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Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

The feds are raising the alarm about a new category of threat:

In the wake of attacks on CEOs, a nationwide protest movement targeting data centers, and increasing concerns about AI job replacement, federal intelligence agencies and domestic law enforcement are circulating reports with a new domestic target in mind: anti-technology extremists.

More than 1,000 pages of unpublished reports from the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, and fusion centers obtained by WIRED show a national shift taking place to surveil this new and worryingly broad category of people and activities deemed an emerging threat.

This new effort follows President Donald Trump's National Security Presidential Memo 7, which instructs the Department of Justice to target anyone holding "anti-American," "anti-Christian," and "anti-capitalism" beliefs. Earlier this month, Trump's counterterrorism czar, Sebastian Gorka, released a public counterterrorism strategy claiming that left-wing extremists are one of the three top counterterrorism priorities facing the United States.

Taken together, these Trump administration directives have commandeered the domestic surveillance apparatus to surveil and criminalize speech and assembly that challenges the ideology of the White House. A new focus on anti-technology extremism adds an unreported category to already public designations under a presidency that has heavily invested political and material capital in AI and data center proliferation.

Among the documents in the tranche obtained by WIRED is a New York Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau report that warns of widespread upheaval in response to AI adoption. Of particular note is a novel term for what the bureau purports to be an emerging extremism threat.

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

The 24 Megawatt subsea AI facility houses 2,000 servers and uses ocean water for passive cooling:

Cooling has become a major bottleneck for modern AI data centers, where dense GPU racks can consume hundreds of kilowatts, converting nearly all of that energy into heat. The underwater design uses surrounding seawater as a passive heat sink, sharply reducing cooling power requirements.

Chinese media reports claim the facility achieves a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) below 1.15, placing it among the most energy-efficient large-scale data centers in operation. Traditional enterprise data centers often operate closer to 1.5 or higher, meaning a significantly larger portion of their total electricity consumption goes toward cooling and supporting infrastructure rather than computation itself.

The project also reflects China’s broader push to integrate renewable energy directly into digital infrastructure. The underwater data center is connected to nearby offshore wind farms, allowing a substantial portion of its electricity demand to be supplied directly from renewable generation sources. As AI expansion drives explosive growth in electricity consumption worldwide, countries and hyperscalers are increasingly exploring unconventional infrastructure approaches to address both energy availability and thermal management constraints.

However, underwater data centers also introduce substantial engineering and operational challenges. Saltwater corrosion, long-term pressure sealing, subsea cable reliability, and maintenance accessibility remain major concerns. Replacing failed hardware is considerably more complex than in conventional facilities, where technicians can physically access racks within minutes. Operators therefore rely heavily on sealed modular designs, remote monitoring systems, and highly redundant infrastructure intended to minimize the need for physical intervention.

The Shanghai project follows earlier experimental efforts such as Microsoft’s Project Natick, which tested submerged data center capsules off the coasts of Scotland and California. Microsoft ultimately discontinued the program commercially, but the trials demonstrated that underwater deployments could achieve lower hardware failure rates.

Offshore-powered, ocean-cooled data center projects are continuing to emerge worldwide as AI infrastructure power and cooling demands continue to soar. Last month, we reported on a Peter Thiel-backed startup, Panthalassa, which is developing wave-powered floating data centers designed to operate far offshore using ocean water for passive cooling while drawing electricity from onboard renewable energy systems.

Original Submission

fliptop writes:

An Apple-backed trade group prematurely published a press release on April 12th praising a yet-to-be-introduced Senate bill, raising questions about coordination between Big Tech companies and lawmakers on child safety legislation:

[...] "The Parents Over Platforms Act (POPA), sponsored by Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV), offers a pragmatic, security-first approach by imposing the requirement to receive age information only on apps that provide differentiated experiences for children and adults, like social media apps or adult-only apps," the now-deleted press release stated.

The bill is expected to be introduced on Wednesday (4/22), according to a release from Moran's office,

"Sen. Moran's office is not aware or involved in any trade organization publishing and then removing a release related to Parents Over Platforms Act," a spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The App Association, which receives substantial funding from Apple, launched a lobbying campaign in February to support the bill with advertisements. Apple and Google have additionally lobbied in support of POPA, spending millions on related efforts in recent disclosures.

Apple did not respond to requests for comment from the DCNF.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is back on the broadcast media’s throat. This time, he is unhappy with the way broadcasters have been covering the war with Iran.

In an X post on Saturday, Carr quote-tweeted a Truth Social post by President Trump in which the president claimed that news coverage of the Iran war was “terrible” and “intentionally misleading” and accused traditional media organizations of actually wanting the U.S. to lose the war. In his own post, Carr threatened to revoke licenses if coverage doesn’t change in a way the Trump administration would approve of.

“Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions – also known as the fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up,” Carr wrote. “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”

Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey called for the FCC Chairman to resign over the missive.

“Your Saturday post is not an aberration. It is the latest and most dangerous step in a sustained campaign to use the FCC’s licensing authority as a weapon against broadcasters and journalists whose coverage displeases the Trump administration,” Sen. Markey wrote in a letter on Sunday. “The FCC’s credibility depends on its willingness to exercise its authority on the merits, not at the direction of the President, and not as an instrument of retribution against journalism. You have once again shown that you are unwilling to maintain that independence and uphold your sworn oath to defend the U.S. Constitution, and I once again call on you to resign.”

Under Carr’s leadership, the FCC’s tight grip on broadcast media has been the source of controversy. Back in September, ABC briefly suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night TV show after his comments about the late MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk angered Trump’s fan base. Following Kimmel’s segment, Carr appeared on a podcast episode to vow revenge, saying he would ask TV stations to remove Kimmel from the air.

Trump praised Carr’s actions at the time, saying that the shows that often criticize him should “maybe” have their license taken away, but ultimately the decision was up to Brendan Carr, whom he deemed “outstanding,” “a tough guy,” and “a patriot.”

More recently, Stephen Colbert said that his network, CBS, forced him to cancel an appearance by Democratic Texas Rep. James Talarico, who is up for a Senate election later this year, in anticipation of FCC pushback.

Carr is not the sole high-ranking U.S. official to pledge attacks on the media. On Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth complained about CNN’s coverage of the Iran war and said he was looking forward to Paramount Skydance owner and Trump ally David Ellison taking over the network.

Original Submission