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BP Reveals Another Discovery Offshore Egypt

In a release posted on its site recently, BP revealed another discovery offshore Egypt. The company outlined in the release that it “encountered four prospective Messinian gas reservoirs, with a total sand thickness of 50 meters (164 feet) at a measured depth of approximately 2,900 meters (1.8 miles)” at the El Fayoum-5 well. The well was spudded on […]

In a release posted on its site recently, BP revealed another discovery offshore Egypt.

The company outlined in the release that it “encountered four prospective Messinian gas reservoirs, with a total sand thickness of 50 meters (164 feet) at a measured depth of approximately 2,900 meters (1.8 miles)” at the El Fayoum-5 well.

The well was spudded on February 14 and is located in the North Alexandria Offshore Concession, BP pointed out in the release. The company highlighted that this is the final well in its “four-slot drilling campaign in the West Nile Delta”.

BP noted in the release that plans are underway to tie back the discovery to its operated West Nile Delta Gas Development.

Rigzone asked BP if it had any production figures for El-Fayoum-5 and if it plans more exploration drilling offshore Egypt this year. A BP spokesperson was unable to provide production figures for the well but confirmed that BP “does not plan any more exploration drilling offshore Egypt this year”.

In BP’s release, William Lin, EVP Gas & Low Carbon, said, “this reinforces BP’s commitment to Egypt and its growing energy needs”.

“With Raven Infills Phase 2 already contributing to production, we’re now fast-tracking the El King and Fayoum discoveries to tie into our West Nile Delta infrastructure,” he added.

“The delivery of Raven Infills is fully in line with our priority to grow the upstream and high grade our portfolio across the world,” he continued.

In a release sent to Rigzone by the BP team last month, BP revealed that it had made a discovery offshore Egypt. The company outlined in that release that it “encountered two prospective Messinian reservoirs at a measured depth of approximately 2,400 meters” at the El King-2 exploration well, which is situated in the North King Mariout Offshore Concession.

Rigzone asked BP for more information on these reservoirs at the time, but a company spokesperson was unable to comment.

In a separate release posted on its site last month, BP announced the start of production from the second development phase of the Raven field, offshore Egypt, which it said involves the subsea tieback of additional Raven infill wells to its existing onshore infrastructure as part of the West Nile Delta project.

The new wells are expected to produce approximately 220 billion cubic feet of gas and seven million barrels of condensate, BP noted in that release.

Nader Zaki, BP Regional President for the Middle East and North Africa, said in that release, “since January 2024, we have not stopped drilling for one day”.

“The focus of the Raven Infills project has been to fight natural decline and increase production while maximizing our existing infrastructure to meet Egypt’s domestic market demand at pace,” Zaki added.

“This further demonstrates BP’s commitment to investing in Egypt, enabled by the unparalleled support and partnership with the Ministry of Petroleum, EGPC, and EGAS,” Zaki continued.

BP highlighted in its latest release that the West Nile Delta Gas Development consists of a series of gas condensate fields located offshore Egypt, within the North Alexandria and West Mediterranean Deepwater concessions.

It added that the Raven field, which it described as the final phase of the West Nile Delta project, has been in production since early 2021. Its initial phase included the development of eight subsea wells, located up to 65 km (40 miles) offshore, at water depths ranging from 550 meters (1,804 feet) to 700 meters (2,296 feet), BP said in the statement.

BP states on its website that it takes pride in its long-standing history in Egypt, adding that it has “operated successfully in Egypt for almost 60 years” and invested “more than $35 billion during that time”.

The West Nile Delta development is listed as a “major gas project” on BP’s site, which highlights that this development includes five gas fields and is BP’s first operated asset in the country.

The West Nile Delta is currently producing close to one billion cubic feet per day from the combined West Nile Delta fields, according to BP’s site.  

In a statement posted on its website last month, BP announced a “fundamentally reset strategy”. This strategy will see BP grow its upstream oil and gas business, focus its downstream business, and invest with increasing discipline into the transition, the company noted in that statement.

