DOSSIER

TECH

The boom in data centers and the boom in inflation in energy bills for the average consumer

The rapidly rising cost of electricity in the United States threatens to claim its biggest victim yet: the nation's largest power grid operator.

Federal authorities have begun considering the possibility of splitting up PJM Interconnection, responsible for managing the grid that stretches from the prairies of Illinois to the coast of New Jersey. The expansion of new data centers is putting pressure on the electricity supply in the 13 states served by PJM, driving up prices and fueling a political backlash.

Regulators, state officials, and executives in the electricity sector complain that the organization is taking too long to approve new power plants and generation projects capable of keeping up with the growth in demand.

Even the CEO of PJM stated that the current situation is "not sustainable," arguing that the entity cannot guarantee sufficient energy supply in the future while simultaneously protecting residential consumers from rising tariffs.

One of the largest energy utilities in its area of ​​operation, American Electric Power, even threatened to leave the organization, which could lead to the incorporation of its transmission lines into another nearby regional grid.

The FERC, the country's energy regulatory agency, has called a meeting for July 23 to discuss possible reforms, including changes to the governance of the PJM.

The FERC chair warned last month that the PJM may need to be broken up into smaller, more manageable parts if reforms do not appear feasible. A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, also stated that a split should be considered if necessary.

The organization's inability to act more quickly, said FERC chair Laura Swett, jeopardizes the United States' leadership in the field of artificial intelligence.

"The PJM is on the front line; it is the laboratory of national and economic security upon which our country can prosper or fail," Swett stated during the organization's annual membership meeting, held on May 12 in Baltimore.

"We now face historically unprecedented demand and the possibility of a historically unprecedented catastrophic failure."

Founded nearly a century ago, PJM Interconnection manages the transmission grid that supplies electricity to 67 million people—almost a fifth of the United States' population.

Its vast territory also houses some of the largest concentrations of new data processing centers in the country, especially a strip in northern Virginia now known as "Data Center Alley." After decades of modest growth, energy demand is skyrocketing.

Prices are following this trajectory. In the first three months of this year, electricity prices in the PJM grid's wholesale market jumped 76% compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching an average of US$136.53 per megawatt-hour. Capacity costs, a mechanism that ensures sufficient energy supply during periods of higher demand, have increased by almost 400%.

The rise in electricity bills is causing political turmoil in the United States on the eve of this year's legislative elections, and officials from different political currents have blamed PJM for part of the problem.

Pennsylvania even threatened to leave the organization. President Donald Trump, accompanied by governors from several states, requested that the PJM hold a special energy auction in which technology companies would finance the construction of new power plants by bidding for 15-year electricity capacity contracts. In response, the PJM stated that it will change the way data centers and suppliers enter into contracts and will anticipate the contracting of new energy supply.

"There is no clear plan from the PJM to simultaneously address tariff affordability and system reliability," said Maryland Governor Wes Moore, considered by some to be a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028, at the opening of the PJM's annual meeting in May. "Even if we hadn't foreseen the scale of the phenomenon, data centers are nothing new, and we've known for some time that we would see many more of them."

"The PJM failed to anticipate this," he added.

A representative from PJM stated that the organization generates significant value for the states it serves and will continue working to address supply shortages.

— We understand the states' concerns about tightening electricity supply and increasing demand, which pose challenges to both reliability and tariff affordability — said spokesperson Jeffrey Shields.

— PJM has been warning about these issues for several years and remains committed to working with states and its members to address these common challenges.

Part of the problem lies in PJM's complex and unusual structure. The organization oversees both electricity transmission and the markets and auctions that determine energy prices. Technically, it is a private company, but it operates as a membership association.

Its more than 500 voting members — including utilities and power plant operators — can influence policies through internal committees, although the entity also has a technical team and board of directors that make their own decisions. Frequently, the interests of the participants diverge profoundly: some advocate for the expansion of renewable sources, while others continue to bet on coal.

Its CEO, David Mills, took office just a month ago. In a letter sent to market participants, he described a “credibility gap” between the need for high prices to stimulate the construction of new power plants and the obligation to protect consumers from unsustainable tariffs. According to him, limiting the prices paid by consumers means reducing incentives for the entry of new energy generation.

