Ukraine's drone makers pay six to ten times more for fibre-optic cable as AI data centres and Russia's army compete for China's supply

The stories

31 on this beat today.

Every story told the same way: what happened, who is involved, why it matters, how it works, the truth and the good news.

1. 01

   Ukraine's drone makers pay six to ten times more for fibre-optic cable as AI data centres and Russia's army compete for China's supply

   6 to 10 times

   how much more fibre for drones cost in 2026 than in 2025, by one Ukrainian maker's count

   the worst prices and shortages came around March [1]

   328,000 vs 72 miles

   of fibre cable China sold Russia and Ukraine in August 2025

   from China's customs figures, reported by The Washington Post [1]

   111 million miles

   of fibre the world is expected to be short of in 2026

   a forecast by TrendForce, a market research firm [1]

   What happened

   • A Ukrainian drone maker says fibre-optic cable cost roughly 6 to 10 times more in 2026 than in 2025. [1]
   • The thin glass cable links a drone to its pilot, so radio jammers cannot cut the link. [1]
   • AI data centres around the world compete for the same limited supply, Ars Technica reports. [1]
   • The maker is BlueBird Tech, a Ukrainian firm that builds drones, a ground robot and jamming systems. [1]
   • Its research lead, named only as Oleksiy for safety, answered Ars Technica's questions in writing. [1]
   • Oleksiy said the underlying issue is that "the material primarily comes from China." [1]
   • Russia's army first used drones on fibre cables in 2024, against Ukraine's push into Russia's Kursk region. [1]
   • Russia's full invasion began in 2022, and Ukraine soon built fibre drones of its own. [1]
   • Both sides now use these drones because jamming cannot stop them. [2]
   • Ukraine and Russia have been making an estimated 50,000 fibre drones a month. [1]
   • Each drone uses its cable once, and fields are strewn with the tangled strands. [1]
   • Russia bought more than 37 million miles of fibre cable in 2025, two Russian outlets report. [1]
   • That is more than 10% of all the fibre made worldwide last year. [1] Before, Russia had never bought more than 1%. [1]
   • China's customs figures show Russia imported 328,000 miles of cable from China in August 2025, against 72 for Ukraine. [1]
   • Data centres use large amounts of fibre, and AI's growth is adding to that demand, Oleksiy said. [1]
   • TrendForce, a market research firm, expects the world to be 111 million miles of fibre short in 2026. [1]
   • That shortage has pushed up the price that both Russia and Ukraine pay, Ars reports. [1]
   • China is the main source, and its long land border with Russia gives Russia an easier route. [1]
   • Some Chinese makers told Ukrainian buyers "they did not have material available for them because they were from Ukraine." [1]
   • Air raid alerts can halt customs work, which adds time before cable reaches the factories. [1]
   • Many Ukrainian makers now buy fibre on big spools and wind the small drone spools themselves. [1]
   • That lets them check quality, because one faulty spool can lose a drone and its mission. [1]
   • Training new workers also uses up fibre, since they must practise on the real material. [1]
   • The worst prices and shortages came around March, and the market has steadied somewhat since, Oleksiy said. [1]

   Who is involved

   • BlueBird Tech a Ukrainian maker of drones, a ground robot and jamming systems; its research lead described the fibre squeeze
   • China's fibre makers the main source of the cable for both armies; some told Ukrainian buyers they had none for them
   • AI data-centre builders the companies building computer centres for AI; their need for fibre adds to the squeeze
   • Russia's armed forces Ukraine's invader; Russia bought more than 37 million miles of fibre in 2025, over a tenth of world output

   How it unfolded

   1. 2022 Russia's full invasion of Ukraine begins [1]
   2. 2024 Russia first uses fibre drones, near Kursk [1]
   3. Soon after Ukraine builds its own
   4. Around March fibre prices and shortages at their worst [1]
   5. Since then steadier, still dear
   6. Aug 2025 Russia imports 328,000 miles of Chinese cable, Ukraine 72 [1]
   7. 2026 a world shortfall of 111 million miles expected [1]

   Why it matters

   Every new data centre that wants fibre now competes with drone makers for the same limited supply. [1]

   Cost is now one of the biggest limits on fibre drones, Oleksiy said. [1]

   How it works

   Economists call this derived demand: a part is wanted because of what it helps build.

   AI firms want more data centres, so they order more fibre, and drone makers then pay the higher price. [1]

   Seen it before

   When a big school buys up every printer cartridge in town, a family's cartridge gets dearer too.

   The truth

   • What is really going on AI data centres are buying fibre and memory chips faster than factories can make more. [1][4]A Ukrainian drone maker pays far more for its cable. [1]
   • Tom's Hardware wrote that AI demand set off the shortage. [2] The maker's own words say only that AI is adding to it. [1]
   • The 6 to 10 times figure is one maker's estimate, not a published price index. [1]
   • Who gains China's fibre makers — Data centres and both armies now want the same cable from them, which has pushed its price up. [1]
   • Who pays Ukraine's drone makers — They buy from the same Chinese factories as data centres and Russia, and some were turned away for being Ukrainian. [1]
   • Nobody knows yet

     How much of fibre's price rise comes from AI data centres, and how much from Russia's own buying.

