cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7463284 > cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/22770 > > > With community opposition growing, data center backers are going on a full-scale public relations blitz. Around Christmas in Virginia, which boasts the highest concentration of data centers in the country, one advertisement seemed to air nonstop. “Virginia’s data centers are … investing billions in clean energy,” a voiceover intoned over sweeping shots of shiny solar panels. “Creating good-paying jobs” — cue men in yellow safety vests and hard hats — “and building a better energy future.” > > > > The ad was sponsored by Virginia Connects, an industry-affiliated group that spent at least $700,000 on [digital marketing](https://adstransparency.google.com/advertiser/AR17640641556211826689/creative/CR16399460028450340865?region=US) in the state in fiscal year 2024. The spot emphasized that data centers are paying their own energy costs, framing this as a buffer that might help lower residential bills, and portrayed the facilities as engines of local job creation. > > > > The reality is murkier. Although industry groups claim that each new data center creates “dozens to hundreds” of “high-wage, high-skill jobs,” some researchers say data centers generate far fewer jobs than other industries, such as manufacturing and [warehousing](https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai-data-center-job-creation-48038b67). Greg LeRoy, the founder of the research and advocacy group Good Jobs First, said that in his first major study of data center jobs nine years ago, he found that developers pocketed well over a million dollars in state subsidies for every permanent job they created. With the rise of hyperscalers, LeRoy said, that number is “still very much in the ballpark.” > > > > Other experts reflect that finding. A 2025 [brief](https://backend.production.deepblue-documents.lib.umich.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/55f83dca-a62a-46f5-93f7-3580401dd5ca/content) from University of Michigan researchers put it bluntly: “Data centers do not bring high-paying tech jobs to local communities.” A recent analysis from Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit tracking corporate overreach, found that in Virginia, the investment required to create a permanent data center job was [nearly 100 times higher](https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/RB_2601_DataCenterJobs.pdf) than what was required to create comparable jobs in other industries. > > > > “Data centers are the extreme of hyper-capital intensity in manufacturing,” LeRoy said. “Once they’re built, the number of people monitoring them is really small.” Contractors may be called in if something breaks, and equipment is replaced every few years. “But that’s not permanent labor,” he said. > > > > Jon Hukill, a spokesperson for the Data Center Coalition, the industry lobbying group that established [Virginia Connects](https://www.princewilliamtimes.com/news/data-centers-use-mailers-text-messages-to-counter-pushback/article_420b47dc-85c7-11ef-90ed-cfe9b41f9e5a.html) in 2024, said that the industry “is committed to paying its full cost of service for the energy it uses” and is trying to“meet this moment in a way that supports both data center development and an affordable, reliable electricity grid for all customers.” Nationally, Hukill said, the industry “supported 4.7 million jobs and contributed $162 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2023.” > > > > Dozens of community groups across the country have mobilized against data center buildout, citing fears that the facilities will drain water supplies, overwhelm electric grids, and pollute the air around them. According to Data Center Watch, a project run by AI security company 10a labs, nearly 200 community groups are currently active and have blocked or delayed 20 data center projects representing $98 billion of potential investment between April and June 2025 alone. > > > > The backlash has exposed a growing image problem for the AI industry. “Too often, we’re portrayed as energy-hungry, water-intensive, and environmentally damaging,” data center marketer Steve Lim recently [wrote](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/opinions/reframing-the-narrative-how-the-data-center-industry-can-unite-to-improve-its-public-image/). That narrative, he argued, “misrepresents our role in society and potentially hinders our ability to grow.” In response, the industry is stepping up its messaging. > > > > Some developers, like [Starwood Digital Ventures in Delaware](https://spotlightdelaware.org/2025/10/13/delaware-data-center-developer-launches-pr-campaign-to-boost-project/), are turning to [Facebook ads](https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=active&ad_type=all&country=US&id=1834105623900448&is_targeted_country=false&media_type=all&search_type=page&view_all_page_id=798975959964795) to make their case to residents. Its ads make the case that data center development might help keep property taxes low, bring jobs to Delaware, and protect the integrity of nearby wetlands.  