The Register

Elon Musk's SpaceXAI, formerly Eloncorp, launched Grok 4.5, an AI model rebranded for legal advice and Excel tasks. The model claims improved performance through training on Nvidia GB300 GPUs and Cursor acquisition, but independent benchmarks suggest it lags behind models like Anthropic’s Claude Fable.

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a German state, is transitioning from Microsoft SharePoint to FOSS tools like Nextcloud and OpenProject as part of a digital sovereignty initiative. The state aims to expand the use of these tools to over 50,000 public employees and is collaborating with Schleswig-Holstein and Bavaria to adopt unified platforms. Bavaria has also launched projects to measure digital sovereignty and is seeking alternatives to Microsoft following a canceled billion-dollar deal.

A campaign group, Foxglove, has demanded the UK health minister clarify data justifying a £330 million NHS investment in Palantir's data-sharing system. NHS England claimed 139 trusts using the Federated Data Platform reported benefits, but an FOI request revealed nearly a third performed fewer procedures post-implementation. The Office for Statistics Regulation is assessing the validity of NHS England's claims.

The article argues that as AI evolves, data storage becomes a critical challenge surpassing compute demands. Exponential data growth from advanced AI systems, like agentic models, necessitates efficient storage solutions, with economic factors like total cost of ownership and return on investment becoming central. Western Digital's Nicolas Frapard highlights the shift from compute-focused progress to managing vast data estates at scale.

AI token prices are fluctuating significantly, with commodity models becoming much cheaper while frontier models see price increases. Examples include DeepSeek's 2025 model causing a market repricing and OpenAI raising GPT-5.5 costs. Companies are shifting to metered pricing as AI usage grows, leading to higher spending on tokens despite uncertain productivity gains.

Media Over QUIC (MoQ) is positioned as a middle ground between WebRTC and DASH, leveraging QUIC as its transport protocol to address real-time streaming challenges. It aims to scale real-time video delivery while potentially replacing or complementing existing technologies like WebRTC, which struggles with large-scale conferences, and DASH, used for non-real-time media.

Microsoft has introduced a new experimental Windows 11 feature called Cloud Rebuild, which allows re-imaging PCs without physical Windows copies by downloading OS images and drivers via Windows Update. The tool integrates with Microsoft Entra, Intune, and Windows Autopilot for automated app and policy deployment, but requires compatible hardware and internet access.

South Korean AI chip startup FuriosaAI has deployed its RNGD AI accelerators at Equinix's Lisbon datacenter, targeting European demand for sovereign AI compute. The RNGD cards offer 48 GB HBM3, 1.5 TB/s bandwidth, and 512 teraFLOPS of FP8 performance with an 180W TDP, while Furiosa collaborates with Broadcom on a next-gen chip using HBM4 memory.

Microsoft is enabling Windows Backup for Organizations by default in Windows 11 26H2 for non-EU regions, requiring businesses with privacy or sovereignty concerns to opt out. The feature backs up device settings and Microsoft Store app lists for restoration on new devices, but excludes EU regions and devices with explicit backup policies disabled. Administrators are cautioned about the opt-out approach, as the feature aligns with Microsoft's goals to streamline PC transitions and cloud-first device management.

The UK government's new Cyber Resilience Pledge has 60 signatories, including Marks & Spencer and Capita, despite Capita's history of cybersecurity issues. Notable absentees include Co-op, Harrods, and Jaguar Land Rover, while Microsoft and other major corporations joined the initiative.

Northern Ireland's Education Authority (EANI) is attempting again to replace Capita's IT services contract for schools, with a new procurement worth up to £851 million. A previous attempt to replace Capita with Fujitsu collapsed after 11 months via 'mutual agreement' in November 2024, extending Capita's contract until 2027. The new Education Technology Managed Services (ETMS) deal aims to replace Capita's current role in managing Northern Ireland's school IT infrastructure.

The UK's Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 aims to reduce approval times for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) by up to 12 months, with datacenters now included in this category. The reforms, effective later this month, eliminate pre-application consultations for major projects like power stations and datacenters, streamlining approvals through central oversight instead of local councils.

The Flemish Government renovated its Brussels headquarters to encourage hybrid workers to return to the office and meet 2050 climate goals. The project, part of the ZIN in No(o)rd redevelopment, integrated collaboration technology and sustainable design, creating a flagship example of circular construction and energy-efficient workplaces.

Broadcom and Apple have extended their custom silicon partnership until 2031, with Broadcom supplying components like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and charging chips. The collaboration, ongoing since the late 2000s, includes developing custom ASICs for multiple Apple product generations.

GitHub, a Microsoft-owned subsidiary, offered to mail free CD-ROMs of public repositories to the first 1,000 applicants but withdrew the offer after public ridicule. The initiative, framed as a response to 'recent developments in physical media,' was speculated to mock Sony's 2028 discontinuation of optical media for PlayStation consoles. The offer included a Microsoft form for requests but was taken offline, with GitHub providing no official explanation.

KSOS, a Unix-compatible operating system developed in the late 1970s and 1980s with US Department of Defense backing, used a type-safe programming language (Modula) and was designed for formal verification. Its source code, now publicly available via The Unix Heritage Society, highlights its modern security features and historical significance compared to contemporary systems like seL4 and Rust-based projects.

The article discusses the rising costs and challenges of AI infrastructure, highlighting 'Caveman'—a tool that minimizes tokens to reduce expenses. It compares current AI investments to historical overcapitalized tech booms and warns of structural economic risks in hyperscaler AI development.

Kara, an apprentice software engineering student in 1999, automated a manual data entry task for a Y2K supplier audit program by writing a script to extract data from a Unix minicomputer and transfer it to an Access database. Despite the script freezing the PC, her solution impressed her temporary boss, leading to a full-time job at the company where she later supported the problematic database.

Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft completed a flyby of asteroid 98943 Torifune as part of its extended mission, following a sample return from Ryugu. JAXA aims to study Torifune’s Earth-crossing orbit for planetary defense insights and plans future missions to asteroid 1998 KY26 and Mars’ moon Phobos.

A 84-year-old woman lost $30,000 from her bank accounts after thieves exploited weak security practices, including the absence of mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA). The attackers used stolen passwords from a data breach and created spam filters to block alerts, while financial institutions initially doubted the theft was fraudulent.