ai

Meta CEO unveils plan to spend hundreds of billions on AI data centres

Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to invest hundreds of billions of dollars to build a network of massive data centres focused on superintelligent AI. The initiative forms part of Meta’s wider push to lead the race in developing machines capable of outperforming humans in complex tasks.

The first of these centres, called Prometheus, is set to launch in 2026. Another facility, Hyperion, is expected to scale up to 5 gigawatts. Zuckerberg said the company is building several more AI ‘titan clusters’, each one covering an area comparable to a significant part of Manhattan.

He also cited Meta’s strong advertising revenue as the reason it can afford such bold spending despite investor concerns.

Meta recently regrouped its AI projects under a new division, Superintelligence Labs, following internal setbacks and high-profile staff departures.

The company hopes the division will generate fresh revenue streams through Meta AI tools, video ad generators, and wearable smart devices. It is reportedly considering dropping its most powerful open-source model, Behemoth, in favour of a closed alternative.

The firm has increased its 2025 capital expenditure to up to $72 billion and is actively hiring top talent, including former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang and ex-GitHub chief Nat Friedman.

Analysts say Meta’s AI investments are paying off in advertising but warn that the real return on long-term AI dominance will take time to emerge.

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DuckDuckGo adds new tool to block AI-generated images from search results

Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo has launched a new feature that allows users to filter out AI-generated images from search results.

Although the company admits the tool is not perfect and may miss some content, it claims it will significantly reduce the number of synthetic images users encounter.

The new filter uses open-source blocklists, including a more aggressive ‘nuclear’ option, sourced from tools like uBlock Origin and uBlacklist.

Users can access the setting via the Images tab after performing a search or use a dedicated link — noai.duckduckgo.com — which keeps the filter always on and also disables AI summaries and the browser’s chatbot.

The update responds to growing frustration among internet users. Platforms like X and Reddit have seen complaints about AI content flooding search results.

In one example, users searching for ‘baby peacock’ reported seeing just as many or more AI images than real ones, making it harder to distinguish between fake and authentic content.

DuckDuckGo isn’t alone in trying to tackle unwanted AI material. In 2024, Hiya launched a Chrome extension aimed at spotting deepfake audio across major platforms.

Microsoft’s Bing has also partnered with groups like StopNCII to remove explicit synthetic media from its results, showing that the fight against AI content saturation is becoming a broader industry trend.

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Ten jobs likely to be replaced by AI — here’s how workers can pivot

AI is poised to disrupt the job market, with routine roles such as data entry clerks, telemarketers, customer service agents, cashiers, proofreaders, legal assistants, bookkeepers, front-desk staff, warehouse operatives, and entry-level market researchers most at risk.

Workers in these roles are encouraged to reskill strategically, as automation and shifting market demands reshape the employment landscape.

Promising transition options include data analytics, digital marketing, technical support, logistics technology, financial advising, retail management, culinary operations, and business intelligence — careers that harness creativity, empathy, and critical thinking.

This risk also presents an opportunity. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore has launched a S$200 million fund to retrain aviation professionals as AI reshapes the industry, a model that other sectors can follow.

Research indicates that AI predominantly complements tasks rather than replaces them entirely. Roles demanding human-centred reasoning, teamwork and digital literacy are growing, emphasising the importance of lifelong learning and adaptability.

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GPT-5 to launch soon as OpenAI showcases major AI milestone

OpenAI’s experimental language model has reached a noteworthy milestone in AI by performing at a gold medal level in the 2025 International Math Olympiad (IMO), one of the world’s most challenging competitions.

The model solved five out of six problems under the same timed and tool-free conditions as human participants, earning 35 out of 42 possible points. Three former IMO medalists evaluated each solution to ensure fairness and accuracy.

The achievement marks a leap in AI’s reasoning capabilities, with the model demonstrating the ability to tackle complex problems requiring hours of sustained creative thinking.

