AI boom is testing tech firms' climate pledges A SpaceXAI data center under construction in Southaven, Mississippi, on Aug. 2 | AFP-JIJI Geneva - Technology companies are stepping up their climate commitments but not fast enough to counter rapidly inflating energy needs linked to the artificial intelligence boom, a report said Wednesday. Despite progress in climate reporting and renewable electricity use, tech firms are falling short in cutting emissions at the pace required to achieve global climate targets, the Greening Digital Companies 2026 report found. Published by the U.N.'s International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), a sustainable development organization, the report monitors the emissions and climate commitments of 200 major tech companies worldwide. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right. With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories.

Creator Playbook Trending Now Say More Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Switch Off Mashable Voices Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List In My Bag All Series Whether you lose power due to a storm or you're going off-grid, a portable power station is a good idea. Brittany is fueled by horror, rainbow-sugar-pixel-rushes, and video games. Until her dying breath she'll be wielding a BFG made entirely of killer drive and ambition. Check out her work at PfhorTheWin.com. Like a fabulous shooter once said, get psyched!

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Plus: OpenAI is restricting its next model after rating it a "critical" cyber risk. Can you fare any better? Puzzles and games have always been central to AI development. The term "machine learning" was popularized in a 1959 article about an algorithm that learned to play checkers. Chess and Go are famous AI test beds too. Judged purely on its puzzling skills, AI is improving a lot--and quickly.

Trending Now Say More Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Switch Off Creator Playbook Mashable Voices Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List In My Bag All Series Keep the power going this fall with 46% off this portable station. Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer with Mashable. She's written for various entertainment websites since 2017, covering everything from tech to games to film. You'll currently find her work on IGN and Fangoria alongside Mashable, but she also has bylines at Rock Paper Shotgun, Collider, Screen Rant, and more. When she's not writing, she enjoys catching up with the latest films and shows -- horror, in particular -- and has a deep love of FromSoft games, which she continues to happily replay.

Trending Now Say More Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Switch Off Creator Playbook Mashable Voices Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List In My Bag All Series It weighs under 24 pounds, has an onboard lightbar, and plenty of ports. Lauren Allain is a freelance journalist covering deals at Mashable. She graduated from Western Washington University with a B.A. in journalism and holds an M.B.A from Webster Leiden. You can find more of her work online from publications including Reader's Digest, U.S. News & World Report, Seattle Refined, and more. When she's not writing, Lauren prefers to be outside hiking, bouldering, swimming, or searching for the perfect location for all three.

In today's newsletter: Communities from Scotland to India are pushing back against datacentres, warning they threaten energy supplies and the climate This summer, datacentres have become targets of resistance across the world. Ever since the arrival of ChatGPT, big tech has been lobbying for the creation of enormous new facilities. Many governments claim they're essential in any country that wants to cash in on AI. Campaigners argue datacentres drain resources and exacerbate the climate crisis. The Scottish National Party has backed a moratorium on new developments; so has the Greens.

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A nonprofit organization called the Fermi Explorer Mission announced today that it intends to launch a spacecraft to our nearest star system by the end of 2029. It's a hugely ambitious mission--if all goes well, the spacecraft could take up to 80,000 years to arrive at Alpha Centauri, which is 4.4 light-years away. And the spacecraft will follow a novel trajectory discovered by an AI system developed by Physical Superintelligence (PSI), an AI physics research lab. PSI is launching today with $58 million in funding led by Breakthrough Energy, a climate-focused investment group founded by Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates. It's not the first time this has been tried.

What is Iran's Pickaxe Mountain? Vance says Trump'sending a message' to Iran with AI-generated video Share Vance says Trump'sending a message' to Iran with AI-generated video on social media An AI-generated video depicting missiles raining down on a key Iranian island to destroy what appears to be oil-processing infrastructure is meant as a warning to Iran, United States Vice President JD Vance says. President Donald Trump posted the video on his Truth Social account on Sunday night and on Monday followed up with a post saying Iran was "dead" and a "failed nation". "We know that they continue to shoot at commercial shipping. We continue to have a lot of tools at our disposal to prevent them from doing so or at least cut down on them from doing so, and that's what the president is saying," Vance told reporters at an Air Force base in Maryland.