The Download: a new form of AI surveillance, and the US and China’s tariff deal

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The Download: a new form of AI surveillance, and the US and China’s tariff deal

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. How a new type of AI is helping police skirt facial recognition bans Police and federal agencies have found a controversial new way to skirt the growing patchwork of laws that curb how they use facial recognition: an AI model that can track people based on attributes like body size, gender, hair color and style, clothing, and accessories. The tool, called Track and built by the video analytics company Veritone, is used by 400 customers, including state and local police departments and universities all over the US. It is also expanding federally. The product has drawn criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union, which—after learning of the tool through MIT Technology Review—said it was the first instance they’d seen of a nonbiometric tracking system used at scale in the US. Read the full story. —James O’Donnell If you’re interested in reading more about facial recognition and police tech, check out: + How the largest gathering of US police chiefs is talking about AI. Officers training in virtual reality, cities surveilled by webs of sensors, and AI-generated police reports are all a sign of what’s to come. Read the full story. + Clear, the company that has helped millions of people cut security lines, wants to give you a frictionless future—in exchange for your face. Read the full story.+ The US wants to use facial recognition to identify migrant children as they age.+ Why the movement to limit face recognition tech might finally get a win. Read the full story.+ Uber’s facial recognition is locking Indian drivers out of their accounts— and some people are finding their accounts permanently blocked. Read the full story. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The US and China have struck a deal to slash tariffs For the next 90 days, at least. (Politico)+ But America’s 30% tariffs are still extremely high. (FT $)+ China has agreed to cut its levies from 125% to 10%. (CNN) 2 OpenAI is negotiating a future IPO with MicrosoftWhile still preserving Microsoft’s access to the startup’s AI models. (FT $)+ Meanwhile, Microsoft is constantly racing to stay ahead of hackers. (Bloomberg $) 3 DOGE cuts leave US workers at increasing risk of developing silicosis The lung disease is deadly—and preventable. (The Atlantic $)+ Can AI help DOGE slash government budgets? It’s complex. (MIT Technology Review) 4 Scammers are posing as lawyers on TikTok to trick undocumented migrantsImmigration scams have skyrocketed since Trump took office. (WP $)+ An extensive sextortion network on TikTok is targeting American kids. (The Guardian)+ AI-powered fraud is everywhere right now. (Wired $) 5 Weather balloons are being phased out in favor of AI toolsSevere budget cuts mean that fewer balloon flights are being scheduled. (Semafor)+ Trump’s tariffs will deliver a big blow to climate tech. (MIT Technology Review)6 Amazon Web Service depends on this mysterious chip startupAnnapurna, the company behind Amazon’s cloud success, is vital to its future. (WSJ $) 7 Inside the quest to create the perfect solid-state batteryMassachusetts start-up Factorial wants to overhaul EVs’ image. (NYT $)+ But tariffs are bad news for batteries. (MIT Technology Review) 8 A colossal data center in North Dakota is sitting emptyIt’s struggling to find a major tech customer to lease it. (The Information $)+ China built hundreds of AI data centers to catch the AI boom. Now many stand unused. (MIT Technology Review) 9 Housewives make up Vietnam’s latest wave of gig workersThey’re storing goods in their fridges while they’re at home to cut costs. (Rest of World) 10 Professional writers love Substack ✏️They’re using the medium to experiment with exciting new styles. (New Yorker $)+ Niche newsletters are big business these days. (NYT $) Quote of the day “It feels a bit like a prisoner seeing their triple life sentence reduced to a single one.” —Katja Bego, a senior research fellow at Chatham House, comments on the agreement between the US and China to cut tariffs from 145% to 30% in a post on Bluesky. One more thing The $100 billion bet that a postindustrial US city can reinvent itself as a high-tech hubOn a day in late April, a small drilling rig sits at the edge of the scrubby overgrown fields of Syracuse, New York, taking soil samples. It’s the first sign of construction on what could become the largest semiconductor manufacturing facility in the United States.The CHIPS and Science Act was widely viewed by industry leaders and politicians as a way to secure supply chains, and make the United States competitive again in semiconductor chip manufacturing.Now Syracuse is becoming an economic test of whether, over the next several decades, aggressive government policies—and the massive corporate investments they spur—can both boost the country’s manufacturing prowess and revitalize neglected parts of the country. Read the full story. —David Rotman We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.) + Stuck on which PC game to play? This list of the 100 best is a great place to start.+ Mari Salonen is the undisputed queen of pom poms.+ I like the look of this Swedish princess cake.+ Check out all the filming locations in the new Netflix show The Four Seasons—from Puerto Rico to Mount Peter.

