The US and the UK have allied to make sure AI is developed safely. A new memorandum of understanding has laid out proposals for testing and information sharing to ensure that AI is being safely written and maintained to prevent harm to anyone using it. The ultimate goal, as stated by representatives from both governments, is harnessing the potential of AI while ensuring the risks are understood and mitigated.
1:04 – Intel Reveals Foundry Operating Model
A recent filing by Intel revealed an interesting twist in its new Intel Foundry Operating Model. This new approach separates Intel’s product and foundry divisions organizationally and financially, and might lead to a spin-off or IPO of the fabs. It certainly allows for more flexibility in sourcing and manufacturing, positioning Intel to reclaim its leadership in process technology against competitors like TSMC.
Read More: Intel Foundry Operating Model Shown with Path to Process Leadership
5:04 – Backdoor Found in Popular Linux Utility
A major vulnerability in a Linux utility library was uncovered last week that has been over two years in the making. The XZ Utils library is used for data compression in a variety of programs. A developer, now believed to be someone working on behalf of a nation state actor, started getting invovled with the project almost two years ago. This week, a Microsoft developer noticed irregularities in the way that SSH was processing logins to a system he was testing. After debugging and disassembling code a backdoor was found in XZ Utils that could have allowed anyone with a special payload to execute code on the target system. Patches are now being issued to remove the backdoor across any vulnerable systems.
Read More: Backdoor found in widely used Linux utility targets encrypted SSH connections
9:36 – Testcontainers Cloud from Red Hat and Docker
In an attempt to catch the eye of developers, Red Hat and Docker have unveiled a new partnership that integrates Testcontainers Cloud into OpenShift, offering a solution to streamline the development process, ensuring that developers can maintain platform governance, security, and compliance while enhancing efficiency and innovation. The initiative reveals the continuing commitment from these cloud-native vendors to improving the development landscape by providing tools that support rapid iteration, compliance, and collaboration within cloud-native architectures.
Read More: Red Hat, Docker Ease Developer Experience with Testcontainers Cloud
12:41 – Keysight Acquires Spirent for $1.5 Billion
We reported at the beginning of March that Spirent was being acquired by Viavi. However, a last-minute bid for the company came in from Keysight that superceded the amount offered in the original deal. Spirent withdrew from the former deal and accepted the latter because of the 15% premium. The deal closed quickly thereafter which means that Keysight is now the owner of Spirent.
Read More: Keysight outbids rival Viavi to buy UK’s Spirent for $1.5 billion
15:54 – AI to Drive Microsoft’s Stargate
In an ambitious move to expand computational support for AI, Microsoft’s rumored “Stargate” project is set to become an entire cloud region dedicated to supporting large language model training in partnership with OpenAI. As reported by Timothy Prickett Morgan, this initiative is not merely about constructing another AI supercomputer but involves building a sprawling network of data centers potentially housing up to 1 million XPU computational devices. This bold step reflects the industry’s attempt to overcome power and capacity roadblocks to deliver ever-growing demand for computational resources to support AI.
Read More: Microsoft Stargate: The Next AI Platform will be an Entire Cloud Region
21:05 – Redis to use Dual Source-Available Licensing
Database program Redis is the latest open source project to change their licensing terms due to cloud providers. In a letter to the community, CEO Rowan Trollope announced that they were moving away from the BSD license model to a source-available model (SAL) and server side public license (SSPL). The move will allow development teams to download and modify the source code and integrate it into their projects. However, cloud providers will no longer be allowed to download and use the source code for free. The Redis team says that cloud providers have been making a significant amount of money from their hard work without contributing code back to the project.
Read More: Redis Adopts Dual Source-Available Licensing
25:33 – US and UK Join Forces for AI Safety
The US and the UK have allied to make sure AI is developed safely. A new memorandum of understanding has laid out proposals for testing and information sharing to ensure that AI is being safely written and maintained to prevent harm to anyone using it. The ultimate goal, as stated by representatives from both governments, is harnessing the potential of AI while ensuring the risks are understood and mitigated.
Read More: UK and US to jointly develop AI test suites to tackle risks
37:00 – The Weeks Ahead
Security Field Day 11 – April 10 – 11
Mobile Field Day 11 – May 15 – 16
AppDev Field Day 1 – May 29 – 30
The Six Five Summit – June 11 – 13
Gestalt IT and Tech Field Day are now part of The Futurum Group.
The Gestalt IT Rundown is your look at the IT news of the week. Be sure to subscribe to Gestalt IT on YouTube for even more weekly video content.
