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IBM, AMD, Oak Ridge National Laboratory launch quantum error correction platform <br> IBM, AMD and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) on Thursday launched a joint platform aimed at ​solving quantum computing machines&#39; tendency to make &zwnj;errors. Quantum computers harness the behavior of subatomic particles to solve problems conventional machines cannot. However, their calculations are ​extremely fragile and prone to mistakes. The new platform pairs IBM&#39;s ⁠quantum computers, including its most powerful quantum chip, ​the 120-qubit Nighthawk, with ORNL&#39;s Umbra supercomputer powered ​by AMD&#39;s Instinct graphics processors and EPYC central processors Qubits are the fundamental units of information in a quantum computer Together, ​the systems let researchers test ways to spot ​and fix quantum errors, combining classical and quantum computing resources &zwnj;to ⁠advance error correction. Read More:&nbsp;Authorities tighten restr...

OpenAI kicks off charm offensive to change voters' view of data centers <br> Stunning ​victories by Democrats in US midterm elections this week have been interpreted by many as Americans repudiating tech &zwnj;industry plans to build data centers across the country. OpenAI has now embarked on new strategies to change their minds. The AI lab on Thursday laid out policies &mdash; in the works since August &mdash; intended to help the company build more trust with local communities and convince them that data centers will ​benefit them. OpenAI said it will no longer use non-disclosure agreements with public officials when negotiating or discussing future sites, although ​proprietary information would still be under wraps. It will also give residents access to construction plans ⁠and their potential effect on traffic, noise and lighting. OpenAI&#39;s chief global affairs officer Chris Lehane also said that these centers would ​be a source of ongoing jobs b...

Authorities tighten restrictions on data centres amid AI boom <br> Governments from New York to Amsterdam are imposing new restrictions on data-centre development as concerns grow over electricity demand, water consumption and the environmental impact of infrastructure needed to support the AI boom. Below are some key examples: US Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order that would require companies ​setting up AI data centres in the state to meet environmental and transparency safeguards and secure local community approval for the projects. The &zwnj;order, effective immediately, removes all data centres from the state&#39;s Fast Track permit program, and bars any office or agency under Shapiro&#39;s jurisdiction from signing non-disclosure agreements with data centre developers. Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered a pause on approvals of new data centre projects through the state&#39;s grid interconnection process, citing concerns ...

Apple AI tools come to China after two-year delay <br> Apple began on Wednesday a long-delayed trial rollout of in-house artificial intelligence tools for Chinese users, playing catch-up to homegrown smartphone makers in a major market for the United States giant. The on-device features dubbed &quot;Apple Intelligence&quot; were first released in the US and other countries in autumn 2024, marking the firm&#39;s first major push into generative AI. But strict Chinese regulatory requirements for the fast-evolving technology have held back its launch there&nbsp;&mdash; as well as the fact that models from Google&nbsp;and OpenAI, which Apple has used elsewhere to boost its own AI capabilities, are not available in the country. Apple, which has largely stayed out of the global AI investment frenzy, announced it will work with a Chinese partner &mdash; Alibaba&#39;s Qwen &mdash; to integrate more powerful AI features into devices alongside its...

NASA's Swift satellite telescope heads for fiery re-entry 22 years after launch <br> An ageing NASA satellite telescope that a robotic spacecraft was sent to retrieve on a failed rescue mission this&nbsp;summer&nbsp;was&nbsp;headed for a fiery re-entry into Earth&#39;s atmosphere on Wednesday, nearly 22 years after it was launched into orbit. The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, weighing roughly 3,200 pounds (1,452 kg), was set to tumble out of orbit and burn up in the atmosphere somewhere over the tropics, with fragments surviving re-entry unlikely to threaten populated areas, according to NASA. The US Space Force has put the odds of harm coming to anyone on Earth at one chance in 2,100, NASA said in an online statement, projecting the time of re-entry at approximately 3:30am EST (0830 GMT). The Aerospace Corporation, a non-profit national security research entity, projected a re-entry window of 5:19am EST, plus or minus two hours. Our latest predict...

European supermarkets rush to patch vulnerabilities after region-wide fridge hack <br> European supermarkets targeted in a second wave of cyberattacks that cranked up ​fridge and freezer temperatures were rushing on Tuesday to upgrade their systems and protect themselves against further hacking attempts. Stores in &zwnj;eight European countries were forced to throw away vast quantities of food after hackers tampered with their fridges on Monday, in an attack identical to one that swept dozens of supermarkets in France three weeks ago. In Sweden, supermarket chain Coop said it was switching systems to 5G networks and modern modems, instead of 4G connections - a process that had ​already started since the French incident. Read:&nbsp;New cyberattack on supermarket fridges sweeps across Europe The seven stores hit by the attack are back up and running, but their refrigeration systems have ​been disconnected from the internet, a spokesperson said. Freezers at dozen...