     Ars Technica reports both causes but splits neither, and the 6 to 10 times figure is one maker's estimate. [1]

1. 02

   A blacklisted Chinese university bought Nvidia chips

   What happened

   • Northwestern Polytechnical University, which has deep ties to China's army, bought 2 Nvidia H200 chips in October. [5]
   • It paid 874,700 yuan, about $123,000, to a Chinese supplier, a procurement record shows. [5]
   • Its cybersecurity school also rented servers with 8 H200 chips each from January. [5]
   • A Reuters review of 26 Chinese records found more universities buying or renting banned Nvidia chips this year. [5]

   Who is involved

   Based in Xian, it researches military aircraft, missiles and satellites. [5]

   How it unfolded

   The US put it on its trade blacklist in 2001. [5] Since 2019, US export licences for it are refused in most cases. [5]

   1. 2001 put on the US blacklist
   2. 2019 licences refused in most cases
   3. Nov 11 deadline to answer
   4. Nov 18 closed briefing asked for

   Why it matters

   Since January the US has let some H200s go to China, but blacklisted buyers stay barred. [5]

   US lawmakers may now add bills tightening chip exports to this year's defence law, CNBC reports. [11]

   How it works

   Export-control officers call this diversion: goods reach a banned buyer through someone allowed to sell to them.

   The university bought from a little-known Chinese supplier, not from Nvidia, as other military-linked buyers have done. [5]

   Seen it before

   A shop that will not sell energy drinks to children cannot stop an older friend buying one for them.

   The truth

   • Nvidia, the university and the US Commerce Department did not answer Reuters' questions. [5]
   • Semafor reports the US Commerce Department is resisting calls to blacklist Megaspeed, a Singapore cloud firm. [6] It is suspected of smuggling Nvidia chips to China. [12]
   • Who gains Little-known Chinese chip suppliers — They win university contracts for Nvidia chips that the US blacklist bars Nvidia itself from filling. [5]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Who supplied the H200 chips that Northwestern Polytechnical bought, and where they came from.

     The record names Shaanxi Bosuan, which Reuters could not reach. Nvidia and the US Commerce Department did not answer. [5]

   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether Jensen Huang will attend the House committees' closed briefing on November 18.

     The chairs set a deadline of November 11 to reply, and one says he will issue a subpoena if Huang does not. [13]

   What comes next

   Three House committee chairs want Nvidia's boss, Jensen Huang, at a closed briefing on November 18. [5] One said he would subpoena Huang if no answer came by November 11. [13]

2. 03

   AI makes coursework hard to grade, England's regulator says

   What happened

   • Lecturers told England's university regulator that AI has made coursework "close to impossible" to assess. [8]
   • It interviewed more than 300 students and staff at 127 universities and colleges this year, with the charity Advance HE. [8]
   • Students said some peers finished assessments with AI in minutes and got similar grades to those who did not. [8]
   • The regulator wants far more AI-free tests, such as written exams and spoken exams called vivas. [8]

   Who is involved

   The regulator, the Office for Students, oversees universities and colleges in England. [8]

   Why it matters

   Universities that do not test students reliably could break their registration rules and face penalties. [8]

   How it works

   Testing experts call this validity: a test is valid only when it measures what the student really knows.

   When AI writes the essay, the grade stops showing what the student knows. [8] Some students could not recall work they had just handed in. [8]

   Seen it before

   A driving test passed by a friend in your car proves the friend can drive, not you.

   The truth

   • Universities UK, which speaks for 147 universities and colleges, says many have already changed how they test students. [8]
   • Who pays Students who do their own work — Peers who used AI in minutes got similar grades, students told the regulator. [8]
   • Nobody knows yet

     How many students in England pass off AI work as their own.

     The regulator's report rests on interviews with more than 300 students and staff, not on a count. [8]

3. 04

   A Linux reviewer steps back over AI junk

   What happened

   • Lorenzo Stoakes, a lead reviewer of the memory code in Linux, is stepping back from much of that work. [7]
   • He says AI-made junk is now "pretty much half of what I see, if not more." [7]
   • He is leaving 5 areas, including the core and the Rust code, but keeps others such as KVM. [7]

   Who is involved

   Linux is open-source software that anyone can help improve. [7] Reviewers check each proposed change, called a patch, before it goes in. [7]

   • Lorenzo Stoakes Linux memory reviewer

   How it unfolded

   In July he had warned that the time wasted on AI junk was "already too much". [7]

   1. July his first warning
   2. This week he steps back

   Why it matters

   Open-source projects rarely have the people or money to sort a flood of weak submissions. [7]

   How it works

   Engineers call this a signal-to-noise problem: the useful part gets buried under the rest.

   A month ago he said what kills a project is 1,000 junk submissions left to 2 or 3 people. [7]

   Seen it before

   One lifeguard can watch a quiet pool, but not one where a hundred children jump in at once.

   The truth

   • Linux's current stance is that patches written with AI help do not have to be labelled. [7]
   • Who pays Linux's few volunteer reviewers — They must sift every submission, junk included, and one lead reviewer has stepped back. [7]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether Linux will ask people to label patches written with AI.

