Today’s news highlights include the rapid expansion of US AI data centers raising environmental concerns, the disruption of rescue efforts by consumer drones during Texas floods, and a major ransomware attack on Ingram Micro causing widespread operational outages. Additionally, the UK announced a £75.6M debris removal mission for 2028, and Atlassian improved system uptime by migrating databases to Amazon Aurora.
▶️ Internet Infrastructure
US AI Data Centers Quadruple Since 2010 Amid Environmental Concerns
U.S. AI data centers, totaling 1,240, are expanding rapidly, raising environmental concerns over water and power use, while providing tax revenue and supporting AI-driven innovation.
- There are 1,240 AI data centers in the U.S., quadrupling since 2010
- Data centers significantly consume water, land, and electricity, raising environmental concerns
- Local governments balance tax revenue benefits against resource limitations and environmental impact
Drones Disrupt Rescue Efforts in Texas Floods and Wildfires, FAA Warns
Consumer drones have repeatedly hindered rescue and firefighting efforts during Texas floods, California wildfires, and Hurricane Helene, prompting FAA warnings and legal consequences.
- At least 69 deaths and dozens missing due to flooding in central Texas; rescue efforts disrupted by personal drones.
- Kerrville police and Texas National Guard used MQ-9 Reaper drone for assessment; civilian drones interfere with official rescue operations.
- During 2021 Dixie Fire, unauthorized drones impeded firefighting; FAA warns against flying drones near wildfires and disaster zones.
- Hurricane Helene in 2024 prompted FAA restrictions; drone operators advised to coordinate with authorities to avoid disrupting rescue efforts.
- January 2025 LA wildfires saw a civilian drone strike a Super Scooper firefighting aircraft, leading to legal action and FAA investigation.
Ingram Micro Ransomware Attack Disrupts Operations and Compromises Data
Ingram Micro confirmed a ransomware attack by SafePay on July 3, 2025, exploiting misconfigurations, leading to system outages, data breaches, and operational disruptions, with a seven-day negotiation window.
- Ingram Micro, a major global distributor, confirmed systems were compromised by ransomware, causing a multi-day outage starting July 3, 2025
- The SafePay ransomware crew claimed responsibility, exploiting misconfigurations, and accessed sensitive data including financials, IP, personal, and customer files
- The attack disrupted order processing, disabled Microsoft 365 and Dropbox licenses, and led to staff being sent home with systems disconnected; Ingram Micro’s 2024 revenue was $48 billion with a profit of $262.2 million
UK Space Agency Announces £75.6M Debris Removal Mission for 2028
UK Space Agency plans a £75.6 million ($103 million) ADR mission to build a robotic spacecraft for capturing and de-orbiting two defunct satellites, with launch expected by 2028.
- UK Space Agency seeks a supplier for a robotic spacecraft to capture and de-orbit two defunct UK-licensed satellites from low Earth orbit, with a budget of £75.6 million ($103 million).
- The Active Debris Removal (ADR) mission aims to guide satellites into Earth’s atmosphere for burn-up, reducing collision risks to vital satellite networks.
- The mission is targeted for launch by the end of 2028, following five years of research and development, building on £11 million ($15 million) of prior feasibility studies since 2021.
Atlassian Migrates 4 Million Jira Databases to Aurora for Cost Savings and Uptime
Atlassian migrated 4 million Jira databases to Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL, reducing AWS costs, increasing uptime from 99.95% to 99.99%, and improving autoscaling by switching from RDS m5.4xlarge to Aurora r6.2xlarge.
- Atlassian migrated 4 million Postgres databases hosting Jira across 3,000 servers in 13 AWS regions to Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL.
- The move aimed to reduce AWS instance sizes by 50%, improve reliability from 99.95% to 99.99% uptime, and enhance autoscaling capabilities.
- The migration involved switching from m5.4xlarge on RDS to r6.2xlarge on Aurora, maintaining same memory but reducing CPU count and type.
▶️ Open Source
myNoise Updates: Security, Migration, and New Mobile Apps
myNoise’s blog reports site migrations, security incidents, new features like Tape Speed, stereo width adjustment, and mobile app launches, emphasizing community support and future development plans.
- myNoise blog details recent site updates, technical challenges, and community support efforts up to July 2025.
- The site experienced a security attack involving bandwidth flooding, leading to migration to a private server at One with CDN via Cloudflare.
- myNoise has transitioned to a new private server, with ongoing development of mobile apps, including Android (Google Play) and iOS, supported by community donations and support.
