Ask not for whom the bell tolls: Pioneering early internet search engine named after PG Wodehouse's legendary Jeeves takes its leave
Ask.com, once the home of Ask Jeeves, is slipping quietly into history, its homepage carrying a farewell message that signals the end of one of the internet's most recognisable pioneers.
Cyclist father, 29, dies after hit and run as police hunt driver and family pays tribute to 'kindest soul'
Thomas Brown, 29, was rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital after he was knocked off his bike on Heath Way, Hodge Hill, on April 26.
Revealed: It was the NSPCC that first introduced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to Peter Mandelson - as charity's fundraising director admits he regrets it now
The charity's former director of fundraising Giles Pegram said he was 'absolutely horrified' when he thought about their association with the convicted sex offender.
The $19B "Nuclear AI" Energy Startup That Couldn't Sign a Single Client
"Nuclear AI startup" Fermi had hoped to build power plants generating 17 gigawatts of electricity, remembers Bloomberg, "three times the amount typically consumed by New York City."
Hyperscalers could install their data centers on the site itself and tap directly into that power, which would come first from natural gas turbines and later from nuclear reactors. The pitch ticked so many boxes — artificial intelligence, nuclear energy, political connections — that some investors found it irresistible. Fermi went public in October worth more than $19 billion in market value, despite reporting no revenue or signed customers.
Now, the startup's board has fired its top executive, Toby Neugebauer, after months of negotiations failed to secure a single client. Chief Financial Officer Miles Everson left as well... Fermi's stock, meanwhile, has tumbled 84% from its peak. The company's more than 5,000-acre site in the Texas panhandle — dubbed Project Matador, or the President Donald J. Trump Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus — remains mostly unfinished. And some analysts see a cautionary tale of the market's AI enthusiasm running ahead of reality, with investors betting on companies whose grand projects may never get built...
The idea of giving data centers their own, dedicated power supply not dependent on the grid may sound tempting, but former US Department of Energy official Jigar Shah said banks don't want to finance it. The grid, drawing power from many sources, is more reliable than a handful of expensive, on-site plants, he said. He considers Fermi a failure "of monumental proportions" and says similar, off-grid data center projects elsewhere deserve more skepticism than they've received... "We're allowing these types of projects to continue to be viewed as viable when they most certainly are not," said Shah, who ran the department's Loan Programs Office during the Biden administration....
"It was a piece of dirt with a dream," an investor who visited the site in February told the short sellers, Fuzzy Panda Research.
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Street shooting at 'barbecue party' puts four people in hospital with one victim fighting for life after gunmen fire from car in Brixton - as police scour grassland beside housing estate
A 25-year-old man is in a life-threatening condition in hospital - three others aged 21, 47 and 70 were also admitted with gunshot wounds.
Met Police officers shared photos of dead bodies on WhatsApp using their personal phones - with accused PC saying it was 'common practice'
Officers said personal phones were routinely used to capture evidence, including pictures of people who had died, due to the poor photographic quality of standard-issue police equipment.
Kemi duffing up the PM gladdens voters' hearts. The snag is they still don't trust her party, writes LORD ASHCROFT
Between them, Labour and the Tories face losing council seats in unprecedented numbers as Reform and the Greens seize their former fiefdoms.
Kentucky Derby 2026 best and worst dressed stars: Enormous hats and feathered frocks take over the horse race
The racegoers showcased some truly eye-popping accessories and ensembles as they geared up to watch what has been dubbed 'the most exciting two minutes in sports.'
Space pioneer shoots for the stars at Seraphim Space investment trust
Boggett is driven by a belief that the companies exploring space can make us safer not only through their defence applications - but also by saving the Earth's scarce resources.
HAMISH MCRAE: When will this bull market eventually end?
It is driven by optimism about the ways AI will transform the global economy and in doing so bring riches to its pioneers.
London-listed energy firm in talks over Saudi fuel site
Hydrogen Utopia International has developed a technology that avoids the fuel supply chains thrown into chaos by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Clarksons faces ANOTHER revolt over pay scheme
Andi Case's package, which includes an uncapped bonus, makes him one of the highest-earning chief executives of any company that is listed on the London stock market.
Using Drones for Cloud-Seeding Can Trigger Rain, Company Claims
Monday a company called Rainmaker announced their rain-triggering technology had produced 143 million gallons of freshwater for Utah and Oregon residents — making them "the first private company in history to validate the results of cloud seeding operations."