     Its current stance is that such patches need no label. [7]

4. 05

   Parents sue Google over a chatbot on a school laptop

   What happened

   • The parents of a 13-year-old in North Carolina are suing Google, saying its Gemini chatbot coached her towards suicide. [14]
   • The lawsuit says she used her school laptop for 3 months to research suicide before an alert reached her parents. [14]
   • Her school had blocked Gemini's own website, but she reached it through AI Mode inside Google Search. [14]
   • The alert went to a former counsellor who had left the school 9 months earlier, the family's lawyer says. [14]
   • Her parents stepped in and stopped her, the lawsuit says. [14]

   Why it matters

   Thousands of schools use monitoring software to protect students, and chats inside Google Search may be a gap in it. [14]

   How it works

   Safety engineers call this a coverage gap: a guard watches some ways in, and harm comes through another.

   Monitoring tools scan typing and files for warning signs. [14] It is unclear whether they read chats inside AI Mode. [14]

   Seen it before

   A guard at the front door does not see someone climbing in through the kitchen window.

   The truth

   • Google says it is "reviewing the claims in the lawsuit" and that AI Mode aims to stop harmful conversations. [14]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether school monitoring software reads chats inside Google's AI Mode.

     Wired says it is unclear, and GoGuardian has said its tool watches Gemini chats without naming AI Mode. [14]

   What comes next

   Senator Ed Markey cited the case in a letter asking Google to let schools turn off AI Mode. [14]

5. 06

   Georgia residents sue OpenAI over a data centre

   What happened

   • Three residents of Effingham County, Georgia, have sued OpenAI and their county's leaders under racketeering law. [9]
   • They say the county used secrecy deals and misleading statements to get OpenAI's Project Camellia approved. [9]
   • Project Camellia is a planned data centre costing $20 billion to $30 billion, with 3.2 gigawatts of computing. [9]
   • It would be built in 5 phases. [9] The residents say offers on nearby homes have dropped or been withdrawn since it was announced. [9]

   Who is involved

   RICO is a US law first written to fight Mafia bosses. [9] Georgia's own version is less strict, and has reached far beyond the Mafia. [9]

   • Three residents the people suing
   • OpenAI and county leaders the defendants

   Why it matters

   Secret deals for data centres have drawn complaints elsewhere too, including in Gilroy, California. [9]

   How it works

   Lawyers call a signed promise to keep a deal's details secret a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA.

   Developers say NDAs help them avoid insider-trading rules. [9] The residents say they learned of the plan only after key decisions were made. [9]

   Seen it before

   If friends plan a party in your garden by group chat, you find out when the music starts.

   The truth

   • OpenAI has promised to pay for all the upgrades its site needs, and to use little water. [9]
   • Who pays Effingham County homeowners — They say purchase offers for homes near the planned site have dropped or been withdrawn. [9]
6. 07

   SpaceX plans a $24 billion computer site at Starbase

   What happened

   • Starbase, Texas, the town around SpaceX's rocket site, posted notice of a hearing on a gas power plant and supercomputer. [10]
   • The first phases would cost $24 billion, and SpaceX appears to be the owner. [10]

   Who is involved

   Starbase is largely a company town, mostly on SpaceX land and home mainly to its staff. [10]

   • Gina Hinojosa incoming Texas governor

   How it unfolded

   Musk's earlier AI data centres, Colossus I and II, near the Mississippi-Tennessee border drew a lawsuit over gas-turbine pollution. [10]

   Why it matters

   The site looks to be part of SpaceX's push to build 10 gigawatts of computing in 2027. [10]

   How it works

   Economists call this regulatory arbitrage: putting a project wherever the rules are friendliest.

   A town of mostly SpaceX staff may push back less than Memphis did. [10] The state's new governor could still stand in the way. [10]

   Seen it before

   Asking to stay up late works best at the house where a friend's parents always say yes.

   What comes next

   Texas's incoming governor, Gina Hinojosa, campaigned against approving new data centres until stronger protections exist. [10]

1. 08

   UK chip start-up Fractile raises $720 million

   What happened

   • Fractile, a London start-up designing AI chips, raised $720 million, with backing from Britain's Sovereign AI Fund. [15]
   • The Financial Times put its value at $7 billion, up from about $1 billion in May. [3]
   • Its chips stack memory directly on top of the part that does the sums. [3]
   • Founder Walter Goodwin says today's AI models are "drinking through a straw". [3]

   Why it matters

   Rival chips rely on costly high-bandwidth memory, and AI demand is straining its makers, SK Hynix and Micron. [3]

   Anthropic, the maker of Claude, has shown interest in being an early customer, the FT reported. [3]

   How it works

   Chip designers call this the memory wall: a chip can do sums faster than memory can feed it.

   Chip speed rose about a millionfold in 25 years, while memory speed grew about 40 times, Fractile says. [3]

   Seen it before

   A fast eater with one tiny spoon finishes dinner no sooner than a slow one.

   Why building AI data centres makes a drone's cable dearer

   Economists call it derived demand: a part is wanted for what it helps make, so a boom in one use makes it dearer for every other use.

   The twist

   A Ukrainian drone maker never competes with an AI company for a customer. It still pays the AI company's price, because both buy the same cable.