Palmer Luckey’s Erebor Valued at $2B Among Lord of the Rings-Inspired Tech Firms
Palmer Luckey’s Erebor, a $2 billion digital bank for startups and crypto, joins other “Lord of the Rings”-inspired tech firms like Anduril, Palantir, and Mithril Capital, reflecting Middle Earth themes.
- Palmer Luckey’s new digital bank Erebor is valued at $2 billion, funded by Thiel’s Founders Fund and Joe Lonsdale’s 8VC
- Several tech companies are named after “The Lord of the Rings” elements, including Anduril, Palantir, Mithril Capital, Rivendell LLC, Lembas LLC, Valar Ventures, and Sauron Systems
- The series inspires Silicon Valley branding, with references to Middle Earth, dwarves, elves, and powerful artifacts, reflecting themes of heroism, wealth, and surveillance
▶️ Management and Leadership
Google’s U.S. Smartphone Manufacturing Attempt Fails Amid Challenges and Lessons for Apple
Google’s 2013-2014 U.S. smartphone manufacturing experiment with Moto X highlights economic, logistical, and consumer challenges, offering lessons for Apple’s potential onshoring efforts amid Trump tariffs.
- Google attempted U.S. smartphone manufacturing in Texas from 2013 to 2014 with the Moto X, producing up to 100,000 units weekly at a plant in Fort Worth.
- The project faced economic and logistical challenges: higher labor costs, limited domestic suppliers, and consumer indifference to U.S. assembly, leading to its shutdown after 12 months.
- Google sold Motorola to Lenovo in 2014, shifting production back to China and Brazil; the failed U.S. manufacturing effort is a cautionary tale amid President Trump’s push for Apple to produce iPhones domestically, with experts citing scale and supply chain limitations.
Hidden Interface Controls Hurt Usability, Experts Urge for Visible Design
Hidden interface controls impair usability by obscuring functions, requiring users to possess specific knowledge; designers should prioritize visible, persistent controls to enhance user experience.
- The article discusses the impact of hidden interface controls on usability across various devices and systems.
- Hidden controls, such as concealed menus and temporal buttons, increase difficulty for novice and expert users, exemplified by smartphones, car systems, and home locks.
- Designers often hide controls due to feature proliferation and aesthetic choices, contrary to longstanding principles of visibility and discoverability in interface design.
TikTok Develops New App Version to Address U.S. Privacy and Security Concerns
TikTok is building a new app version before an expected U.S. sale, focusing on security and privacy features to meet regulatory requirements and sustain its U.S. market operations.
- TikTok is developing a new version of its app ahead of an anticipated U.S. sale, with a focus on compliance and security enhancements
- The new app aims to address U.S. regulatory concerns and may include technical updates to improve data privacy and user safety
- The development is part of TikTok’s strategy to maintain its market presence and facilitate a potential sale or restructuring in the U.S.
Oracle Offers Major Software and Cloud Discounts to U.S. Federal Agencies
Oracle provides U.S. government agencies a 75% software discount and a significant cloud infrastructure discount through November, aiming to boost federal cloud adoption and modernization efforts.
- Oracle offers U.S. federal agencies a 75% discount on license-based software, including databases and analytics, until the end of November.
- The GSA provides a “substantial” discount on Oracle’s cloud infrastructure, marking the first such government-wide cloud infrastructure discount deal.
- The agreement is part of broader efforts to consolidate federal procurement, negotiate directly with tech providers, and increase cloud adoption across government agencies.
▶️ Technology
Sakana AI’s Multi-LLM AB-MCTS Boosts AI Collaboration and Performance
Sakana AI’s TreeQuest employs Multi-LLM AB-MCTS to enhance AI collaboration, achieving 30% success on ARC-AGI-2 by dynamically optimizing model use through inference-time scaling.
- Sakana AI introduced Multi-LLM AB-MCTS, enabling cooperative multi-model AI teams for complex tasks.
- The system outperformed individual models by solving over 30% of 120 ARC-AGI-2 benchmark problems.
- Multi-LLM AB-MCTS dynamically allocates models during inference, combining exploration and exploitation strategies using Monte Carlo Tree Search.
Google’s Gemini AI Uses User Data for Highly Personalized Interactions
Google’s Gemini chatbot, capable of producing personalized messages and detailed user profiles, leverages extensive Google data to create highly tailored AI interactions, signaling a new era of proactive, individualized AI assistants.
- Google’s Gemini chatbot can generate highly personalized content by accessing user data from Gmail, Drive, and other Google services
- The chatbot created a convincing birthday letter referencing specific friendship moments and compiled detailed personal dossiers, including psychological profiles
- Google aims to develop the most “personal” and “proactive” AI assistant, leveraging its extensive data ecosystem to enhance AI personalization and functionality