications – such as real-time trading, high-frequency transactions, multi-cloud communications, cybersecurity analytics, network forensics, and industrial IoT – can also utilize the higher network throughput, Gartner said. 

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Supermicro bets big on 4-socket X14 servers to regain enterprise trust

In April, Dell announced its PowerEdge R470, R570, R670, and R770 servers with Intel Xeon 6 Processors with P-cores, but with single and double-socket servers. Similarly, Lenovo’s ThinkSystem V4 servers are also based on the Intel Xeon 6 processor but are limited to dual socket configurations. The launch of 4-socket servers by Supermicro reflects a growing enterprise need for localized compute that can support memory-bound AI and reduce the complexity of distributed architectures. “The modern 4-socket servers solve multiple pain points that have intensified with GenAI and memory-intensive analytics. Enterprises are increasingly challenged by latency, interconnect complexity, and power budgets in distributed environments. High-capacity, scale-up servers provide an architecture that is more aligned with low-latency, large-model processing, especially where data residency or compliance constraints limit cloud elasticity,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst and CEO at Greyhound Research. “Launching a 4-socket Xeon 6 platform and packaging it within their modular ‘building block’ strategy shows Supermicro is focusing on staying ahead in enterprise and AI data center compute,” said Devroop Dhar, co-founder and MD at Primus Partner. A critical launch after major setbacks Experts peg this to be Supermicro’s most significant product launch since it became mired in governance and regulatory controversies. In 2024, the company lost Ernst & Young, its second auditor in two years, following allegations by Hindenburg Research involving accounting irregularities and the alleged export of sensitive chips to sanctioned entities. Compounding its troubles, Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI redirected its AI server orders to Dell, a move that reportedly cost Supermicro billions in potential revenue and damaged its standing in the hyperscaler ecosystem. Earlier this year, HPE signed a $1 billion contract to provide AI servers for X, a deal Supermicro was also bidding for. “The X14 launch marks a strategic reinforcement for Supermicro, showcasing its commitment

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Moving AI workloads off the cloud? A hefty data center retrofit awaits

“If you have a very specific use case, and you want to fold AI into some of your processes, and you need a GPU or two and a server to do that, then, that’s perfectly acceptable,” he says. “What we’re seeing, kind of universally, is that most of the enterprises want to migrate to these autonomous agents and agentic AI, where you do need a lot of compute capacity.” Racks of brand-new GPUs, even without new power and cooling infrastructure, can be costly, and Schneider Electric often advises cost-conscious clients to look at previous-generation GPUs to save money. GPU and other AI-related technology is advancing so rapidly, however, that it’s hard to know when to put down stakes. “We’re kind of in a situation where five years ago, we were talking about a data center lasting 30 years and going through three refreshes, maybe four,” Carlini says. “Now, because it is changing so much and requiring more and more power and cooling you can’t overbuild and then grow into it like you used to.”

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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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