— My job is to ensure that PJM stops being seen as the punching bag responsible for solving all these problems — Mills stated during the annual meeting. — It will require a collective effort.

One of PJM's main challenges will be reforming the so-called capacity market, a mechanism created to guarantee sufficient energy during the dozens of hours per year when demand peaks and the risk of blackouts increases.

According to a recent report from the independent PJM market monitor, the data center boom added approximately US$23 billion (about R$116 billion) to the cost of this "insurance" for the three-year period ending in mid-2028.

How the PJM will be structured a year from now will depend on the decisions made by the organization and its regulators in the next two months, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

There is even a risk that the network operator will dissolve without federal intervention if American Electric Power (AEP) abandons the organization and other utilities follow suit.

FERC President Laura Swett made it clear in her speech at the PJM annual meeting that profound changes may be necessary.

"We are facing a moment of profound consequences. Personally, I am very willing to act aggressively when the future of the country is at stake," Swett stated.

More pollution...A surge in Australian data centre construction driven by AI risks pushing up power bills and climate pollution, according to a new report from the Climate Council.

The report, Clouded future: Managing risks of the data centre boom, reveals that Australia is already a global investment hotspot – second only to the USA in 2024 – with 162 data centres in operation and more than 90 projects in the pipeline.

 

Unchecked, this growth risks:

↑ 26% wholesale electricity price rise in NSW, and 23% rise in Victoria by 2035 if data centre demand is met with gas, not renewables

↑ 14% more climate pollution from our main electricity grid by 2035 without intervention

3X projected growth in data centre energy demand by 2030 – making their power use equivalent to all Victorian homes – in the midst of the clean energy build out 3X projected growth in water demand by 2030 as our climate is becoming hotter and drier. Water utilities have received single site connection requests to be able to use up to 40 million litres a day (equivalent to 16 Olympic swimming pools).

But proactive, swift Government action can better align data centre growth with Australia’s switch to clean, reliable and affordable energy. Requiring new data centres to match their load with low cost, new renewables and storage will protect Australians from price hikes and pollution surges.

Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said:

“Australia is navigating a dual boom: a critical switch to a clean energy system and a historic surge in digital infrastructure. To protect the Australia of tomorrow, our governments must act today.

“Data centres are hungry for energy. Governments must proactively manage the surging demand, making sure that they are powered with clean renewable power. If they don’t, there is a big risk that they will push up pollution from coal and gas at a time when we’re already living through more frequent floods, and ferocious fires.

“Unchecked construction of data centres would hit Australians in the hip pocket, too, if their high energy demand is met by expensive and polluting gas rather than additional renewables. But, matching new data centre load with low cost, new renewables and storage will protect households, and other businesses from those costs.

“There is an opportunity to align the expansion in datacentres with climate action, and the time for Government action is now.”

Climate Councillor and energy expert, Associate Professor Joel Gilmore, said:

“How we manage this industry will shape our energy system – and climate – for decades to come. Done poorly, data centres threaten to derail our switch to clean energy – which will push up pollution and power prices. With government intervention and enforceable requirements, data centres can play a role in our clean energy shift, support grid reliability, and avoid unnecessary power price rises.

“Data centres are like a giant snowball rolling down the mountain. If they don’t bring new, low-cost renewables and storage with them and pay for the energy and water infrastructure upgrades they need, they’ll be dumping massive costs onto households and businesses.

“These are large, well-resourced corporations who can afford to pay for the clean energy they need. Australian households should not be subsidising big American tech companies – our governments must act swiftly to insist that these companies come to the party with additional renewable energy and storage.’’

mundophone

DIGITAL LIFE

AitM Attack: a modern and highly dangerous evolution of the classic MitM (man-in-the-middle)

The world of cybersecurity never sleeps, and threats evolve at a dizzying pace. If you thought traditional phishing was already a tremendous headache, get ready to meet an even more insidious and effective cyber threat.

