Voters Approve Data Center Restrictions Across 10 States Amid Growing Regulatory Uncertainty – DTH

Voters Push Back Against Data Center Expansion

Voters in 10 states approved data center restrictions in 33 of 45 local ballot measures, including all 20 in Ohio, and favored candidates opposing AI infrastructure. Democratic gains in Congress, key governorships, and states like Texas, Ohio, and Georgia now bring proposed construction holds and oversight. Consequently, these results create political and regulatory uncertainty that analysts warn could delay data center rollouts, elevate enterprise tech costs, hurt global competitiveness, and spur stricter AI and environmental regulation.

Source: Wall Street Journal | Engadget

UK Cuts AI Economic Growth Forecast by 70%

The UK government revised its estimate of AI’s economic boost down from £400 billion to £120 billion by 2030, citing slower-than-expected enterprise adoption, infrastructure bottlenecks, and ongoing integration challenges. The dramatic downgrade has sparked widespread criticism from industry experts and lawmakers regarding government transparency, economic modeling reliability, and previous over-hyping of artificial intelligence’s immediate market impact.

Source: Wired

Qualcomm Signs Major 5G Infrastructure Deal With SpaceX

Qualcomm has announced its largest 5G infrastructure deal to date, signing a multi-year agreement with SpaceX to supply radio equipment, baseband units, and software for Starlink Mobile’s planned nationwide terrestrial 5G network beginning deployment in 2027. The partnership advances SpaceX’s effort to challenge traditional US wireless carriers by combining satellite and ground connectivity, while allowing Qualcomm to significantly expand its telecom infrastructure business and diversify beyond smartphone chips.

Source: Reuters

Huawei Turns to Smuggling to Secure AI Chip Memory

Huawei has asked customers to help source Samsung and SK Hynix HBM for its Ascend 960DT AI chip due to domestic shortages and strict US export controls. Smugglers bypass restrictions by mounting HBM onto decoy processors overseas, shipping them through Hong Kong to mainland China, and manually removing the memory components. Despite smuggled HBM3E prices reaching ~$4,000, supply shortages persist due to low yields at Chinese chipmaker CXMT, high extraction damage rates, and ongoing US legal prosecutions.

Source: The Next Web

Bluetooth 7.0 Delivers Faster Data Speeds

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has formally adopted Bluetooth High Data Throughput (HDT) as part of Bluetooth Core 7.0, boosting Bluetooth LE’s maximum bit rate from 2 Mbps to 7.5 Mbps. Expected to launch in first-party devices around 2027, HDT will enable high-resolution and spatial audio without proprietary standards, speed up data syncs and firmware updates, and improve battery life across smartwatches, spatial computing hardware, and personal AI devices.

Source: The Verge

Google Expands Voluntary Employee Buyouts Globally

Alphabet’s Google has expanded its voluntary employee buyout programs globally to countries including Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and Switzerland to manage rising costs associated with heavy AI investments. The exit packages, which offer severance like one month’s pay per year of service in Switzerland, target various divisions while excluding priority growth areas such as DeepMind and Google Cloud.

Source: Reuters

Canva Lays Off 1,271 Employees Amid Slowing Growth

Design software maker Canva is laying off 22% of its workforce (1,271 employees) and lowering its revenue growth forecast to 20% due to slowing growth, high AI infrastructure costs, and rising competition from general-purpose AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. To streamline operations and adapt to these financial pressures, CEO Melanie Perkins announced organizational restructuring, broader employee responsibilities, a return to hybrid office work, and the development of in-house AI models.

Source: TechCrunch

Apple Opens Siri AI Integration to Developers

Apple released Developer Preview OS betas (version 27.3), allowing developers to integrate apps with Siri AI via App Intents. This enables Siri AI to use personal context, onscreen awareness, and natural language for custom actions, multi-step skills, and Spotlight semantic index entities. Already active in apps like Mail, Photos, and Maps, Apple offers early API access, docs, and labs before a spring App Store rollout.

Source: Apple Developer

Apple Music Adds Selfie Sing Karaoke Feature

In other Apple News, Apple Music is expanding its karaoke capabilities in the iOS 27.3 beta with a new “Selfie Sing” feature that allows users to record videos of themselves singing along to real-time scrolling lyrics. The tool includes vocal effects like Megaphone and Studio, as well as easy sharing options, though it is currently limited to a select playlist of popular tracks, including hits by Kelly Clarkson, Madonna, and Dolly Parton ahead of its full release this December.

Source: Engadget

Valve Changes Steam Game Release Requirements

Valve is revising its game release rules to curb review delays caused by an influx of new titles, nearly half featuring AI-generated content. Current reviews take up to 12 business days instead of three to five, causing indie developers to miss launch dates. To streamline reviews and prevent re-evaluations, Valve now requires developers to playtest games on Steam for five minutes, confirm redistributables, finalize achievements and cloud saves, and correctly categorize store screenshots.

Source: Engadget