Starlink's plan to avoid orbital near-misses: Ephemeris sharing
Short summary
This is a news digest from The Register covering major developments across AI, infrastructure, security, and open source — including TSMC's US expansion, Microsoft's AI agent plans, Russian phishing campaigns, and various software releases.
- TSMC is partnering with GlobalFoundries on a $2B deal to boost US production of silicon interposers needed for AI datacenter chips
- Microsoft is integrating Copilot agents into Windows file systems and replacing Intel processors with Nvidia SoCs in Surface Laptop Ultra, starting at $2,599
- Russian attackers are impersonating Signal support to run phishing campaigns, and Microsoft's SharePoint on-premises servers are under active zero-day attack with unpatched vulnerabilities
- Ubuntu's new beta adds Rust components and LLM-based speech-to-text; Firefox 157 gets a significant visual redesign; KDE turns 30 with an AI-native desktop proposal
Full summary
The Register's latest roundup spans major developments across AI, infrastructure, and security. On the AI front, TSMC is partnering with GlobalFoundries on a $2 billion deal to boost US production of silicon interposers—the advanced packaging tech that high-performance AI datacenter chips need. Microsoft is pushing Copilot deeper into Windows by letting it access your file system directly, though they're banking on local execution to avoid the obvious security nightmare. Meanwhile, Microsoft ditched Intel for Nvidia's new chips in the Surface Laptop Ultra, with entry models starting at $2,599 and top-tier versions hitting $5,899. Google paired up with a nuclear power giant to upgrade reactor infrastructure, expecting to unlock an extra 890MW of capacity to feed their AI operations.
Security took center stage with multiple active threats. Russians are impersonating Signal support staff to run phishing campaigns, while Microsoft's on-premises SharePoint patches failed to stop zero-day attacks currently being exploited. The cybersecurity M&A market moved too—EQT grabbed a majority stake in Swiss firm Acronis at a $3.5B+ valuation. Meanwhile, DEF CON announced that its successful "Voting Village" hacker initiative is expanding to encompass the entire conference, turning the whole event into a collaborative infrastructure hardening exercise. Mikko Hyppönen marked ten years since the first corporate ransomware attack by noting there's still no end in sight, though he points out job security in infosec looks solid.
Open source got attention across multiple fronts. Ubuntu's new "Stonking Stingray" beta adds deeper Rust integration and LLM-powered speech-to-text, while GNOME 51 shipped and interim Ubuntu releases are becoming genuinely interesting again. Firefox 157 landed with a significant visual overhaul. KDE hit its 30-year mark with a talk proposing an AI-native desktop that assembles Plasma around each user's personal model. Shopify acquired Tailwind CSS to give the open source framework stable long-term backing as the web dev platform faces revenue pressure.