'Every solar plant is a latent data center': US startup plans to turn wasted solar energy into GPU-ready DCs in weeks, not years, without major water use

• Rune wants unused solar electricity powering GPUs instead of going to waste
• RELIC connects computing equipment directly to functioning solar generation sites
• The system operates without grid connections or conventional data center construction

A San Francisco company named Rune has introduced a modular compute unit built to operate directly on unused solar power.

Called RELIC, the equipment attaches to functioning solar installations without needing any connection to the electrical grid or new construction work.

The launch came alongside a $40 million Series A financing round for Rune, lifting the firm's overall capital raised to $53.5 million total.

Skipping the grid bottleneck

Solar facilities routinely waste as much as 20% of the electricity they generate, adding up to more than 50 TWh yearly nationwide.

RELIC pulls that idle current straight from the source, avoiding metering charges, utility fees, and the grid limitations slowing AI growth.

"Every solar plant is a latent data center. The power is already there, sitting idle while AI labs wait years for grid connections that may never come," said William Layden, Co-Founder and CEO of Rune.

Rune states that RELIC can be installed in about 60 minutes and deliver working GPU capacity within six weeks of a contract.

That timeline contrasts sharply with conventional data center construction projects, which frequently stretch across several years before reaching full operational status.

The company reports that RELIC lowers non-compute infrastructure spending by 85%, saving roughly $620 million across a 100 MW deployment.

RELIC operates natively on direct current — solar's original output form — sidestepping energy losses that occur when converting power to alternating current.

It needs no extensive site preparation, leaves no visible trace across the landscape, and operates entirely without consuming any water.

Rune's initial working installation sits at a 200 MW solar facility located in Texas, mounted on existing infrastructure without any modifications.

Addressing a system under strain

Traditional data center construction cannot keep pace with the surging demand pouring in from artificial intelligence developers and infrastructure buyers everywhere.

Rune's approach addresses that shortfall by placing compute equipment directly beside existing renewable generation instead of pursuing new construction projects.

“Demand for AI infrastructure is growing faster than it can be delivered. Rune deploys compute directly behind the meter at operating solar farms, converting clean power into rapidly scalable AI capacity,” said Santo Politi, Founder and General Partner of Spark Capital.

“Every renewable asset in operation becomes a potential deployment site. Rune is the fastest path to new capacity we have seen."

Many data centers currently running were adapted from designs built for earlier computing needs rather than for artificial intelligence workloads specifically.

“AI’s power constraint isn’t generation, it’s resource allocation,” said Varun Palivela, Co-Founder and CTO of Rune.

“The industry is retrofitting data centers designed for a different era rather than rethinking the architecture itself. We built an entirely new technology stack from the ground up, coupling compute directly to clean generation so AI can scale here on Earth.”

The approach leaves Rune testing whether unused solar capacity can support AI computing at the speed required by growing demand.

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How to watch UFC 331: Van vs Pantoja 2 live streams, no PPV, start time, full card

• UFC 331: Saturday, September 19
• Main Card time: 9pm ET / 6pm ET / 2am BST (Sun) / 11am AEST (Sun)
• Watch on Paramount Plus for $8.99 or for $1 with Walmart+ 30-day trial (US only)
• Overseas? Use Surfshark to watch your US services from anywhere

Tonight's UFC 331 headline bout is a classic case of revenge or repeat as Joshua Van puts the UFC flyweight title he won against Alexandre Pantoja on the line at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The Fearless won the belt in controversial fashion in December 2025 and the Cannibal is determined to right the wrong he has felt ever since.

Van's victory at UFC 323 came after Pantjoa suffered a dislocated elbow 26 seconds into the original fight when the former fell and landed on the latter. The Brazilian has felt ignored by Dana White ever since, despite having championship victories against Brandon Moreno, Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, Kai Asakura, and Kai Kara-France on his resumé. The 36-year-old has the experience and fuel from that defeat to inspire him. He'll become the third flyweight champion to regain the belt after Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo if he wins.

Myanmar native Van is well known for his speed but it was the striking that got him over the line against Tatsuro Taira in his solitary title defense in May. The 24-year-old will need to use that aggressive approach if he's to back that up against another 5ft 5in fighter. This is sure to be a close fight and one not to be missed.

That's the main event of a stacked card in which Arman Tsarukyan and Maurício Ruffy face off at lightweight with the winner likely to get a future title shot.