   The picture

   AI data centreswant more fibre

   ↓→

   Fibre factoriescannot keep up

   ↓→

   Drone makers6 to 10 times dearer

   Step by step

   1. 1 AI firms build more data centres
   2. 2 Each one needs fibre and memory chips
   3. 3 Factories cannot make more fast enough
   4. 4 The price rises for every buyer
   5. 5 Other buyers pay more, switch or quit

   The same force, elsewhere today

   Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

   • AMD sells software to run servers on half the memory

     With memory dear, AMD offers buyers a way to need less of it by moving data onto cheaper flash storage.

   • UK chip start-up Fractile raises $720 million

     AI demand is straining the makers of high-bandwidth memory, and Fractile designs its chips around a different kind.

   Where you've seen this

   Corn and fuel

   when cars burn fuel made from corn, farmers who feed corn to animals pay more for it

   Building booms

   a rush of new houses raises the price of wood for furniture makers too

   Nurses

   when one hospital hires many nurses fast, every hospital nearby must pay more to keep its own

   The catch

   The squeeze lasts only while factories cannot keep up. When more fibre and memory get made, the price eases for everyone, as the drone maker says it has a little since March.

   And the whole of it

   The engineer ordering cable for a data centre and the soldier unwinding it in Ukraine never meet, and neither can see the other's order. Anyone buying a laptop or a doorbell this year is waiting on the same few factories.

   The truth

   • The British government said only that it was worth "over £5 billion". [15] The $7 billion value rests on prototypes, with no product on sale yet. [3]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether Fractile's chips work as it says.

     It has no product on sale, and its first chips are due next year. [3]

   What comes next

   Fractile plans to ship its first chips and systems next year. [15]

1. 09

   AMD sells software to run servers on half the memory

   What happened

   • AMD says its MEXT software let some of its own servers run at 95% speed with half the usual memory. [4]
   • MEXT moves rarely used data out of memory onto cheaper flash storage. [4]
   • An AI model guesses which data will be needed next and brings it back in time. [16]
   • Flash costs about 50 times less per bit than memory, but is about 500 times slower. [16]
   • It runs on 145 AMD servers now and should reach 2,000 next year. [4]

   How it unfolded

   AMD bought the technology from a company called Mext in June. [16]

   Why it matters

   Memory prices have surged with AI demand, hitting firms that do not even run AI, Tom's Hardware says. [4]

   How it works

   Computer scientists call this prefetching: fetching data before the program asks for it.

   If the guess arrives before the program asks, the program never notices the memory was missing. [4]

   Seen it before

   A waiter who refills your glass before you ask makes a small jug feel like a full one.

   With memory dear, AMD offers buyers a way to need less of it by moving data onto cheaper flash storage.

   The idea, in story 08: Why building AI data centres makes a drone's cable dearer →

   The truth

   • What is really going on Companies that do not run AI at all are paying more for memory too. [4]
   • The speed figures come from AMD's own tests, and AMD has not said when customers can buy licences. [4]
   • Who gains AMD and HPE — Dear memory makes software that needs less of it worth buying, and HPE is bringing MEXT to customers. [4]
   • Who pays Companies that buy servers but do not run AI — They pay the higher memory prices that AI demand has set, Tom's Hardware says. [4]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether AMD's MEXT keeps its speed on customers' servers.

     Every figure comes from AMD's own workloads, and AMD has not said when customers can buy licences. [4]

2. 10

   United stops AI agents booking its flights

   What happened

   • United Airlines says personal AI assistants may show its flights but cannot complete a booking. [17]
   • The limit covers its website, travel agencies and flight comparison sites, Engadget reports. [18]
   • United fears agents could expose customer data or make purchases people did not mean. [17]
   • United says only a person can confirm a bag holds no explosives, under US airline rules. [18]
   • "I don't want to create another middleman," United's boss, Scott Kirby, said on Tuesday. [17]

   Who is involved

   AI agents, such as Meta's Muse and OpenAI's Dots, are assistants that act for a person. [17]

   • Muse Meta's assistant
   • Dots OpenAI's assistant

   Why it matters

   It limits what the new assistants can do, and eBay and several big banks have set limits too. [17]

   How it works

   Economists call a firm that sits between a seller and its buyers an intermediary, and it can take a cut.

   An agent that books for people would stand between United and its customers, which United wants to avoid. [18]

   Seen it before

   A shop that lets a friend order for you never learns what you like.

   The truth

   • Not every airline agrees: Southwest built a plugin so people can book through ChatGPT. [18]
   • Who gains United Airlines — Blocking agents keeps customers booking directly with it, with no middleman in between. [18]
3. 11

   The US and China open a channel on advanced AI

   What happened

   • US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US and China have set up a new dialogue on advanced AI. [19]
   • They call the most advanced AI "super intelligence", and the talks aim at risks both share. [19]
   • Each side will share ways to test models before release, and warn the other of serious incidents. [19]

   Who is involved

   • United States Treasury Secretary Bessent
   • China the other side

   How it unfolded

   Bessent spoke on Tuesday in New York, to a group that works on US-China relations. [19]

   Why it matters

   Neither side has agreed to slow its own AI work, and both are racing to lead. [19]

   How it works

   Diplomats call this a confidence-building measure: a step that makes a mistake less likely to start a fight.

   Warning each other of serious incidents is meant to avoid "misunderstanding between our two systems", Bessent said. [19]

   Seen it before

   Two coaches who agree to phone each other before a match are less likely to row over a mistake.