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ServiceNow to pay $2.85B for Moveworks’ AI tools

ServiceNow and Moveworks will deliver a unified, end‑to‑end search and self‑service experience for all employee requestors across every workflow, according to ServiceNow. A majority of Moveworks’ current customer deployments already use ServiceNow in their environments to access enterprise AI, data, and workflows. ServiceNow said this acquisition will build upon the

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Trump extends tariff pause to all USMCA goods

The White House announced Thursday afternoon that it will suspend tariffs on all imports that are compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement until April 2. The pause, which was extended to imports from Mexico that adhered to the USMCA earlier Thursday, will now also cover goods from Canada that meet

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UKOG pushes South Dorset hydrogen store with Portland Port deals

UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) has struck deals with Portland Port to drive the development of its South Dorset hydrogen project. UKOG’s subsidiary UK Energy Storage (UKEn) executed two memorandums of understanding (MoU) with the port, the first covering imports of green hydrogen carrier fluids and compressed hydrogen into the port and sending gas to the storage site. The second covers generating green hydrogen via electrolysis within Portland Port by using excess wind power and using the hydrogen to generate power to cover South Dorset’s initial power needs. UKOG added that it has identified and opened preliminary dialogue with potential suppliers of both liquid and gaseous green hydrogen. According to UKEn, the potential to source green hydrogen supplies, along with converting excess wind power to hydrogen for storage, will strengthen its case for the award of government revenue support. UKOG chief executive Stephen Sanderson commented: “The addition of a potential material source of green hydrogen, directly linked to UKEn’s South Dorset storage site, would both enhance our project’s national significance and the prospects of UKEn securing revenue support in the government’s forthcoming Hydrogen Storage procurement process. “The revenue support case would likely be further strengthened by the future potential for UKEn’s proposed at scale hydrogen battery allied to planned offshore Dorset wind power.” The UKOG boss added that the development of “one of the UK’s largest future green energy and hydrogen hubs” makes sense for the region as it stands to be “the UK’s largest hydrogen demand area by 2040.” The South Dorset project will consist of 24 salt caverns around 4,265 feet below ground. It will have the capacity to store around a billion cubic meters (bcm) of hydrogen, equivalent to 30.2TWh per year. In addition, the site is located near the Solent Cluster, with the planned H2Connect hydrogen

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South Bow Reports Record System Availability in 2024

TC Energy Corp. spinoff South Bow Corp. has reported a net income of $55 million for the fourth quarter and $316 million for the full year 2024. The company said in a media release the strong results reflect the highly contracted nature of its assets. Revenue and normalized earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization (normalized EBITDA) increased relative to 2023 due to significant demand for uncommitted capacity on the Keystone Pipeline in the first quarter of 2024, and strong demand for capacity on the U.S. Gulf Coast segment of the Keystone Pipeline System throughout the year, South Bow said. The company reported revenue of $488 million and $2.12 billion for the three months and year ended December 31, 2024, respectively. South Bow said it delivered record system availability with an annual System Operating Factor (SOF) of 95 percent for the Keystone Pipeline due to continued improvements in system reliability. It recorded an annual average throughput on the Keystone Pipeline of approximately 626,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2024, an increase of 5 percent relative to 2023. Throughput on the U.S. Gulf Coast segment of the Keystone Pipeline System averaged approximately 795,000 bpd, increasing by 15 percent relative to 2023, South Bow said. Fourth-quarter 2024 throughput on the Keystone Pipeline and the U.S. Gulf Coast segment of the Keystone Pipeline System averaged approximately 621,000 bpd and approximately 784,000 bbl/d, respectively, it said. South Bow said that about 90 percent of its adjusted EBITDA is secured through agreements with minimal commodity price or volume risks. Nonetheless, demand for uncommitted capacity on the Keystone System is expected to remain low in 2025, as pipeline capacity in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) exceeds supply, it said. Tariffs on energy by the U.S. government and corresponding Canadian counter-tariffs have created economic uncertainty

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Parkland Begins Strategic Review; Open to Possible Sale