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

How a new type of AI is helping police skirt facial recognition bans

Police and federal agencies have found a controversial new way to skirt the growing patchwork of laws that curb how they use facial recognition: an AI model that can track people based on attributes like body size, gender, hair color and style, clothing, and accessories.

The tool, called Track and built by the video analytics company Veritone, is used by 400 customers, including state and local police departments and universities all over the US. It is also expanding federally.

The product has drawn criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union, which—after learning of the tool through MIT Technology Review—said it was the first instance they’d seen of a nonbiometric tracking system used at scale in the US. Read the full story.

—James O’Donnell

If you’re interested in reading more about facial recognition and police tech, check out:

+ How the largest gathering of US police chiefs is talking about AI. Officers training in virtual reality, cities surveilled by webs of sensors, and AI-generated police reports are all a sign of what’s to come. Read the full story.

+ Clear, the company that has helped millions of people cut security lines, wants to give you a frictionless future—in exchange for your face. Read the full story.

+ The US wants to use facial recognition to identify migrant children as they age.

+ Why the movement to limit face recognition tech might finally get a win. Read the full story.

+ Uber’s facial recognition is locking Indian drivers out of their accounts— and some people are finding their accounts permanently blocked. Read the full story.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 The US and China have struck a deal to slash tariffs
For the next 90 days, at least. (Politico)
+ But America’s 30% tariffs are still extremely high. (FT $)
+ China has agreed to cut its levies from 125% to 10%. (CNN)

2 OpenAI is negotiating a future IPO with Microsoft
While still preserving Microsoft’s access to the startup’s AI models. (FT $)
+ Meanwhile, Microsoft is constantly racing to stay ahead of hackers. (Bloomberg $)

3 DOGE cuts leave US workers at increasing risk of developing silicosis
The lung disease is deadly—and preventable. (The Atlantic $)
+ Can AI help DOGE slash government budgets? It’s complex. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Scammers are posing as lawyers on TikTok to trick undocumented migrants
Immigration scams have skyrocketed since Trump took office. (WP $)
+ An extensive sextortion network on TikTok is targeting American kids. (The Guardian)
+ AI-powered fraud is everywhere right now. (Wired $)

5 Weather balloons are being phased out in favor of AI tools
Severe budget cuts mean that fewer balloon flights are being scheduled. (Semafor)
+ Trump’s tariffs will deliver a big blow to climate tech. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Amazon Web Service depends on this mysterious chip startup
Annapurna, the company behind Amazon’s cloud success, is vital to its future. (WSJ $)

7 Inside the quest to create the perfect solid-state battery
Massachusetts start-up Factorial wants to overhaul EVs’ image. (NYT $)
+ But tariffs are bad news for batteries. (MIT Technology Review)

8 A colossal data center in North Dakota is sitting empty
It’s struggling to find a major tech customer to lease it. (The Information $)
+ China built hundreds of AI data centers to catch the AI boom. Now many stand unused. (MIT Technology Review)

9 Housewives make up Vietnam’s latest wave of gig workers
They’re storing goods in their fridges while they’re at home to cut costs. (Rest of World)

10 Professional writers love Substack ✏️
They’re using the medium to experiment with exciting new styles. (New Yorker $)
+ Niche newsletters are big business these days. (NYT $)

Quote of the day

“It feels a bit like a prisoner seeing their triple life sentence reduced to a single one.”

—Katja Bego, a senior research fellow at Chatham House, comments on the agreement between the US and China to cut tariffs from 145% to 30% in a post on Bluesky.