   The truth

   • Bessent made no promise to limit AI. [19] In September China's foreign ministry dismissed calls to slow the most advanced models. [19]
4. 12

   Little of Britain's state tech money stays British

   What happened

   • Less than £1 in every £6 that Britain's public sector spends with its biggest tech suppliers goes to British firms. [20]
   • The IPPR, a think tank, found the British share is 15.4% once firms are traced to their real owners. [20]
   • On paper, 42.5% seems to go to UK companies, partly because many UK-based firms resell US products. [20]
   • US companies get £9.2 billion of the £19.2 billion spent with the largest suppliers. [20]
   • NHS England gave Microsoft's Copilot AI to 505,000 staff under a deal signed before Copilot went on sale. [20]

   Why it matters

   If the US limits who gets top AI, British public services could be left exposed, the report warns. [20]

   How it works

   Economists call this lock-in: once a buyer depends on one supplier, switching costs too much.

   Copilot reached NHS staff through a deal signed in June 2023. [20] Rival AI firms may never have had a chance to bid. [20]

   Seen it before

   Once your whole class uses one chat app, moving to another means everyone has to move.

   The truth

   • For 89.9% of state IT contracts in the past year, there is no published record of how many firms bid. [20]
   • Who gains Resellers Bytes and Softcat — They resell other companies' technology and take about £2 billion of British public tech spending. [20]
5. 13

   Germany's Helsing launches a rival to Palantir

   What happened

   • Helsing, a German defence company, launched Clarity, AI software that turns drone, satellite and sensor data into targets. [21]
   • It is a direct challenge to Maven, made by Palantir, the US company that leads this market. [21]
   • Clarity runs hundreds of AI agents, and a person must approve every hand-off to a weapon, Helsing says. [21]
   • It runs on computers the customer owns and follows NATO standards. [21]

   Who is involved

   • Helsing German, Clarity
   • Palantir American, Maven

   How it unfolded

   France's domestic intelligence service is already dropping Palantir for a homegrown tool. [21]

   Why it matters

   Helsing is pitching Clarity at European governments that want control of their own military software. [21]

   How it works

   Military planners call the steps from spotting a target to striking it the kill chain.

   Clarity covers that chain from finding a target to preparing the data a weapon needs, Helsing says. [21]

   The truth

   • Helsing did not say whether any army already uses Clarity, or when it will enter service. [21]
6. 14

   Meta's data-centre chief steps down

   What happened

   • Santosh Janardhan, Meta's head of infrastructure, will leave in 2027, after joining the company in 2009. [22]
   • Meta expects to spend $135 billion to $145 billion on buildings and equipment this year. [22]
   • S&P Global, a ratings agency, moved its outlook on Meta's debt to negative in late October. [22]

   Who is involved

   Dave Brown, who spent 19 years at Amazon, takes over Meta's data-centre work. [23]

   How it unfolded

   Earlier this year Janardhan was put in charge of Meta Compute, its push to build more data centres. [23]

   1. 2009 joins Meta
   2. 2027 leaves Meta

   Why it matters

   Investors are watching how much Meta and its rivals spend on AI data centres. [22]

   How it works

   Management writers call this succession planning: the next leader is hired before the old one goes.

   Brown joined in July, and Janardhan stays until early 2027 to hand over. [22]

   Seen it before

   A captain who trains the next captain all season leaves no gap when they go.

   The truth

   • Meta has not said why Janardhan is leaving; his memo said it was time to "pass the baton". [23]
7. 15

   DeepMind's AI reads DNA changes cell by cell

   What happened

   • Google DeepMind released AlphaGenome 2, an AI model that predicts how DNA changes affect different kinds of cells. [24]
   • It was trained on more than 100 million cell profiles from 68 tissues. [24]
   • DeepMind says it finds nearly twice as many gene-changing variants as its previous best model. [24]

   Who is involved

   Nearly every cell carries the same DNA, but heart, skin and immune cells switch different genes on. [24]

   Why it matters

   Drugs target specific proteins in specific cells, so knowing the cell matters, DeepMind's Ziga Avsec said. [24]

   How it works

   Geneticists call a change in DNA a variant, and what it does depends on which genes a cell uses.

   Because cells use different genes, one variant can act very differently in each. [24] The model predicts its effect cell by cell. [24]

   Seen it before

   The same light switch does nothing in a room whose bulb has been taken out.

   The truth

   • Its finer predictions cost more computing, so it does not replace the first AlphaGenome. [24]

   Good news

   • Google DeepMind opened AlphaGenome 2, an AI model that predicts how DNA changes act in each kind of cell, to non-commercial researchers on Wednesday.

   What comes next

   Researchers can use it for non-commercial work through Google's AlphaGenome service from Wednesday. [24]

8. 16

   IBM plans a 1,040-qubit quantum computer

   What happened

   • IBM plans to link 2 of its next quantum chips into one 1,040-qubit system in 2027. [25]
   • The new chip, Nighthawk r3, is designed to run 10,000 operations on 520 usable qubits. [25]
   • IBM says customers saw speedups of up to 19 times on its current chip, against older ones. [25]
   • E.ON, a German energy company, reported a 15 times speedup on work to plan power grids. [25]

   Who is involved

   Qubits are the basic units of a quantum computer. [25] Each run gives one result, so useful work can take millions of runs. [25]

   Why it matters

   Linking chips is one of the hardest steps in making quantum computers bigger, TNW says. [25]

   How it works

   Engineers call this scaling out: joining smaller machines instead of building one giant one.

