An AI “oops” — OpenAI does a lot of development with advanced AI models that may act autonomously. It has developed a Preparedness Framework designed to assess and mitigate potential risks associated with those models to ensure that anything related to autonomy is identified and managed. However, to address the challenges of evaluating generated code and simulating real-world development scenarios accurately, OpenAI uses the SWE-bench, a benchmark that evaluates large language models’ ability to solve real-world software issues sourced from GitHub. During its testing, OpenAI found that some tests in SWE-bench could be too hard or even impossible to solve. That could cause a model’s capabilities to be underestimated. OpenAI is currently working with SWE-bench to fix these issues.

The last thing we need is an AI safety incident caused by underestimating a model’s autonomous capabilities.

An AI “oops” — OpenAI does a lot of development with advanced AI models that may act autonomously. It has developed a Preparedness Framework designed to assess and mitigate potential risks associated with those models to ensure that anything related to autonomy is identified and managed. However, to address the challenges of evaluating generated code and simulating real-world development scenarios accurately, OpenAI uses the SWE-bench, a benchmark that evaluates large language models’ ability to solve real-world software issues sourced from GitHub. During its testing, OpenAI found that some tests in SWE-bench could be too hard or even impossible to solve. That could cause a model’s capabilities to be underestimated. OpenAI is currently working with SWE-bench to fix these issues.

The last thing we need is an AI safety incident caused by underestimating a model’s autonomous capabilities.

This week I published a new piece on Forbes about whether developers should be worried about AI replacing their jobs. The research I performed led me to the conclusion that there is no imminent danger for devs. Yet there still remains a gap between what the general public thinks versus what developers understand about the nature of what developers do, how they do it, and how the role has evolved. To that end I wrote this new article to help go beyond all of the soundbites and opinions out there.

This week has also been dominated by follow-up conversations and interactions from this new article. The topic moved from developers to the broader idea of AI augmenting humans and processes versus replacing them. I have a new piece coming up where I don my developer hat and fail spectacularly. But in the process, I learned a lot about how to change your mindset to get better results from AI, instead of getting the same results only faster and/or cheaper.

LiquidStack, the leader in immersion cooling technology, has done a good job of expanding its portfolio to be competitive in the direct-to-chip cooling space. This company, which cut its teeth in the crypto-mining space with a two-phase immersion solution, has clearly seen the trends and transitioned quite well into a company with a much broader portfolio.

Liquid cooling is the future—and not the distant future. The amount of investment dollars pouring into this space is astounding and companies like LiquidStack and JetCool are very well positioned (and funded) to play a significant role in both shaping and capturing the market. There is also a lot of promotion from server vendors around their own proprietary cooling solutions. However, as I speak with datacenter operators, it is clear they are looking for solutions that can span all systems across all racks, especially as AI and other workloads drive heterogeneity across the enterprise.

What to make of AMD’s acquisition of ZT Systems? Are you a fan? $4.9 billion is a lot of money to pay for a company when the intent is to spin off half of its operations. When looking at what AMD is actually acquiring, it’s about having a dedicated team to design AI systems. Given that about 1,000 engineers are coming over from ZT, some have framed the acquisition at a cost of about $4.9 million per systems engineer.

I’m a fan of the move—a big fan. By many estimates, the AI market is expected to grow to more than $400 billion dollars annually in the next few years. This AI market is going to be powered by servers that are unlike what is being deployed today. These will be highly bespoke systems that tightly integrate CPUs, GPUs, I/O, networking, and storage to best move, process, train, and operationalize data. In this context, AMD is the only company that can (at this moment) realistically challenge the dominance of NVIDIA with its IP portfolio.

Putting the pieces together in a bespoke platform is really difficult and time-consuming. And time-to-market is absolutely critical if AMD wants to compete beyond just spec sheets and capturing overflow business. To compete in a significant way, AMD needs the resources to design these systems faster and more completely. Further, the system design work has to integrate with and inform silicon design. THAT is what AMD has bought with ZT Systems, and it is going to pay dividends down the line.