According to reporting from Spotlight Delaware, the company has also boasted that it will create three times as many jobs as it initially told local officials. > > > > Nationally, Meta has spent months running TV spots showcasing data center work as a viable replacement for lost industrial and farming jobs. One advertisement spotlights the small city of [Altoona, Iowa](https://www.facebook.com/Meta/videos/an-investment-in-america/1176383770788653/). “I grew up in Altoona, and I wanted my kids to be able to do the same,” a voice narrates over softly-lit scenes of small-town Americana: a Route 66 diner, a farm, and a water tower. “So, when work started to slow down, we looked for new opportunities … and we welcomed Meta, which opened a data center in our town. Now, we’re bringing jobs here — for us, and for our next generation.” The advertisement ends with a promise superimposed over images of a football game: “Meta is investing $600 billion in American infrastructure and jobs.” > > > > In reality, Altoona’s data center is a hulking, windowless, warehouse complex that broke ground in 2013, long before the current data center boom. Altoona is not quite the beleaguered farm town Meta’s advertisements portray but a suburb of 19,000, roughly 16 minutes from downtown Des Moines, the most populous city in Iowa. Meta says it has supported [“400+ operational jobs”](https://datacenters.atmeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Meta_s-Altoona-Data-Center.pdf) in Altoona. In comparison, the local casino employs nearly 1,000 residents, according to the local [economic development agency](https://altoonanow.org/major-employers/). > > > > Ultimately, those details may not matter much to the ad’s intended audience. [As Politico reported](https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook-pm/2025/12/04/meta-data-center-ads-00677165), the advertisement may have been targeted at policymakers on the coasts more than the residents of towns like Altoona. Meta has spent [at least $5 million](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/17/data-centers-have-a-political-problem-and-big-tech-wants-to-fix-it-00693695) airing the spot in places like Sacramento and Washington, D.C. > > > > The community backlash has also made data centers a political flashpoint. In Virginia, [Abigail Spanberger](https://grist.org/politics/it-was-a-very-good-election-for-the-climate/) won November’s gubernatorial election in part on promises to regulate the industry and make developers pay their “fair share” of the electricity they use. State lawmakers also considered 30 bills attempting to regulate data centers. In response to concerns about rising electricity prices, Virginia regulators approved [a new rate structure](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07012026/virginia-regulators-approve-new-dominion-rates/) for AI data centers and other large electricity users. The changes, which will take effect in 2027, are designed to protect household customers from costs associated with data center expansion. > > > > These developments may only encourage companies to spend more on image-building. In Virginia’s [Data Center Alley](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93dnnxewdvo), the ads show no sign of stopping. Elena Schlossberg, an anti-data-center activist based in Prince William County, says her mailbox has been flooded with fliers from Virginia Connects for the past eight months. > > > > The promises of lower electric bills, good jobs, and climate responsibility, she said, remind her of [cigarette ads](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1470496/) she saw decades ago touting the health benefits of smoking. But Schlossberg isn’t sure the marketing’s going to work. One recent poll showed that [73 percent of Virginians](https://ccanactionfund.org/media/New-Polling-on-Virginians-Views-of-Data-Centers-and-Rising-Energy-Costs.pdf) blame data centers for their rising electricity costs. > > > > “There’s no putting the toothpaste back in the tube,” she said. “People already know we’re still covering their costs. People know that.” > > > > This story was originally published by [Grist](https://grist.org/) with the headline [Data centers are facing an image problem. The tech industry is spending millions to rebrand them.](https://grist.org/energy/data-centers-are-facing-an-image-problem-the-tech-industry-is-spending-millions-to-rebrand-them/) on Jan 26, 2026. > > > > --- > > > > **From [Grist](https://grist.org/feed) via [This RSS Feed](https://grist.org/feed).**