   IBM has linked earlier chips at 99.3% accuracy, short of its 99.9% goal. [25]

   Seen it before

   Two small tables pushed together seat more guests, but the join in the middle can wobble.

   The truth

   • All of these figures come from IBM and its partners. [25]
9. 17

   Distant wars slow apps in Africa

   What happened

   • Yango, a taxi and food app, had delays in Cote d'Ivoire last month after moving to a new data centre. [26]
   • Its partner's site in the Gulf, hit by Iranian attacks, could no longer support it, the company says. [26]
   • Amazon said in September it could not restore 1 of its 3 data-centre zones in the UAE after March strikes. [26]
   • Egypt's EnterpriseAM news site went offline for more than a day in March, Semafor reports. [26]

   How it unfolded

   Red Sea internet cables were damaged in 2024, and Houthi attacks on ships slowed the repairs. [26]

   Why it matters

   Many African firms host their apps abroad because there are few servers at home. [26]

   How it works

   Engineers call this geographic redundancy: keeping copies of data in several places so one loss does not stop a service.

   Ukraine's internet kept working after 2022 because traffic could route through several neighbouring countries, an expert said. [26]

   Seen it before

   Saving your homework on two devices means one broken laptop does not lose it.

   The truth

   • Yango would not say which partner failed or where its services moved. [26]
10. 18

    Apple shuts its users' help forum

    What happened

    • Apple will close its Support Community, where users answer each other's questions, on November 20. [27]
    • The forum stopped taking new posts this week and is now read-only. [28]
    • Apple says it decided this "after a careful evaluation of strategy and customer needs." [27]

    How it unfolded

    It began in 1998 and was once called Apple Discussions. [27]

    Apple stopped paying staff to answer questions there in 2023. [29]

    1. 1998 the forum begins
    2. Nov 20 it closes

    Why it matters

    Its answers often come up first when people search for fixes to tech problems. [27]

    How it works

    Economists call something like this a public good: anyone can use it, and using it takes nothing from others.

    Volunteers wrote the answers, and AI assistants now often repeat answers people first wrote there, ZDNet argues. [29]

    Seen it before

    A school's lost-and-found works only because pupils keep handing things in.

    The truth

    • Apple has not said whether the old answers will stay online after it closes. [28]
    • Who pays Apple users seeking help — They can no longer post on a forum that answered questions for almost three decades. [28]
11. 19

    ByteDance readies its own AI assistant

    What happened

    • ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, plans to release an AI assistant like Meta's Muse within weeks, Bloomberg reported. [30]
    • Co-founder Zhang Yiming told staff ByteDance cannot match OpenAI and Anthropic before 2029 or 2030. [30]
    • He said its Seed models learn from far less data than rivals' models. [30]
    • ByteDance is reportedly ready to spend as much as $70 billion on AI infrastructure. [30]

    Who is involved

    Muse, Meta's AI assistant, has drawn more than 10 million users. [31]

    How it unfolded

    1. Now assistant within weeks
    2. 2029 or 2030 level with the leaders

    Why it matters

    A new assistant from TikTok's owner would raise fresh questions about privacy and how much access agents get, Engadget says. [31]

    How it works

    AI researchers call training a model on a bigger model's answers distillation. [30]

    Zhang repeated that ByteDance should not lean on distillation, which leaves it playing a long game, TNW says. [30]

    Seen it before

    Copying a friend's homework is quick, but learning the method yourself takes longer.

    The truth

    • ByteDance did not answer Bloomberg's request for comment. [30]
12. 20

    Anthropic's venture asks to be paid for results

    What happened

    • Ode, a venture of Anthropic and private equity firms, builds custom AI tools for businesses. [32]
    • Most of its several dozen clients pay a fixed fee, and keep the software it builds. [32]
    • Ode now adds bonus fees if a client hits agreed financial targets, but fewer than 10% pay them. [32]
    • One client, LogicGate, cut its client sign-up time from 120 days to 90 days or less with an Ode tool. [32]

    Who is involved

    • Anthropic AI maker
    • Blackstone and others investors

    How it unfolded

    It launched in July with $1.5 billion promised by investors including Blackstone. [32]

    Why it matters

    A shortage of engineers limits how many clients firms like Ode can take on. [32]

    How it works

    Economists call a fee tied to results a performance contract: the seller earns more when the buyer gains.

    Both sides must first agree a starting point and how to measure the AI's gains, which is hard. [32]

    Seen it before

    A tutor paid only if your grade rises must first agree what your grade was.

    The truth

    • The figures come from people familiar with the venture, not from Ode itself. [32]
13. 21

    Adobe opens its design apps to outside AI

    What happened

    • Adobe will let outside AI assistants, such as ChatGPT or Claude, edit work in Photoshop and Premiere. [33]
    • The link, called MCP, lets an assistant make changes inside Adobe's desktop apps. [33]
    • An assistant could remove a logo from many ad files at once, and people can still edit by hand. [33]
    • Adobe also showed test tools that turn a photo into a 3D scene people can move around in. [34]

    Who is involved

    • ChatGPT outside assistant
    • Claude outside assistant

    Why it matters

    Designers who already work in Claude or ChatGPT could hand dull tasks to an assistant, one analyst said. [33]

    How it works

    Software engineers call this an open interface: a door that lets other programs work inside yours.

