Sustainable development

AI energy demand strains electrical grids

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently delivered a key insight, stating that the biggest hurdle to deploying new AI solutions is now electrical power, not chip supply. The massive energy requirements for running large language models (LLMs) have created a critical bottleneck for major cloud providers.

Nadella specified that Microsoft currently has a ‘bunch of chips sitting in inventory’ that cannot be plugged in and utilised. The problem is a lack of ‘warm shells’, meaning data centre buildings that are fully equipped with the necessary power and cooling capacity.

The escalating power requirements of AI infrastructure are placing extreme pressure on utility grids and capacity. Projections from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory indicate that US data centres could consume up to 12 percent of the nation’s total electricity by 2028.

The disclosure should serve as a warning to investors, urging them to evaluate the infrastructure challenges alongside AI’s technological promise. This energy limitation could create a temporary drag on the sector, potentially slowing the massive projected returns on the $5 trillion investment.

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Microsoft and NVIDIA expand partnership with Anthropic

Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Anthropic have announced new strategic partnerships to expand access to Anthropic’s rapidly growing Claude AI models. Claude will scale on Microsoft Azure with NVIDIA support, offering enterprise customers broader model choices and enhanced capabilities.

Anthropic has committed to purchase $30 billion of Azure compute capacity and additional capacity up to one gigawatt. NVIDIA and Anthropic will optimise Claude models for performance, efficiency, and cost, while aligning future NVIDIA architectures with Anthropic workloads.

The partnerships also extend Claude access across Microsoft Foundry, including frontier models like Claude Sonnet 4.5, Claude Opus 4.1, and Claude Haiku 4.5.

Microsoft Copilot products, including GitHub Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and Copilot Studio, will continue to feature Claude capabilities, providing enterprise users with integrated AI tools.

Microsoft and NVIDIA have committed $5 billion and $10 billion respectively to support Anthropic’s growth. The partnership makes Claude the only frontier AI model on all three top cloud platforms, boosting enterprise AI adoption and innovation.

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CelcomDigi convergence project earns ZTE top 5G service honour

ZTE has won the Best Mobile/5G Service Innovation award at the 2025 Global Connectivity Awards for its work on Malaysia’s CelcomDigi dual-network convergence. The project integrates network assets across four regions and six operators, marking the largest deployment of its kind in the country.

The company introduced an intelligent, integrated, and connected management model built on big-data platforms for site deployment, optimisation, and value analysis. Eight smart tools support planning, commissioning, and operations, enabling end-to-end oversight of project delivery and performance.

Phase-one results show a 15 percent rise in coverage, 25 percent faster downloads, higher traffic, and a more than 60 percent reduction in complaints. ZTE also deployed AI-based energy-saving systems to reduce emissions and advance sustainability goals across the network.

The project incorporates talent-building measures by prioritising localisation and working with Malaysian universities. ZTE says this approach supports long-term sector resilience alongside near-term performance gains.

CAPACITY’s Global Connectivity Awards, held in Malaysia, evaluate innovation, execution, and industry impact. ZTE states that it will continue to develop new project management models and partner globally to build more efficient, intelligent, and sustainable communications networks.

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Electricity bills surge as data centres drive up costs across the US

Massive new data centres, built to power the AI industry, are being blamed for a dramatic rise in electricity costs across the US. Residential utility bills in states with high concentrations of these facilities, such as Virginia and Illinois, are surging far beyond the national average.

The escalating energy demand has caused a major capacity crisis on large grids like the PJM Interconnection, with data centre load identified as the primary reason for a multi-billion pound spike in future power costs. These extraordinary increases are being passed directly to consumers, making affordability a central issue for politicians ahead of upcoming elections.

Lawmakers are now targeting tech companies and AI labs, promising to challenge what they describe as ‘sweetheart deals’ and to make the firms contribute more to the infrastructure they rely upon.

Although rising costs are also attributed to an ageing grid and inflation, experts warn that utility bills are unlikely to decrease this decade due to the unprecedented demand from rapid data centre expansion.

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ALX and Anthropic partner with Rwanda on AI education

A landmark partnership between ALX, Anthropic, and the Government of Rwanda has launched a major AI learning initiative across Africa.

The program introduces ‘Chidi’, an AI-powered learning companion built on Anthropic’s Claude model. Instead of providing direct answers, the system is designed to guide learners through critical thinking and problem-solving, positioning African talent at the centre of global tech innovation.

An initiative, described as one of the largest AI-enhanced education deployments on the continent, that will see Chidi integrated into Rwanda’s public education system. A pilot phase will involve up to 2,000 educators and select civil servants.

According to the partners, the collaboration aims to ensure Africa’s youth become creators of AI technology instead of remaining merely consumers of it.

A three-way collaboration that unites ALX’s training infrastructure, Anthropic’s AI technology, and Rwanda’s progressive digital policy. The working group, the researchers noted, will document insights to inform Rwanda’s national AI policy.

The initiative sets a new standard for inclusive, AI-powered learning, with Rwanda serving as a launch hub for future deployments across the continent.

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Berlin summit links digital strategy to wider European security

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron will host a Berlin summit to reduce Europe’s reliance on US tech platforms and to shape a more independent EU digital strategy. The meeting coincides with planned revisions to EU AI and data rules.

The push for digital independence reflects growing concern that Europe risks falling behind the US in strategic technologies. Leaders argue that regulatory changes must support competitiveness while maintaining core privacy and safety principles.