One more thing

The $100 billion bet that a postindustrial US city can reinvent itself as a high-tech hub

On a day in late April, a small drilling rig sits at the edge of the scrubby overgrown fields of Syracuse, New York, taking soil samples. It’s the first sign of construction on what could become the largest semiconductor manufacturing facility in the United States.

The CHIPS and Science Act was widely viewed by industry leaders and politicians as a way to secure supply chains, and make the United States competitive again in semiconductor chip manufacturing.

Now Syracuse is becoming an economic test of whether, over the next several decades, aggressive government policies—and the massive corporate investments they spur—can both boost the country’s manufacturing prowess and revitalize neglected parts of the country. Read the full story.

—David Rotman

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)

+ Stuck on which PC game to play? This list of the 100 best is a great place to start.
+ Mari Salonen is the undisputed queen of pom poms.
+ I like the look of this Swedish princess cake.
+ Check out all the filming locations in the new Netflix show The Four Seasons—from Puerto Rico to Mount Peter.

Stay Ahead

Explore More Insights

Stay ahead with more perspectives on cutting-edge power, infrastructure, energy, bitcoin and AI solutions. Explore these articles to uncover strategies and insights shaping the future of industries.

Network data hygiene: The critical first step to effective AI agents

Many network teams manage some 15 to 30 different dashboards to track data across all the components in an environment, struggling to cobble together relevant information across domains and spending hours troubleshooting a single incident. In short, they are drowning in data. Artificial intelligence tools—and specifically AI agents—promise to ease

Key takeaways from IBM Think partner event

The first week of May means flowers from April showers and that it’s time for IBM Think in Boston. The first day of the event has historically been the Partner Plus day, which is devoted to content for IBM partners, which include ISVs, technology partners and resellers. The 2025 keynote

LandBridge Posts Higher Revenue

LandBridge Company LLC has reported $44 million in revenue for the first quarter of 2025, up from $36.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2024 and $19 million for the corresponding quarter a year prior. The company attributed the sequential increase to increases in surface use royalties of $6.8 million,

Trump administration to rescind, modify AI chip export curbs

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has been particularly noisy about this issue, telling CNBC earlier this month that the market for AI chips in China could reach $50 billion in the next couple of years, and it was important for U.S. firms to have access to that market. And Nvidia has

America’s moment to secure its critical mineral future

Heather Reams is president of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions. China dominates the global critical mineral supply chain threatening the United States’ national security and goal of energy dominance. Last year, China mined 270,000 metric tons of rare earth elements, which comprises over two-thirds of global rare earth production. China also controls nearly 90% of global refining capacity. This is why President Trump’s Executive Order 14241 underscores a key challenge facing America’s economic and national security: the United States’ dependence on foreign critical minerals sourced largely from overseas, particularly from China. To be specific, lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements — all crucial for batteries powering electric vehicles and renewable energy systems — flow largely through China’s processing facilities, creating a troubling strategic vulnerability. This makes the administration’s call for a robust domestic critical mineral supply chain not mere politics — it’s a strategic national and economic security imperative in the age of increasing geopolitical competition, surging energy demand and artificial intelligence. However, an important question to ask ourselves is why America outsources almost all mineral needs to adversarial nations such as China. The answer lies in red tape, decades of underinvestment and regulatory delays amidst global market dynamics. These factors lead us to rely heavily on imports, often from geopolitically risky sources. Even when the United States does extract its own minerals, most are sent to China to be refined. That means America’s own vast and abundant mineral resources — cobalt in Missouri, antimony in Idaho, lithium in Nevada, Arkansas and Maine — are left untapped and unused. There is some good news: the Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credit, known as 45X, is a powerful policy lever created to strengthen our domestic critical minerals industry. 45X accelerates American refining and processing of critical minerals. Crucially, these tax credits are