Here's where to watch UFC 331 live streams online and from anywhere with a VPN – including a clever way to watch UFC 331 for just $1.

How to watch UFC 331 live stream in the US

Exclusive US coverage of the full UFC 331 event is on Paramount Plus. It's being headlined by Joshua Van vs Alexandre Pantoja 2, which is expected to start at around 11pm ET / 8pm PT.

Plans start from only $8.99/month with the Paramount Plus Essential Plan, or you can upgrade to Premium for $13.99/month (see below for more details). You can also get a Paramount Plus trial with Walmart+ for $1 using this sneaky trick we found.

While Paramount Plus will show UFC 331 in its entirety, you can also watch the Early Prelims via UFC Fight Pass.

Traveling outside of the US? Use a VPN to watch Paramount Plus from abroad while you're away from home.

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Use a VPN to watch UFC 331 from anywhere

Away from home at the moment and blocked from watching UFC on your usual subscription?

You can still watch Van vs Pantoja 2 live thanks to the wonders of a VPN (Virtual Private Network). The software can make your devices appear to be back in your home country regardless of where you are, making it ideal for viewers away on vacation or on business. One of our favorites is Surfshark – we explain why in our Surfshark review.

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It's really straightforward to use a VPN to watch UFC 331.

1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, SurfShark is our favorite.

2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For example, if you want to watch the Paramount+ stream, select 'United States' from the listed countries.

3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to Paramount+ and tune into UFC 331.

How to watch UFC 331 live stream in the UK

The UFC 331 main card is available on TNT Sports 1 in the UK. It's set to begin at 2am BST in the early hours of Sunday morning.

You can get it by adding TNT Sports to your Sky, Virgin Media or EE TV package, or pay from £25.99 per month for a HBO Max plan that includes TNT Sports.

UFC Fight Pass subscribers can also watch the Prelims and Early Prelims.

If you're abroad whilst the MMA live stream is on, a VPN like Surfshark can help you to access your home streaming services from anywhere.

How to watch UFC 331 live stream in Canada

There are a host of pay-per-view providers offering a UFC 331 live stream in Canada.

You can head to the likes of Sportsnet, Bell or the UFC Fight Pass to watch the whole event, where the PPV price is set at $69.99. Prelims will also be shown on Sportsnet and TVA Sports, with Early Prelims also on UFC Fight Pass.

North of the border from the US? You can use Surfshark to watch your Paramount Plus subscription like you were back at home.

How to watch UFC 331 live stream in Australia

Sunday's Main Card at UFC 331 will be available on PPV in Australia, setting you back AU$59.95 from Foxtel Main Event or Kayo Sports Main Event.

That means you can live stream UFC 330 via your web browser and devices like Android, iOS, Samsung TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Telstra TV and Chromecast.

You can also catch all the Prelims (but not the Van vs Pantoja 2 main event) via Paramount+ and free-to-air Network 10.

Downloading a VPN will help you access your subscriptions from anywhere if you're abroad when the fight is on.

Can I watch UFC 331 for free?

Not quite. Other than the sneaky little Walmart+ for $1 trick described above in the US, there doesn't seem to be any way to watch UFC 331 for free. It's on Paramount Plus in the US, which no longer carries a free trial. And it's a PPV in many other countries around the world.

When does UFC 331 start?

The UFC 331 Main Card is scheduled to begin at 9pm ET / 6pm ET on Saturday, September 19. That's 2am BST or 11am AEST in the UK and Australia on Sunday, September 20.

Before that, the Early Prelims start at 5pm ET / 2pm PT / 10pm BST / 7am AEST (Sun) and the Prelims at 7pm PT / 4pm PT / 12am BST (Sun) / 9am AEST (Sun).

Can I watch UFC 331 on my mobile?

Yes. Most broadcasters have streaming services that you can access through mobile apps or via your phone's browser – Paramount Plus, HBO Max and Kayo Sports all have mobile apps, for example.

You can also stay up-to-date with the latest UFC news and plays on the official social media channels on X (@ufc), Instagram (@ufc), Facebook (UFC) TikTok (@ufc) and YouTube (@ufc).

