A record number of data centers are in the works for next year

In 2025, more data centers will be under construction in the US than ever before, according to a new forecast from real-estate services firm CBRE. The firm is expecting 4,750 data centers will be in the process of being built in primary markets, up from this year’s record of 4,250.

For context, nearly as many data centers are currently being built as already exist in the US. And much of that construction is already spoken for. Amid record-low vacancy rates, a record share of construction is being leased before it’s even finished.

Part of the reason for the uptick in building is US tech companies’ insatiable demand for AI, which requires these data centers to power it. The other part is supply: construction is taking a lot longer, as developers await updated or increased power infrastructure to deal with their massive energy needs.

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What we know about Tesla’s Semi truck as production nears

Musk says “high-volume production” will start this year. Wall Street thinks that’s more like 5,000 to 15,000 trucks.

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The metaverse’s slow, drawn-out demise is getting painful

Maybe Meta execs are just picking out a nice $80 billion plot in the Big Tech graveyard.

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Amazon is making a new smartphone more than a decade after its Fire Phone flop

More than a decade after Amazon ditched its short-lived Fire Phone, the tech giant is back with a new smartphone, Reuters reports. The new device, internally dubbed “Transformer,” is meant to “sync with home voice assistant Alexa and serve as a conduit to Amazon customers throughout the day.”

The effort comes as Amazon races to upgrade Alexa with generative-AI capabilities. It also reflects a broader shift across Big Tech: from Apple to Google to OpenAI, companies are vying to create and control the devices through which consumers access AI — widely seen as the next major computing platform.

Exclusive: Amazon plans smartphone comeback more than a decade after Fire Phone flop

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Google testing Gemini app for Mac, aims to compete with Claude Cowork and Codex

Bloomberg reports that Google is testing a new version of its Gemini AI app that runs on Apple’s Mac computers.

Currently both OpenAI’s Codex and Anthropic’s Claude have Mac apps, which allow for deeper AI automation with files on the computer.

Google is testing a feature called Desktop Intelligence, which grants Gemini access to the items on the user’s screen, according to the report. The app is currently in beta testing.

Google Begins Testing Gemini Mac App to Match ChatGPT and Claude

Google is testing a feature called Desktop Intelligence, which grants Gemini access to the items on the user’s screen, according to the report. The app is currently in beta testing.

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Bezos seeks $100 billion for AI-enhanced manufacturing fund, WSJ reports

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is seeking to raise a $100 billion fund that would purchase manufacturing companies and use AI to automate their work processes, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal.

The fund would use technology from Project Prometheus, where Bezos was recently named co-CEO. The startup aims to apply the latest generative-AI breakthroughs to reinvent industrial manufacturing.

The $100 billion fund would be used to buy existing manufacturing businesses to transform, per the report.

Bezos has reportedly met with the heads of sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and recently traveled to Singapore as part of the fundraising effort.

Exclusive | Jeff Bezos in Talks to Raise $100 Billion for AI Manufacturing Fund

The $100 billion fund would be used to buy existing manufacturing businesses to transform, per the report.

Bezos has reportedly met with the heads of sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and recently traveled to Singapore as part of the fundraising effort.

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