Germany is also hosting a two-day European security conference in Berlin, featuring German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius. The parallel agendas highlight how digital strategy and geopolitical security are increasingly linked in EU policy debates.

The German foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, has meanwhile backed the EU enlargement in the Western Balkans during a visit to Montenegro, signalling continued geopolitical outreach alongside internal reforms.

The Berlin discussions are expected to shape Europe’s stance ahead of upcoming AI and data proposals, setting the tone for broader talks on industrial policy, technology sovereignty, and regional security.

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UK uses AI to fight drug-resistant infections

The UK is harnessing AI to combat the growing threat of drug-resistant infections, a crisis often called ‘the silent pandemic’. The Fleming Initiative and GSK will invest £45m in AI research to speed up new antibiotics and combat deadly bacteria and fungi.

The project targets Gram-negative bacteria, such as E. coli and Klebsiella, which resist treatment due to their protective outer layers. Researchers will test different molecules and use AI to identify which can penetrate and persist in these bacteria.

The goal is to shorten years of laboratory work into rapid computational predictions that guide the design of effective antibiotics.

AI will predict how resistant infections emerge and spread, helping scientists anticipate threats early. The initiative will also target deadly fungal infections, such as Aspergillus, which threaten people with weakened immune systems.

Experts hope the approach can outpace bacterial evolution and reduce the human toll from untreatable infections. Fleming Initiative director Alison Holmes emphasised the vital role of antibiotics in modern medicine and warned that overuse has squandered this critical resource.

Tony Wood, GSK’s chief scientific officer, said the project will open new avenues for discovering antibiotics while anticipating resistance, transforming the treatment and prevention of serious infections worldwide.

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Bitcoin edges into yearly losses as volatility rises

Bitcoin has slipped into negative territory for the year after a sharp retreat that pushed the price below $90,000 for the first time in seven months. The cryptocurrency has now fallen more than 28% from its peak above $126,000, erasing over $600 billion in market value.

Investors have been rotating out of speculative assets, with concerns around potential Federal Reserve decisions adding to the risk-off sentiment.

Market analysts note that long-term holders have been taking profits following the extraordinary rally that carried Bitcoin to new records in October. Uncertainty around monetary policy, tightening liquidity, and broader macroeconomic pressures have fuelled the downturn.

The impact of the October flash crash, triggered by renewed US-China trade tensions, continues to weigh heavily as thinner order books leave Bitcoin more vulnerable to abrupt price swings.

Bitcoin had rallied strongly throughout the year, supported by optimism over pro-crypto policies under President Donald Trump and the rollout of new digital-asset regulations. Yet the cryptocurrency has now surrendered its gains, underperforming major benchmarks such as the S&P 500 and gold.

Analysts say the market is approaching a pivotal moment, with some fearing a deeper reset while others view the current consolidation as an opportunity for strategic accumulation.

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Eurofiber France confirms the major data breach

The French telecommunications company Eurofiber has acknowledged a breach of its ATE customer platform and digital ticket system after a hacker accessed the network through software used by the company.

Engineers detected the intrusion quickly and implemented containment measures, while the company stressed that services remained operational and banking data stayed secure. The incident affected only French operations and subsidiaries such as Netiwan, Eurafibre, Avelia, and FullSave, according to the firm.

Security researchers instead argue that the scale is far broader. International Cyber Digest reported that more than 3,600 organisations may be affected, including prominent French institutions such as Orange, Thales, the national rail operator, and major energy companies.

The outlet linked the intrusion to the ransomware group ByteToBreach, which allegedly stole Eurofiber’s entire GLPI database and accessed API keys, internal messages, passwords and client records.

A known dark web actor has now listed the stolen dataset for sale, reinforcing concerns about the growing trade in exposed corporate information. The contents reportedly range from files and personal data to cloud configurations and privileged credentials.

Eurofiber did not clarify which elements belonged to its systems and which originated from external sources.

The company has notified the French privacy regulator CNIL and continues to investigate while assuring Dutch customers that their data remains safe.

A breach that underlines the vulnerability of essential infrastructure providers across Europe, echoing recent incidents in Sweden, where a compromised IT supplier exposed data belonging to over a million people.

Eurofiber says it aims to strengthen its defences instead of allowing similar compromises in future.

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OpenAI accelerates enterprise AI growth after Gartner names it an emerging leader

The US tech firm, OpenAI, gained fresh momentum after being named an Emerging Leader in Generative AI by Gartner. The assessment highlights strong industry confidence in OpenAI’s ability to support companies that want reliable and scalable AI systems.

Enterprise clients have increasingly adopted the company’s tools after significant investment in privacy controls, data governance frameworks and evaluation methods that help organisations deploy AI safely.

More than one million companies now use OpenAI’s technology, driven by workers who request ChatGPT as part of their daily tasks.

Over eight hundred million weekly users arrive already familiar with the tool, which shortens pilot phases and improves returns, rather than slowing transformation with lengthy onboarding. ChatGPT Enterprise has experienced sharp expansion, recording ninefold growth in seats over the past year.

OpenAI views generative AI as a new layer of enterprise infrastructure rather than a peripheral experiment. The next generation of systems is expected to be more collaborative and closely integrated with corporate operations, supporting new ways of working across multiple sectors.

The company aims to help organisations convert AI strategies into measurable results, rather than abstract ambitions.

Executives described the recognition as encouraging, although they stressed that broader progress still lies ahead. OpenAI plans to continue strengthening its enterprise platform, enabling businesses to integrate AI responsibly and at scale.

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