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Tech News
A large-scale survey of over 9,000 Norwegian workers, linked with employer-employee administrative records, found that meetings account for roughly 12 percent of work hours and 14 percent of firm wage bills. Most meeting time goes toward planning, problem-solving, information sharing, and project coordination, and higher-paying, higher-revenue firms spend more on meetings despite the greater cost of employee time.
British data center developer Nscale is renting a vessel called The Kalmar, a three-story barge once used to detain migrants, to house hundreds of contract laborers building its 30-megawatt Glomfjord facility in Norway. The project is at least six months behind schedule after cooling system leaks, an electrical fire, and labor problems, with only 6.4 megawatts currently operational. Bloomberg reported that workers described long shifts with inadequate training and safety protocols, and that a Norwegian labor authority investigation found Nscale's personnel records incomplete, sometimes listing only a worker's first name.
Alongside the main TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 conference running October 13-15 in San Francisco, a range of independently organized side events are scheduled from October 10 through 16. These include national and regional tech meetups hosted by groups like Poland's PAIH, Innovation Norway, and Pakistan's Software Export Board, plus startup workshops and networking sessions.
Norway's minister of digitalization has suggested that a ban on the use of AI glasses in public spaces could be considered, though he noted that European regulations might complicate such a move. The proposal aims to address privacy and security concerns associated with wearable AI devices.
Norway's government announced it will temporarily restrict AI-enhanced smart glasses in certain public spaces while officials draft permanent legislation. Digitalisation Minister Torgeir Eikstad Micaelsen cited rising concerns that the devices let wearers secretly photograph or film bystanders. Oslo has already banned smart glasses in schools, and energy company Equinor has barred them from its offices and offshore sites.
Norway's government has announced plans to introduce a temporary ban on smart glasses in locations where privacy is critical, such as schools, healthcare facilities, and gyms. The proposal aims to restrict device use in these areas while the government assesses the need for permanent regulation and defines which devices would be affected. The move is part of broader discussions on privacy concerns linked to emerging wearable technology.
Norwegian authorities are drafting legislation to prohibit the use of smart glasses with cameras in various public locations such as parks, museums, and schools. Private use of these devices would remain permitted. The move aims to address concerns over unintentional recording and privacy violations, according to Minister Torgeir Micaelsen.
Norway's center-left government announced plans to introduce legislation banning the use of AI glasses in certain public places, including parks, beaches, schools and kindergartens. The government will also form an expert group to develop permanent national regulations, according to digitalization minister Torgeir Micaelsen.
The town of Bowden, Alberta announced the discovery of a dead rat and asked residents to report any sightings or droppings to Rat Patrol Alberta for follow-up investigation. Officials did not disclose where in the town the rat was found. Alberta has maintained an official rat-free status since 1950 through its Rat Control Program.
Officials from Canada, France and Norway have been exchanging texts and meeting in person, including at an island gathering, to align on international controls for artificial intelligence. The communications reportedly show the leaders agreeing to collaborate, with one message simply stating "We're in."
UK neocloud firm Nscale disclosed in documents tied to its US IPO that a ByteDance subsidiary called Spring accounted for $24 million of its $33 million 2025 revenue, giving Spring access to 2,304 Nvidia B200 chips at Nscale's Glomfjord, Norway facility. The ByteDance link surfaced not in Nscale's S-1 but in a supporting $105 million loan document with Macquarie, and the Financial Times reports the arrangement was legal under current US export rules.
An Entrepreneur opinion piece uses a fictional Norwegian town plagued by repeated house fires to illustrate 'systemization thinking': instead of repeatedly dispatching firefighters, residents traced the fires to flammable soundproofing material installed under kitchen walls by the original builder. Once that material was removed and smoke alarms installed, the fires stopped for good, illustrating how fixing an underlying flaw beats repeatedly treating the same recurring problem.