Juniper Networks recently announced its Blueprint for AI-Native Acceleration. The company is offering training, trial offers that include software and hardware, and flexible licensing to reduce the friction for customers that are hesitant about embracing AI-infused networking. It is a novel approach, one that provides Juniper channel partners with a new set of tools that could lead to closing more network infrastructure sales opportunities.

During its August 2024 Security Patch Day, SAP released fixes for 17 vulnerabilities, six of which were particularly severe, scoring between 7 and 10 on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) scale. SAP urged customers to apply these patches immediately and provided workarounds for situations where immediate patching isn’t feasible.

These are the two most critical vulnerabilities:

• CVE-2024-41730 — An authentication bypass flaw in SAP’s BusinessObjects intelligence platform, with a CVSS score of 9.8. This vulnerability allows unauthorized users to obtain a logon token via a REST endpoint if single sign-on is enabled, potentially compromising the system’s confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
• CVE-2024-29415 — A server-side request forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in applications built with SAP Build Apps. This issue arises from improper categorization of IP addresses that was not fully addressed in a previous fix.

Hackers frequently target ERP systems because they present such big—and potentially disruptive—targets, most of all with major vendors such as SAP. There has also been a significant increase in ransomware attacks specifically targeting ERP systems since 2021. I suggest always staying current on your ERP system and taking immediate advantage of updates/patches to reduce the threat of attacks.

Contact-center software company Genesys released its 2024 Sustainability Report, which showed that it is making significant progress towards its 2030 sustainability goals. These include reducing emissions, improving its CDP and EcoVadis assessments, and opening a new LEED Gold-certified R&D center. Socially, Genesys has expanded its charitable offerings and continued to focus on diversity and inclusion in the organization. Genesys’ public commitment to sustainability is commendable and, I believe, a standout in the industry

Gamescom this year has really embraced its role as the replacement for E3, with tons of game announcements and many hardware manufacturers taking their teasers from Computex and relaunching them at Gamescom. One company that didn’t do that was HP, which announced a new highly customizable Omen 35L gaming PC along with some new keyboards and microphones.

There are rumors that Meta is canceling its La Jolla mixed-reality headset, a potential successor to the Quest Pro—and a device that I honestly didn’t think was necessary to begin with. Especially given that potential issues with LG’s manufacturing could already be pushing back production, I don’t think Meta has much wiggle room on timelines. I’m also not sure that we need more headsets over $1,000.

It has been really interesting to see how many titles are coming out for Xbox and PS5 at Gamescom thanks to both Sony and Microsoft mostly abandoning console exclusives in favor of simply selling as many copies of a game as possible. This approach showed how successful it could be with Helldivers, although Sony got a bit too greedy and tried to make people sign up for a mandatory Sony Online account after having already bought the game.

“QuitToking” is a growing trend in which employees publicly resign on TikTok or other social media platforms. This clearly reflects a shift in employees’ priorities towards work-life balance and a willingness to voice their discontent. This trend presents a double whammy for companies in that they are losing valuable talent, and public resignations can damage their brand. While it can be risky for employees to air grievances publicly, by the time they’re on TikTok recording themselves walking out of the office for the last time, the damage is done for that employer. Savvy organizations will take heed of this trend—and what it says about today’s workplace atmosphere—and put themselves ahead of the curve. One way is to take advantage of solutions provided by companies such as Workvivo, Zoho, and Slack. These platforms help foster open communication and track employee engagement (among other things) with the goal of creating a more positive work environment—one that helps companies protect their employer brand and retain top talent.

NXP released a fully supported Debian 12 Linux distribution for “select” i.MX and Layerscape evaluation kits. Debian is among the most popular distributions for embedded applications because of its stability, extensive package support, and long-term updates. NXP provides complete board support packages (BSPs) and a Yocto configuration toolchain, enabling developers to start building production-ready IoT applications with little or no system development. This announcement further proves that IoT device development is rapidly transitioning from DIY custom mashups to software-defined application platforms. Product companies using a platform approach rather than full-stack embedded development have much faster product cycles, lower costs, more advanced features, better security, and higher quality.