We're talking about the AitM (Adversary-in-the-Middle) attack, a modern and highly dangerous evolution of the classic MitM (Man-in-the-Middle). Instead of simply cloning an old-fashioned login page, the cybercriminal literally places themselves in the middle of your real-time connection to a legitimate service.

What makes this scheme at least frightening is its incredible ability to bypass two-factor authentication (MFA). Attackers don't just want to discover your password; they want to hijack your validated session without you even realizing it.

How this silent assault works...In practice, in an AitM attack, the hacker sets up a malicious proxy server that acts as an invisible intermediary. When you click on a fraudulent link, your traffic begins to be routed through this server before reaching its final destination, such as your bank or corporate email.

From your side, everything seems perfectly normal. The page loads, the design is correct, and there's no great reason to be suspicious. However, as you enter your data, the attacker is forwarding this information to the real server, capturing everything that travels from one place to another.

The theft of your session and the MFA bypass...The true evil ingenuity of this attack is revealed in how it handles multi-factor authentication (MFA). When you enter your code received via SMS or generated in an app, the attacker passes this code directly to the real website.

As soon as the website validates the login and returns the precious session token (a cookie that tells your browser you are logged in), the attacker's server intercepts this token. With this key in hand, the hacker can access your account without needing passwords or new verification codes, assuming your digital identity.

Warning signs and courses of action...Although complex and invisible at first glance, these attacks leave some clues along the way. Most campaigns begin through fraudulent emails, suspicious SMS (Smishing), or even manipulated QR codes (Quishing) that throw you directly into the clutches of the proxy.

To avoid becoming the next victim, it is essential to keep an eye out for some technical and behavioral indicators. These are the main signs that you may be suffering from this type of attack:

URLs with suspicious patterns, small spelling errors, or strange subdomains that try to mimic the originals.

Security certificate warnings in your browser, indicating that the connection is not private.

Unexpected login requests, unusual delays during authentication, or repeated credential requests in the same session.

Unusual activity spikes recorded in account reports, such as sessions initiated from disparate geographical locations at the same time.

How can you keep your security intact...Defending against a threat that lives in the middle of your connection requires smarter tools than the attacker himself. The use of physical hardware security keys (such as FIDO2 or WebAuthn) is one of the most robust solutions, since the cryptographic process validates the real domain and blocks authentication if it detects the proxy in the middle.

Password managers remain excellent allies in this fight. Because they work based on the exact domain of the site, a manager simply refuses to automatically fill in your data if the URL address in the browser is not correct, cutting the attack off at the root.

To complement these defenses, reinforcing your arsenal with a comprehensive protection suite ends up being the most logical step. Surfshark, for example, offers tools that go far beyond a simple VPN connection to hide your IP. Thanks to antimalware features, the service actively blocks dangerous domains and phishing attempts before the page even loads. If you end up clicking on that fraudulent link that starts the AitM scheme, the platform blocks the connection at the source, ensuring that your data never falls into the wrong hands.

What is an AiTM attack? An Adversary-in-the-Middle (AiTM) attack is a phishing technique that uses a reverse proxy to intercept credentials and session tokens in real time. Unlike static phishing pages, AiTM actively relays traffic to the legitimate identity provider, allowing attackers to bypass multi-factor authentication (MFA) by capturing the authenticated session cookie.

The attack unfolds in three stages:

Luring and redirecting to a fake login. The attack begins with a phishing email designed to bypass standard filters and create a sense of urgency. Instead of a static attachment, the email contains a URL that directs the victim to the attacker's proxy server, rather than the legitimate service.

The reverse proxy steals credentials and session cookies. As soon as the user interacts with the fake website, the reverse proxy relays the entered information to the legitimate identity provider in real time. This "man-in-the-middle" position allows the attacker to capture not only the password, but also the multi-factor authentication (MFA) response and the resulting session cookie.

Account takeover and lateral movement. Possessing a valid session cookie, the attacker assumes the user's digital identity without triggering new multi-factor authentication (MFA) requests. This access is immediately exploited to establish persistence, such as creating mailbox rules to hide activities, or to perform lateral movements in critical systems, such as financial and cloud environments, for business email compromise (BEC) campaigns.

