Technology

News on tech innovations and their impact on businesses and markets.

Technology
The AI boom paradox is a real chicken-and-egg scenario
Capital spends on gas and renewable energy sources will need to increase if the world is to meet demand for artificial intelligence processing power in the next five years, yet a marked increase in capital expenditure will be required. According to a new report by the International Energy Agency, Energy and AI, global data centre electricity consumption could double by 2030 to over an eye-whopping 1,000 terrawatt hours (TWh) …IF we are to meet AI growth energy demands. That's more than Japan's current total annual energy consumption - mind boggling. In the United States alone, data centres could account for nearly half of electricity demand growth by 2030, while power use for data processing is expected to surpass all energy-intensive manufacturing combined, with AI-driven energy demand expected to quadruple in that period. And across the world's advanced economies, data centres could drive over 20% of demand growth. "Data centre demand will double globally in five years," said the IEA's Fatih Birol. “In the U.S., it could be half of growth — over half in Japan, one-fifth in Malaysia." But how do we get there? Capital expenditures would need to be enormous. In fact, McKinsey says capex on procurement and insta
Technology
Perry safely returns to Earth after 11min space trip
Katy Perry and five other women have returned to earth safely after their 11-minute trip to space. Perry was joined by Amanda Ngutyen, a civil rights activist who will be the first Vietnamese woman to fly to space; film producer Karianne Flynn; entrepreneur and former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bow; and journalists Gayle King and Lauren Sanchez. The women travelled in Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin New Shepard, which was created specifically for commercial space flights, in the first all-female space journey since 1963. Upon returning to earth, Sanchez expressed how proud she was of the crew and both Perry and King kissed the ground. While Blue Origin has not released full ticket prices, a US$150,000 deposit is required alongside the tickets, which are likely to be in the millions. The trip has also come under fire for its environmental impact and for it being tone deaf to current feminism movements. The flight also marks a new frontier in space tourism and competion between Bezos’ Blue Origin, who Perry and her crew flew with, and Elon Musk’s Space X. Related contentBlue Origin crew safely back on Earth after all-female space flight So Katy Perry went to space. Wasn’t there anyone else we could have sent?
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Meta anti-trust trial kicks off with Zuckerberg on stand
CEO of social media giant Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, has taken the witness stand in the first day of the company's anti-trust trial, brought forward by the Federal Trade Commission. Monday (Tuesday AEST) was one of an expected two days of testimony from Zuckerberg in a trial that centres around allegations Meta purchased competing social media companies to force a monopoly on the market sector, including Instagram and WhatsApp. Meta relies on the 3.3 billion daily users across all platforms as one of the core selling points of its ad business, which in 2024 saw more than US$160 billion in revenue. One of the key points against the social media giant from the FTC is that this huge audience has been gained through a lack of choice, and that “consumers do not have reasonable alternatives” to Meta’s platforms. If the FTC wins the current court case, Meta could be looking at splitting up, damaging the company’s business of digital advertising, as well as more broadly creating a reshuffle of the social media world. On the first day of the trial, Zuckerberg faced questioning about the shift of Facebook from a platform designed to facilitate social connections to being focused on showing users third-party content, including the
Technology
Nvidia to build chips in the US, avoiding tariffs
Nvidia is set to manufacture chips and supercomputers in the United States for the first time, just as the U.S. government revealed its probe into the semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries. The company has commissioned over one million square feet of manufacturing space in Arizona and Texas, where it will build its Blackwell chips and artificial intelligence supercomputers. This will be part of Nvidia’s US$500 billion four-year plan to construct AI infrastructure in the U.S. “Adding American manufacturing helps us better meet the incredible and growing demand for AI chips and supercomputers, strengthens our supply chain and boosts our resiliency,” said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. “Manufacturing Nvidia AI chips and supercomputers for American AI factories is expected to create hundreds of thousands of jobs and drive trillions of dollars in economic security over the coming decades,” according to Nvidia. Nvidia’s Blackwell chips will be built at a factory operated by TSMC in Phoenix, Arizona, while its supercomputers will be built at Foxconn and Wistron facilities in Texas. All locations are expected to ramp up in 12 to 15 months. The White House called Nvidia’s move “the Trump Effect in action”, with U.S. Presiden
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FTC takes Meta to trial over Instagram, WhatsApp
Meta will today begin its trial in an antitrust case brought by the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which could see the company sell Instagram and WhatsApp. The FTC has argued that Meta acquired Instagram and WhatsApp to stifle competition, in a case first filed in 2020. The trial will be heard by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C. from Monday local time, and will not include a jury. Meta has denied the FTC’s allegations. “Meta has made Instagram and WhatsApp better, more reliable and more secure through billions of dollars and millions of hours of investment,” the company said ahead of the trial. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify at the trial, along with Instagram head Adam Mosseri and other Meta executives. Representatives from Meta’s competitor platforms X, TikTok, Pinterest, and Snapchat will also testify. The trial is expected to last for seven to eight weeks after Monday’s opening statements. The FTC has called for Meta to divest from Instagram and WhatsApp, if it prevails. Zuckerberg has reportedly lobbied United States President Donald Trump for a potential FTC settlement. The company also filed for summary judgment last year, though this was rejected by Boasberg. Met

