Category: Technology

OpenAI has struck a deal with Oracle to add an astounding 4.5 gigawatts of US data center capacity to power the massive workload required by its large language models. The companies haven’t specified where these new centers will be built, but Bloomberg is reporting that Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin and Wyoming are all under consideration.

The ChatGPT maker says this new capacity is a part of the Stargate Project, and that together with its one GW campus in Abilene, Texas, the company is projecting more than five GW of total capacity running over two million AI chips once the new centers are complete. Oracle began delivering its GB200 racks last month for the Abilene site as it begins operations. OpenAI estimates that the massive undertaking will create over 100,000 jobs, though data centers historically employ few full-time workers, with most of the jobs tied to construction.

While details on budget were not shared, OpenAI says that these new data centers represent significant progress toward its promise of investing $500 billion in the United States to build out 10 GW of AI infrastructure over the next four years. These investments, which are all part of The Stargate Project, are being made alongside SoftBank and Oracle as partners, though SoftBank is not financing this phase.

This announcement comes as big tech companies are pouring billions into new data centers and power agreements to sustain the growth of AI and power future models. Google recently closed a £3 billion deal to secure 3,000 megawatts of hydroelectric power, while Microsoft is planning to restart the nuclear power plants of Three Mile Island.

In a press release announcing the new project, Open AI said ” Stargate is an ambitious undertaking designed to meet the historic opportunity in front of us. That opportunity is now coming to life through strong support from partners, governments, and investors worldwide—including important leadership from the White House, which has recognized the critical role AI infrastructure will play in driving innovation, economic growth, and national competitiveness.”

OpenAI and others are racing to build compute power at an industrial scale, with some US states offering massive tax incentives to land the projects.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-partners-with-oracle-to-built-out-45-gigawatts-in-data-center-capacity-143423570.html?src=rss 

Like any habit, maintaining a meditation practice can be challenging. Having the right tools can make it a bit easier, which is why we’re excited to see a subscription to Headspace is back on sale. Right now, you can get one year of Headspace for $42, down from $70. The 40 percent discount brings the cost to about $3.50 per month. 

Headspace is Engadget’s (and my) pick for best meditation app overall. It’s great for so many reasons, including how easy it is to find different types of meditations. There’s courses for everything from anxiety to grieving. Plus, you can do single sessions or focus on mindfulness and sleep. 

One of the things Headspace does best is make meditation feel doable. It offers a bunch of beginner courses and tools for learning the basics. So, it’s a good option if you’ve wanted to get into meditation but have been unsure how to start. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/headspace-annual-subscriptions-are-40-percent-off-right-now-132813881.html?src=rss 

Samsung said the display it used for the Galaxy Z Fold 7 can be folded over twice as many times as the display used for the previous iterations of the model. The foldable OLED panel “remained fully functional” after certification company Bureau Veritas put it through a durability test, wherein it was folded 500,000 times over 13 days. That means if a user folds their phone roughly 100 times a day, the display could last for over 10 years. In its announcement, Samsung said that “durability is no longer a limiting factor in the lifespan of foldable smartphones.”

The company took cues from bulletproof glass to create a shock-proof design for the new foldable OLED panel. It increased the thickness of the display’s outermost glass by 50 percent and applied high-elastic adhesive to every layer of the panel so that it can better absorb external impact. The new display can also distribute shock more evenly across its surface, and Samsung used titanium plate as support for the whole structure to make it stronger than before. In addition, by using more advanced materials and redesigning the panel layer, the company was able to achieve a thinner profile so that the device looks and feels like any regular handset now. 

Previous versions of the Galaxy Z Fold, from the first through the sixth, were only rated for 200,000 folds. And when CNET tested the first Z Fold itself by using a machine that opened and folded it for hours, it only lasted 119,380 folds despite supposedly being able to withstand 200,000. If the Galaxy Z Fold 7 can get anywhere near the 500,000 folds it can supposedly handle, most users don’t have to worry about their screens snapping in two before they change phones. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-7s-display-is-rated-to-withstand-500000-folds-120048142.html?src=rss 

As is tradition, Google has already shown off at least one of its new Pixel phones before it’s announced. The front page of the Google Store currently features a short video teasing one of the Pixel 10 smartphones the company is announcing on August 20.

If you take the webpage literally, then Google’s video is showing off the base Pixel 10, which has a similar look to the Pixel 9, with some key differences. Those include a new grayish-blue finish, a tweaked back design that makes the back of the phone looks like it’s rising out of the frame and an additional camera. If you haven’t gotten to try a Pixel 9, last year’s phone only had wide and ultrawide cameras, with the telephoto lens exclusive to the Pixel 9 Pro models. Leaks suggest Google is giving all of its phones telephoto cameras in 2025, though it’s still possible the phone in the video is a Pixel 10 Pro.

There’s not much to glean from the video beyond that. Some of that could be because of the more modest approach Google is rumored to be taking with its new phones, focusing on technical improvements — like a new Tensor chip — rather than radical new designs.

Google runs a leaky ship when it comes to hardware, with most of its new products reported on well in advance of the company actually announcing them. In recent years, Google has seemingly embraced that, teasing the Pixel 9 lineup ahead of launch last year, and revealing the Pixel 7 months before it was announced in October 2022.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/google-shows-off-the-pixel-10-less-than-a-month-before-its-launch-203924194.html?src=rss 

The UK government has announced a new strategic partnership with OpenAI that could lead the company to “expand AI security research collaborations, explore investing in UK AI infrastructure like data centers, and find new ways for taxpayer funded services” to use AI. The move follows the introduction of the AI Action Plan in January, which fast-tracks the construction of data centers in certain regions of the UK.

