US farmers are rejecting multimillion-dollar datacenter bids for their land: ‘I’m not for sale’

When two men knocked on Ida Huddleston’s door last May, they carried a contract worth more than $33m in exchange for the Kentucky farm that had fed her family for centuries.According to Huddleston, the men’s client, an unnamed “Fortune 100 company”, sought her 650 acres (260 hectares) in Mason county for an unspecified industrial development. Finding out any more would require signing a non-disclosure agreement.More than a dozen of her neighbors received the same knock. Searching public records for answers, they discovered that a new customer had applied for a 2

Amazon’s cloud ‘hit by two outages caused by AI tools last year’

Amazon’s huge cloud computing arm reportedly experienced at least two outages caused by its own artificial intelligence tools, raising questions about the company’s embrace of AI as it lays off human employees.A 13-hour interruption to Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) operations in December was caused by an AI agent, Kiro, autonomously choosing to “delete and then recreate” a part of its environment, the Financial Times reported.AWS, which provides vital infrastructure for much of the internet, suffered several outages last year.One incident, in October, downed dozens of sites for hours and prompted discussion over the concentration of online services on infrastructure owned by a few massive companies. AWS has won 189 UK government contracts worth £1

‘It’s survival of the fittest’: the UK kebab chain seeking an edge with robot slicers

They are already packing our groceries and delivering shopping. Now robots are coming to the kebab shop, alongside self-service screens and loyalty apps, as takeaways look for ways to tackle rising costs.German Doner Kebab (GDK), a perhaps surprisingly British-owned chain that has been springing up across the country, has turned to technology to keep its fast food business buzzing in the face of rising costs and tough times on the high street.With households cooking at home more often to save money, and restaurants facing increases in energy bills, business rates, national insurance and hourly pay, profits are under pressure despite rising prices at the till.“It is survival of the fittest,” says Simon Wallis, the CEO of the brand, which operates via dozens of franchise partners running 155 outlets in the UK and nearly 40 more overseas including in the US, Dubai, Ireland and Sweden

Nascent tech, real fear: how AI anxiety is upending career ambitions

Matthew Ramirez started at Western Governors University as a computer science major in 2025, drawn by the promise of a high-paying, flexible career as a programmer. But as headlines mounted about tech layoffs and AI’s potential to replace entry-level coders, he began to question whether that path would actually lead to a job.When the 20-year-old interviewed for a datacenter technician role that June and never heard back, his doubts deepened. In December, Ramirez decided on what he thought was a safer bet: turning away from computer science entirely. He dropped his planned major to instead apply to nursing school

Nvidia reportedly plans to invest $30bn in OpenAI’s next funding round

Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, is reportedly planning to invest $30bn (£22bn) in OpenAI’s next funding round, after a $100bn deal between the two dissolved earlier this month.The maker of ChatGPT is expected to be valued at $730bn in the funding round, almost twice the valuation of Anthropic, one of its main rivals, which raised $30bn earlier this month.Nvidia’s announcement of a $100bn investment in OpenAI last September drove the chipmaker’s stock to more than $5tn and led to fervent discussion about circular deals between the largest players in artificial intelligence.The investment, which the chipmaker framed as a “letter of intent”, would have involved Nvidia giving OpenAI money to buy and deploy its chips for its AI infrastructure.That all appeared to change earlier this month, when reports surfaced that Nvidia’s intent was never a firm commitment – and OpenAI was looking elsewhere for chips to power its systems

Mind launches inquiry into AI and mental health after Guardian investigation

Mind is launching a significant inquiry into artificial intelligence and mental health after a Guardian investigation exposed how Google’s AI Overviews gave people “very dangerous” medical advice.In a year-long commission, the mental health charity, which operates in England and Wales, will examine the risks and safeguards required as AI increasingly influences the lives of millions of people affected by mental health issues worldwide.The inquiry – the first of its kind globally – will bring together the world’s leading doctors and mental health professionals, as well as people with lived experience, health providers, policymakers and tech companies. Mind says it will aim to shape a safer digital mental health ecosystem, with strong regulation, standards and safeguards.The launch comes after the Guardian revealed how people were being put at risk of harm by false and misleading health information in Google AI Overviews