Cloud computing

Anthropic has reached a $12 billion agreement with Akamai for AI computing capacity, according to Bloomberg. The deal gives the AI company a major new infrastructure partner, extending its access to the computing power needed to train and run its models. It marks a notable shift toward diversified cloud partnerships among leading AI developers.

Chipmaker Cerebras has agreed to supply 100 megawatts worth of AI processors to Gimlet Labs, a cloud computing startup. The deal marks a significant supply commitment for the emerging AI infrastructure company and highlights growing demand for alternative AI compute providers beyond Nvidia. The reported scale of the agreement underscores how power-hungry AI data center buildouts have become.

A proposal circulating among tech commentators argues that the answer to growing data centre sprawl could be small, modular facilities built underground. The idea, framed around small modular data centres and edge computing, ties into debates over digital sovereignty and where cloud infrastructure should physically sit as demand for computing capacity keeps rising.

Amazon is reportedly looking to sell about $8 billion worth of Nvidia chips to outside investors, according to a Financial Times report carried by Reuters. The move would shift the cost of AI computing capacity away from Amazon's own balance sheet, and the report is drawing scrutiny over how heavily tech companies are financing their AI buildouts and what the demand for such deals says about the chip market.

Amazon is reportedly considering selling some of its Nvidia chips and renting them back, a financing move aimed at freeing up capital spent on AI infrastructure. The idea mirrors sale-leaseback deals common in real estate: Amazon would convert expensive GPU hardware into cash while still using the chips for its cloud customers. The strategy highlights how costly the AI computing buildout has become for major cloud providers.

A Wall Street Journal opinion piece argues that disused or abandoned land should be repurposed for data center construction. The proposal ties the booming demand for data infrastructure driven by artificial intelligence and cloud computing to opportunities for redeveloping vacant sites. It has drawn attention in technology and real estate circles, where land availability for data centers is an increasingly pressing question.

The environmental impact of data centers is in focus, with attention on their heavy electricity and water consumption as digital demand surges. As artificial intelligence and cloud services expand, communities and regulators are increasingly questioning the sustainability of large-scale server facilities and their carbon emissions.

Gizmodo reports a hands-on look at what is described as the first 'wireless GPU', a device said to use Wi-Fi instead of local hardware or paid cloud subscriptions to handle AI computing tasks. Coverage frames it as a potential challenge to subscription-based AI services, though detailed performance claims remain limited to the outlet's initial impressions.

Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment has named Alibaba Group an official technology and cloud partner of the Brooklyn Nets, the NBA franchise based in New York. The partnership makes the Chinese e-commerce and cloud computing giant a technology provider for the team, underlining its push into sports and entertainment partnerships in the US market.

The Financial Times reports that Amazon is looking to transfer around $8 billion worth of Nvidia chips to investors, likely through deals tied to its data center or cloud operations. The move suggests Amazon is seeking outside financing or risk-sharing for its AI infrastructure buildout. Tech communities are debating what it signals about demand for compute capacity and the cost of the AI arms race.

Amazon Web Services has increased prices for reserved GPU capacity by 15%, citing surging demand for AI computing. The move affects customers locking in long-term access to graphics processors used for training and running machine learning models. Industry observers are debating what it signals about the cost of AI infrastructure and cloud providers' pricing power as demand for compute keeps outpacing supply.

Cloudflare has announced K2, a serverless event streaming service. The announcement describes a managed way to produce and consume event streams without provisioning infrastructure, extending Cloudflare's developer platform beyond compute and storage. Developer reaction so far has centred on how it compares with existing streaming offerings like Kafka and cloud provider event services.

South African technology coverage is discussing the end of a Cloud-only approach in the country, suggesting a shift toward hybrid or on-premises computing arrangements. The report, published on a South African gadget news site, frames the change as significant for local businesses and IT strategy. Details on which providers or policies are affected were not included in the available coverage.

Ghost, a startup founded by a 19-year-old entrepreneur, has raised $11 million to build a $3,499 computer designed to run a person's own private AI. The young founder's age and the premium hardware price are drawing attention in the startup and AI hardware community, with observers weighing whether personal AI machines can compete with cloud-based assistants and existing devices.

