The Guardian (U.K.)
On Thursday, Meta told staff it would cut some 10% of its personnel in May—just under 8,000 employees—and close about 6,000 open roles, while Microsoft announced to employees it would offer voluntary retirement to about 7% of its U.S. workforce of about 125,000. The cuts come as both companies intend to invest in AI to boost efficiencies and profits. Meta plans $115–$135 billion in AI spending this fiscal year, while Microsoft is expected to spend $110–$120 billion.
From "Microsoft, Meta Announce Large Staff Reductions"
The Guardian (U.K.) (04/23/26) Sanya Mansoor
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Scientific American
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) unexpectedly awarded a record 2,599 Graduate Research Fellowship Program fellowships in 2026, reversing a sharp decline the previous year. The fellowships, which fund tuition and provide stipends, saw notable increases in fields prioritized by policymakers, including AI and quantum science, while engineering and biological sciences fellowships also rebounded.
From "NSF Awards Record Number of Ph.D. Fellowships"
Scientific American (04/18/26) Dan Garisto
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ComputerWeekly.com
The Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance warned that China-linked hackers are increasingly using large networks of compromised Internet-connected devices—such as routers, printers, and webcams—to conceal espionage and cyberattacks against Western organizations. According to the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Center and partner agencies, these groups exploit unpatched devices at scale to build “covert infrastructure” that supports all stages of attacks, including reconnaissance, malware delivery, command-and-control, and data theft.
From "Chinese Hackers Using Compromised Networks to Spy, Says Five Eyes"
ComputerWeekly.com (04/23/26) Bill Goodwin
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The Asahi Shimbun (Japan)
A table tennis robot developed by Sony AI researchers defeated several nationally ranked players in Japan. Equipped with an eight-jointed robotic arm and a vision system using 12 cameras, the Ace robotic system tracks ball speed, spin, and trajectory in real time. Its movements are powered by deep reinforcement learning, enabling it to execute 15 types of serves and sustain fast-paced rallies.
From "Table Tennis Robot Humbles Players at National Level"
The Asahi Shimbun (Japan) (04/23/26) Takahiro Takenouchi
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Pacific Northwest National Laboratory News Release
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and an international team of collaborators have shown that AI-optimized GPU supercomputers can perform highly accurate quantum chemistry calculations previously considered too complex or costly. The team used Nvidia Blackwell architecture on benchmark problems such as the FeMoco enzyme and cytochrome P450, both crucial to understanding nitrogen fixation and drug metabolism. Combining Density Matrix Renormalization Group methods with mixed-precision computing yielded chemically accurate results while reducing computational demands.
From "AI Accelerators Deliver Accurate Models for Challenging Quantum Chemistry Calculations"
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory News Release (04/23/26) Karyn Hede
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Associated Press
Michael and Susan Dell donated $750 million to the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) to support a new AI-focused medical center and research campus. The UT Dell Medical Center, expected to open by 2030, aims to integrate AI into patient care. UT Austin Dell Medical School dean Dr. Claudia Lucchinetti said "ambient” AI will make the hospital itself an “intelligent member of the care team,” touting AI’s ability to identify biometric patterns and early signs of cancer.
From "Dells Fund ‘AI-Native’ Medical Center with $750-Million Gift to University of Texas"
Associated Press (04/22/26) James Pollard
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