UFC 331 full card

Main card
Joshua Van (c)vs Alexandre Pantoja (Flyweight)
Arman Tsarukyan vs Maurício Ruffy(Lightweight)
Patrício Pitbull vs Choi Doo-ho (Featherweight)
Gable Steveson vs Sean Sharaf (Heavyweight)
Alonzo Menifield vs Iwo Baraniewski (Light Heavyweight)

Prelims
Marlon Vera vs Charles Jourdain (Bantamweight)
Tai Tuivasa vs Robelis Despaigne (Heavyweight)
Michael Aswell Jr vs Yoo Joo-sang (Featherweight)
Ryan Gandra vs Osman Diaz (Middleweight)

Early prelims
Edmen Shahbazyan vs Brunno Ferreira (Middleweight)
Casey O'Neill vs Eduarda Moura (Women's Flyweight)
Giga Chikadze vs Joanderson Brito (Featherweight)

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

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China is readying the world's first giant submarine UAV carrier — built with a 1115ft dock, the unnamed mothership could be longer (and bigger) than WW2 light aircraft carriers and carry 148ft underwater drones

• Satellite imagery shows China building a roughly ~200m ship in Shanghai that analysts say is a mothership for submarine-sized drones
• It pairs a bottom-opening well-deck and 12-arm cradle with an internal hangar that experts estimate holds four 115- to 148ft XXLUUVs
• While the ship itself is shorter than an Essex-class carrier, its dock clocks in at about 1,115ft

China appears to be building a type of ship no navy is publicly known to operate: a large surface vessel designed to carry, launch, and recover uncrewed submarines the size of conventional crewed boats

The hull was first posted on September 13 2026 by Japanese open-source analyst KAROTASU and assessed two days later by H I Sutton at Naval News.

It currently sits at a dock at the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai, and Beijing has yet to formally acknowledge its existence, so it has no name, list of capabilities, or the military branch that will eventually operate it.

A large dock linked to a much smaller ship

KAROTASU's post places the vessel in what he calls a 340m-class dock, which works out to approximately 1,115ft. However, the dock is not the ship. The same post estimates the hull itself at roughly 200m long and 30m wide, and notes that a second, unidentified structure is being assembled in the same dock.

Defence Security Asia, using imagery dated September 15, puts the hull at about 205m by 27m, which clocks in at roughly 672 ft. This makes the mothership big, but not as big as the largest WWII-era fleet carriers, though larger than the US Navy's Independence-class light carriers from that era.

For context, an Essex-class carrier, the backbone of the US Navy's Pacific campaign from 1943, measured 872 to 888ft overall and displaced 36,380 long tons at full load. At 656 to 673ft, the Chinese hull comes up roughly 200 to 230ft short.

The primary use case of such a mothership would be to deploy extra-extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicles (XXLUUVs), which is a mouthful, and it builds around China's naval ambitions at a time when it seems certain that any conflict or show of power between the world's two superpowers will involve a maritime component.

At 35 and 45m (115 and 148ft), the XXLUUVs are the size of small crewed submarines and have an estimated range of 10,000 nautical miles based on a similarly sized concept that a Chinese shipbuilder has exhibited.

This, at the very least, challenges the current balance of power on multiple naval fronts that were not in play previously: until now, the drones have been tested from specially built floating docks, which conceal them in port and carry them out to sea for launch.

This works well on paper and for trials, which often use a mix of towing, favorable weather, and predictable shore infrastructure, but it limits range to their maximum operating capabilities and access to spare parts/repair potential, all of which the yet-to-be-named vessel addresses.

All in all, in a world that has conflicts flaring up left, right, and center, the world's largest surface ship is designed around full-size uncrewed submarines, with an enclosed hangar to house and maintain them, which is both a statement and a real threat to the US and its allies on the naval front from China, which is closing gaps on multiple fronts and taking the lead on others, even as territorial disputes in the South China Sea remain a key issue.

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New Android malware can deploy AI to automate device control — and it can even bring itself back from the dead

• Zimperium zLabs discovered RedHat, a Chinese‑origin Android banking trojan with AI assistant
• AI interprets screen layouts in real‑time, enabling credential theft and bypassing app redesigns
• Distributed via third‑party stores, social media, malvertising, and SMS; persistence blocks uninstall attempts

There is an Android malware out there that comes with an AI assistant that tells it what to do. The assistant seems to be independent of the malware’s operator, allowing the tool to work without requiring the operators to be present in real-time.

The malware in question is called RedHat. It was discovered by security researchers Zimperium zLabs, who believe it is of Chinese origin. It is currently being distributed via third-party app stores, social media, malvertising, and SMS spam, and requires Android’s Accessibility permissions to work.