AiTM attacks vs. classic Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks: What's the difference? Classic Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks exploit network vulnerabilities to intercept data in transit secretly, usually by decrypting traffic on a compromised connection (such as a public Wi-Fi network). In contrast, an AiTM (Air-in-the-Middle) attack directly targets the login process to hijack an identity session. It completely bypasses the network layer by using a reverse proxy to deceive the user and gain access for the attacker.

mundophone

DIGITAL LIFE

AI worm adapts across networks, turning any online device into potential target

A team of researchers at the University of Toronto has discovered a new class of cyberthreat that gives hackers more power and reach at far less cost. It can be built with free AI models. Every online device is a potential target. And current cyber defenses are not yet ready for it.

The researchers, who posted their study to the arXiv preprint server on June 2, are believed to be the first to show that publicly accessible AI models can be used to power a worm that adapts its strategy as it spreads from one device to the next. It can seize control of an entire network and hijack computing power to allow hackers to launch sophisticated attacks at virtually no cost.

Conducted in a secure digital lab walled off from the outside world, the research shows that highly skilled hackers don't need cutting-edge AI or deep pockets to unleash malware capable of learning, calculating and pivoting in real time—exploiting known vulnerabilities in each device as it proliferates across a system.

The findings raise profound concerns about the security of our interconnected world—from financial systems to hospitals to the networks underpinning critical services.

"It was imperative for us to understand this threat in a controlled, academic setting before bad actors figured it out for themselves," says Nicolas Papernot, who authored the research alongside members of his CleverHans Lab located at U of T and the Vector Institute, where he is a Canada CIFAR (Canadian Institute for Advanced Research) AI Chair.

Papernot—who is also an associate professor of computer engineering in U of T's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science—added that the research was shared only after careful scrutiny to remove any information that could aid threat actors, noting it is well understood that such efforts are underway behind closed doors. He says he felt compelled to go public as early as possible to give researchers, policymakers and the general public a chance to protect themselves against an emerging threat that stretches from everyday laptops to HVAC systems and the energy grid.

Before publishing, the researchers shared their findings with national science, security and defense bodies and sought advice on how to responsibly release the information.

"The reason we are doing this research is to ensure the security of the digital ecosystem we all rely on—to keep people safe. This finding catapults us into a new era of cybersecurity," says Papernot, a faculty affiliate at U of T's Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society, which focuses on ensuring AI is responsible, inclusive and beneficial for everyone.

"By understanding the risks, we are now positioned to develop the countermeasures needed to detect and defend against threats like this."

Underestimated threats...One of the world's leading cybersecurity experts, Papernot has made it his lab's mission to anticipate the security concerns that matter most—even the ones the cybersecurity community isn't paying attention to yet.

The rise of the most powerful AI models, like Anthropic's Claude Mythos, has sparked widespread alarm over their unprecedented capacity to unearth hidden security flaws, even as big-tech players maintain tight controls to prevent misuse.

Papernot's team, however, was interested in the potential misuse of smaller, relatively simple models that anyone can download and modify for free. While valuable for researchers and developers, these "open-weight" AI models can be stripped of their safety guardrails and, with enough technical knowledge, manipulated to do harm.

This risk is often downplayed on the assumption that these models lack the power to do real damage. So, Papernot's team decided to put that assumption to the test in a safe, academic setting.

An AI-driven worm propagates across a heterogeneous network by parasitically acquiring computational resources for autonomous reasoning. Credit: arXiv (2026)

Building a prototype...A worm is a digital invader that crawls through a network, copying itself onto every device it touches—no clicks required and without users' knowledge. If it takes root, it can wreak havoc across an entire system. Traditionally, this type of attack follows a fixed script programmed by a human. If it hits a defense it wasn't programmed to crack, it fails. Cybersecurity experts know this and have built protections to contain such threats.

For their AI-powered version, Papernot's team built a proof-of-concept prototype in a secure, closed system, taking extensive precautions. Their experiments emulate the capabilities of an AI-driven worm in a simulation of dozens of interconnected devices, including laptops, printers and cameras.