Smart metering growth has remained steady at a CAGR of about 7% for years. In a recent report, Transforma projects that the smart metering market will increase to $40 billion by 2033 as connectivity technologies consolidate to LPWA—cellular mMTC, LoRaWAN, and Sigfox. Today, metering accounts for ten percent of all IoT connections. Although the company reckons metering’s share will drop to 9% over the next decade as other IoT use cases accelerate, I predict a much sharper decline. As AI applications create insatiable demands for instrumenting enterprise and consumer physical assets, I believe the metering share will drop to less than 5% over that period. I describe how AI is transforming the industrial IoT landscape in this new Forbes article.

The Google Pixel 9 just hit the shelves, so people can now experience the new Gemini Live voice assistant, along with the new Panorama mode (exclusive to the Pixel 9) and satellite messaging capability. I’ll have much more on all aspects of the Google Pixel launch in a writeup later this week on Forbes.

Many wearables, especially earbuds and rings, have a major repairability problem: once they break, they’re mostly not repairable and turn into throwaway tech. This was brought home to me by a recent teardown of a Samsung Galaxy Ring from iFixit and another video about the same issue with Apple’s AirPods Pro. The scope of the problem suggests there should be a lurking entrepreneurial opportunity, so if any of our readers are familiar with companies attacking this problem, I’d love to hear about them.

Google’s Android 15 Quarterly Platform Release 1 is live for Pixel devices, and one of the interesting tidbits to emerge from it is that the Pixel 6 might be getting longer support than Google had promised. The Pixel 6 was only supposed to receive system updates until October of 2024, but it seems that it is now being included in the QPR, which means it might be getting Android 15—and stay fresher than most people expected.

Apple has split its App Store team in two and reorganized the group amid global regulatory scrutiny. The company has also begun allowing users to delete the App Store from their iPhones altogether. This comes in the wake of rulings earlier this year by the U.S. Supreme Court and the European Commission that have effectively forced Apple to modify its practices for the App Store. So while further changes are expected, nobody fully knows yet how it will all pan out

RingCentral recently announced updates to its contact center solution, RingCX. These updates include native, real-time AI assistance for agents and supervisors and AI-based coaching and feedback tools. The company also reported substantial growth in its RingCX customer base in its first year. RingCentral hosted a virtual event to showcase the new AI capabilities within RingCX and their practical applications. The company had CX author Blake Morgan discuss the importance of customer-focused leadership, so the event strategically combined product announcements with thought leadership. It was a smart move to showcase product updates alongside practical advice on how to leverage them for improved customer experiences.

Zoom’s stock surged following strong Q2 2025 results, marking its best day in almost two years. The company beat revenue and earnings expectations and raised its full-year guidance. This success comes as Zoom expands its product portfolio and invests heavily in AI to reignite growth, which stalled after its pandemic boom. The company reported that lower customer churn and its growing contact-center business helped with the results. This should indicate a promising future for Zoom beyond its videoconferencing roots. The company also announced the departure of its long-time CFO, Kelly Steckelberg, a significant loss despite the positive financial news.

Webex AI Codec is now generally available in the Webex app; it aims to enhance audio quality during online meetings and calls, particularly in challenging network conditions. Audio continues to be one of the most important aspects of collaboration and is a significant factor in providing the best experience for employees and customers. The company says the technology can deliver clear audio while using minimal bandwidth—which addresses a common frustration in remote and hybrid work environments. I saw and heard a demo of the codec last year, and it works as advertised. I think this is a significant development in the industry as it reflects companies’ focus on ensuring users’ ability to communicate regardless of their location or Internet connectivity.