Trump rolls back Biden-era efficiency rules

President Trump on Friday signed four Congressional Review Act resolutions that will roll back energy efficiency standards and rules passed in the waning days of the Biden administration. The CRA allows Congress to rescind rules passed by federal agencies. The act, enacted as part of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act in 1996, applies to interim and final rules. The rules Trump rescinded Friday covered tankless natural gas water heaters, commercial refrigerators and freezers and walk-in coolers. A fourth resolution did away with certification requirements for a range of products subject to energy efficiency standards, but it did not alter the efficiency requirements themselves, according to the Appliance Standards Awareness Project. The water heater standard was expected to reduce total costs for consumers by an average of $112 over the life of the appliance, according to a fact sheet from the group. The rule for commercial refrigerators and freezers was expected to save businesses $4.6 billion and walk in cooler standards would have saved businesses up to $6.5 billion, both over 30 years of those products’ sales, the group said. “President Trump just signed a series of bills that will raise costs for families and businesses,” ASAP Executive Director Andrew deLaski said in an email. Trump has opposed energy efficiency requirements and has taken other steps to reduce regulation and oversight. The Environmental Protection Agency plans to end its popular Energy Star program, which helps consumers identify energy-efficient home appliances. “It’s all about common sense,” Trump said at the signing ceremony Friday, arguing that the efficiency rules cost businesses money and leave consumers with less product choice. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had proposed the resolution rescinding regulations for natural gas water heaters. “The Biden-Harris administration knew they were increasing costs on American consumers and limiting consumers’ ability to choose the heater that works

Virginia leads with utility-scale VPP pilot amid national push

Dive Brief: Dominion Energy’s Virginia subsidiary has until December to propose a virtual power plant pilot program with up to 450 MW of capacity under a state law signed May 2 by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Residential, commercial and industrial customers are eligible for participation in the pilot, which must include incentives for at least 15 MW of residential battery additions. By December 2027, Dominion must also propose an electric school bus program that would allow it to tap energy stored in idled buses’ batteries. The Virginia law incorporates elements of model virtual power plant enabling legislation developed by distributed energy advocacy group Solar United Neighbors. Similar bills have been introduced in a handful of other states. Dive Insight: The Virginia law, which was introduced as HB 2346/SB 1100, only applies to Dominion Energy Virginia. The law requires Dominion to petition the State Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities, for the pilot by December 1 this year and propose a program tariff for residential, commercial and industrial customers by November 15, 2026. Participants may enroll directly with the utility or through a third-party aggregator. Following the pilot’s conclusion on July 1, 2028, the commission must “evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot programs in providing grid services during times of peak demand” and begin developing a permanent program with set procurement targets and performance metrics. The Virginia law is a “major bipartisan win,” said Shannon Anderson, virtual power plant policy director for Solar United Neighbors. Anderson’s title reflects SUN’s preferred terminology: “distributed power plant,” or DPP. SUN’s model legislation and utility tariff incorporate elements of the ConnectedSolutions Massachusetts battery program, one of the few utility VPP programs to reach significant scale in the United States, Anderson said. Like ConnectedSolutions, the model tariff is open-access with no enrollment caps or expiration dates, allows

Zonal pricing ‘the start of a long road’ to mid-2030s, warns Cornwall Insight

The UK is unlikely to implement zonal pricing before the end of the decade, according to a report from energy analysis firm Cornwall Insight. Zonal pricing might not be rolled out until the mid 2030s, according to its research. Kate Mulvany, principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, said: “Zonal pricing would represent the most fundamental redesign of the GB electricity market in decades. “It is an incredibly divisive topic in the industry, and regardless of the purported benefits, its implementation is going to take significant time and resource. Political backing and industry support may help, but a go-live before 2030 remains incredibly unlikely.” Implementation of a regional pricing scheme, known as ‘zonal pricing’, could take up to five to six years after any decision is made, the analysis firm predicts. Mulvany warned that keeping a credible delivery timeline will be essential to “keep renewables investment and avoid unintended consequences”. Energy secretary Ed Miliband is expected to make a decision on wholesale electricity market reform measures and implementation by mid-year. Zonal pricing forms part of these discussions. The government’s discussions around zonal pricing remain ongoing, with results expected this summer, a spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero confirmed. Miliband has previously said his “bottom line” is that any reform has to cut bills across the country, and that he would not enforce a system that led to a “postcode lottery”. A spokesperson for DESNZ said: “We are considering reforms to Britain’s electricity market arrangements, ensuring that these focus on protecting billpayers and encouraging investment. We will provide an update in due course.” The government’s commitment to making a decision on zonal pricing by mid-year “is the start of a long road, not the finish line”, Mulvany warned in a statement. Electricity prices Cornwall Insight anticipates that if zonal