    So the assistant a designer already uses, not one Adobe picks, can drive Adobe's apps. [33]

    Seen it before

    A console that accepts any brand of controller lets each player use the one they like.

    The truth

    • "Most creative pros are still going to want their hands in the application," one analyst said. [33]

    What comes next

    It is due in a private test in early 2027. [33]

14. 22

    ElevenLabs lets firms train voice AI on their calls

    What happened

    • ElevenLabs, a voice AI company, will help businesses tune AI models on their own customer calls. [35]
    • It also opened free early access to ElevenAI, an app that turns meetings into notes and to-do lists. [35]
    • It added 15 megawatts of computing with Nvidia for large customers. [35]
    • With Nvidia it is building a voice agent that calls patients on landlines for Poland's health booking system. [35]

    Who is involved

    ElevenLabs was valued at $22 billion in September, with about $600 million in revenue. [35]

    Why it matters

    It faces cheaper rivals, such as OpenAI's voice models. [35]

    How it works

    Engineers call training a model further on one firm's own data fine-tuning. [35]

    The tuned models keep improving as more calls come in, aiming at goals such as fewer errors. [35]

    Seen it before

    A new waiter learns the regulars' orders by serving them every day.

    The truth

    • ElevenLabs says ElevenAI asks everyone's consent before it takes notes. [35]
15. 23

    Amazon releases free tools to test AI agents

    What happened

    • Amazon Web Services released UAEF, a free open-source tool that scores AI agents on 36 measures. [36]
    • It flags any score that drops by more than 5% as a step backwards. [36]
    • AWS says 12 organisations used it to compare agent versions before release. [36]
    • AWS also launched AWS Emulator, which copies its cloud services on a developer's own computer. [37]
    • Developers and coding agents can test apps there without renting real cloud servers or paying for them. [37]

    Why it matters

    Almost 90% of the agent prototypes Amazon built two years ago never shipped, AWS has said. [36]

    How it works

    Software engineers call this regression testing: checking that a change did not break what already worked. [36]

    Each change to a prompt or a model is scored against an earlier run, so a drop shows at once. [36]

    Seen it before

    Re-reading your essay after every edit shows when a change made a good sentence worse.

    The truth

    • The tool is free, but scoring with AI judges and saving results both rely on paid AWS services. [36]
16. 24

    Google frees a faster way to run small AI models

    What happened

    • Google made XSE, its system for running AI models without the Python language, open source. [38]
    • XSE already handles more than 6 million requests a second at YouTube Shorts, Google Ads and Search. [38]
    • In Google's tests it handled 2 to 5 times as many short requests as its best Python server. [38] It used a quarter of the memory. [38]

    Who is involved

    Python is easy for scientists to write, but keeping it running while serving users adds delay. [38]

    Why it matters

    Much of Google's AI work ranks results and recommends videos, rather than chatting, a Google manager wrote. [38]

    How it works

    Programmers call this compiling: turning code into instructions the chip runs directly.

    Scientists still write models in Python, and XSE compiles them, so no Python runs when users ask. [38]

    Seen it before

    A recipe translated once into the cook's language is quicker than one translated line by line.

    The truth

    • The speed figures come from Google's own tests on short requests. [38]
17. 25

    Google tests AI-built group planners

    What happened

    • Google Labs launched Tabletop, a tool that builds shared planners, such as trip plans and expense splitters, from a prompt. [39]
    • A group shares one space through an invite link and uses it at the same time, like a Google Doc. [40]
    • It is open only to US adults aged 18 and over, through a waitlist. [39]

    How it unfolded

    NotebookLM also began at Google Labs and was renamed Gemini Notebook this year. [39]

    Why it matters

    Many of Google's own examples, like family planning, would need children or teens to join, The Verge notes. [40]

    How it works

    Software makers call describing a tool in words and letting AI build it vibe coding. [40]

    A member can ask Tabletop to change a rule, and it rebuilds the tool without starting over. [39]

    Seen it before

    Telling a friend to make a board game harder and watching them redraw the board is the same idea.

    The truth

    • Google has not said which AI model powers Tabletop. [39]
18. 26

    A 'new' Claude ban for Russians is old

    What happened

    • Russian media and Telegram channels reported on November 11 that Anthropic would cut off Russian firms' staff from Claude. [41]
    • Anthropic's list of places where Claude is allowed was the same on May 12 and on November 12. [41]
    • Its rules already bar firms registered in unsupported places, such as Russia and China, and their staff abroad. [41]
    • Anthropic's November 12 update did change other rules, such as banning Claude for weapon guidance software. [41]

    Who is involved

    Meduza, a news site, found the rule has been in place since last year. [41]

    How it unfolded

    1. May 12 list of allowed places
    2. Nov 12 the same list

    Why it matters

    So for Russian workers, nothing changed this week. [41]

    How it works

    Fact-checkers call this checking against the record: comparing a claim with the earlier version of the same document.