The malware itself is a typical banking trojan - it creates an invisible overlay every time the victim brings up a banking app, capturing login credentials and one-time passwords, and thus giving attackers direct control over people’s banking accounts.

AI-powered eyes

But what makes RedHat stand out from a sea of Android banking trojans is its AI-powered component. The model serves as a kind of remote “eyes and hands” for controlling the victim’s phone.

Usually, when criminals develop banking trojans, they need to code exact coordinates of the layout for it to work. They need to code where the password is entered, or where the login button is. If the banking app gets redesigned and changes its layout, the malware breaks.

With AI, that is no longer a problem. RedHat gets a picture of what’s on the screen, sends it to the AI assistant, which then instructs the malware on how to proceed.

"RatHat uses AI to intelligently navigate and control the device interface in real-time, making its operations more adaptable and harder for security software to detect than traditional, scripted automation," Zimperium explained.

The tool also has a few advanced persistence mechanisms, being capable of reinstalling deleted components, and intercepting the uninstall process to cancel it while displaying a fake error message to the victim.

So far, there is no word on who the targets are, or how many people might have been compromised.

Via BleepingComputer

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Seagate finds 'AI is increasing the value of data' but warns that 43% of businesses lack proper data storage infrastructure — 99% expect AI storage (and storage costs) to explode

• Seagate study finds 99% of firms expect AI to increase their storage requirements within three years
• Only 38% of organizations consider themselves fully prepared for future demands
• Storage infrastructure ranks among the biggest obstacles facing AI deployment

New data from Seagate has claimed AI is increasing the business importance of stored information while exposing weaknesses in infrastructure readiness.

The company's research found 99% of respondents expect AI workloads to increase their storage requirements in the next three years.

Yet only 38% describe their organizations as completely prepared, while 43% identify storage infrastructure among the leading obstacles to wider AI deployment.

AI is raising the stakes for storage planning

The survey gathered responses from more than 2,700 technology decision-makers and found that 86% reported moderate or significant returns from AI investments.

Among those respondents, 33% said their organizations were already seeing substantial measurable financial or operational benefits from AI initiatives.

Those returns increase the importance of retaining information that can support future models, applications and decisions across changing business requirements.

Nearly 7 in 10 respondents expect storage requirements to increase by at least 26%, including 32% anticipating growth exceeding 50%.

Furthermore, 98% of respondents regard storage as strategic infrastructure rather than simply an administrative technology function.

The survey nevertheless shows that preparedness remains incomplete, with data quality and readiness identified by 53% as another major deployment difficulty.

Storage therefore ranks ahead of compute availability, cited by 27%, and energy constraints, which were identified by 24% of respondents.

The figures indicate that adding computing capacity alone does not resolve the infrastructure limitations organizations encounter when deploying increasingly data-intensive AI systems.

Sustainability is becoming part of the storage equation

Infrastructure expansion is also encountering sustainability concerns, with 77% of respondents reporting delays or changes to planned growth.

Within that figure, 36% said investments had undergone major changes, while another 41% experienced smaller postponements linked to sustainability considerations.

Power consumption was the most frequently considered environmental factor for storage hardware, cited by 62% of respondents.

Equipment lifespan followed at 55%, while respondents broadly connected longer hardware service periods with improved sustainability across data center operations.

Current confidence remains below future expectations, with 39% describing their storage operations as highly sustainable under present conditions, according to survey responses.

That proportion rises to 61% when respondents assess where their organizations expect storage sustainability to stand five years from now.

Funding levels also influence those expectations, with 70% of organizations holding sustainability budgets above $100 million expecting highly sustainable operations within five years.

By comparison, 48% of organizations with annual sustainability budgets below $1 million anticipate reaching that same level during the period.

Training material, active datasets, model checkpoints and retained outputs can impose substantially different infrastructure requirements throughout an AI system’s lifecycle.

For organizations expanding AI operations, those differences make storage architecture, equipment lifespan, energy consumption and capacity planning increasingly interconnected decisions.

The survey does not establish that every organization will face identical costs, although its findings indicate that storage growth is widely anticipated.

