This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through September 26)

Summary

This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through September 26) Every week, we scour the web for important, insightful, and fascinating stories in science and technology. Image Credit Zach M on Unsplash Share The AI Build-Out Is Becoming the Biggest Economic Bet in US HistoryKonrad Putzier and Justin Lahart | The Wall Street Journal ($)"TheAIbuild-outisontracktobecomethebiggesteconomicbetinUShistory,dwarfingtheinvestmentsmadetofundotherhugeUSinfrastructureprojectssuchastherailroads,thehighwaysystem,andtheplumbingfortheinternet.Totalinvestmentindatacentersandrelatedartificial-intelligenceinfrastructureisprojectedtototal$10.3 trillion from 2025 to 2032, according to new estimates by economist Stijn van Nieuwerburgh published by the Brookings Institution.” Businesses Still Don’t See AI Returns, Consulting Exec SaysLaura Bratton and Kevin McLaughlin | The Information ($)"[ErnstandYoungexecutiveDan]DiasosaidthatspendingonAInowisstil{l}^{\prime }basedonenthusiasmasopposedtothatevidence{.}^{\prime }Hesaidonlyonein10ofEY’sclientsca{n}^{\prime }actuallyshowwheretheROIishappenin{g}^{\prime }intheirincomestatements{.}^{\prime }"[Google’sFirstSuncatcherOrbitalDataCenterTestLaunchesOctober1](https://arstechnica.com/google/2026/09/googles-first-suncatcher-orbital-data-center-test-launches-october-1/)RyanWhitwam|ArsTechnica"Thesatellite,dubbedMVP,isaboutthesizeofarefrigerator.Inside,ithasfourofGoogle’scustomTPUAIaccelerators,whichareusedtotrainAImodelsandruninferencetogeneratetokensforAIworkloads.OnEarth,adatacenterwillrunthousandsofthesechips,whichconsumemassiveamountsofpower—oneofthereasonsputtingsolar-poweredAIhardwareinspaceissoattractive."[AIHallucinationofChineseNuclearComponentsAlmostLedtoUSMilitaryAttack](https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/09/report-us-almost-boarded-chinese-ship-over-hallucinated-ai-arms-report/)KyleOrland|ArsTechnica"TheUSmilitarywaspreparingtointerceptandboardtheship,withairsupport,beforeofficialsdiscoveredachatbotusedingeneratingthereportha{d}^{\prime }inaccuratelyidentifiedthematerialtheshipwascarrying{.}^{\prime }OnesourcetoldCNNtheAI-poweredfiasc{o}^{\prime }almoststartedawar{.}^{\prime }"[VRHeadsetsAreSoCooked](https://gizmodo.com/vr-headsets-are-so-cooked-2000817445)JamesPero|Gizmodo"Incaseyoumissedit,MetatookthewrapsoffnewVRhardware—apairofglassestetheredtoacomputepuck—and,havingtrieditmyself,thepromisefeelsreal.It’sgoodnewsforthefutureofVRandanyonewhocaresaboutit.It’sbadnewsforoneunlikelybystander—VRheadsets."[WaymoIsScalingFast:Here’sWhattheFleetDataShows](https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/24/waymo-is-scaling-fast-heres-what-the-fleet-data-shows/)KirstenKorosec|TechCrunch"InSeptember2024,Waymowasoperatinginjustthreecities—Phoenix,LosAngeles,andSanFrancisco.Today,itoffersrobotaxiservicein15U.S.cities,withmostofthosecommerciallaunchesoccurringinthepastyear.Ridershiphasskyrocketed,too,withWaymonowaveraging500,000paidrobotaxirideseveryweek."BePartoftheFutureSignuptoreceivetopstoriesaboutgroundbreakingtechnologiesandvisionarythinkersfromSingularityHub.[AnOpenAIAgentHackedAustralia’sHealthService.TheirGovernmentFoundOutMonthsLater](https://www.wired.com/story/openai-agent-hacked-australias-health-service-their-government-found-out-months-later/)IsabellaWard|Wired($) “Australia only found out about the incident when OpenAI alerted the government on September 10—almost three months after the hack—by sending an email to a public mailbox. Sam Altman had reportedly not mentioned the incident when he met Australia’s deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, earlier this month, even though OpenAI had been aware since August.” Treat AI Like a Normal CrisisCharlie Warzel | The Atlantic ($) “The chasm between people who can’t sleep because they think the world is ending and those who think all the doomsaying is a fantasy is wide. But what if that perceived difference is the real delusion? What if it’s not a zero-sum game? What if the divide is what keeps us from reining in this industry the way we do others? This moment requires treating the AI-safety debate skeptically but also taking it seriously, even if the participants can seem unserious.” Claude Found a Mysterious CRISPR-Like System—but Anthropic Can’t Say What It’s Capable ofMatthew Phelan | Gizmodo “[Anthropic CEO Dario] Amodei noted that the firm’s researchers suspect ART ‘could represent a new gene editing mechanism, and emphasized the role that Claude AI played in the discovery…But multiple medical researchers have been quick to point out that these biochemical similarities might only be superficial—and Amodei himself acknowledged that ART’s ‘precise function, biotechnological utility (if any), or level of significance is not yet clear.‘” Meta Is Making a Standalone Muse AI GadgetJacob Kastrenakes | The Verge “It looks almost like a chunky smartwatch without the strap—just a big screen, plus a little lanyard for carrying the device around. …Muse is less than a month old, but the AI agent has already become a buzzy new product for Meta. The bot is capable of taking actions on a user’s behalf, and Zuckerberg dedicated part of tonight’s keynote to new capabilities Meta is adding to the agent, including computer use on Macs and control over an email address.” Related Articles How Would AI Actually Kill All Humans? Here Are the Top 5 Scenarios A Digital Cell Predicts Which Drugs Will Be Most Effective in Deadly Breast Cancer Three-Year-Old Boy’s Metastatic Cancer Disappears After Two Shots of Experimental Cell Therapy What we’re reading

By SingularityHub Staff

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