In the (entirely voluntary) partnership agreement — technically a Memorandum of Understanding — OpenAI and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) agree to tackle positive-sounding, but ultimately vague tasks things like finding ways for “advanced AI models” to be used in both the public and private sectors and sharing information around the security risks of AI. OpenAI is also supposed to help DSIT identify ways it can deliver on the infrastructure goals of the AI Action Plan, and possibly explore building in one of the UK’s new data center-friendly “AI Growth Zones.”

All of this sounds nebulous and non-committal because the memorandum OpenAI signed is not at all legally-binding. The partnership sounds nice for elected officials eager to prove the UK is competing in AI, but it doesn’t tie anyone down, including the UK government: If Anthropic offers a deal on Claude, they can take it.

OpenAI already has offices in London, so deepening its investment doesn’t seem out of the question. Signing the memorandum is also consistent with OpenAI’s growing interest in working with governments desperate for the high-tech gloss of the AI industry. The logic follows that if OpenAI can get regulators dependent on its tools — say, a ChatGPT Gov specifically designed for government agencies — they’ll be more inclined to favor the company in policy decisions. Or at the very least, making a show of collaborating early could win the company a sweeter deal down the road.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/openai-is-getting-closer-with-the-uk-government-183133281.html?src=rss 

Google has introduced new features for Chrome on iOS that help users bifurcate work and personal data by using separate Google accounts. As more employers implement bring your own device (BYOD) policies, employees increasingly access company resources from browsers on their personal devices. Devices connected to a managed Google Workspace are able to leverage these additions.

Chrome now supports easy account switching and data separation on iOS, similar to its approach on Android and Chrome for desktop. The browser keeps data such as tabs, history and passwords confined to the corresponding account, protecting employer information from exposure to personal activities.

When users first sign or select their managed account, they will be taken through an onboarding process that explains the separation between managed accounts and personal, as well as insights into how their company is handling their data. Anytime a user switches to the managed account, they are notified that they are entering a managed experience.

Google has also added safeguards for companies using Chrome Enterprise. IT teams can now apply URL filtering to work accounts in Chrome on iOS, and security teams can stream audit logs from iOS and Android directly into the Admin console or any SIEM, both of which are features already available on desktop.

These features are available for managed devices through Chrome Enterprise today.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/google-adds-separate-work-and-personal-accounts-to-chrome-on-ios-170032115.html?src=rss 

Fallout: Bakersfield is a fan-made mod of the 1990s original that’s been on our radar for a few years. We got a little teaser back in 2022, but it’s been radio silence since then. Now there’s an actual trailer filled with gameplay footage and it looks pretty nifty.

Developer Alexander “Red888guns” Berezin is the brains behind the project and he used the GZDoom engine to recreate the ghoul city of Necropolis from Fallout 1 as an FPS that resembles the newer games. The art style is pretty incredible in this trailer and looks to be a highlight of the project. Take a look for yourself.

This doesn’t look like a full mod of the entire game, as that would be quite the undertaking. Rather, it reimagines the Necropolis section. The trailer ends with a confrontation with the boss of that zone, indicating the mod will be a retelling of the sequence, and not a reimagining of the whole game. This reminds me of the first installment of the Final Fantasy VII remake that was entirely set in Midgar.

Unfortunately, we have some time to wait before we get our hands on this mod. The trailer indicates a release date in 2027. There’s also the Bethesda-sized elephant in the room. Who knows if the company’s lawyers will go on a letter-writing spree to get this project shut down. 

This is a side gig for developer Berezin, as he’s also working on New Blood’s Fallout-style throwback RPG. We don’t know when that one’s coming out. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/the-fan-made-mod-of-the-original-fallout-game-has-a-real-trailer-and-it-looks-sick-162910288.html?src=rss 

We are mere days away from the official launch of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 on July 25. Amazon is enticing customers to try out the foldable handset by throwing in a $300 gift card with every pre-order. This can be used to purchase anything on the platform and is available with every color and both the 256GB and 512GB versions of the Z Fold 7.

We strongly recommend going for the 512GB model, as the two storage options are the same price ($2,000) during this pre-order period. Samsung is offering a similar promotion, but that $300 gift card can only be used on the company’s official store. This could be a good fit for those looking for accessories, but Amazon offers more bang for your buck.

Despite not actually being out yet, the Z Fold 7 is already making a splash in the foldable scene. We were so impressed with our review unit that we placed the gadget at the top of our list of the best foldable phones. It’s a remarkably thin device, with a sleekly-designed hinge that stays out of the way when opened.

The 200MP main camera is fantastic, the specs are unparalleled and both displays are gorgeous. We called it a “stunning device” in our official review, going on to praise the 120Hz refresh rate of both screens and the peak brightness of 2,600 nits. We said that the displays “pop a touch more” compared to rivals like the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

The main downside here is the price. We know foldables are the hot, new thing for the tech-obsessed, but $2,000 is a whole lot of cheddar for a handset. Today’s deal (sort of) brings that down to $1,700, which makes things a bit more palatable.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazon-includes-a-free-300-gift-card-when-you-pre-order-the-samsung-galaxy-z-fold-7-151315661.html?src=rss