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Nuri rocket launch heralds South Korea’s first microsatellite constallation — and shows it might have the technology to launch its own Starlink

• The Nuri rocket is set to deploy 15 satellites following a planned launch on October 7 2026
• Its payload consists its first five disaster response NEONSAT units, and 10 CubeSats
• The NEONSAT satellites will form the first half of a 10-strong microsatellite constellation, potentially laying the groundwork for a Starlink-style network for the country and beyond

South Korea is preparing for the fifth launch of its Nuri rocket, which will have a 15-strong payload of NEONSATs and CubeSats, marking the first time the nation has deployed a microsatellite constellation.

If successful, the launch could spearhead future projects that might even include a Starlink-like satellite internet service.

Five NEONSATS and 10 CubeSats will be deployed by the Nuri rocket, which has a planned launch date of October 7, 2026. Once launched, the five NEONSATS will later be joined by a further five microsatellites. With the 10-strong constellation monitoring the Korean Peninsula to assist with national security threat and disaster response procedures.

Electro-optical cameras

While the 10 CubeSats represent scientific and corporate partnerships in the launch, the NEONSATS are of particular interest. The quintet of New-space Earth Observation Satellite Constellation for National Safety units will be deployed first as a five-piece constellation, and thanks to electro-optical cameras will provide previously unavailable monitoring of South Korea from orbit, ostensibly for disaster response. However, they also have the capacity to provide support in national security scenarios.

South Korea and North Korea are technically still at war, despite recently proposing talks to officially end the 1953 armistice.

Park Jae-sung, head of the Korea AeroSpace Administration’s (KASA) space transportation division, told press that "On its fifth launch, the Nuri rocket will attempt Korea's first satellite constellation launch mission. It will mark a turning point for the country's satellite development as it advances toward mass production and constellation operations."

Is this a “Starlink” dry-run?

While the electro-optical cameras on the 500 kg NEONSATS offer unprecedented monitoring for disasters and potentially neighboring territories, the entire launch set up appears to mirror a completely different project: Starlink.

Korea’s home grown Nuri rocket, a fifth launch, and a long-term ambition to reach Mars by 2045 might seem like a general mirroring of Elon Musk’s plans with SpaceX. However, the launch of a microsatellite constellation adds a further dimension. Could South Korea be planning its own Starlink-like satellite internet communications network?

If the Nuri rocket successfully deploys its payloads and the NEONSATS link up as intended, a Starlink-like system at some point in the future should not be ruled out. However, this clear potential comes with a pretty big warning sign: North Korea.

Starlink currently refuses to provide internet to North Korea, where it is banned. Would a South Korea-only network of internet microsatellites be able to avoid providing connectivity to its neighbor? In practice, this should not be difficult using the type of Phased Array Antennas that Starlink employs, which directs data more specifically than was possible with traditional satellites.

Objections from North Korea – reasonable or otherwise – may scupper any Starlink-inspired ambitions from Seoul, however.

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AMD could be working on an Nvidia DLSS 5 rival, but it'll be for next-gen RDNA 5 GPUs — and I've a feeling that may be too late

• AMD is rumored to be working on its own version of DLSS 5
• A leaker says that the neural rendering tech will be launched with next-gen RDNA 5 GPUs
• That means we could be waiting until late 2027 or 2028 to see this debut, which might leave AMD lagging behind Nvidia considerably

AMD could be working on its own take on Nvidia's DLSS 5, and apparently this alternative attempt at neural rendering will be for its next-gen RDNA 5 graphics cards.

VideoCardz spotted that a known leaker in the GPU field, Kepler L2, posted on the Anandtech forum in a discussion around RDNA 5 speculation to say that: "AMD will have their own version of 'Neural Lighting' like DLSS5 next-gen."

Kepler then clarified that he didn't mean a version of Ray Reconstruction, but a take on DLSS 5 (neural rendering), and that next-gen RDNA 5 GPUs would be required because "this stuff is pretty heavy" (as in resource-intensive).

In a further post, Kepler elaborated: "There's a lot of issues with Nvidia's approach [with DLSS 5], but it's possible to have a version of this with minimal hallucinations and 'AI slop' look."

He then suggests a way that AMD could work its version to improve on DLSS 5, including giving the AI "direct access to 3D game data such as geometry, ray data, depth buffers, materials, etc so it doesn't have to guess and can accurately know how each object in a scene should interact with light."

Kepler's outline of a proposed alternative for AMD would have a separate model (AI) for lighting improvements, and another different model solely for the shading of complex surfaces. DLSS 5 bundles these together with its neural rendering system, and adds color-grading on top — to adopt what the AI judges as more natural colors — which Kepler advises that AMD should dispense with entirely.

