GoKawiil
Tech News
Micro Center has begun requiring buyers of PowerSpec Ai90 prebuilt PCs with RTX 5090 GPUs to sign a form and have their driver's license scanned, pledging the system stays in the US and won't be resold or exported abroad. A customer reported the policy started within the last two days at a store, with the form asking for name, photo ID and phone number alongside the non-export pledge.
Microsoft announced it will redesign some data centers to blend into surrounding landscapes using what it calls 'biomimicry,' aiming to make the facilities visually and ecologically less disruptive to nearby communities. The move comes as residents in places like San Antonio increasingly object to the traffic, noise, lighting and loss of green space caused by rapidly multiplying hyperscale data centers.
Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman published a lengthy blog post urging Americans to support AI data center construction, warning that blocking projects could harm US economic and national security interests. Garman cited more than 100 data center moratoriums under consideration nationwide and announced a 'Data Center Commitment' including job creation pledges, protections against local electricity rate hikes, and over $1 billion in community investment. Amazon also said it has stopped using nondisclosure agreements with government agencies after a lawmaker's inquiry into such deals.
Nature spoke with lecturers and outdoor-education researchers, including biologist Pedro Maria Abreu Ferreira and educational scientist Janne Fengler, about teaching classes outside. The discussion covered challenges such as weather disruptions and insects, alongside practical advice for preparing students and instructors for outdoor sessions.
The Department of Defense is notifying over 2 million current and former service members that hackers accessed personnel data through the Defense Manpower Data Center starting last October. The stolen records included Social Security numbers, names, addresses, sex, race and occupational specialty, affecting 2.8 million living individuals. This follows a separate breach last month in which the ransomware group ShinyHunters claimed to have stolen FBI employee records.
Google sent a prototype orbital compute satellite, built by Planet Labs, aboard a SpaceX rocket from California, marking the first time one of its Tensor Processing Units has flown in space. The test will check whether the chip can sustain a kilowatt of continuous power, manage heat, and run AI models in short bursts without failure. Google's Travis Beals, who leads the effort called Project Suncatcher, said a more advanced two-satellite demo with laser communication links is planned for next year.
Fervo Energy said it started delivering electricity to the grid from its Cape Station facility on September 30, a day ahead of schedule, after the plant synchronized with the grid about a week earlier. The initial phase represents one-third of a planned 100-megawatt facility that took 23 months to build from groundbreaking to operation, with the full site potentially scaling to 4 gigawatts.
A new Quinnipiac University national poll finds that more than 70% of Americans say they are concerned AI technology could threaten humanity's existence. The survey indicates public anxiety has expanded beyond job displacement and rising energy costs linked to data centers to encompass broader fears about AI's long-term dangers.
In an interview with Time magazine, President Trump reportedly said he does not want data centers built near his own properties, even as his administration promotes rapid AI infrastructure expansion nationwide. The comment surfaced amid broader discussion of his views on AI and energy policy.
A report using AI-assisted analysis found that opposition to artificial intelligence, data center construction and Flock surveillance cameras has emerged as a rare unifying issue among American voters. The findings indicate this backlash is becoming a notable factor heading into the midterm elections.
Google has disclosed Project Suncatcher, an effort to launch AI computing hardware into space, according to the report. Researchers involved acknowledge significant technical challenges but argue the long-term economics could eventually justify orbital data centers.
UPMC's community hospital in Lititz, Pennsylvania has evaluated about 50 measles patients since April, with roughly 20 requiring hospitalization, according to infectious disease specialist John Goldman. Statewide, Pennsylvania has logged 943 cases, 176 hospitalizations and five deaths as of September 30, part of a national measles resurgence topping 3,600 cases this year, the highest since 1991.