Oracle may pay later for its giant New Mexico data centre if it opens late. The gas pipeline the site needs has been refused twice.

The rest of the day

22 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

1. 02

   Anthropic signs an $11.6bn deal with Akamai

   Akamai, a US cloud company, signed an $11.6bn deal on Thursday to supply computing to Anthropic, the maker of the Claude AI models. [9] The contract runs for seven years. [9] Akamai also gave Anthropic the right to buy up to 5% of its shares at $111.33 each. [9] About 2% is tied to this deal, and the other 3% comes only if the deal grows by up to $9bn more. [9] Akamai's shares rose 22% in late trading. [9]

   • Tied to the $11.6bn deal2%
   • Only if the deal grows by $9bn3%

   Why it matters — Akamai will spend about $1.7bn more this year buying parts, including memory, to serve the deal. [9] Anthropic gets a slice of the company it is paying, and a bigger slice if it commits more.

2. 03

   Anthropic's founders want most of the votes

   Anthropic is asking its shareholders to give its chief executive Dario Amodei and his six co-founders 50.1% of the votes, The Information reported on Thursday. [10] They would hold a special class of shares, copying a setup used at Palantir, a US data-analysis company. [10] The control would last as long as three of the seven keep a minimum number of shares. [10] It would not cover electing the seven-seat board, where one seat is empty. [10]

   Why it matters — Anthropic is preparing to sell shares to the public, possibly after the US midterm elections in November. [10] New shareholders would put money in without being able to outvote the founders on most matters, and employees would get tie-breaking shares on some issues. [10]

3. 04

   The US government joins X against an EU fine

   The US Justice Department asked on Thursday to join Elon Musk's court challenge to a EUR 120m ($137m) fine the European Union gave his social network X. [11] EU regulators fined X late last year under the Digital Services Act, which makes big platforms do more to remove illegal and harmful posts. [11] It was the first fine under that law, after a two-year investigation. [11] The request went to the EU's General Court. [11]

   Why it matters — A US official said the European Commission had tried to reach American companies outside its jurisdiction; the Commission says its laws target no nationality. [11] The US government is now asking to be a party to the case, not only a critic of it. [11]

4. 05

   The US tells Australia a feed law means censorship

   The US Embassy in Canberra, Australia's capital, said on Tuesday that a draft Australian law could amount to censorship. [12] The law, proposed this month by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government, would let social media users switch off the systems that pick posts for their feeds. [12][13] They could then see only posts from accounts they follow. [13] The embassy said the rules could change what users see not just in Australia but around the world. [13]

   Why it matters — Australia already bans social media accounts for children under 16, and platforms that break the new law could face large fines. [12] It is the second foreign platform rule the US government argued against this week, after the EU's fine on X. [11][12]

5. 06

   DeepSeek's sales reach $1bn a year

   DeepSeek, the Chinese AI company whose models shook the industry last year, now earns at a pace of $1bn a year, The Information reported on Thursday. [14] That is more than double its pace a few months ago. [14] Part of the rise came from raising its prices 2.3 to 4.5 times. [14] It is raising 50bn yuan ($7.45bn) at a 500bn-yuan value by the end of October. [14] Reuters could not verify the figures. [14]

   Why it matters — Its boss, Liang Wenfeng, told investors more than 70% of its computing goes to training new models and less than 30% to answering users. [14] It is also preparing a possible listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. [14]

6. 07

   Cloud renters sell shorter contracts for more

   JPMorgan, the US bank, raised its rating on CoreWeave on Thursday, a company that rents out AI computing power. [15] The bank said CoreWeave is signing more short contracts at higher prices, because demand for AI chips is strong. [15] The same day Bank of America raised its sales forecasts for Nebius, a similar company. [5] An analyst said Nebius keeps some capacity for one-to-three-year contracts at about twice what the biggest cloud firms pay. [5]

   Why it matters — A short contract costs the customer more for the same computing. [15][5] JPMorgan read the shift as a sign that lenders now trust the demand will last. [15]

7. 08

   Google will launch an AI computer into orbit

   Google plans to launch a satellite called MVP on 1 October, carrying the equivalent of one data-centre server. [16][17] It holds four of Google's own AI chips and can answer simple AI questions from orbit. [16][17] It will fly on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California, built with the satellite company Planet Labs. [16][17] It is the first step of Project Suncatcher, Google's plan to run AI data centres in space on sunlight. [16]

   Why it matters — Elon Musk says AI in space will be the cheapest way to power it within five years, and many experts doubt it. [17] The satellite passed a shaking test on the ground, and Google's research chief said he still wondered how it would do in space. [16]