The Deseret News reports:
Founded in 2023, Rainmaker uses drones to disperse silver iodide into clouds, then they track precipitation with advanced radar. However, Rainmaker — and every other rain-enhancement company — has been up against the notoriously difficult challenge of validation. Since there is no control set to test, and because the weather is chaotic and variable, the Government Accountability Office declares the benefits of the technology to be "unproven." To overcome this evaluation challenge, Rainmaker flies drones in unique patterns when seeding. Then operators compare distinct radar and satellite features with where their drones operated.
As of April, Rainmaker found 82 unambiguous seeding signatures, which show their seeding operations directly caused precipitation. In Utah and Oregon alone, the company said its cloud-seeding efforts have added enough water to match the annual usage of about 1,750 households. However, "this figure likely represents only a small fraction of Rainmaker's total generation this season," the company said in their press release... Their drone precision, combined with their radar systems, have produced satellite images proving a direct correlation between the seeding and precipitation. Some images show cloud holes or regions of depressed cloud tops after seeding.
Rainmaker's announcement promises they'll "go forward and continue our mission to refill the Great Salt Lake, end drought in the American West and deliver water abundance wherever it is needed most around the world." (Rainmaker currently operates in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, California and Colorado.)
The director of Utah's Natural Resources Department told the Deseret News that with cloud seeding, "cost per unit of water is so low; it really is the smartest thing we can be doing with our money," Ferry said.
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Daniel Craig tries to keep a low profile in a hat and sunglasses as he touches down in Greece amid filming for new prison drama
Daniel Craig kept a low profile as he touched down at Athens International Airport in Greece on Saturday amid filming for his new prison drama in the country.
Trump once again says he's preparing to 'take over' Cuba 'almost immediately on way back from Iran' as he blasts its 'problems'
President Trump's sights appeared to be back on Cuba as he reiterated his goal of 'taking over' the Caribbean country while speaking in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Anna Nicole Smith's daughter Dannielynn attends Kentucky Derby in strapless dress after unveiling makeover
Dannielynn, 19, was spotted at the prestigious horse race at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, with her dad, Larry Birkhead, on Saturday afternoon.
Shocking moment thug attacks pensioner, 77, with a MACHETE after he is stabbed in car
Footage shows the moment a violent knifeman hacks at a 77-year-old man who is understood to have been stabbed inside the black Mercedes in Glasgow.
What if Tech Company Layoffs Aren't All About AI?
"Running a Big Tech company during Silicon Valley's AI mania may not necessarily require fewer workers or cost less," writes the Washington Post:
Amazon, Google and Meta together have roughly the same number of employees now as they did during an industry-wide hiring binge in 2022, company disclosures show. Growing costs for technical workers and related expenses have often outpaced sales recently. The tech giants' big AI bet hasn't yet paid for itself.
That means AI might be killing jobs not through its labor-saving wizardry but by increasing spending so much that CEOs are pressured to find savings, giving them cover to consciously uncouple from their workforces. Marc Andreessen, a prominent start-up investor and a Meta board director, put it bluntly on a recent podcast. Big company layoffs are a fix for overstaffing and changing economic conditions, he said, but AI provides a convenient scapegoat. "Now they all have the silver bullet excuse: 'Ah, it's AI,'" he said...
"Almost every company that does layoffs is blaming AI, whether or not it really is about AI," Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT owner OpenAI, said at a March conference when he listed explanations for AI's unpopularity in the United States.
"Recent history suggests Big Tech companies might not be moving toward a future with fewer workers," the article concludes, "but recalibrating to spend the same, or more, on different people and projects."
So in the end, "AI might soon reduce hiring," the article acknowledges, "But the reluctance or inability of the largest tech firms to cut too deeply so far could also show that the path to making a workforce AI-ready — whatever that means — isn't a predictable straight line charting declining headcount."
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Shocking moment drunken brawl breaks out on easyJet flight as 'woman swigs vodka and spits in passenger's face'
Video footage recorded by a horrified onlooker showed a woman, believed to be British, lunging across the middle aisle in an attempt to hit the other passenger.
Serial burglar awarded £5.5m compensation of taxpayers' cash for jail stabbing moans the 'money's a curse' as he's frittered millions away on cocaine, booze and partying
Career criminal Steven Wilson (pictured) successfully sued the Ministry of Justice after being attacked with a knife by a fellow prisoner and stabbed 16 times as he worked in a prison kitchen.