Port of Cromarty Firth awards £1.5m pre-construction deal

The Port of Cromarty Firth has kicked-off work on its £111-million expansion with the award of a £1.5m pre-construction contract to civil engineers RJ McLeod. The phase 5 project aims to expand the port’s current 9ha Quay West facility and meet the needs of new North Sea fixed bottom and floating offshore windfarms. A spokesperson for Port of Cromarty Firth told Energy Voice: “This pre-construction contract awarded to a Scottish company and major employer in the local area is the first of many which will be coming over the next few months. “It’s important to stress that this is the pre-construction phase. As we look to start construction in November, more contracts will follow, as we work to a schedule which will see our expansion completed in the first half of 2027.” Glasgow-headquartered RJ McLeod will undertake detailed design work and produce a construction programme and plan, as well as planning the procurement of critical materials. The pre-construction stage is due to be finalised in the summer. Pre-construction work RJ McLeod was founded in 1951, and has grown to employ over 400 staff across its offices, which includes Dingwall along with its Glasgow headquarters. The company has previously worked with SSE on several projects, including the 103-turbine Viking Wind Farm in Shetland, and has helped develop battery storage and hydro-electric projects as well as grid and substation construction. It was acquired by Manchester-based private-equity backed OCU Group last year. Port of Cromarty Firth chief executive Alex Campbell said: “The award recognises the company’s long and successful track record in delivering projects of huge significance to the area in which they are built.” The Port of Cromarty Firth received £55.7m of UK government funding in March via the £160m Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme (FLOWMIS) scheme. The award was aimed

USA EIA Cuts Henry Hub Natural Gas Price Forecast for 2025

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has reduced its Henry Hub natural gas spot price forecast for 2025 in its latest short term energy outlook (STEO), which was released on May 6. In this STEO, the EIA projected that the Henry Hub spot price will average $4.12 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) this year. In its previous STEO, which was released in April, the EIA forecast that the Henry Hub natural gas spot price would average $4.27 per MMBtu in 2025. The EIA increased its Henry Hub natural gas spot price forecast for 2026 in its May STEO. This outlook sees the commodity averaging $4.80 per MMBtu next year. The EIA’s April STEO projected that the Henry Hub natural gas spot price would come in at $4.60 per MMBtu. In its latest STEO, the EIA forecast that the Henry Hub natural gas spot price will average $3.46 per MMBtu in the second quarter of 2025, $4.19 per MMBtu in the third quarter, $4.68 per MMBtu in the fourth quarter, $5.10 per MMBtu in the first quarter of next year, $4.35 per MMBtu in the second quarter, $4.84 per MMBtu in the third quarter, and $4.89 per MMBtu in the fourth quarter. The EIA’s April STEO saw the commodity coming in at $3.93 per MMBtu in the second quarter of 2025, $4.34 per MMBtu in the third quarter, $4.68 per MMBtu in the fourth quarter, $4.93 per MMBtu in the first quarter of next year, $4.18 per MMBtu in the second quarter, $4.61 per MMBtu in the third quarter, and $4.66 per MMBtu in the fourth quarter of 2026. “The Henry Hub spot price fell to $3.44 per MMBtu in April, down 68 cents per MMBtu from the March average,” the EIA noted in its May STEO. “The price decrease