8. 09

   Poland calls a Starlink station fire sabotage

   A fire broke out on Wednesday evening at a Starlink ground station in central Poland, deputy prime minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said. [18] Starlink is SpaceX's satellite internet service, and the station carries connections for the region, including Ukraine. [18] Gawkowski said the fire engulfed its power station and generator and was deliberate sabotage. [18] The systems were working again by Thursday. [18]

   Why it matters — He said Russia's role was not established, and Russia denies sabotage in Poland. [18] A ground station is where satellite internet meets the ground, and this one serves institutions including the Ukrainian military. [18]

9. 10

   Finland's president asks Musk for Starlink over Russia

   Finland's President Alexander Stubb said on Thursday he pleaded with Elon Musk to let Ukraine use Starlink over Russian territory. [19] Starlink does not work over Russia. [19] Ukrainian officials believe switching it on there would help them hit mobile missile launchers within several hundred kilometres of the border. [19] Russia's use of ballistic missiles hit record levels this summer, and Ukraine's air-defence ammunition is badly depleted. [19]

   Why it matters — Musk switched Starlink on over Ukraine in 2022, and it now carries much of Ukraine's battlefield communications. [19] Where the service works is decided by one company, so a head of state made his plea to its owner. [19]

10. 11

    OpenAI gives Ukraine its cyber-defence tools

    OpenAI will give Ukraine's government access to Daybreak, its programme of AI tools for cyber defenders, the company said on Wednesday. [20] Ukrainian teams will use it to find flaws in software and test fixes faster, working with Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation. [20] The BBC reported the tools will be free. [20] Ukraine's cyber response team handled nearly 6,000 incidents in 2025, including attacks on hospitals and power. [20]

    Why it matters — The aim is to protect the systems Ukrainians rely on for power, phone networks and hospital care. [20] Defenders in France, Germany, Poland and at the EU's cyber agency already use OpenAI's cyber models. [20]

11. 12

    New Jersey fines a data centre $1.1m

    New Jersey fined DataOne $1.1m this week for running 62 gas generators without permits at a planned data centre in Vineland. [21] Reporters from The Guardian and Floodlight News had filmed 45 of them running, using thermal drones, in August. [21] Each generator ran at 1,982 kilowatts, and the state requires a permit from 37. [21] DataOne has 45 days to apply for permits or stop, and can keep running meanwhile. [21]

    Size that needs a permit37 kW

    Each DataOne generator1,982 kW

    Why it matters — Neighbours say the site powers Microsoft's AI tools and sits near farmland, homes and two schools. [21] They raised concerns in February, the fine came six months later, and DataOne says it disagrees with it. [21]

12. 13

    US cities fight a federal broadband rule

    Groups for US mayors, counties and cities told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the US telecoms regulator, on 21 September that its plan to override local permit rules is illegal. [22] The FCC wants towns to decide broadband permits within 120 days and to limit the fees they charge. [22] It says local delays make some networks too costly to build. [22] The cities asked for a 180-day deadline on internet providers to build once approved. [22]

    Why it matters — Cities say some providers file permits to claim space on poles and then never build, to keep rivals out. [22] The final rule decides whether towns or providers are held to a clock when a street waits for broadband. [22]

13. 14

    Lovable's sales reach $600m a year

    Lovable, a Swedish company whose tool builds apps from plain descriptions, said this week its sales now run at $600m a year. [23][24] In June it put the figure at about $500m. [23] Co-founder Fabian Hedin said two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies use it, often because staff found it on their own. [23][24] A Forbes editor said it was about $200m when he visited the company last summer. [24] Lovable raised $400m at a $13.3bn value in August. [23]

    Summer 2025$200m a year

    June 2026$500m a year

    September 2026$600m a year

    Why it matters — Staff in finance, sales and HR now build their own software without waiting months for engineers. [24] Security teams worry about all the new code, and Hedin said that worry is fair. [24]

14. 15

    OpenAI hires Patreon's co-founder

    OpenAI hired Sam Yam, who co-founded Patreon, the site where fans pay creators each month, to lead a new creator product. [25] Patreon's former head of product and head of engineering are joining him. [25] Yam told followers to watch OpenAI's developer event, DevDay, on Tuesday 29 September. [25] Patreon cut 20% of its staff, 93 people, in July. [25]

    Why it matters — OpenAI has not said what it will offer creators. [25] The hire follows its first worldwide sales chief, named last week, and the purchase of the camera start-up Glass Imaging this month. [25]

