tech

Rani Molla12/5/25

Meta reignites on-again, off-again relationship with news organizations with multiple AI content licensing deals

Meta has a long and tumultuous relationship with news organizations: first flooding them with traffic, then cutting it off; declaring news a priority, then deprioritizing it in people’s feeds; even hiring its own team to curate breaking news before abruptly disbanding it.

Now it seems media companies are back in Meta’s good graces. The social media company has struck a number of content licensing deals with publishers — including USA Today, People, CNN, Fox News, and The Daily Caller — in order to use information from their articles in Meta’s AI tools, Axios reports. The company first inked an AI news deal with Reuters last year.

Meta has been integrating its AI chatbots across its suite of products, and these licensing deals, which the company reportedly plans to expand to more news organizations, will give users better access to real-time information.

Exclusive: Meta strikes multiple AI deals with news publishers

Exclusive: Meta strikes multiple AI deals with news publishers

Now it seems media companies are back in Meta’s good graces. The social media company has struck a number of content licensing deals with publishers — including USA Today, People, CNN, Fox News, and The Daily Caller — in order to use information from their articles in Meta’s AI tools, Axios reports. The company first inked an AI news deal with Reuters last year.

Meta has been integrating its AI chatbots across its suite of products, and these licensing deals, which the company reportedly plans to expand to more news organizations, will give users better access to real-time information.

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OpenAI set to start rolling out ads to free and ChatGPT Go users

OpenAI says user conversations will be kept private from advertisers, and answers will not be influenced by ads.

chatgpt ads

tech

Jon Keegan1/16/26

EPA: xAI’s Colossus data center illegally used gas turbines without permits

The Environmental Protection Agency has ruled that xAI violated the law when it used dozens of portable gas generators for its Colossus 1 data center without air quality permits.

When xAI set out to build Colossus 1 in Memphis, Tennessee, CEO Elon Musk wanted to move with unprecedented speed, avoiding all of the red tape that could slow such a big project down.

To power the 1-gigawatt data center, Musk took advantage of a local loophole that allowed portable gas generators to be used without any permits, as long as they did not spend more than 364 days in the same spot. That allowed xAI to bring in dozens of truck-sized gas generators to quickly supply the massive amount of power the data center needed to train xAI’s Grok model.

The new EPA rule says the use of such portable generators falls under federal regulation, and the company did need air quality permits to operate the turbines. xAI is also using dozens of such generators to power its Colossus 2 data center just over the border in Alabama.

Elon Musk’s xAI datacenter generating extra electricity illegally, regulator rules

Elon Musk’s xAI datacenter generating extra electricity illegally, regulator rules

To power the 1-gigawatt data center, Musk took advantage of a local loophole that allowed portable gas generators to be used without any permits, as long as they did not spend more than 364 days in the same spot. That allowed xAI to bring in dozens of truck-sized gas generators to quickly supply the massive amount of power the data center needed to train xAI’s Grok model.

The new EPA rule says the use of such portable generators falls under federal regulation, and the company did need air quality permits to operate the turbines. xAI is also using dozens of such generators to power its Colossus 2 data center just over the border in Alabama.

Google has a leg up over Apple in the race to roll out personalized AI

Google and Apple are going for the holy grail of AI chatbot integration, but it looks like Google is getting there first.

Beauty Queen Waving

tech

Rani Molla1/16/26

Trump to push Big Tech to fund new power plants as AI drives up electricity costs

President Donald Trump is expected to announce a plan Friday morning that would require Big Tech companies to bid on 15-year contracts for new electricity generation capacity. The move would effectively force companies to help fund new power plants in the PJM region as soaring demand from AI data centers pushes up electricity costs across the US power grid.

Earlier this week, Trump called on tech giants to “pay their own way,” arguing that households and small businesses should not bear the cost of power infrastructure needed to support energy-hungry data centers.

Microsoft quickly responded, saying it would “pay utility rates that are high enough to cover our electricity costs,” along with committing to other changes aimed at easing pressure on the grid. Other major tech companies are expected to follow suit, though Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives warned the added costs could slow the pace of data center build-outs.

As we’ve noted, forcing tech companies to shoulder higher electricity costs is likely to hit some firms harder than others. Companies like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon can pass at least some of those costs on to customers by selling data center capacity downstream. Meta, in contrast, does not have a cloud business, meaning its AI ambitions lack a direct revenue stream to offset rising power costs.

So far tech stocks don’t appear to be affected much in premarket trading. However utility companies most levered to the AI boom certainly are, with Vistra, Constellation Energy, and Talen Energy deep in the red ahead of the open as analysts at Jefferies warn that these firms face risks from this plan.

Trump Moves to Make Tech Giants Pay for Surging Power Costs

Trump Moves to Make Tech Giants Pay for Surging Power Costs

Earlier this week, Trump called on tech giants to “pay their own way,” arguing that households and small businesses should not bear the cost of power infrastructure needed to support energy-hungry data centers.

Microsoft quickly responded, saying it would “pay utility rates that are high enough to cover our electricity costs,” along with committing to other changes aimed at easing pressure on the grid. Other major tech companies are expected to follow suit, though Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives warned the added costs could slow the pace of data center build-outs.

As we’ve noted, forcing tech companies to shoulder higher electricity costs is likely to hit some firms harder than others. Companies like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon can pass at least some of those costs on to customers by selling data center capacity downstream. Meta, in contrast, does not have a cloud business, meaning its AI ambitions lack a direct revenue stream to offset rising power costs.

So far tech stocks don’t appear to be affected much in premarket trading. However utility companies most levered to the AI boom certainly are, with Vistra, Constellation Energy, and Talen Energy deep in the red ahead of the open as analysts at Jefferies warn that these firms face risks from this plan.

tech

Jon Keegan1/15/26

OpenAI working to build a US supply chain for its hardware plans, including robots

When OpenAI purchased Jony Ive’s I/O, it entered the hardware business. The company is currently ramping up to produce a mysterious AI-powered gadget.

But OpenAI plans on making more than just consumer gadgets — it also plans on making data center hardware, and even robots.

Bloomberg reports that OpenAI has been on the hunt for US-based suppliers for silicon and motors for robotics, as well as cooling systems for data centers.

AI companies are looking toward robots as a logical next step for finding applications for their models.

OpenAI told Bloomberg that US companies building the AI brains of robots might have an edge against the Chinese hardware manufacturers that are currently making some impressive humanoid robots.

OpenAI Seeks US-Based Suppliers for Planned Robotics, AI Device Push

OpenAI Seeks US-Based Suppliers for Planned Robotics, AI Device Push

Bloomberg reports that OpenAI has been on the hunt for US-based suppliers for silicon and motors for robotics, as well as cooling systems for data centers.

AI companies are looking toward robots as a logical next step for finding applications for their models.

OpenAI told Bloomberg that US companies building the AI brains of robots might have an edge against the Chinese hardware manufacturers that are currently making some impressive humanoid robots.

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