Tech CEOs warn Senate: Outdated US power grid threatens AI ambitions

The implications are clear: without dramatic improvements to the US energy infrastructure, the nation’s AI ambitions could be significantly constrained by simple physical limitations – the inability to power the massive computing clusters necessary for advanced AI development and deployment. Streamlining permitting processes The tech executives have offered specific recommendations to address these challenges, with several focusing on the need to dramatically accelerate permitting processes for both energy generation and the transmission infrastructure needed to deliver that power to AI facilities, the report added. Intrator specifically called for efforts “to streamline the permitting process to enable the addition of new sources of generation and the transmission infrastructure to deliver it,” noting that current regulatory frameworks were not designed with the urgent timelines of the AI race in mind. This acceleration would help technology companies build and power the massive data centers needed for AI training and inference, which require enormous amounts of electricity delivered reliably and consistently. Beyond the cloud: bringing AI to everyday devices While much of the testimony focused on large-scale infrastructure needs, AMD CEO Lisa Su emphasized that true AI leadership requires “rapidly building data centers at scale and powering them with reliable, affordable, and clean energy sources.” Su also highlighted the importance of democratizing access to AI technologies: “Moving faster also means moving AI beyond the cloud. To ensure every American benefits, AI must be built into the devices we use every day and made as accessible and dependable as electricity.”

Networking errors pose threat to data center reliability

Still, IT and networking issues increased in 2024, according to Uptime Institute. The analysis attributed the rise in outages due to increased IT and network complexity, specifically, change management and misconfigurations. “Particularly with distributed services, cloud services, we find that cascading failures often occur when networking equipment is replicated across an entire network,” Lawrence explained. “Sometimes the failure of one forces traffic to move in one direction, overloading capacity at another data center.” The most common causes of major network-related outages were cited as: Configuration/change management failure: 50% Third-party network provider failure: 34% Hardware failure: 31% Firmware/software error: 26% Line breakages: 17% Malicious cyberattack: 17% Network overload/congestion failure: 13% Corrupted firewall/routing tables issues: 8% Weather-related incident: 7% Configuration/change management issues also attributed for 62% of the most common causes of major IT system-/software-related outages. Change-related disruptions consistently are responsible for software-related outages. Human error continues to be one of the “most persistent challenges in data center operations,” according to Uptime’s analysis. The report found that the biggest cause of these failures is data center staff failing to follow established procedures, which has increased by about 10 percentage points compared to 2023. “These are things that were 100% under our control. I mean, we can’t control when the UPS module fails because it was either poorly manufactured, it had a flaw, or something else. This is 100% under our control,” Brown said. The most common causes of major human error-related outages were reported as:

Liquid cooling technologies: reducing data center environmental impact

“Highly optimized cold-plate or one-phase immersion cooling technologies can perform on par with two-phase immersion, making all three liquid-cooling technologies desirable options,” the researchers wrote. Factors to consider There are numerous factors to consider when adopting liquid cooling technologies, according to Microsoft’s researchers. First, they advise performing a full environmental, health, and safety analysis, and end-to-end life cycle impact analysis. “Analyzing the full data center ecosystem to include systems interactions across software, chip, server, rack, tank, and cooling fluids allows decision makers to understand where savings in environmental impacts can be made,” they wrote. It is also important to engage with fluid vendors and regulators early, to understand chemical composition, disposal methods, and compliance risks. And associated socioeconomic, community, and business impacts are equally critical to assess. More specific environmental considerations include ozone depletion and global warming potential; the researchers emphasized that operators should only use fluids with low to zero ozone depletion potential (ODP) values, and not hydrofluorocarbons or carbon dioxide. It is also critical to analyze a fluid’s viscosity (thickness or stickiness), flammability, and overall volatility. And operators should only use fluids with minimal bioaccumulation (the buildup of chemicals in lifeforms, typically in fish) and terrestrial and aquatic toxicity. Finally, once up and running, data center operators should monitor server lifespan and failure rates, tracking performance uptime and adjusting IT refresh rates accordingly.