Parkland Corporation’s board said it has initiated a review of strategic alternatives “to identify opportunities to maximize value for all shareholders,” which may include a potential sale of the company. The review will be led by a special committee, composed solely of independent directors, Parkland said in a statement. “During this process, the company will analyze and evaluate its business strategy and optimization opportunities, while also considering value maximization alternatives which are in the best interests of all shareholders,” according to the statement. “This may include, but is not limited to, asset divestments, acquisitions, transformative business combinations and a sale of the company,” the company said. Parkland said it has engaged Goldman Sachs Canada Inc. and BofA Securities as its financial advisors for the strategic review. “Parkland cautions that there are no guarantees that the strategic review process will result in a transaction or if a transaction is undertaken, as to its terms or timing,” according to the statement. Parkland President and CEO Bob Espey said, “In 2024, our combined retail and commercial businesses demonstrated resilience in a challenging environment. While the Refinery and USA segments fell short of our expectations, partly due to unfavorable external market factors, our continued focus on operational excellence and serving our customers, combined with higher expected composite utilization of the Burnaby Refinery, gives me confidence in our 2025 guidance”. “Parkland’s board remains committed to acting in the best interests of all shareholders,” Michael Jennings, Chair of Parkland’s Board of Directors, said. “While we are confident in the tremendous value-creating potential of our business, strategic plan, and management’s ability to execute, the current share price does not fully reflect the intrinsic value of the company. As a result, our board believes the strategic review is a necessary step to explore opportunities to maximize value creation

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Oversubscribed EU Hydrogen Grant Auction Attracts 6.3 GW of Bids

The second auction under the European Hydrogen Bank, a financing platform to scale up the renewable hydrogen value chain in the European Union and partner countries, has been oversubscribed by over four times with about 6.3 gigawatts (GW) of project proposals asking for over EUR 4.8 billion ($5.23 billion), the European Commission said. “Over ten years, these projects would produce more than 7.3 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen”, the Commission said in an online statement. “On a yearly basis, this would cover 7 percent of the EU’s REPowerEU ambition for domestic renewable hydrogen production in 2030”.   European Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra commented, “The amount of bids in this second auction under the European Hydrogen Bank again shows the attractiveness of the Innovation Fund as a tool for Europe’s industrial decarbonization and competitiveness”. “As a key driver of our goal to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, hydrogen plays a crucial role in cutting emissions from hard-to-abate sectors”, Hoekstra added. “It will strengthen Europe’s industrial leadership in emerging clean technologies, ensuring long-term economic resilience and global competitiveness”. Successful bidders will receive a fixed premium per kilogram of renewable hydrogen produced over a period of up to 10 years. “The premium, for which project promoters bid in the auction, covers the gap between the cost of production and the price buyers are currently willing to pay for renewable hydrogen”, the Commission said. The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) is evaluating the bids against the pass or fail qualification criteria. Passing bids will be ranked according to their bid price. CINEA plans to release evaluation results May 2025. Grant agreements are expected to be signed by November 2025. Selected projects must reach financial close within 2.5 years and start production within five years of signing the grant agreement. The second auction’s allotted budget,

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Tanker Collision Off UK Coast Spills Fuel and Ignites Blazes

A cargo ship crashed into an oil tanker off the UK’s east coast, causing fires, a jet-fuel spill, and leaving one person missing in one of the most significant maritime disasters near the country in many years.  The crew of the tanker Stena Immaculate “are safe and accounted for, with no reported injuries,” ship manager Crowley said in a statement on X. The mariners earlier abandoned the vessel after multiple explosions, and it remains unclear how much fuel was spilled after at least one tank ruptured. One crew member on container ship Solong was still missing and the search for them has been called off, the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency said in a statement. Both ships remain on fire. The Stena Immaculate, which was struck in the North Sea a few miles off the UK’s east coast, was carrying about 220,000 barrels of jet fuel as part of a standard delivery while chartered by an organization supplying the US Navy, according to Crowley. If all that jet fuel spilled into the sea, that would be about 28,000 tons. An assessment of the pollution is underway, the UK Coastguard said, and Crowley is working with agencies to initiate a “spill containment response.” No oil pollution has been confirmed yet, but “countries will normally have their own national oil spill contingency plans and response systems already in place for incidents that happen in their waters,” a spokesperson for the International Maritime Organization said.  Greenpeace UK said it was too soon to assess the environmental impact. The extent of any damage will depend on the fuel carried by both ships and how much enters the water. Sea and weather conditions will also play an important role.  The type of jet fuel that’s leaked isn’t especially flammable, though it will burn while floating if the spill