The researchers' work showed that open-weight AI models could be used to engineer a far more sophisticated threat—one that can scope out each target, tailor its attacks and take over a machine before cloning itself onto the next one. The worm also gathers information as it moves deeper into a network, with every breach revealing passwords and weak points that can unlock another machine. And because it adapts, no single defense can stop it.

The worm extends its reach at its victims' expense. Once it embeds itself in a machine, the AI worm siphons processing power to fuel its reasoning and launch the next attack. This stolen compute propels its spread, essentially eliminating the cost of each new infection.

"Hackers have typically had to prioritize the most high-value targets because time and computing resources were limited," Papernot says. "But now, once a worm is launched, the cost would drop to nearly zero."

Unlike prior research on a worm that spreads itself through AI applications, the researchers' prototype represents a threat that can operate outside AI systems to attack the underlying software, putting a much wider range of devices at risk.

"Every device connected to the internet—laptops, cameras, smart thermostats and everything else—becomes a potential target, if not for the data it holds, then as a foothold to attack more valuable targets."

A new era of cyberthreat...While the research demonstrates that AI worms don't require expensive models or computing power, building one still demands technical expertise. Even so, Papernot suspects that the window for defenses is rapidly closing—and that the cybersecurity world isn't ready for what is coming.

Unlike the powerful, heavily safeguarded Mythos, the prototype does not root out unknown weaknesses. But in an uncontrolled setting, the worm could gain internet access and scan and exploit warning notices about newly discovered vulnerabilities, outpacing the software patches meant to stop them.

Some of these can be fixed with software updates. But others are human errors such as weak passwords and sloppy IT setups that can't be solved by pushing out a patch. That means a hacker doesn't need the most advanced AI models to cause unprecedented damage.

"In an interconnected world, no system is immune to this threat," Papernot says. "Sharing these findings is the first step in galvanizing researchers, industry leaders and policymakers to take action—and quickly."

Every device is a potential source of information for the next attack, so locking down your own makes the whole network tougher to crack. Papernot urges IT professionals to shore up any security settings that could leave their systems exposed. Users need to do their part, too.

"Everyone has a role to play in keeping us safe," Papernot says.

That means practicing good security hygiene: Keep your devices patched and up to date. Use strong passwords. Enable multifactor authentication.

"We can no longer afford to hit 'ignore' on software updates," he says. "Every door you close is one less way in, so it's worth taking a few minutes to reboot."

Disclosure for defense...For Papernot, publishing the findings is itself an act of defense that academic research is uniquely positioned to mount.

He points to the precedent set by University Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton, who won a Nobel Prize for his role in ushering in the AI revolution. "Geoffrey has been vocal about the role academic research plays in shaping decision-making when it comes to regulating AI. This type of collective mobilization by academia, industry and governments is exactly what we need to address this new threat we have identified here with AI-driven computer worms."

It is a well-established practice in cybersecurity research to build proof-of-concept prototypes in controlled environments to better understand emerging threats and evaluate defenses against them. Conducting such studies in an academic setting ensures that the research remains independent, upholds ethical and safety standards and is open to review and scrutiny, ultimately benefiting the broader community.

Papernot credits his co-authors and collaborators Jonas Guan, Tom Blanchard, Hanna Foerster, Hengrui Jia and Gabriel Huang for helping bring this threat to light.

His lab is already hard at work developing countermeasures. And he says U of T is the perfect place to do it. "U of T brings the deep AI expertise, multi-disciplinary talent, safe research environment, infrastructure and institutional scale crucial to solving big problems like this," he says. "And the solutions to this problem will involve the increased availability of open-source AI models of all sizes and transparency from the companies creating the most powerful models.

"We're ready to work with the rest of the world to find solutions and build a safer future."

 

Provided by University of Toronto 

TECH

From tough plant waste to everyday products, this light-powered advance opens a path to greener plastics.

A pioneering technology capable of converting lignin, one of the world's most abundant organic compounds, into vanillin and biodegradable materials has been unveiled by the University of Alicante (UA), in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV). The study, published in Nature Communications, offers a sustainable method for repurposing plant waste and identifies viable alternatives to the fossil fuels that currently drive the chemical industry.