cross-posted from: https://feditown.com/post/2475594

> Mozilla published a new State of Mozilla. It’s absolute slopaganda. A mess of trippy visuals and corpo-speak that’s been through the slop wringer too many times.

China has begun mass production of next-generation processors based on molybdenum disulfide instead of traditional silicon semiconductors[^4]. According to Professor Li Hongge's team at Beihang University, these chips merge binary and stochastic logic to achieve better fault tolerance and power efficiency for applications like touch displays and flight systems[^9]. The breakthrough came through developing a Hybrid Stochastic Number (HSN) system that combines traditional binary with probability-based numbers[^9]. This innovation helps overcome two major challenges in chip technology - the power wall from binary systems' high energy consumption, and the architecture wall that makes new non-silicon chips difficult to integrate with conventional systems[^9]. [^4]: [AzerNews - China mass-produces silicon-free chips](https://www.azernews.az/region/252794.html) [^9]: [SCMP - China starts mass production of world's first non-binary AI chip](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3313349/beyond-1s-and-0s-china-starts-mass-production-worlds-first-non-binary-ai-chip)

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7465072 > cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/22888 > > > The Trump administration is planning to use artificial intelligence to write federal transportation regulations, according to U.S. Department of Transportation records and interviews with six agency staffers. The plan was presented to DOT staff last month at a demonstration of AI’s “potential to revolutionize the way we draft rulemakings,” agency attorney Daniel Cohen wrote to colleagues. The demonstration, Cohen wrote, would showcase “exciting new AI tools available to DOT rule writers to help us do our job better and faster.” > > >Discussion of the plan continued among agency leadership last week, according to meeting notes reviewed by ProPublica. Gregory Zerzan, the agency’s general counsel, said at that meeting that President Donald Trump is “very excited about this initiative.” Zerzan seemed to suggest that the DOT was at the vanguard of a broader federal effort, calling the department the “point of the spear” and “the first agency that is fully enabled to use AI to draft rules.” > > >Zerzan appeared interested mainly in the quantity of regulations that AI could produce, not their quality. “We don’t need the perfect rule on XYZ. We don’t even need a very good rule on XYZ,” he said, according to the meeting notes. “We want good enough.” Zerzan added, “We’re flooding the zone.” > > >These developments have alarmed some at DOT. The agency’s rules touch virtually every facet of transportation safety, including regulations that keep airplanes in the sky, prevent gas pipelines from exploding and stop freight trains carrying toxic chemicals from skidding off the rails. Why, some staffers wondered, would the federal government outsource the writing of such critical standards to a nascent technology notorious for making mistakes? > > >The DOT plan, which has not previously been reported, represents a new front in the Trump administration’s campaign to incorporate artificial intelligence into the work of the federal government. This administration is not the first to use AI; federal agencies have been gradually stitching the technology into their work for years, including to translate documents, analyze data and categorize public comments, among other uses. But the current administration has been particularly enthusiastic about the technology. Trump released multiple executive orders in support of AI last year. In April, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought circulated a memo calling for the acceleration of its use by the federal government. Three months later, the administration released an “AI Action Plan” that contained a similar directive. None of those documents, however, called explicitly for using AI to write regulations, as DOT is now planning to do. > > >Those plans are already in motion. The department has used AI to draft a still-unpublished Federal Aviation Administration rule, according to a DOT staffer briefed on the matter. > > >Skeptics say that so-called large language models such as Gemini and ChatGPT shouldn’t be trusted with the complicated and consequential responsibilities of governance, given that those models are prone to error and incapable of human reasoning. But proponents see AI as a way to automate mindless tasks and wring efficiencies out of a slow-moving federal bureaucracy. > > > > [Source](https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-department-of-transportation-plans-to-use-ai-to-draft-new-regulations/) > > > > --- > > > > **From [Truthout](https://truthout.org/feed/?withoutcomments=1) via [This RSS Feed](https://truthout.org/feed/?withoutcomments=1).**

Washington (QNN)- TikTok users are flocking to a new platform founded by a Palestinian after Trump ally and pro-Israel Larry Ellison officially took over the app. The move follows TikTok’s announcement of a deal to create a new US entity, giving Ellison control over content policies and the power to shape an anti-Palestinian agenda. Guy Christensen, a TikTok influencer with more than 3 million followers, wrote on X, “TikTok users are fleeing to a new upstart social media called **UpScrolled ** after Larry Ellison purchased the platform. UpScrolled is founded by a Palestinian and promises no censorship and no billionaires.” He added, “Yesterday, it broke into the top 15 most downloaded apps.” Several activists and social media users have joined the app in recent days.     