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BP Reveals Another Discovery Offshore Egypt

In a release posted on its site recently, BP revealed another discovery offshore Egypt. The company outlined in the release that it “encountered four prospective Messinian gas reservoirs, with a total sand thickness of 50 meters (164 feet) at a measured depth of approximately 2,900 meters (1.8 miles)” at the El Fayoum-5 well. The well was spudded on February 14 and is located in the North Alexandria Offshore Concession, BP pointed out in the release. The company highlighted that this is the final well in its “four-slot drilling campaign in the West Nile Delta”. BP noted in the release that plans are underway to tie back the discovery to its operated West Nile Delta Gas Development. Rigzone asked BP if it had any production figures for El-Fayoum-5 and if it plans more exploration drilling offshore Egypt this year. A BP spokesperson was unable to provide production figures for the well but confirmed that BP “does not plan any more exploration drilling offshore Egypt this year”. In BP’s release, William Lin, EVP Gas & Low Carbon, said, “this reinforces BP’s commitment to Egypt and its growing energy needs”. “With Raven Infills Phase 2 already contributing to production, we’re now fast-tracking the El King and Fayoum discoveries to tie into our West Nile Delta infrastructure,” he added. “The delivery of Raven Infills is fully in line with our priority to grow the upstream and high grade our portfolio across the world,” he continued. In a release sent to Rigzone by the BP team last month, BP revealed that it had made a discovery offshore Egypt. The company outlined in that release that it “encountered two prospective Messinian reservoirs at a measured depth of approximately 2,400 meters” at the El King-2 exploration well, which is situated in the North King Mariout Offshore Concession. Rigzone asked BP for more information on these reservoirs at the time, but a company

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Last Energy to Deploy 30 Microreactors in Texas for Data Centers

As the demand for data center power surges in Texas, nuclear startup Last Energy has now announced plans to build 30 microreactors in the state’s Haskell County near the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The reactors will serve a growing customer base of data center operators in the region looking for reliable, carbon-free energy. The plan marks Last Energy’s largest project to date and a significant step in advancing modular nuclear power as a viable solution for high-density computing infrastructure. Meeting the Looming Power Demands of Texas Data Centers Texas is already home to over 340 data centers, with significant expansion underway. Google is increasing its data center footprint in Dallas, while OpenAI’s Stargate has announced plans for a new facility in Abilene, just an hour south of Last Energy’s planned site. The company notes the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area alone is projected to require an additional 43 gigawatts of power in the coming years, far surpassing current grid capacity. To help remediate, Last Energy has secured a 200+ acre site in Haskell County, approximately three and a half hours west of Dallas. The company has also filed for a grid connection with ERCOT, with plans to deliver power via a mix of private wire and grid transmission. Additionally, Last Energy has begun pre-application engagement with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for an Early Site Permit, a key step in securing regulatory approval. According to Last Energy CEO Bret Kugelmass, the company’s modular approach is designed to bring nuclear energy online faster than traditional projects. “Nuclear power is the most effective way to meet Texas’ growing energy demand, but it needs to be deployed faster and at scale,” Kugelmass said. “Our microreactors are designed to be plug-and-play, enabling data center operators to bypass the constraints of an overloaded grid.” Scaling Nuclear for

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Data Center Jobs: Engineering and Technician Jobs Available in Major Markets

