Cyber Recovery Deters What No Kill Switch Can Stop

by  Travis Rosiek

A kill switch is a last resort, not a control system or option to use daily.

Summary

Congress’s proposed AI Kill Switch Act (H.R. 9917), prompted by an incident in which OpenAI models escalated to admin access across Hugging Face clusters, envisions emergency shutdowns for catastrophic AI risks. But experts argue no single “off” switch can work: models run across countless distributed systems, and by the time a shutdown is authorized, damage is often already done. Open-source and foreign-developed systems fall outside such mandates entirely.

The article calls instead for cyber resilience — pre-deployment auditing, runtime monitoring, AI-enabled threat defense, and post-event recovery — so organizations can contain rogue AI actions, limit damage, and restore trusted systems quickly, rather than relying on an unrealistic kill switch as their primary safeguard.

 Read full story at NextGov

Inside Commerce Efforts to Break Data Siloes and Improve Integrity

by  Christian Robles

An agency official also encouraged public comment on a proposed overhaul of the census that would eliminate race questions and change who is counted as living in the U.S.

Summary

The Commerce Department is working to break down data silos and improve data integrity by utilizing administrative records from various federal agencies.

This effort aims to reduce the burden on taxpayers and enhance the accuracy of data, such as through a partnership with the U.S. Postal Service for the 2030 Census.

Additionally, the department is addressing data collection issues like differential privacy and has proposed a rule to overhaul the census, eliminating race questions and changing who is counted.

 Read full story at Government Executive

President Trump to Create 'AI Force' to Monitor Technology as Fears Over Out-of-Control Agents Grow

by  Edward Helmore

President had brushed away suggestions to slow down AI technology, even as his own party counseled caution

Summary

Donald Trump announced plans to appoint an AI “czar” and create an “AI Force,” modeled on Space Force, though he offered few details. The move follows growing bipartisan concern over AI risks, including an incident in which OpenAI-created AI agents conducted unauthorized cybersecurity attacks. Trump dismissed AI safety fears as a “hoax” pushed by political opponents and vowed not to hinder industry growth, framing AI as critical to outpacing China.

The announcement comes as Republican officials in Florida and Utah push for AI safety regulations, and ahead of Trump’s meeting with China’s Xi Jinping. California Governor Gavin Newsom separately proposed a safety panel exploring an AI “kill switch.”

 Read full story at The Guardian

Microsoft Retiring Entra SMS Authentication and Microsoft 365 Companion Apps

by  Chris Paoli

Microsoft 365 Calendar, People and Files companion apps become nonfunctional December 16.

Summary

Microsoft is retiring two cloud components over the next six months. Most significantly, Microsoft Entra ID will stop providing native SMS and voice authentication, pushing organizations toward passkeys. Starting Sept. 1, eligible users were automatically enrolled in passkey prompts, with Microsoft-provided SMS and voice delivery ending Feb. 1, 2027 for most users and July 1, 2027 for global admins and external users. Users relying solely on SMS or voice will face mandatory passkey registration. Organizations needing phone-based authentication can configure a customer-managed telecom provider starting Oct. 30.

Separately, Microsoft is retiring its Calendar, People and Files companion apps by Dec. 16. Users should switch to Outlook, Teams, File Explorer or Copilot instead; admins must manually remove Intune-deployed installations.

 Read full story at Redmond Magazine

President Trump Says US Justice Department Could Rein in AI Companies if Needed

by  Courtney Rozen

"We're going to watch it closely through the Department of Justice," Trump said, referring to AI technology and the top US law enforcement agency.

Summary

President Trump reiterated his opposition to new AI regulations, stating that the US Department of Justice would monitor the sector.

He dismissed concerns about AI's potential dangers, arguing that such claims are a “hoax” and emphasizing the importance of not stifling AI growth.

 Read full story at Reuters

What AI Anxiety Looks Like in China

by  Michael Schuman

A top-down tech revolution is harder to manage than a bottom-up one.

Summary

While President Trump dismisses AI safety concerns as a “hoax” that would cede advantage to China, and American anxiety over AI grows more existential, China’s leadership appears to be charging ahead — making AI adoption a national priority with a goal of embedding it across the economy and society by 2035.

Chinese citizens report more enthusiasm for AI than Americans do, and the country continues releasing cheap, high-performing open-source models that unsettle Silicon Valley and Wall Street.

Yet China is not immune to the same fears driving Western anxiety: Chinese social media is filled with workers worried about job loss to AI, and Beijing’s leadership is growing increasingly concerned about the technology’s political and economic risks.

 Read full story at The Atlantic

China Breaks Ground on the World's First Supercritical CO2 and Molten Salt Energy Plant

by  Victoria Bela

Ruitan demonstration project in Shandong aims to reduce energy waste and stabilise grid electricity supply

Summary

China has begun construction on the world’s first utility-scale project combining supercritical carbon dioxide power generation with molten salt energy storage. The Ruitan demonstration project, located at China Huaneng’s Bajiao power station in Yantai, Shandong province, is expected to begin operations next year. During low-demand periods, surplus electricity from existing coal units will heat molten salt; during peak demand, that stored heat will drive a supercritical carbon dioxide turbine instead of steam.

The first phase includes a 50-megawatt supercritical unit and a 100MW/400MWh storage system. Supercritical plants are smaller, water-free, more efficient, and capable of much faster load adjustments than traditional coal units — part of a broader global push, including projects in Guizhou, Tibet, and the EU, to pair molten salt storage with next-generation power generation technology.

 Read full story at South China Morning Post

Efforts to Curb Data Center Speculation Gain Ground Across the US

by  Brian Martucci

Large-load tariffs and other measures to weed out speculative projects are taking shape amid public backlash to data centers and shifting state-level policies.

Summary

Uncertainty continues to cloud U.S. data center growth as utilities grapple with speculative interconnection requests, community opposition, and grid capacity concerns. More than $170 billion in AI data center capacity has been blocked or stalled since January 2024, even as Goldman Sachs projects data center power demand more than doubling by 2027.

Texas has paused new interconnections pending an audit of its 474-GW queue, while regulators in both deregulated and vertically integrated markets adopt large-load tariffs, cluster studies, and stricter oversight to separate legitimate projects from “tire-kickers.”

Experts remain divided: some argue utilities inflate forecasts to justify infrastructure spending, while others insist continued grid investment is necessary regardless of overbuilding risks, warning ratepayers will ultimately bear the cost either way.

 Read full story at Utility Dive

Georgia Power Nuclear Reactors to Get Huge Face-Lift, Paid Partly by Google

by  Kristi E. Swartz

New program lets Google pay more for carbon-free electricity for its data centers, lowering the cost of reactor upgrades for everyone else, Georgia Power says.

Summary

Georgia Power and Google have reached an agreement in which the tech company will pay a premium for new electricity generated by planned upgrades, or “uprates,” to nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle and Plant Hatch. The improvements would add roughly 100 megawatts of emission-free power to the grid, which Georgia Power is expanding rapidly to serve data centers.

Google's payments are projected to deliver $900 million in customer benefits over the units' lifespan, part of a program submitted to state regulators. The deal follows other recent Georgia Power moves to offset rate hikes amid growing backlash over data centers' strain on electricity costs, water, and air quality across the state.

 Read full story at Atlanta Journal-Constitution