Researcher Alexander Wei noted the significance of this progress, tracing the model’s development through reasoning benchmarks from fundamental arithmetic problems to Olympiad-level tasks demanding far deeper cognitive effort.

Despite the breakthrough, the model is not expected to be released to the public anytime soon. OpenAI clarified that the IMO-capable model is part of an internal research track, distinct from its upcoming release of GPT-5.

According to Wei, GPT-5 will arrive soon but will not yet contain the same advanced mathematics capabilities.

In parallel, Hyperbolic Labs co-founder Yuchen Jin hinted that GPT-5 will operate as a multi-model system with dynamic routing, automatically selecting the most appropriate sub-model based on user input. Jin also noted that GPT-6 is already in training, suggesting rapid, continued progress in AI development.

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Nvidia’s container toolkit patched after critical bug

Cloud security researchers at Wiz have uncovered a critical misconfiguration in Nvidia’s Container Toolkit, used widely across managed AI services, that could allow a malicious container to break out and gain full root privileges on the host system.

The vulnerability, tracked as CVE‑2025‑23266 and nicknamed ‘NVIDIAScape’, arises from unsafe handling of OCI hooks. Exploiters can bypass container boundaries by using a simple three‑line Dockerfile, granting them access to server files, memory and GPU resources.

With Nvidia’s toolkit integral to GPU‑accelerated cloud offerings, the risk is systemic. A single compromised container could steal or corrupt sensitive data and AI models belonging to other tenants on the same infrastructure.

Nvidia has released a security advisory alongside updated toolkit versions. Users are strongly advised to apply patches immediately. Experts also recommend deploying additional isolation measures, such as virtual machines, to protect against container escape threats in multi-tenant AI environments.

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5G Advanced lays the groundwork for 6G, says 5G Americas

5G Americas has released a new white paper outlining how 5G Advanced features in 3GPP Releases 18 to 20 are shaping the path to 6G.

The report highlights how 5G Advanced is evolving mobile networks through embedded AI, scaled IoT, improved energy efficiency, and broader service capabilities. Viet Nguyen, President of 5G Americas, called it a turning point for wireless systems, offering more intelligent, resilient, and sustainable connectivity.

AI-native networking is a key innovation which brings machine learning into the radio and core network. The innovation enables zero-touch automation, predictive maintenance, and self-organising systems, cutting fault detection by 90% and reducing false alarms by 70%.

Energy efficiency is another core benefit. Features like cell sleep modes and antenna switching can reduce energy use by up to 56%. Ambient IoT also advances, enabling battery-less devices for industrial and consumer use in energy-constrained environments.

Latency improvements like L4S and enhanced QoS allow scalable support for immersive XR and real-time automation. Advances in spectral efficiency and satellite support are boosting uplink speeds above 500 Mbps and expanding coverage to remote areas.

Andrea Brambilla of Nokia noted that 5G Advanced supports digital twins, private networks, and AI-driven transformation. Pei Hou of T-Mobile said it builds on 5G Standalone to prepare for a sustainable shift to 6G.

The paper urges updated policies on AI governance, spectrum sharing, and IoT standards to ensure global interoperability. Strategic takeaways include AI, automation, and energy savings as key to long-term innovation and monetisation across the public and private sectors.

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Meta lures AI leaders as Apple faces instability

Meta has hired two senior AI researchers from Apple, Mark Lee and Tom Gunter, as part of its ongoing effort to attract top talent in AI, according to Bloomberg.

Instead of staying within Apple’s ranks, both experts have joined Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, following Ruoming Pang, Apple’s former head of large language model development, whom Meta recently secured with a reported compensation package worth over $200 million.

Gunter, once a distinguished engineer at Apple, briefly worked for another AI firm before accepting Meta’s offer.

The moves reflect increasing instability inside Apple’s AI division, where leadership is reportedly exploring partnerships with external providers like OpenAI to power future Siri features rather than relying solely on in-house solutions.