On January 27, 2026, the European Commission opened proceedings to assist Google in complying with two key Digital Markets Act (DMA) obligations[^18]: 1. Interoperability Requirements: - Google must allow third-party services to interoperate with its operating system and software features - The company cannot restrict access to hardware and software features that it uses for its own services[^2] 2. Search Data Sharing: - Google must provide competitors with access to search ranking, query, click and view data on fair terms - This data must be anonymized when it contains personal information[^2] These proceedings follow earlier DMA enforcement actions from March 2024, when the Commission launched investigations into Google's potential self-preferencing in search results and restrictions on app developers in the Google Play Store[^10]. The Commission's role is to ensure Google implements these obligations effectively while maintaining security and privacy protections. Under the DMA, failure to comply could result in fines up to 10% of global turnover, rising to 20% for repeat violations[^8]. [^2]: [Bruegel - Digital Market Act designations: the interoperability of Google Android](https://www.bruegel.org/analysis/digital-market-act-designations-interoperability-google-android-0) [^8]: [EU Digital Markets Act - Updates and Compliance](https://www.eu-digital-markets-act.com/) [^10]: [Hausfeld - 1st Anniversary of the Digital Markets Act (DMA): Lessons learned and road ahead](https://www.hausfeld.com/en-gb/what-we-think/competition-bulletin/1st-anniversary-of-the-digital-markets-act-dma-lessons-learned-and-road-ahead) [^18]: [Commission opens proceedings to assist Google in complying with DMA obligations](https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_202)

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7461728 > Solar panels are usually sold with 25 to 30 years of performance promises. But what happens after that, when the warranty language is long gone and you are

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7466160 > > AI-integrated development environment (IDE) company Cursor recently implied it had built a working web browser almost entirely with its AI agents. I won't say they lied, but CEO Michael Truell certainly tweeted: "We built a browser with GPT-5.2 in Cursor." > > > He followed up with: "It's 3M+ lines of code across thousands of files. The rendering engine is from-scratch in Rust with HTML parsing, CSS cascade, layout, text shaping, paint, and a custom JS VM." > > > That sounds impressive, doesn't it? He also added: "It *kind of* works," which is not the most ringing endorsement... > > > ...this week‑long autonomous browser experiment consumed in the order of 10-20 trillion tokens and would have cost several million dollars at then‑current list prices for frontier models.

https://web.archive.org/web/20260126075708/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3340516/flying-blind-mach-1-how-china-bringing-worlds-first-supersonic-rail-life

I needed to download a 3k+ playlist from youtube. It pissed me off how often the music would get deleted from there and the ads... The best tool for the job was YT-DLP. https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp?tab=readme-ov-file#installation Shit ton of options and always working. With linux it comes bundled with GUI automatically so... yeah. Another reason to change from windows to linux. Thanks to having a GUI to work with, I had more time to work on the settings I wanted on the music. Here are the settings I used: -f bestaudio --extract-audio --audio-quality 0 --embed-thumbnail --audio-format opus --embed-metadata --yes-playlist --lazy-playlist --embed-chapters --continue --no-overwrites --ignore-errors --compat-options no-live-chat --download-archive My_mix.txt This "script" will try to download the playlist presented, do so one by one and make a record into My_mix.txt file. So if your power goes out, you can resume, where you stopped. Also it will embed chapters into the file, description and other things. --ignore-config -o %(uploader)s-%(title).60s-%(id)s.%(ext)s This part here just outputs a file name with an uploader-video_title-yt_id.extension(.opus) I also made 2 scripts for downloading videos. One where you download it in best quality possible: -f bv*+ba/b --embed-subs --embed-metadata --embed-thumbnail --yes-playlist --lazy-playlist --embed-chapters --continue --no-overwrites --ignore-errors --compat-options no-live-chat --download-archive archive_list.txt --xattrs And other where if you want to archive a channel you don't need to necessarily the best quality (4K) video for an essay. 1080p or smaller, I found was enough: -f bestvideo[height<=1080][ext=mkv][vcodec^=avc]+bestaudio[ext=opus]/bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio --embed-subs --embed-metadata --embed-thumbnail --yes-playlist --lazy-playlist --embed-chapters --continue --no-overwrites --ignore-errors --compat-options no-live-chat --download-archive archive_list.txt --xattrs You might want to change some settings here. That's why you should do several test runs on smaller playlists and tweak them however you like. You will also need a VPN for huge playlists, because you will get throttled by ISP (internet service provider) or Youtube. I recommend Mullvad VPN: https://mullvad.net/de

Ghostarchive mirror: https://ghostarchive.org/archive/R9M9R

Full image and other similar screenshots   

> UdenUSA is currently the fourth most downloaded app in Denmark on the App Store, the American ChatGPT is in fifth place