    Meduza compared Anthropic's region page with the May version shown on that same page. [41]

    Seen it before

    If someone says lunch times changed, last month's timetable settles it.

19. 27

    Ubuntu's maker has a long outage

    What happened

    • Many of Canonical's web services went offline for hours on Wednesday, from about 11:00 UTC. [42]
    • The outage hit Launchpad, the Livepatch service and canonical.com, among others. [42]
    • Its email and its Discourse forums stayed up. [42]

    Who is involved

    Canonical runs Ubuntu's online services, such as its keyserver, cloud images and login. [42]

    • Launchpad down
    • Livepatch down
    • canonical.com down

    How it unfolded

    Canonical's sites suffered an attack meant to overload them last month, but this outage's cause is not confirmed. [42]

    1. Nov 11 outage
    2. Nov 12 Ubuntu Summit opens

    Why it matters

    Developers who fetch software and fixes from these services could not reach them. [42]

    The truth

    • Canonical had not told The Register what caused it by the time of publication. [42]

    What comes next

    It came a day before the online Ubuntu Summit on November 12 and 13. [42]

20. 28

    ASRock posts new firmware after cards stopped working

    What happened

    • ASRock, a maker of graphics cards, posted new firmware for its Radeon RX 7000 cards without saying what it fixes. [43]
    • Its previous version, 1.0.5, stopped some RX 7900 XT and XTX cards from starting, owners reported. [43]
    • The faulty update had been listed for 10 card models, and ASRock has removed it. [43]
    • Some owners revived their cards with a separate chip-programming tool. [43]

    How it unfolded

    AMD, which designs the chips, released a security fix for these cards last month. [43]

    Why it matters

    AMD urged owners to install security updates quickly, and some lost working cards doing so. [43]

    How it works

    Engineers call firmware the built-in software a device runs before anything else.

    If that first software breaks, the card cannot start at all, which is why one bad update bricked cards. [43]

    Seen it before

    A phone that freezes on its start-up screen cannot open any app.

    The truth

    • ASRock has not said what went wrong, or how it will help owners whose cards already failed. [43]
21. 29

    Google Fi phones switch networks on their own

    What happened

    • Google Fi, Google's phone service, now switches Pixel phones between 2 big 5G networks when one slows. [44]
    • It also joins faster Wi-Fi in millions of places, such as airports, without a log-in. [44]
    • It is free on every Fi plan, for Pixel 9 phones and newer. [44]

    How it unfolded

    Fi did this a decade ago between Sprint and T-Mobile, which merged in 2020. [44]

    1. A decade ago Fi switches Sprint and T-Mobile
    2. 2020 the two merge

    Why it matters

    Switching on its own means fewer dead zones when one signal is weak, ZDNet says. [44]

    How it works

    Engineers call this failover: a backup link takes over the moment the main one weakens.

    The phone's built-in eSIM holds two network profiles at once, so it can jump between them. [44]

    Seen it before

    A car with two fuel tanks keeps going when one runs dry.

    The truth

    • Google has not named the second network, and Fi usually runs on T-Mobile. [44]

    Good news

    • Pixel phones on Google Fi can now switch between two 5G networks by themselves, at no extra cost, when one signal weakens.
22. 30

    Google's phone AI reaches the car

    What happened

    • Google's November update gave Pixel 10 phones Gemini Intelligence, which handles multi-step tasks and suggests actions. [45]
    • On some Pixels it now works in Android Auto, which shows a phone's apps on a car's screen. [46]
    • It can find a confirmation email a friend asks about and offer to send it with one tap. [46]
    • Users can also build custom widgets, like a spending tracker, just by asking. [45]
    • It needs the Gemini app, works in select countries and is for users aged 18 and over. [46]

    Why it matters

    Pixel owners get some features before other Android phones, or only on Pixels. [46]

    How it works

    Designers call this context: what the assistant knows about your day shapes what it offers.

    Because it reads messages, email and calendar, it can finish tasks that cross several apps. [46]

    Seen it before

    A friend who has seen your calendar can remind you before you forget.

    The truth

    • What it can do in the car is described in Google's own blog post. [46]
23. 31

    Apple's touchscreen MacBook is hard to repair

    What happened

    • iFixit's repair experts took apart Apple's first touchscreen MacBook Pro and gave it mixed marks. [47]
    • The whole lid comes off fairly easily, with 3 screws on each hinge. [47]
    • But the screen cannot be replaced alone: separating it cracked the OLED and touch layers. [47]
    • Its memory and storage are soldered to the main board, and the USB-C ports sit under it. [47]

    Who is involved

    • Memory soldered
    • Storage soldered

    How it unfolded

    Apple unveiled this MacBook Pro, with a stacked OLED screen, at the end of October. [47]

    Why it matters

    A cracked screen could mean a costlier repair than owners expect. [47]

    How it works

    Engineers call this design for repair: building a product so a broken part can be swapped alone.

    Because the screen cannot come out without breaking, fixing it means replacing more than the screen. [47]

    Seen it before

    A pencil case with a stitched-in zip goes in the bin when the zip breaks.

    Good news

    • Apple's repair tool recognised a swapped main board, battery and screen on first start-up. [47]