Lignin is a complex organic polymer that constitutes nearly 30% of plant biomass. Due to its intricate chemical structure, it has long been one of the greatest unresolved challenges for biorefineries. Conventional processing methods typically yield highly heterogeneous mixtures that are notoriously difficult to separate and refine.

To overcome this, the UA-led team developed an innovative photocatalyst based on anthraquinone—an affordable and highly stable material. When activated by ultraviolet light, this catalyst selectively breaks down the most abundant chemical bonds within lignin.

"In this study, we present a technology that allows us to transform lignin into high-value products using nothing but light and ambient conditions," explained Dr. Néstor Guijarro, the study's principal investigator. The photocatalyst captures light and harnesses that energy to split the lignin selectively. "Furthermore, we have integrated this system into a flow reactor, allowing the entire process to run continuously, efficiently, and at a scalable level," the UA researcher added.

The process yields vanillin—the primary molecule responsible for the aroma of vanilla—as its main product, achieving a record weight yield of 7.1%. This is equivalent to extracting 94% of all available aromatic monomer units. Vanillin is a highly sought-after organic substance heavily utilized in the food, cosmetics, and chemical sectors.

Crucially, the innovation ensures the complete, zero-waste utilization of the raw material. "The lignin fragments that remain after the extraction process have been used for the first time as biodegradable plasticizers that can be processed via 3D printing," highlighted Dr. Guijarro.

This image depicts a photocatalytic reactor developed by researchers at the University of Alicante (UA) and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV)

Laboratory trials demonstrate that these sustainable additives significantly enhance the flexibility, strength, and shape-memory performance of the bioplastics without compromising their workability. To prove its real-world viability, the team successfully printed fully functional consumer items, including a biodegradable mobile phone case with the same durability and properties as conventional plastics.

According to the authors, the research represents a major leap forward toward the comprehensive commercial use of lignin. It establishes the technical framework for a new generation of sustainable, high-value biorefineries, directly aligning with European green transition and circular economy mandates.

Capturing Light… “In this study, we present a technology that allows us to transform lignin into high-value-added products using only light and ambient conditions,” explains the lead researcher, Néstor Guijarro. Specifically, the photocatalyst is capable of capturing light and using that energy to selectively fragment the lignin. “We have also integrated this system into a flow reactor, which allows us to carry out the process continuously, efficiently, and on a scalable scale,” adds the UA researcher.

As a result, after processing the lignin, they obtained vanillin as the main product, the molecule responsible for the aroma of vanilla, with a record yield of 7.1% by weight, which is equivalent to extracting 94% of all the aromatic monomeric units. This organic substance is in high demand in the food, cosmetic, and chemical industries.

Another advantage of this innovation is the comprehensive utilization of the generated waste. “The lignin fragments remaining after the process have been used for the first time as biodegradable plasticizers that can be processed using 3D printing,” Guijarro points out.

Laboratory tests...The tests carried out in the laboratory show that these additives improve the flexibility, strength, and shape memory of the material without compromising its processability. In fact, the researchers have printed objects such as a biodegradable mobile phone case with the same functionalities as the standard ones.

This work, the UA researcher notes, “represents a significant step towards the comprehensive utilization of lignin and lays the technological groundwork for the development of a new generation of more sustainable, efficient, and value-oriented biorefineries, in line with European objectives for ecological transition and a circular economy.”

High-performance green plasticizers...Led by the University Institute of Electrochemistry at UA, the international study also features contributions from the University Institute of Materials Technology (IUITM) at UPV, the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland, and the University of Salzburg in Austria.

The team at the UPV's Alcoy campus focused specifically on converting the post-process residue supplied by UA into high-performance, renewable, and biodegradable plasticizers. These were tailored for polylactic acid (PLA), one of the most widely adopted biopolymers in industrial manufacturing.

"We repurposed the by-product to plasticize PLA, unlocking fascinating properties such as shape memory, enhanced flexibility, and seamless integration into additive manufacturing," said Professor Rafael Balart, a senior researcher at IUITM-UPV.