Technology
Katy Perry prepares for her 11-minute space journey
Katy Perry will be taking off on the first all-female space mission since 1963 at 12:30am (Tuesday, AEST) alongside journalists Gayle King and Lauren Sanchez. The space mission is the latest flight on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin New Shepard new vehicle, which was created for commercial space flights. Tickets for a Blue Origin flight can cost millions. Other celebrities have taken voyages with Blue Origin, including Dude Perfect’s Coby Cotton, whose seat cost US$1.25 million, according to Quartz. This flight comes as Jeff Bezos attempts to compete with Elon Musk’s Space X commercial space monopoly. In an interview with the Associated Press, Perry said she has always wanted to go to space and has been training for the journey. “I’ve always been interested in astrophysics and interested in astronomy and astrology and the stars,” she said. “I am talking to myself every day and going, ‘You’re brave, you’re bold, you are doing this for the next generation to inspire so many different people', but especially young girls to go, ‘I’ll go to space in the future.’ No limitations.” Perry has also posted a TikTok sharing her thoughts one day out from the voyage. Others on the flight will include Amanda Ngutyen, a civil righ
Technology
NZ mobile network named 'Most Zombie Resilient'
New Zealand-based mobile network, One NZ, has been named the “most zombie resilient network”. The accolade was given by the Zombie Research Society in the U.S., after One NZ launched its satellite service. This "groundbreaking technology” was launched by the Kiwi network before almost anyone else in the world and allows eligible One NZ phones and plans to send and receive texts even when outside traditional cell tower coverage, so long as they have a clear line of sight to the sky. This is a strong bonus in cases of natural disasters or other scenarios where traditional telecommunication infrastructure fails, such as a theoretical zombie apocalypse. Satellite text services have already been used in multiple global disasters, including during the Los Angeles fires earlier this year. Zombie Research Society founder, Matt Mogk, studies crisis scenarios and resilience in society. He has focused on the crucial role communication networks play in maintaining order and safety in these situations. The Zombie Research Society has academic and cultural backing from a variety of places, including an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, Steven Schlozman. “This notable technical evolution from One NZ offers a more r
Technology
Amazon CEO outlines major AI investment plans
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has told shareholders that heavy investment in artificial intelligence will be required to remain competitive, as the company increases its spending on AI. The company’s capital expeditures will reach US$100 billion this year, with a majority of this being spent on AI. Amazon is developing more than 1,000 AI applications, according to Jassy. “Generative AI is going to reinvent virtually every customer experience we know, and enable altogether new ones about which we’ve only fantasised,” wrote Jassy in his annual letter to shareholders. “If your customer experiences aren’t planning to leverage these intelligent models, their ability to query giant corpuses of data and quickly find your needle in the haystack, their ability to keep getting smarter with more feedback and data, and their future agentic capabilities, you will not be competitive.” Jassy also said the company would heavily invest into AI data centres, chips, and hardware for Amazon Web Services. Amazon introduced its Trainium2 microprocessors last year, which it hopes will rival Nvidia’s chips in AI training. While not as powerful as Nvidia’s microprocessors, Trainium 2 will be used to build Amazon’s Project Rainier supercomputer clus
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Anti-deepfake bill introduced in US Senate
A bill to halt the distribution of artificial intelligence-created likenesses has been introduced in the United States Senate, with companies like YouTube and OpenAI voicing support. The Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act would protect voices and likenesses from unauthorised recreations made by AI tools, known as deepfakes. The bill was sponsored by both Democratic and Republican legislators, and could hold individuals, companies, and online platforms liable for deepfakes. “Americans from all walks of life are increasingly seeing AI being used to create deepfakes in ads, images, music, and videos without their consent,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar, a co-sponsor of the bill. “We need our laws to be as sophisticated as this quickly advancing technology. The bipartisan NO FAKES Act will establish rules of the road to protect people from having their voice and likeness replicated through AI without their permission.” The bill has been backed by companies like YouTube and organisations like the Recording Academy. “We're proud to support this important legislation, which tackles the growing problem of harm associated with unauthorised digital replicas: AI-generated content simulating a pers