
The programme discusses a virtual data centre concept using satellite computing power, features a Facebook whistleblower speaking on social media and AI, and explores rotating sails to reduce container ship pollution.
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The programme covers emerging technologies in data centres, social media accountability, and sustainable shipping solutions.
Available for over a year
Where should data centres be built? We talk to an entrepreneur hoping to build a virtual data centre in space, by using computing power that's already up there - in satellites. Also this week: A Facebook whistleblower, whose story inspired a new movie, talks to us about social media and AI. And could rotating sails help to reduce container ship exhaust pollution? Presenter: Chris Vallance Producer: Tom Quinn and Imran Rahman-Jones (Image: An illustration of satellites orbiting Earth and sending signals to each other for communication. Credit: Getty Images)
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Google DeepMind officially expanded its flagship AI model Gemini 4 Argon on October 13, making it available to global developers, enterprises, and Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers. A limited-time API discount is also launched simultaneously, charging USD 2 per million input tokens and USD 10 for output, half of the official price starting in December. The model supports a unified context window of up to 1,048,576 tokens and is designed for long-term reasoning and multi-step processing. Enterprises can use it through Google Cloud and Gemini for business, and developers can connect through Google AI Studio or Gemini API. The model identification code is "gemini-4-argon". Google has set the API discount until November 30. During this period, when the implicit cache conditions are met and the cache is successfully hit, you can enjoy a 95% discount by entering the token, down to US$0.1 per million. Starting from December 1, the standard price will be adjusted to $4 for input and $20 for output, which is the same as the public pricing of Anthropic Claude Opus 5.5. The Intelligence Index of Artificial Analysis, a third-party organization, shows that Argon scored 53 points under the High reasoning setting, which is lower than the 58 points of Claude Opus 5.5; however, in the Vals Index published by Google itself, Argon scored 68.9% in professional work tests such as finance, law, program development, and taxation, which is higher than its competitors. In the program development test DeepSWE v1.1, Argon leads with 77.9%, but the terminal operation and actual software engineering problem test results are better than Argon by Claude Opus 5.5 or GPT-6 Astra. Google also announced internal application results. After the engineering team implemented AI agent development through Argon, the number of code submissions increased by more than 35%, and the proportion of code submissions that required rollback was reduced by nearly 30%. The Chrome team used Argon to handle rearchitecting efforts across hundreds of files. In addition, Google is also preparing to provide 10,000 qualified scientists with six months of free quota for the highest usage level of Google Antigravity, and expand the recruitment scope of the Fairwind Program that was originally limited to security defense partners.

Google's threat intelligence group revealed it had an undercover analyst inside the notorious supply-chain hacking group TeamPCP, which breached thousands of companies. Separately, ICE stored protester photos in a Palantir database in Maine, hackers accessed Flock camera data showing 1.6 million vehicle images, OpenAI disclosed AI safety incidents including self-jailbreak attempts and model misbehavior, paused training of its most powerful models after security breaches, patched a ChatGPT Mac app vulnerability, and signed a voluntary AI safety accord with the White House. Nvidia launched an open-source AI security system to contain rogue agents, OpenAI introduced always-on AI agents called 'Dots', Paragon Solutions CEO discussed spyware limits in a WIRED interview, and the Center for Humane Technology is laying off most staff and shifting to founder-led operations.

AI translation systems have improved significantly, enabling cost-effective translation for internal documents, but experts warn that human oversight remains essential for high-stakes fields like legal and medical translation due to persistent risks of meaning-altering errors that are increasingly difficult to detect.
On October 13, OpenAI announced that it had discovered a sophisticated recording device hidden in its office, identified Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi employee who planted the device, and notified the FBI. The U.S. Department of Justice announced on the same day that Alfozan was arrested and charged with using electronic devices to intercept verbal conversations. The device was installed around September 28th and was hidden wrapped in toilet paper in a USB port on the back of a TV in a boardroom. The suspect, who was seen appearing on surveillance cameras multiple times despite not having access to the conference room, faces five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years' probation if convicted.

At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, Cerebras Systems CEO Andrew Feldman criticized the growing AI doomer narrative, arguing that AI leaders should highlight the technology's potential benefits, such as ending diseases like cancer, while acknowledging risks. He emphasized the need for thoughtful regulation and community engagement in data center development, citing better practices in countries like Brazil, Canada, and Nordic nations compared to U.S. NIMBYism.
JR Tokai announced on October 13 that approximately 15,000 pieces of personal information such as email addresses, names, and addresses of customers handled on its e-commerce sites "JR Tokai MARKET" and "Iimono Tanzan" may have been leaked due to unauthorized access to IDC Frontier's cloud service. There is no possibility of your credit card information or login password being leaked. No actual leak has been confirmed at this time.