NVIDIA has announced another partnership with MediaTek, this time for monitor scalers to enable G-Sync Pulsar, the latest generation of NVIDIA’s frame-rate panel refresh technology on more affordable computers. Previously, G-Sync required an additional G-Sync module to run all the technologies NVIDIA has created for it, but now it will be integrated into the monitor’s scaler, saving on cost and complexity. This will broaden the appeal of G-Sync and bring it to an even bigger audience.

PsiQuantum has made significant progress towards its goal of developing a fault-tolerant quantum computer with a million qubits. The company recently announced a partnership to establish a quantum computing hub in Chicago, backed by $500 million in public funds. PsiQuantum is also building prototypes in the U.K., at Stanford University, and in Brisbane, Australia, where it plans to develop its first fault-tolerant photonic quantum computer by 2027.

Photons have long coherence times with minimal environmental interaction, making them ideal for quantum computing. PsiQuantum uses single-photon sources, integrated superconducting detectors and photonic chips, all produced through a high-volume manufacturing partnership with GlobalFoundries. PsiQuantum’s photonic quantum architecture employs advanced filtering and interference techniques to ensure high-quality photon qubits and help it achieve a million-qubit system capable of solving complex, previously intractable problems. You can read more about PsiQuantum in my latest Forbes article.

Research by Quantinuum has simplified quantum error correction. It is easy for quantum computer qubits to make errors, but determining where these errors occur is a complicated process that requires a lot of time-consuming checks called syndrome extractions. Now scientists from Quantinuum and the University of Maryland have found a way to correct errors by using a method called single-shot quantum error correction. Quantinuum’s latest H2 quantum computer was used to test this method using a 4-D surface code that makes it easier to find and fix errors. Compared to the older 2-D surface code, the 4-D code did as well or better by using fewer resources and less time. This shows that single-shot error correction can speed up quantum machines for complex calculations. You can dig into the details in the preprint article conveying this research.

Halliburton is the latest big company to fall victim to a cyberattack. Critical infrastructure, including oil and gas services, will continue to be a target for bad actors that use denial-of-service techniques. What is especially troubling about this incident is the impact to the energy industry and the negative consequences for consumers and enterprises that rely on refinery and natural gas production. Consequently, it is imperative that a multi-layered approach to security is employed to safeguard an industry that is tied to the United States’ national security.

xMEMS has come out with a semiconductor cooling solution that has no fans and can move air without needing heat pipes or copper to transfer heat. This will hopefully give Frore Systems a run for its money and could give the entire solid-state cooling market a credibility boost.

I am looking forward to attending the US Open to see firsthand how IBM is leveraging AI to reshape tennis fans’ experience. The partnership between IBM and the USTA takes a strategic approach for brand and technology integration with AI-powered match commentary and personalized insights, which should enhance fan engagement on a granular level. What’s really impressive is IBM’s AI learning initiative through SkillsBuild using tennis as a familiar framework. This shows the company’s dedication to fostering broader technological literacy and the potential of AI to not only revolutionize industries such as sports but also create educational opportunities for individuals across diverse backgrounds.

The Moor Insights & Strategy sports technology team (Melody Brue and Robert Kramer) will be in action at Flushing Meadows for this year’s US Open tennis tournament. IBM, which has been working with the United States Tennis Association for 30 years, combines data, AI, and the IBM watsonx platform with tennis to bring fans the future experience of sports technology.

Tune in and take advantage of the team’s live podcasts. We will be taking a closer look at the technology and talking with IBM experts, fans, players, and other vendors. For now, you can find out more from this IBM post about AI at the US Open.

Nokia and Axiom Space are partnering to embed 4G LTE communications in spacesuits for the Artemis III mission to the Moon’s south pole in 2026. This effort complements Nokia’s already planned cellular network deployment on the Moon as part of NASA’s Tipping Point program. The applications are exciting, including helmet camera HD video streaming, telemetry data transmission, and voice communications over long distances. Pairing Nokia’s cellular infrastructure with spacesuit communications is truly out of this world, and it could help unlock new findings on an uncharted part of the lunar surface.