Analysis: a race against time – or a chance to get it right?

(Image credit: Gigabyte)

I won't pretend to be able to critique what Kepler is suggesting as an alternative for AMD and the technical nuances therein, except to say that the idea is clearly to achieve a result that looks less like it's been 'messed' about with by AI and minimizes any 'slopification' therein — preserving more of the original artistic intent.

And that seems a laudable goal, of course, and it also brings up how AMD is in an interesting position here in lagging behind Nvidia with its graphics tech (which has, of course, been the case from the start, with FSR following DLSS — version 2.0 of Nvidia's upscaling tech was already in play, in fact, when FSR 1.0 arrived). Team Red can sit back for now and see how DLSS 5 plays out, as more games emerge that use it, and gauge the reaction of gamers, and forge its own neural rendering tech to tackle any perceived weaknesses.

The performance hit will be an obvious area to target, and if AMD can bring that down — it's substantial with DLSS 5 as it is now — that will obviously be a big win. That said, I'd expect Nvidia will be working with some haste to make DLSS 5 more performant, and as with DLSS 1, the tech will be improved considerably by the time Team Red has its own version out.

This is the other side of the equation here, where Nvidia could win out. With RDNA 5 GPUs not expected to arrive for at least a year, and quite possibly longer (the RAM crisis isn't helping), there's quite a lengthy timeframe on any AMD rival to DLSS 5. By the time it arrives, DLSS 5.5 may be in town with considerable improvements in tow. There's already been a notable turnaround in the perception of DLSS 5 with its official launch (compared to Nvidia's sneak preview earlier this year).

This is, of course, assuming AMD is indeed working on its own neural rendering technology, but I'd be surprised if this wasn't the case. For now, though, the word of a single leaker needs to be thoroughly seasoned, as ever, even though it's believable enough that Team Red would be aiming to use this on RDNA 5 graphics cards.

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Iran snoops on enemies of the state with Chosen Brick malware controlled using messaging apps

• UK NCSC, FBI, and Dutch AIVD warn Iran is using Chosen Brick malware against dissidents and journalists
• Malware steals files, captures audio, grabs WhatsApp/Telegram data, and can wipe systems entirely
• Operatives rely on social engineering; agencies urge awareness, MFA, updates, and endpoint monitoring

Iranian hackers are targeting “enemies of the state”, both local and foreign, with advanced malware capable of spying on the victims and stealing their sensitive files, experts have warned.

This is according to a new security advisory, published jointly by the UK National Cyber Security Centre, the FBI, and the Netherlands’ General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD), which noted how Iranian operatives would first do extensive research into their victims - dissidents, activists, and journalists - deemed a risk to the regime.

After learning as much about their targets as possible, they reach out via social media, either as someone the victims know, or as technical support for the platform they’re currently using, engaging in extended conversation until the victim lowers their guard. At one point, the attackers will try to share a piece of malware with the victims, tracked as Chosen Brick.

A thousand victims

This malware, designed primarily for the Windows platform, has a long list of capabilities, including enumerating running processes and system information, capturing screen content, enabling the microphone to capture audio content, capturing a copy of Telegram and WhatsApp data from web browsers, downloading additional files and malware, deleting files, stealing email content, and ultimately - wiping the entire computer system. The operatives communicate with the malware using Telegram, it was said.

“Iran almost certainly uses cyber activity to support the repression of individuals who are seen as a threat to the regime, such as dissidents, activists and journalists,” the three agencies said in the report. “In some cases, the Iranian intelligence services have plotted to kidnap or conduct lethal operations against individuals internationally, who they perceive as enemies of the regime.”

In the advisory, the three agencies said the best defense is to simply be more aware of social engineering. However, there are also a few technical mitigations that can help, including following NCSC advice on staying safe online, keeping all devices up-to-date (ideally through automatic updates), using antivirus software, and not disabling smart screen warnings on file downloads.

Finally, it would be wise to enable phishing-resistant MFA, make sure devices are managed with appropriate controls, turn on email scanning, deploy endpoint and network monitoring, and conduct a search for the IoCs.

Via The Register

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Vertical GPU, top-loading HDDs: Morefine's 4-bay NAS is unlike any AI workstation PC I've ever seen, thanks to a simple physics law

• Morefine MNAS-X1 stacks four hard drives directly above the processor to escape heat
• The MNAS-X1 packs an 800W power supply into a 15.6L chassis
• Four spring-latch drive bays let users swap storage without any tools

Morefine has released an AI workstation PC that stacks its storage drives on top of the chassis instead of beside the processor.