Satya Nadella transformed Microsoft once before, shifting the company to the cloud and making it one of the world's most valuable firms. The question now being asked is whether he can repeat that feat as artificial intelligence reshapes the technology industry. Commentators are weighing whether Microsoft's aggressive AI investments, including its partnership with OpenAI, can secure its position in the next era of computing.

A statewide moratorium on data center construction is drawing attention to the environmental footprint of the industry, including high water and electricity use. Supporters of the pause argue growth must be slowed until impacts are assessed, while data center development is surging across many regions to meet demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

Oracle has agreed to a five-year, $7 billion lease arrangement covering AI chips, a major commitment to the computing infrastructure behind artificial intelligence. The same recap notes that Tencent's Yuanbao AI assistant is having some features limited. The news feeds ongoing attention to how cloud providers are locking in scarce AI hardware capacity.

Programmers are setting up small local servers, jokingly called 'AI sheds', to run AI coding tools on their own hardware instead of renting expensive cloud capacity. The trend follows a suggestion by Ruby creator David Heinemeier Hansson, who argued developers could save money and keep code private by hosting models at home. Responses have been mixed, with some praising the cost savings and others calling it impractical.

Global data center investment has reached a record annualized pace of $85 billion, according to reports highlighted in the headline. The surge comes as spending on traditional office construction and commercial real estate continues to decline, reflecting a structural shift in the economy driven by artificial intelligence, cloud computing and remote work. Commenters see it as further evidence that capital is flowing from physical workspaces into digital infrastructure.

Google has reportedly placed its first orbital data center into orbit, marking a step toward computing infrastructure in space. The development was highlighted by computer scientist Daniel Lemire on his blog, filed under space and technology. Orbital data centers could offer solar-powered, always-illuminated computing, though questions remain about maintenance, cooling and radiation resilience.

Google's first Chromebook, the Cr-48, was never sold in stores and did not even carry the Chromebook name. The unbranded, plain black laptop was sent to testers as a pilot device ahead of the 2011 Chromebook launch, serving as a proof of concept for Google's browser-based computing vision. Tech commentators are revisiting the device and its role in shaping Google's later cloud-first laptop lineup.

Researchers have built a quasilinear verifier for quantum computations, a tool designed to check that quantum devices produce correct results without requiring exponentially large classical resources. Verification is one of the central unsolved problems in quantum computing, since users cannot directly confirm outputs of machines they cannot simulate. The development is being reported as a step toward trustworthy quantum cloud services and practical certification of quantum hardware.

Tencent has arranged to lease around 100,000 chips from Oracle as it works to expand its artificial intelligence capabilities, according to a Financial Times report carried by Reuters. The deal highlights how Chinese tech firms are securing overseas computing capacity amid export restrictions on advanced chips to China.

Amazon Web Services describes how to build an environmental intelligence platform using open data sources hosted on its cloud infrastructure. The piece outlines how researchers and organisations can combine publicly available environmental datasets with AWS tools to monitor conditions such as climate, land use, and ecosystems, positioning cloud computing and open data as a foundation for environmental decision-making.

An economist at New Mexico State University argues that investment in data centers is propping up the US economy enough to prevent a recession. The claim points to the massive construction and infrastructure spending driven by artificial intelligence and cloud computing demand as a key source of economic growth. The remarks highlight how central the tech building boom has become to the broader American economy.

Commentary is emerging that the cloud-only era of technology may be ending, with a shift expected toward hybrid models that combine local and cloud computing. The discussion suggests companies are rethinking their reliance on purely cloud-based infrastructure, though no specific company, product or policy change is named in the reporting so far.

Data center developers are discussing the current operating environment for their industry, according to a report from WPXI. The sector has been a major focus as demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence drives rapid expansion of data center construction. Developers' remarks on market conditions are drawing attention from investors and local communities affected by new projects.

The Indiana Gazette reports on a roundup of local chamber of commerce items, naming Firepoint Energy, an upcoming annual meeting, Amazon Web Services, and a College of Osteopathic Medicine among the topics covered. The short news note ties together business, technology and medical-education developments of interest to the Indiana, Pennsylvania area business community.