Meta’s aggressive hiring strategy comes as CEO Mark Zuckerberg prioritises AI development, pledging substantial investment in talent and computing power to rival companies such as OpenAI and Google.

Some Apple employees have been presented with counteroffers, but these reportedly fail to match the scale of Meta’s packages.

Instead of slowing down, Meta appears determined to solidify its position as a leader in AI research, continuing to lure key experts away from competitors while Apple faces challenges retaining its top engineers.

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Power demands reshape future of data centres

As AI and cloud computing demand surges, Siemens is tackling critical energy and sustainability challenges facing the data centre industry. With power densities surpassing 100kW per rack, traditional infrastructure is being pushed beyond its limits.

Siemens highlighted the urgent need for integrated digital solutions to address growing pressures such as delayed grid connections, rising costs, and speed of deployment. Operators are increasingly adopting microgrids and forming utility partnerships to ensure resilience and control over power access.

Siemens views data centres not just as energy consumers but as contributors to the grid, using stored energy to balance supply. The shift is pushing the industry to become more involved in grid stability and renewable integration.

While achieving net zero remains challenging, data centres are adopting on-site renewables, advanced cooling systems, and AI-driven management tools to boost efficiency.

Siemens’ own software, such as the Building X Suite, is helping reduce energy waste and predict maintenance needs, aligning operational effectiveness with sustainability goals.

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Eric Schmidt warns that AI growth is limited by electricity

Former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt has warned that electricity, rather than semiconductors, will limit the future growth of AI.

Speaking on the Moonshots podcast, Schmidt said the push towards artificial superintelligence—AI that exceeds human cognitive ability in almost all domains—will depend on securing sufficient power instead of just developing more advanced chips.

Schmidt noted the US alone may require an extra 92 gigawatts of electricity to support AI growth, equivalent to dozens of nuclear power stations.

Instead of waiting for new plants, companies such as Microsoft are seeking to retrofit closed facilities, including the Three Mile Island plant targeted for relaunch in 2028.

Schmidt highlighted growing environmental pressures, citing Microsoft’s 34% increase in water use within a year, a trend experts link directly to rising AI workloads.

Major AI developers like OpenAI’s Sam Altman also acknowledge energy as a key constraint. Altman has invested in nuclear fusion through Helion, while firms such as Microsoft and AMD are pressing US policymakers to fast-track energy permits.

Environmental groups, including Greenpeace, warn that unchecked AI expansion risks undermining climate goals instead of supporting them.

Schmidt believes superintelligence is inevitable and approaching rapidly, predicting specialised AI tools across all fields within five years. Rather than focusing solely on AI’s capabilities, he stressed the urgent need for planning energy infrastructure today to match tomorrow’s AI demands.

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Amazon cuts hundreds of AWS jobs amid AI shift

Amazon has reportedly cut hundreds of jobs within its Amazon Web Services cloud computing division, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Instead of providing specific numbers, Amazon confirmed the decision, citing ongoing efforts to optimise resources while continuing to invest in customer-focused innovation.

These layoffs follow warnings by CEO Andy Jassy, who recently said the rising use of generative AI would reduce workforce needs across the company.

The cuts affect several AWS teams, including specialists who support customers in developing new products and selling services. Employees reported receiving termination emails on Thursday, with their system access deactivated soon after.

Rather than focusing solely on AWS, Amazon has also been reducing roles in other units, such as its books division, devices and services unit, and Wondery podcast platform.

Despite these workforce reductions, AWS sales rose 17% in the first quarter to $29.3 billion compared to a year earlier, with operating income increasing by 23% to $11.5 billion.

Amazon, alongside firms like Microsoft, Meta, and CrowdStrike, is increasingly relying on AI tools instead of human workers to automate tasks, write software code, and streamline operations as part of a broader trend affecting the tech industry.

Amazon’s latest cuts reflect efforts by Jassy to reduce bureaucracy and eliminate managerial layers, aiming to keep the company agile amid rapid AI adoption and changing business priorities.

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