The MNAS-X1 arrives with a four-bay hard drive tray fixed directly above the motherboard rather than tucked beside it.

This unusual layout follows a fairly straightforward principle, since warm air naturally rises while cool air tends to settle lower, keeping the drives clear of the hottest components below them.

A candybar body built for drive swaps

The chassis measures 218mm by 193mm by 372mm, giving a 15.6L footprint wrapped in a white aluminum alloy shell over a steel frame.

A glossy purple panel breaks up the front, and vents line the left, right, rear, and top surfaces for airflow.

Each of the four 3.5-inch bays has a spring latch release, letting drives slide out without tools once the side button is pressed.

Connectivity runs to one USB4 port, several USB-A ports, dual 10G RJ45 network jacks, an SD card slot, and a single HDMI 2.0 output for 4K at 60Hz.

Inside sits an AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 8845HS chip, an 8-core, 16-thread Zen4 chip with a 3.8GHz base clock and a 5.1GHz boost, paired with a Radeon 780M graphics core rated at 2700MHz.

An onboard XDNA NPU adds 16 TOPS on its own and 38 TOPS when the CPU, GPU, and NPU work together.

Two DDR5 SO-DIMM slots hold up to 96GB, three M.2 2280 slots take PCIe 4.0 x4 SSDs at 4TB each, and the four SATA bays add up to 30TB apiece for a combined ceiling near 132TB.

Room for a full-size GPU and real benchmark numbers

The three-slot PCIe 4.0 x16 opening accepts cards up to 330mm long and 66mm thick, backed by an 800W CRPS power supply built to the 2.0 specification with an 80 PLUS Platinum rating.

Fitted with 64GB of RAM, a 500GB M.2 SSD, and an RTX 5070 with 12GB of VRAM running in x8 mode, a review unit posted a Cinebench R23 score of 16271 pts multi-core and 1794 pts single-core, plus a PCMark 10 total of 9966.

Local language model testing through ONNX Runtime returned scores of 3511, 3714, 3163, and 3408 across the Phi 3.5, Mistral, Llama 3.1, and Llama 2 benchmarks, respectively.

That Cinebench multi-core figure lands in roughly the same range as an eight-core desktop chip like the Ryzen 7 5800X, while the PCMark total edges past what most mid-range gaming laptops score.

During a 21-minute full-load stress run, CPU power held at 54W with an average die temperature of 86℃, while the GPU drew 250W and averaged 80℃.

Morefine has not confirmed pricing for the MNAS-X1, and the unit is currently listed for inquiry only through its regional distributor.

Stacking the storage above rather than beside the board is a small design choice, but it turns a routine barebones NAS build into something closer to a hybrid server.

Whether that trade-off proves practical will likely come down to how much heat a fully loaded GPU pushes upward once the drive bay sits directly in its path.

Via HKEPC Hardware (originally in Chinese)

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'New arena for strategic rivalry': China’s intelligence chief calls for regulations and guardrails on AI to prevent new arms race

• China’s state security minister Chen Yixin urged global AI guardrails, calling it a new arms race
• He outlined five risks: ideological manipulation, infrastructure attacks, data leaks, development gaps, and espionage
• US officials likewise warn against losing AI dominance to China, intensifying geopolitical rivalry

China’s Minister of State Security has called for global regulation and guardrails on Artificial Intelligence (AI), as the nascent technology turns into a “new arena for strategic rivalry among major powers”. In other words, the AI race is the new arms race and humanity needs rules before it spirals out of control.

Chen Yixin made the claims in a new article on China Cyberspace, a journal run by internet watchdog body the Cyberspace Administration of China.

In the article, Chen highlighted five key risks of AI development:

1. Ideological security risk
2. Critical information infrastructure risk
3. Data leaks risk
4. Development gap risk
5. Espionage risk

Ideological security risk

Artificial Intelligence could be “leveraged by hostile forces” to create fake news and other harmful information, systematically creating discontent and dividing the population, Chen said.

Discussing risks to critical information infrastructure, he said that as models advance, the barrier to entry lowers, making disruptive cyberattacks quicker and easier to pull off.

