Nvidia gears up its influence in Washington, forming PAC — tells employees that decisions Congress makes over the coming years could have substantial consequences for the AI industry, according to report
 Nvidia gears up its influence in Washington, forming PAC — tells employees that decisions Congress makes over the coming years could have substantial consequences for the AI industry, according to report

Nvidia establishes its employees federal political action committee (PAC) to fund politicians whose positions are favorable to Nvidia’s interests.

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Security researchers find surveillance implants in Chinese-made routers sold worldwide — three different backdoor-like implants hidden in firmware
 Security researchers find surveillance implants in Chinese-made routers sold worldwide — three different backdoor-like implants hidden in firmware

Security researchers at Vulncheck discovered intentionally masked surveillance implants embedded in the firmware of numerous devices from Shenzhen Zhibotong Electronics.

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Nvidia denies pausing AI cloud commitments initiative after reported partner backlash — report claims company told cloud providers it could only lease its GPUs to Nvidia-approved customers
 Nvidia denies pausing AI cloud commitments initiative after reported partner backlash — report claims company told cloud providers it could only lease its GPUs to Nvidia-approved customers

Nvidia denies putting AI cloud commitments initiative on hold despite reports that some deals were paused amid partner pushback over customer controls and concerns about potential antitrust scrutiny.

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Micron workers increasingly support strike over bonus pay — labor union wants profit-sharing scheme, as employees at Samsung, SK hynix enjoy bonuses worth hundreds of thousands of dollars
 Micron workers increasingly support strike over bonus pay — labor union wants profit-sharing scheme, as employees at Samsung, SK hynix enjoy bonuses worth hundreds of thousands of dollars

80% of Micron workers in Taiwan have signaled that they’re willing to go on strike if the company does not strike a deal over bonuses. The employees want to replace the current bonus system with a profit-sharing scheme, allowing them to take advantage of the AI-driven memory boom.

X busts 200,000-strong Chinese bot farm, including accounts making claims about AI data centers and electricity — suspect accounts posted claims about pricing and grid strain to ‘manipulate’ debate
 X busts 200,000-strong Chinese bot farm, including accounts making claims about AI data centers and electricity — suspect accounts posted claims about pricing and grid strain to ‘manipulate’ debate

The X Safety Team said that at least 200 bot accounts have been making posts to influence public opinion data centers and energy policy. The accounts share links to legitimate news stories and then add their own spin designed to inflame emotions.

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Intel 14A defect density is dropping faster than the company expected — ‘we have not seen this performance since 22nm,’ says CFO

Intel says defect density of 14A process technology is declining rapidly as internal teams are already developing 14A-based products, while external clients are now wondering about capacity that Intel can provide them.

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Indiana power provider proposes $59 million rate cut for state, says data centers and other large customers are driving increased revenue — move could potentially save residential users $100 annually
 Indiana power provider proposes $59 million rate cut for state, says data centers and other large customers are driving increased revenue — move could potentially save residential users $100 annually

I&M, which serves part of Indiana, says that it plans to cut electricity prices for the state, resulting in savings of about $59 million for residential users. This translates to about $100 a year for each home, with the savings coming from increased revenue from larger consumers like data centers.

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Claude nukes a developer’s 700 GB home directory while testing deletion safeguards; automatic model safety downgrade may have contributed to the screw-up — Anthropic safety harness downgraded model to Opus 4.8 before fatal variable collision
 Claude nukes a developer’s 700 GB home directory while testing deletion safeguards; automatic model safety downgrade may have contributed to the screw-up — Anthropic safety harness downgraded model to Opus 4.8 before fatal variable collision

Claude nuked a developer’s 700 GB home directory while testing a script to ensure that wouldn’t happen, and it’s possible that an automatic model downgrade likely contributed to the screw-up

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China’s YMTC aims to become the world’s largest NAND maker by the end of 2027, report says — company plans to overtake Samsung and SK hynix
 China’s YMTC aims to become the world’s largest NAND maker by the end of 2027, report says — company plans to overtake Samsung and SK hynix

The target would require YMTC to nearly double its market share in 16 months.

Trump administration weighs expanding chip tariffs to laptops, consoles, and servers, report claims — January’s data center exemptions may be scrapped
 Trump administration weighs expanding chip tariffs to laptops, consoles, and servers, report claims — January’s data center exemptions may be scrapped

The Trump administration is weighing a second round of semiconductor tariffs that would extend duties beyond chips to products built with them.

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