The UK's energy regulator is using a variety of tricks to keep speculative data center projects from plugging into the power grid. The country's AI ambitions hang in the balance. As data center developers compete for a cut of the hundreds of billions of dollars flowing into the artificial intelligence industry, the queue to join the UK's power grid has become jammed with projects that will likely never get built. The snarl is exacerbating already years-long wait times for viable projects, and it's messing with attempts to forecast energy demand and plan grid expansions. In July, the UK's energy regulator, Ofgem, laid out a proposal meant to force phantom data centers out of the swollen queue.

Employees walk into Huawei's European-themed data center on July 24 in Guian New Area in southwestern China's Guizhou province. GUIAN NEW AREA, CHINA - In China's hilly Guizhou province, a cluster of European-style buildings complete with a clock tower and a multi-arched bridge emits a low, permanent hum -- a clue to its unexpected identity as tech giant Huawei's largest data center. The town-like complex is unique in design, but not in its placement. Dozens of data centers have been constructed in the southwestern province in recent years. They are part of a government strategy that has seen much of the digital infrastructure for breakneck artificial intelligence development across China's eastern seaboard established in the country's less populated, rural west. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Follow this section to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens. The D.C. Brief Open follow modal Personalized Content Follow this tag to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens.

Do you think AI has made Google search better of worse? Please include as much detail as possible. How have your search habits changed with the introduction of AI overviews?

Anthony Albanese will tell national cabinet his government will legislate next year to ensure the benefits of AI and datacentres are shared among states. Anthony Albanese will tell national cabinet his government will legislate next year to ensure the benefits of AI and datacentres are shared among states. Albanese seeks to quell datacentre disquiet as climate expert warns'we've got one shot to get the rules right' Anthony Albanese will seek to use Wednesday's high-stakes talks with premiers to quell growing unhappiness about national controls on datacentre developments, promising new approval laws will complement state rules. Faced with growing opposition from conservative governments in Queensland and the Northern Territory, Albanese will tell national cabinet he plans a major piece of legislation next year to ensure the economic benefits of AI are shared widely. The meeting on Wednesday will come after the latest forecast from the Australian Energy Market Operator showing datacentre power use is projected to increase seven-fold over the next decade.

Google is making it easier for people to support their favorite publications by introducing a new "Preferred Sources" button webmasters can add to their websites. "When readers click this button, it adds the site as a Preferred Source on Google and immediately directs them back to where they left off on the publisher's page," Google explains. After clicking the button, you'll see the publication appear more frequently Google Search, including in Top Stories, AI Overviews and AI Mode. The button formalizes something publishers, including Engadget, had been independently adding their websites for a while now. Even with referral traffic from Google declining in recent years due to products like AI Overviews and AI Mode, the company's search engine remains an important source of revenue for many media outlets.

Mashable Voices Mashable Selects Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Say More Safety Net Creator Hub Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Switch Off Trending Now In My Bag All Series And college students can get Google AI Pro for free. Chase joined Mashable's Social Good team in 2020, covering online stories about digital activism, climate justice, accessibility, and media representation. Google expands Gemini offerings and Search functions as students head back to school. As districts across the country debate the efficacy of tech-enabled classrooms, Google wants to upgrade the average students' school supplies with new AI features. And they don't even need to leave the Google homepage to find them.

PCWorld reports that Geekom mini PCs, including the A7, A8, AE7, and AE8 series, were compromised after attackers injected backdoors into drivers hosted on an outdated support page, enabling spying and password theft. Only users who downloaded drivers through unofficial search engine results are affected, while the current official Geekom website remains safe. Affected users should disconnect from the network, run antivirus scans, change passwords, and consider a factory reset. Detailed instructions are provided below. A few days ago, Tom's Hardware and Videocardz reported on a Geekom incident affecting several of the manufacturer's mini PCs. Attackers were able to inject malware onto several devices via a tampered driver--one that was hosted on an official Geekom support page, which, according to the company, had already been taken offline. Geekom confirmed the incident and explained that, although the outdated website had been replaced by a new one, it could still be found via search engines. The attackers exploited this to insert a backdoor into the driver package, enabling them to install malware on Geekom mini PCs.

The people-search tool ClarityCheck says its reverse image search service is "private and secure"--but it left a database containing more than 9 million image files exposed. When someone uploads a photo to the people-search tool ClarityCheck, the website has a clear message: "Your reverse image search is private and secure." New research, though, shows that the website left more than 9 million image files, including photographs of people's faces, publicly exposed . And a second misconfiguration publicly exposed people's email addresses and phone numbers. Overall, according to findings from independent security researcher Jeremiah Fowler, the exposed ClarityCheck database contained roughly 450 GB of images, including what appeared to be profile images, screenshots, and other photographs of adults, teenagers, and children.

Akita eyes AI data center that could become Japan's largest An artificial intelligence data center, which could become one of Japan's largest, is being planned in Akita Prefecture with a goal of commencing operations in 2030 at the earliest. A plan is underway to build an artificial intelligence data center in Akita Prefecture that could become Japan's largest. The plan is being led by S2, a server management firm based in the city of Akita, and U.S. startup Bitgrit, with the total construction cost estimated at ¥2 trillion ($12.5 billion). The firms are cooperating with Akita Prefecture and the city of Akita with an aim to make the data center a hub to attract AI-related businesses and human resources. 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.