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AI data center projects are continuing to pop up across the US, with frequent opposition from locals concerned about their impact. Here are a few recent articles about the projects:

Elon Musk’s X Corp and the World Federation of Advertisers are ending their long-running legal fight. In 2024, Musk accused the industry group of illegally boycotting X through its Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) initiative, which set standards to prevent ads from appearing next to harmful content. GARM has since been disbanded. A judge dismissed Musk’s lawsuit in March.

With the update, you can hold the Fn key in any window to interact with Gemini by talking aloud. You can also opt into a feature that allows Gemini to “see” what’s on your screen and perform tasks within your open windows. This update is rolling out in English to all Gemini app users on macOS.

The new extended trailer for the first wave of Pokopia DLC gives us a much better look at all the water type monsters you’ll be able to befriend in Bubbly Basin beginning August 5th. It also looks like building underwater houses is about to get much easier.

A new Google Workspace update lets Gemini summarize and respond to comments, like highlighting all the unresolved changes in a document, Android Authority reports. You can also ask Google’s AI to draft new comments and replies and add suggested edits based on comments.

In the ongoing battle for control of the messaging platform that claims over 1 billion active users, Durov has been charged with facilitating terrorism by failing to remove information “actively used by Ukrainian special services, terrorist organizations and extremist organizations to prepare and coordinate sabotage and terrorist acts, mass killings and cyber fraud activities” in Russia, according to the New York Times. Durov responded like Durov.

Katalyst says the Link spacecraft it launched on July 3rd to push the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory back up to a higher orbit has been in a “multi-axis spin” over the last 72 hours, resulting in sporadic communications. Having identified the cause, Katalyst is working to recover the mission and believes Link still has “a viable path to rendezvous with Swift.”

XAI has filed a lawsuit in response to a law taking effect on Saturday that bans apps and websites from generating non-consensual sexualized imagery. The Musk-led company responsible for the Grok chatbot said the law will impact free speech and visual expression “in a clumsy attempt to prohibit ‘nudification.’”

Poor SK Hynix. Despite the memory-chip maker posting record net profit of about $64.64 billion, the stock fell by as much as 18 percent (down 9 percent at market close) when its revenue haul (also a record) failed to meet the lofty expectations set by the AI hype cycle. The results won’t help investors worried that the AI bubble’s about to pop.

The ultra-long range Airbus A350-1000ULR operated by Qantas took off from Melbourne, Australia and flew for 24 hours and 24 minutes, covering 23,075km (14,338 miles) before landing at the plane’s factory in Toulouse, France. The new aircraft will debut on the carrier’s nonstop Sydney-London route starting in 2027. ​

“The last thing we need is a loud, water thieving, light polluting, data center anywhere near our town (or any others for that matter),” Nelson says.

Developer Nik Samokhvalov created a SimCity-inspired model that demonstrates how the database system PostgreSQL works, as reported earlier by Gizmodo. You can click around “PGSimCity” to learn more about each component, all while watching streams of data zip across your screen.

Arizona State has a degree for that. According to the description of the “Content Creation” program:

“Only the survival of our studio would ever make us consider such a painful action,” Double Fine founder Tim Schafer says in a statement. “Our transition to becoming an independent company also means becoming a size that we can sustain.”

Zuckerberg argues that bringing “superintelligence” to more people is better than centralizing who controls AI:

Build Mode is out now for subscribers of SpaceXAI’s $300 per month SuperGrok Heavy tier, and it’s accessible on the Grok website and mobile apps. It’s powered by the company’s Grok Build coding agent.

The $169 Smart LED Monitor Stand includes a white front LED light strip with adjustable color temperature and an addressable RGB rear light strip. It’s also Matter-compatible and has 23 built-in mounting points for attaching a mic, a ring light, or other accessories.

The campus will be located in El Paso, Texas and is already under construction. It will have “1 gigawatt of compute capacity” and “will play an essential role in bringing Meta’s AI technologies to life.” BlackRock will own an 80 percent interest, while Meta will own a 20 percent interest.

The outage, which lasted for nearly a day, blocked people from playing some digital and disc games. You can read Xbox CTO Scott Van Vliet’s full explanation on X, but here’s a key part of it:

The outage, which started on Monday, seemed to affect people all over the US and even some customers on MVNOs. In a 12:10PM ET post on Tuesday, the company finally said that it had “fully restored service for all customers.”

Ubisoft announced that several of its biggest (and smallest) hits from the past decade are available on the Xbox PC app. Also, those who already own digital console titles listed in the Xbox blog post can play them on PC for no additional cost via the Ubisoft Connect app. Sounds like Ubisoft is positioning itself for Xbox’s PC-like Project Helix.

You can now make and receive calls — including audio, video, one-on-one, and group calls — on your browser without downloading the WhatsApp app. This is launching alongside waiting room and noise suppression features, and the ability to transfer between devices during calls without hanging up.

Instead, Apple says users can either finish making payments on their device or switch to its new Apple Upgrade program, which will allow them to lease an iPhone, Mac, iPad, or Apple Watch. The company notes that customers can also finance a new device with monthly installments on the Apple Card.