“Foreign intelligence agencies are heavily exploiting smart web crawlers, data mining and profiling technologies to harvest sensitive information, including critical state data, business secrets, and personal information,” he said.

He also warned that people are recklessly sharing sensitive data with foreign AI tools, which could result in catastrophic data leaks. Apparently, open source agents like OpenClaw often come with vulnerabilities that could result in remotely-triggered data spills.

When it comes to the development gap risk, Yixin warned that a handful of major players are severing the global AI supply chain and creating a monopoly of closed-source ecosystems. Finally, he urged for the creation of early-warning mechanisms and public advisories which should name and shame foreign nation-state actors using AI for espionage, data theft, and disinformation campaigns.

US vs China

Expectedly, Yixin did not name any specific countries, but it’s easy to read the United States’ name between the lines, the South China Morning Post hints in its report, adding that the US administration recently warned it could not allow China surpassing it on AI development.

Indeed, less than a week ago, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the country would face dire consequences should it lose the AI race against China. "There is no day after tomorrow if China wins at this," Bessent said at a Breitbart News event in Washington, Bloomberg reported. "If they were to pull away from us on AI, then nothing else would matter."

The US has been at a trade war with China (among other countries) for years now. During Donald Trump’s first term, he blacklisted numerous Chinese hardware manufacturers, warning that Chinese-built 5G infrastructure could be abused to install backdoors and allow the Chinese government to spy on US communications. Huawei, ZTE, and TikTok bore the brunt of these accusations, which the Chinese government vehemently denied.

In his second term, Trump also declared a national emergency and banned all foreign bulk-power systems from being imported, installed, or used in the country. In a signed executive order, Trump said that during his first term, he found “that the bulk-power system could be a target of those seeking to commit malicious acts against the United States, including malicious cyber activities, because of the significant risks that a successful attack would have on our economy, human health and safety, and national defense.”

President Trump also said there were “minimal restrictions” on both acquisition and operation of these foreign-produced systems. As a result, the situation “constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat … to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”

While the AI race is intensifying, developers are calling for a slowdown and better guardrails. Some developers estimated that AI could end humanity in a few decades, urging the industry to slow down and only develop systems they are confident they can control.

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A costly mistake? Report claims a third of employees fired due to AI will need to be rehired in the next few years

• Gartner predicts that around 33% of people laid off due to AI could be rehired by 2029
• Those rehired employees, presumably filling similar roles, will command higher salaries
• Further predictions point to 75% of organizations making cost savings from AI productivity being overtaken by competing companies with a stronger modernizing philosophy

People laid off from their roles due to a corporate refocusing on AI could soon find themselves rehired – or at least, their former roles being advertised, new Gartner research has claimed.

It predicts that by 2027, 75% of organizations who expected to make cost savings by focusing on AI productivity over human endeavor will be overtaken by companies who reinvested those savings in modernization and training.

Organizations which have made large cuts to their workforce in order to take advantage of perceived productivity boosts from automation could be forced to change to a new human-centric philosophy, where skills and abilities can be amplified while AI does the grunt work.

AI vs. management

Choices made by companies across all industries could be cause for regret in future, as the truth about how AI is used comes to light. Rather than being a disruptor of employment, the notion of intelligent automation may be considered as a missed opportunity by some organizations.

"When business and IT executives look back on the early AI era, they will realize their greatest mistake was believing that work automation was the point, when workforce amplification was the opportunity," noted Tori Paulman, VP analyst at Gartner.

That mistake – which could not only have severe consequences for the business – could have had striking impacts on individuals, all due to a misunderstanding of what AI can deliver.

"The competitive advantage will go to the CIOs and business executives,” continues Paulman, “who build an AI-shaped organization where AI value compounds by reshaping roles and allowing workflows to cross traditional boundaries, increasing velocity and reducing friction."

AI productivity... gains?

Gartner’s prediction appears to paint a bleak picture for any organization that has failed to amplify the talents and abilities of its employees after going all-in on AI. But there is still time to fix the damage. Its prediction of 2027 might only be a year away, but 2029 – when just short of 33% of employees are expected to need rehiring – is far enough down the line that there is time to start reorganizing now.

"Business and IT executives [...] should develop a 'talent remix' strategy that uses AI to reshape roles and redirect workers from less productive work to new opportunities," said Paulman.

The conclusion is that AI is better used to strengthen decision making, creativity, and leadership, rather than replacing people for misjudged producivity boosts.

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