15. 16

    Lightspeed halves the size of its India fund

    Lightspeed, a Silicon Valley investment firm, told its investors on Thursday it wants $250m for a new India fund aimed at early AI start-ups. [26] That is half the size of its $500m India fund from 2022, which has already committed 80% of its money. [26] Indian media had reported a target of $300m to $350m. [26] Lightspeed backs Sarvam AI, which India's government picked to help build the country's own AI models. [26]

    Why it matters — Lightspeed sized the fund to match how fast it is actually investing in India. [26] Its rival Accel raised a $550m India fund in August. [26]

16. 17

    Oracle's Japan arm has a record quarter

    Oracle's Japanese arm reported record results for June to August on Thursday, and its shares rose 7%. [27] Sales rose 13% to 74.86bn yen ($472m), and cloud sales rose 31.7%. [27] It said demand had driven use of its Tokyo and Osaka data centres. [27] Oracle committed more than $8bn to cloud and AI in Japan over ten years, starting in 2024. [27]

    Why it matters — The rise came in the same week the US parent's shares fell over the New Mexico notice. [27][5] Oracle's Japanese data centres are earning now, while Project Jupiter brings in no revenue this year, a broker said. [4]

17. 18

    A Bluetooth satellite start-up reaches $1.6bn

    Hubble Network, a satellite start-up in Seattle, raised $200m at a $1.6bn value, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. [28] It is building 60 satellites in low orbit that talk to ordinary Bluetooth chips. [28] That lets companies track packages, vehicles and medicines through a mix of satellites and ground stations. [28] Its boss, Alex Haro, co-founded the family-location app Life360. [28]

    Why it matters — It is one of two plans this week to put computing and connections into orbit, alongside Google's AI satellite. [16][28]

18. 19

    Xiaomi's new phones hide the screen from snoopers

    Xiaomi, the Chinese phone maker, showed its 18 Pro phones at Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii. [29] They are among the first phones on Qualcomm's newest chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6. [29] Their screens can be made hard to read from the side, so people nearby cannot see them. [29] They start at 5,999 yuan ($894) in China, with a global launch later this year. [29]

    Why it matters — The privacy screen follows Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra, and Xiaomi's switches on for chosen apps or places. [29] The phones can also spot a snooper with the front camera and suggest turning it on. [29]

19. 20

    F-Droid's app store gets its first big update in ten years

    F-Droid, a free store for open-source Android apps, released version 2.0, its first major update in a decade. [30] The app was rebuilt from scratch, with a cleaner layout and a search that reads app descriptions. [30] It now installs apps with fewer warning pop-ups by using a Google approval step. [30] Unlike Google's Play Store, it does not track what people tap to push ads. [30]

    Why it matters — Google is preparing a system to check the developers of apps installed from outside its store. [30] How easy F-Droid stays to use depends on how Google writes those rules. [30]

20. 21

    A Reddit moderator must pay Nintendo $4.5m

    A US federal judge ordered James Williams, a Reddit moderator, to pay Nintendo $4.5m on Wednesday. [31] Nintendo said he helped run online shops of pirated Switch games. [31] He never answered the lawsuit, so the judge ruled by default. [31] The award is $150,000 for each of 30 games, including Animal Crossing. [31]

    Why it matters — The order also tells him to shut the pirate shops at once. [31] Nintendo has won a run of piracy cases, including one in the Netherlands against cartridges that play copied games. [31]

21. 22

    Students in Mexico build a robot lab that travels

    Engineering students at ITESO, a university in Guadalajara, Mexico, built a portable robot lab for high schools that lack one. [32] Called RoboMeshA, it runs its own network, so pupils connect from a web browser with nothing installed. [32] They can drive the robot or watch it find and avoid obstacles on its own. [32] A team of 15 engineering students, with teachers and volunteers, built it through EPICS in IEEE, a programme of the engineers' professional body. [32]

    Why it matters — Many Guadalajara high schools have keen teachers and students but no robotics lab. [32] The kit brings robotics and AI lessons into an ordinary classroom. [32]

22. 23

    Bond buyers ask more from AI borrowers

    Buyers of company bonds are asking AI firms for better terms, Reuters reported on Tuesday. [7] The biggest cloud companies are expected to borrow a record $420bn next year, 60% more than this year, Goldman Sachs estimates. [7] Fund managers say they do not fear defaults, but cannot see the returns on so much building. [7] Jamie Dimon, head of JPMorgan, said this spending went from about $300bn last year to about $700bn this year. [8]

    Last year$300bn

    This year$700bn

    Next year, at most$1,000bn

    Why it matters — Dimon said it could reach $1 trillion next year. [8] When lenders ask for more, the extra cost falls on whoever must borrow to build, the same week Oracle's notice made them ask who carries a delay. [7][3]