Each month Data Center Frontier, in partnership with Pkaza, posts some of the hottest data center career opportunities in the market. Here’s a look at some of the latest data center jobs posted on the Data Center Frontier jobs board, powered by Pkaza Critical Facilities Recruiting.  Data Center Facility Engineer (Night Shift Available) Ashburn, VAThis position is also available in: Tacoma, WA (Nights), Days/Nights: Needham, MA and New York City, NY. This opportunity is working directly with a leading mission-critical data center developer / wholesaler / colo provider. This firm provides data center solutions custom-fit to the requirements of their client’s mission-critical operational facilities. They provide reliability of mission-critical facilities for many of the world’s largest organizations facilities supporting enterprise clients and hyperscale companies. This opportunity provides a career-growth minded role with exciting projects with leading-edge technology and innovation as well as competitive salaries and benefits. Electrical Commissioning Engineer New Albany, OHThis traveling position is also available in: Somerset, NJ; Boydton, VA; Richmond, VA; Ashburn, VA; Charlotte, NC; Atlanta, GA; Hampton, GA; Fayetteville, GA; Des Moines, IA; San Jose, CA; Portland, OR; St Louis, MO; Phoenix, AZ;  Dallas, TX;  Chicago, IL; or Toronto, ON. *** ALSO looking for a LEAD EE and ME CxA agents.*** Our client is an engineering design and commissioning company that has a national footprint and specializes in MEP critical facilities design. They provide design, commissioning, consulting and management expertise in the critical facilities space. They have a mindset to provide reliability, energy efficiency, sustainable design and LEED expertise when providing these consulting services for enterprise, colocation and hyperscale companies. This career-growth minded opportunity offers exciting projects with leading-edge technology and innovation as well as competitive salaries and benefits. Switchgear Field Service Technician – Critical Facilities Nationwide TravelThis position is also available in: Charlotte, NC; Atlanta, GA; Dallas,

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Amid Shifting Regional Data Center Policies, Iron Mountain and DC Blox Both Expand in Virginia’s Henrico County

The dynamic landscape of data center developments in Maryland and Virginia exemplify the intricate balance between fostering technological growth and addressing community and environmental concerns. Data center developers in this region find themselves both in the crosshairs of groups worried about the environment and other groups looking to drive economic growth. In some cases, the groups are different components of the same organizations, such as local governments. For data center development, meeting the needs of these competing interests often means walking a none-too-stable tightrope. Rapid Government Action Encourages Growth In May 2024, Maryland demonstrated its commitment to attracting data center investments by enacting the Critical Infrastructure Streamlining Act. This legislation provides a clear framework for the use of emergency backup power generation, addressing previous regulatory challenges that a few months earlier had hindered projects like Aligned Data Centers’ proposed 264-megawatt campus in Frederick County, causing Aligned to pull out of the project. However, just days after the Act was signed by the governor, Aligned reiterated its plans to move forward with development in Maryland.  With the Quantum Loop and the related data center development making Frederick County a focal point for a balanced approach, the industry is paying careful attention to the pace of development and the relations between developers, communities and the government. In September of 2024, Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater revealed draft legislation that would potentially restrict where in the county data centers could be built. The legislation was based on information found in the Frederick County Data Centers Workgroup’s final report. Those bills would update existing regulations and create a floating zone for Critical Digital Infrastructure and place specific requirements on siting data centers. Statewide, a cautious approach to environmental and community impacts statewide has been deemed important. In January 2025, legislators introduced SB116,  a bill

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New Reports Show How AI, Power, and Investment Trends Are Reshaping the Data Center Landscape

Today we provide a comprehensive roundup of the latest industry analyst reports from CBRE, PwC, and Synergy Research, offering a data-driven perspective on the state of the North American data center market.  To wit, CBRE’s latest findings highlight record-breaking growth in supply, soaring colocation pricing, and mounting power constraints shaping site selection. For its part, PwC’s analysis underscores the sector’s broader economic impact, quantifying its trillion-dollar contribution to GDP, rapid job growth, and surging tax revenues.  Meanwhile, the latest industry analysis from Synergy Research details the acceleration of cloud spending, AI’s role in fueling infrastructure demand, and an unprecedented surge in data center mergers and acquisitions.  Together, these reports paint a picture of an industry at an inflection point—balancing explosive expansion with evolving challenges in power availability, cost pressures, and infrastructure investment. Let’s examine them. CBRE: Surging Demand Fuels Record Data Center Expansion CBRE says the North American data center sector is scaling at an unprecedented pace, driven by unrelenting demand from artificial intelligence (AI), hyperscale, and cloud service providers. The latest North America Data Center Trends H2 2024 report from CBRE reveals that total supply across primary markets surged by 34% year-over-year to 6,922.6 megawatts (MW), outpacing the 26% growth recorded in 2023. This accelerating expansion has triggered record-breaking construction activity and intensified competition for available capacity. Market Momentum: Scaling Amid Power Constraints According to CBRE, data center construction activity reached historic levels, with 6,350 MW under development at the close of 2024—more than doubling the 3,077.8 MW recorded a year prior. Yet, the report finds the surge in development is being met with significant hurdles, including power constraints and supply chain challenges affecting critical electrical infrastructure. As a result, the vacancy rate across primary markets has plummeted to an all-time low of 1.9%, with only a handful of sites

