The Verge
AI has a water problem. Google thinks it has a fix
Google is pushing back against criticism of AI's environmental toll with a five-point water stewardship plan, anchored by a pledge to replenish more water than its data centers consume by 2030. The company also committed to investing in local water infrastructure and sourcing alternative water supplies. As public resistance to data center expansion grows, Google is betting that proactive conservation commitments can get ahead of the backlash.
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The Verge
Google must let publishers opt out of AI Search features, rules UK
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has ordered Google to give website publishers the ability to opt out of AI Search features, including AI Overviews, and block their content from being used to train Google's models. The ruling marks a global first in regulatory action over how AI systems harvest web content. For publishers who have long complained about lost traffic and unauthorized use of their work, it represents a meaningful shift in leverage against the search giant.
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Ars Technica
Microsoft's Project Solara is an Android OS designed for agents instead of apps
Microsoft is developing Project Solara, a new Android-based operating system built from the ground up to support AI agents rather than traditional applications. The move signals a strategic pivot as the company looks to establish dominance in the agentic computing era — a race it sees as a chance to leapfrog its long-standing absence from the mobile app market. If successful, Solara could reshape how users interact with devices, replacing app-centric interfaces with autonomous, task-driven AI workflows.
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The Public Should Own Half of the Big A.I. Companies
Senator Bernie Sanders is calling for the public to hold a 50% ownership stake in major AI companies, arguing that transformative technology developed with public funding and research should return value to taxpayers. The proposal challenges the current model where a handful of private firms capture the economic gains from AI built on decades of federally funded science. If enacted, it would represent one of the most aggressive government interventions in the tech sector in American history.
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U of T researchers demonstrate AI worm could target any online device
University of Toronto researchers have demonstrated a new class of AI-powered worm capable of targeting virtually any internet-connected device. Unlike traditional malware, the threat leverages AI to adapt and propagate across systems in ways that conventional security defenses may struggle to detect. The findings underscore a growing urgency for the cybersecurity industry to rethink its approach as AI becomes a tool for attackers, not just defenders.
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