Queensland and the Northern Territory have rejected the federal government's plans to mandate renewable power use in AI datacentres, calling them 'underdeveloped ideas' that centralize power in Canberra, as S&P Global warns of potential five-fold increase in datacentre power use by 2035.
Tech journalists are increasingly engaging in 'shoe-leather reporting' to investigate the physical realities of AI, from colossal datacentres and energy infrastructure to social media's real-world harms. This involves on-the-ground investigation, talking to locals, and examining tangible constraints, moving beyond digital landscapes.
South Korean chip maker SK hynix is set to raise $26.5 billion through a mega US listing on Nasdaq, capitalizing on the AI boom. The offering, one of the world's largest, aims to fund new fabrication hubs and advanced packaging facilities, with shares already showing strong interest.
Console prices are rising due to AI-driven demand for semiconductors. PS5 and Xbox Series X/S have seen significant price hikes, with the PS6 potentially costing $1,000. Sales have dropped, and cloud gaming may offer an alternative.
Emissions understated by factor of five in Essex plans for tech giant, while Greystoke’s Lincolnshire plans show similar errorDevelopers working for Google have significantly misstated how much carbon two proposed AI datacentres will contribute to the UK’s total emissions in planning documents reviewed by the Guardian.The tech company wants to build two huge datacentres – one 52-hectare (130 acre) project in Thurrock and another at an airfield in North Weald, both in Essex. To do so, developers are required to submit planning documents calculating how much carbon these projects will emit as a proportion of the UK’s total carbon footprint. Continue reading...
The AI boom is worsening a global memory chip shortage, which Samsung predicts will continue into 2027Samsung Electronics on Thursday reported record quarterly profit driven by a 49-fold jump in chip income, saying it expects a severe supply shortage to deepen next year as clients spend on AI, driving up prices of its memory chips.A boom in the construction of AI datacentres has spurred Samsung and chipmaking peers to allocate production capacity to advanced chips that Nvidia uses in its so-called AI accelerators. Even so, chipmakers are struggling to meet demand while the move also squeezes the supply of conventional chips. Continue reading...
The UK government has revised its estimate of carbon emissions from AI datacentres by more than 100 times, after an investigation revealed the original figure was a significant underestimate. New data shows AI datacentres could emit 34-123 MtCO2 over the next decade, equivalent to 0.9-3.4% of the UK's projected total emissions between 2025-2035. The previous estimate claimed emissions would reach just 0.142 MtCO2 in a single year.