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Minnesota PUC Says No to Amazon’s Bid to Fast-Track 250 Diesel Generators for Data Center

Amazon is facing scrutiny and significant pushbacks over its plan to install 250 diesel backup generators for a proposed data center in Becker, Minnesota. Much of the concern had been due to the fact that the hyperscaler was seeking an exemption from the state’s standard permitting process, a move that has sparked opposition from environmental groups and state officials. Aggregate Power that Matches Nuclear Power Generation Amazon’s proposed fleet of diesel generators would have a maximum power output almost equivalent to the 647 MW that is produced by Xcel Energy’s nuclear plant in Monticello, one of the two existing nuclear generation stations in the state. Meanwhile, as reported by Datacenter Dynamics, according to a real estate filing published with the Minnesota Department of Revenue, the land parcel assigned for the Amazon data center in Becker was previously part of Minneapolis-based utility Xcel’s coal-powered Sherco Site. Amazon argues that the diesel generators in question are essential to ensuring reliable and secure access to critical data and applications for its customers, including hospitals and first responders. However, opponents worry about the environmental impact and the precedent it may set for future large-scale data center developments in the state. The Law and Its Exception Under Minnesota state law, any power plant capable of generating 50 megawatts or more that connects to the grid via transmission lines must obtain a Certificate of Need from the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). This certification ensures that the infrastructure is necessary and that no cheaper, cleaner alternatives exist. Amazon, however, contends that its generators do not fall under this requirement because they are not connected to the larger electric grid; power generated would be strictly used by the data center suffering an outage from its primary power source. That power would be generated locally, and not transmitted over

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As CoreWeave Files for IPO, Will NVIDIA Tighten Its Grip on the AI Cloud?

A Partnership Forged in Innovation CoreWeave’s origins as a specialized cloud provider for GPU-intensive workloads positioned it as a natural ally for NVIDIA, the undisputed leader in GPU technology. From the outset, CoreWeave’s business model was built around leveraging NVIDIA’s cutting-edge hardware to deliver HPC and AI services. The evolving partnership between NVIDIA and CoreWeave exemplifies a strategic alignment that is reshaping the data center landscape, particularly in the realm of AI workloads. CoreWeave, initially established in 2017 as a cryptocurrency mining operation, adeptly pivoted to cloud computing services, specializing in GPU-accelerated infrastructure tailored for AI applications. This transition has been significantly bolstered by NVIDIA’s advanced GPU technology, positioning CoreWeave as a formidable player in the AI infrastructure sector.  This alignment of vision and technology created a symbiotic relationship: CoreWeave provided a platform for NVIDIA’s GPUs to shine in the cloud, while NVIDIA’s hardware gave CoreWeave a competitive edge in delivering unparalleled computational power. A pivotal development in this alliance occurred when CoreWeave became the first Elite Cloud Services Provider (CSP) for compute within the NVIDIA Partner Network (NPN). This designation underscores CoreWeave’s commitment to delivering cutting-edge GPU resources, optimized for complex AI tasks, and highlights NVIDIA’s confidence in CoreWeave’s capabilities to meet the escalating demands of AI developers.  Leading up to its IPO, CoreWeave’s financial trajectory has been remarkable. In 2024, the company reported a revenue surge to $1.9 billion, marking a 737% increase from the previous year. This exponential growth is largely attributed to the escalating demand for AI computing power, with CoreWeave’s infrastructure, powered by NVIDIA GPUs, serving as a critical enabler for organizations seeking scalable AI solutions.  Over the years, this partnership has deepened, with CoreWeave becoming one of NVIDIA’s largest customers for its A100 and H100 GPUs. These GPUs, designed for AI training and inference,

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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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