Cisco unveils prototype quantum networking chip

Clock synchronization allows for coordinated time-dependent communications between end points that might be cloud databases or in large global databases that could be sitting across the country or across the world, he said. “We saw recently when we were visiting Lawrence Berkeley Labs where they have all of these data sources such as radio telescopes, optical telescopes, satellites, the James Webb platform. All of these end points are taking snapshots of a piece of space, and they need to synchronize those snapshots to the picosecond level, because you want to detect things like meteorites, something that is moving faster than the rotational speed of planet Earth. So the only way you can detect that quickly is if you synchronize these snapshots at the picosecond level,” Pandey said. For security use cases, the chip can ensure that if an eavesdropper tries to intercept the quantum signals carrying the key, they will likely disturb the state of the qubits, and this disturbance can be detected by the legitimate communicating parties and the link will be dropped, protecting the sender’s data. This feature is typically implemented in a Quantum Key Distribution system. Location information can serve as a critical credential for systems to authenticate control access, Pandey said. The prototype quantum entanglement chip is just part of the research Cisco is doing to accelerate practical quantum computing and the development of future quantum data centers. The quantum data center that Cisco envisions would have the capability to execute numerous quantum circuits, feature dynamic network interconnection, and utilize various entanglement generation protocols. The idea is to build a network connecting a large number of smaller processors in a controlled environment, the data center warehouse, and provide them as a service to a larger user base, according to Cisco. The challenges for quantum data center network fabric

Zyxel launches 100GbE switch for enterprise networks

Port specifications include: 48 SFP28 ports supporting dual-rate 10GbE/25GbE connectivity 8 QSFP28 ports supporting 100GbE connections Console port for direct management access Layer 3 routing capabilities include static routing with support for access control lists (ACLs) and VLAN segmentation. The switch implements IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tagging, port isolation, and port mirroring for traffic analysis. For link aggregation, the switch supports IEEE 802.3ad for increased throughput and redundancy between switches or servers. Target applications and use cases The CX4800-56F targets multiple deployment scenarios where high-capacity backbone connectivity and flexible port configurations are required. “This will be for service providers initially or large deployments where they need a high capacity backbone to deliver a primarily 10G access layer to the end point,” explains Nguyen. “Now with Wi-Fi 7, more 10G/25G capable POE switches are being powered up and need interconnectivity without the bottleneck. We see this for data centers, campus, MDU (Multi-Dwelling Unit) buildings or community deployments.” Management is handled through Zyxel’s NebulaFlex Pro technology, which supports both standalone configuration and cloud management via the Nebula Control Center (NCC). The switch includes a one-year professional pack license providing IGMP technology and network analytics features. The SFP28 ports maintain backward compatibility between 10G and 25G standards, enabling phased migration paths for organizations transitioning between these speeds.

Engineers rush to master new skills for AI-driven data centers

According to the Uptime Institute survey, 57% of data centers are increasing salary spending. Data center job roles that saw the highest increases were in operations management – 49% of data center operators said they saw highest increases in this category – followed by junior and mid-level operations staff at 45%, and senior management and strategy at 35%. Other job categories that saw salary growth were electrical, at 32% and mechanical, at 23%. Organizations are also paying premiums on top of salaries for particular skills and certifications. Foote Partners tracks pay premiums for more than 1,300 certified and non-certified skills for IT jobs in general. The company doesn’t segment the data based on whether the jobs themselves are data center jobs, but it does track 60 skills and certifications related to data center management, including skills such as storage area networking, LAN, and AIOps, and 24 data center-related certificates from Cisco, Juniper, VMware and other organizations. “Five of the eight data center-related skills recording market value gains in cash pay premiums in the last twelve months are all AI-related skills,” says David Foote, chief analyst at Foote Partners. “In fact, they are all among the highest-paying skills for all 723 non-certified skills we report.” These skills bring in 16% to 22% of base salary, he says. AIOps, for example, saw an 11% increase in market value over the past year, now bringing in a premium of 20% over base salary, according to Foote data. MLOps now brings in a 22% premium. “Again, these AI skills have many uses of which the data center is only one,” Foote adds. The percentage increase in the specific subset of these skills in data centers jobs may vary. The Uptime Institute survey suggests that the higher pay is motivating workers to stay in the

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.

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

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

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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