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7430878 > cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/21959 > > >  > > > > **Daniel Herrera Carbajal** > > *[ICT](http://ictnews.org/)* > > > > Artificial intelligence in Indigenous communities was at the forefront at North America’s largest Indigenous tech conference. > > > > In a world of generative AI used to write better emails or generate funny photos, Indigenous Tech Conference gathered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to discuss how AI can be used to create true impact in Indigenous communities. > > > > “We don’t need more widgets in the world,” said Ryan St. Germaine, Metis, a founder and CEO of Indigenous Tech Conference. “Technology needs to be pointed towards the challenges of our time.” > > > > Some of those challenges are data sovereignty and language revitalization. > > > > According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, at least 40 percent of the 7,000 languages estimated to be spoken in the world are in danger and a language disappears every two weeks on average. > > > > UNESCO is a UN agency that promotes global peace through international cooperation. > > > > Michael Running Wolf, Northern Cheyenne and Lakota, is a co-founder and architect of First Nations Languages AI reality (FLAIR), an initiative that uses AI to support Indigenous communities in language revitalization and preservation efforts. > > > > While many Indigenous languages have ongoing revitalization efforts, there are languages who have little to no speakers left, making large data collection unrealistic. > > > > The organization’s aim is to reduce the number of data requirements required to build automatic speech recognition for various Indigenous languages. > > > > He told *ICT* that AI can be used to create an immersive environment to enhance language learning > > > > “You have this dynamic that even if there is funding, there are very few speakers in which to practice and so while every tribe is committed to revitalizing and reclaiming their languages, often there’s some practical barriers,” Running Wolf said. “For instance, you go to class or you go to the movies and camp, but what happens is you go home, watch Wheel of Fortune, watch TV or YouTube and that’s all in English. So what I can do is give you a tool where you can go home and practice saying ‘Turn your lights off’ in Lakota or Diné, and that’s where AI can be useful because it can make your language ambient to your home.” > > > > While FLAIR works to reduce the data required to build automatic speech recognition for languages, other ASR and large language models still require vast amounts of data. Data which Running Wolf said was “unethically gathered.” > > > > “These large language models have been built using stolen data,” he told *ICT*. “All our data, and the entirety of the internet has been scraped to create these large language models and now these large language model developers have a problem in that the internet is poison. It’s hard to tell if content is actually created by humans, which is the best kind of data  And so now this puts a premium upon natural organic human data and what is the largest treasure trove of uninfected data and poisoned by AI? Indigenous data.” > > > > Running Wolf equated data to land, and you wouldn’t give away your grandmother’s land for free. > > > > “We are now in the era where our data is one of the last few reservoirs where we should obviously treat it like land,” he said. “You wouldn’t give away an acre of your grandmother’s land to someone for free. Similarly, with our data, if we treat it as a policy framework, as the equivalent of land, then we need to be very careful about it and guarded with it.” > > > >  > > > > Michael Running Wolf working remotely > > > > In comes in the conversation of creating effective policy that protects and guarantees the sovereignty of Indigenous people’s data > > > > “I think there needs to be more of an accurate depiction of who Indigenous people are and have our own digital sovereignty,” St. Germaine told *ICT*. > > > > There are currently no federal or tribal policies that protect and guarantee the data sovereignty of Indigenous peoples. > > > > “We don’t have strong intellectual property rights protection or data sovereignty protection currently. But what if tribes got together and created a co-op, like a data trust, a legal entity whose duty was to protect the data?” Running Wolf told ICT. “If we have strong tribal policy and strong agency over our data, and the strongest thing we can do is actually be the researchers ourselves, tribal research groups working on their own data, creating their own research.” > > > > The post [Treating data like land — data sovereignty in the AI age](https://ictnews.org/news/treating-data-like-land-data-sovereignty-in-the-ai-age/) appeared first on [ICT](https://ictnews.org/). > > > > --- > > > > **From [ICT](https://ictnews.org/feed) via [This RSS Feed](https://ictnews.org/feed).**

Google has reinstated support for the JPEG XL image format in the open source Chromium code base, reversing a decision it made in 2022 to remove it. The update allows Chromium to recognize, decode, and render JPEG XL images directly, without extensions or external components. This change applies at the browser engine level, meaning it will affect future versions of Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers when they are released.