A pioneering light-powered technology converts lignin (a rigid polymer making up 30% of plant biomass) into vanillin and biodegradable plastics. Developed by the University of Alicante and Polytechnic University of Valencia, this innovation uses an affordable anthraquinone photocatalyst under ultraviolet light to bypass traditional fossil fuels.

The process offers a highly sustainable method for repurposing tough plant waste:

The challenge: Lignin’s highly complex chemical structure has traditionally been one of the biggest hurdles in biorefineries.

The catalyst: Researchers use an affordable, highly stable anthraquinone photocatalyst.

The mechanism: When activated by UV light, the catalyst selectively breaks the most abundant bonds within the lignin.

The Output: It successfully transforms the stubborn plant waste into vanillin and precursors for biodegradable materials.

Provided by University of Alicante

 

TECH

Majorana 2: Microsoft's quantum chip made with the help of AI, but doesn't overcome scientists' distrust

Microsoft revealed on Tuesday (2) the second generation of its quantum chip in an attempt to overcome the questions from the scientific community that arose in the previous work. With Majorana 2, the giant claims to have improved the processor's stability with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), but many of the doubts surrounding the research remain.

When it launched Majorana 1 last year, Microsoft drew attention by stating that it had created qubits from a quasiparticle called Majorana fermions. In theory, these particles keep the chip stable by exhibiting topological properties, a term borrowed from mathematics that indicates materials that deform but maintain their properties. Thus, the company is betting on topological qubits to protect the quantum state of the processor.

In quantum computing, information is stored and processed by qubits, or quantum bits. Unlike classical computing in PCs and smartphones, where a bit can be processed as either 0 or 1, a qubit expresses both 0 and 1 simultaneously through a phenomenon called superposition. However, qubits are very unstable, and the major race in the field is to develop error-free devices—among the big names, Microsoft is the only one betting on topological qubits.

By applying recent advances in agentic AI specifically designed to accelerate the scientific process and collaboration, Microsoft's quantum computing team is overcoming reliability, speed, and scale barriers that have limited the application of quantum computing to real-world scenarios.

For example, the qubits in the new chip can maintain their quantum state for a thousand times longer than the first generation, enabling more reliable computations. While other common approaches measure the "lifetime" of a qubit in microseconds, Majorana 2 offers an average time of 20 seconds, with cases lasting up to a minute. This improvement is roughly comparable to inventing a cell phone battery that, instead of lasting a day, could last almost three years on a single charge.

This exceptional reliability, coupled with high speed (operations in a microsecond) and the small size of the qubits (1/100th of a millimeter), has put the team on track to achieve a scalable and commercially viable quantum computer by 2029. According to the company, this machine could solve complex problems in areas such as global health, the food chain, sustainability, and energy production.

“We need to make improvements every year that bring us closer to delivering a computer that we believe has enormous commercial and social value,” said Chetan Nayak, a Microsoft technical fellow. “We need to follow this roadmap, but where are we compared to last year? A thousand times better.”

DARPA Oversight... Microsoft has not made all the technical details of Majorana 2 public. Instead, it has fully shared its data with the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which evaluates the project weekly. "We've exposed all our data to them, everything," said Zulfi Alam, a Microsoft researcher, in a teleconference with journalists. According to him, handing over the information to competitors or laboratories would not make commercial sense.

"Agency-driven artificial intelligence has permeated almost everything we do — it has become a very natural part of our workflow," said Nayak.

The decision to seek external validation comes after a delicate episode. The launch of the first Majorana, a year ago, was the target of criticism – researchers questioned the evidence presented by Microsoft. In addition, previous quantum studies supported by the company were retracted. Now, Microsoft's bet is that the combination of technical advances and DARPA's endorsement will help consolidate its position.

Quantum computing promises to revolutionize sectors such as finance, medicine, and cryptography, solving problems that are beyond the capabilities of classical computers. Microsoft believes that its unique approach with topological qubits will give it an advantage in the race to build the first truly useful quantum machine. Majorana 2 represents the latest – and, according to the company, most solid – step in that direction.

However, the company has never been able to prove that it has found Majorana fermions. The scientific article published in the journal Nature that was supposed to prove the existence of the particle contained the following message from the editors: “The editorial team would like to emphasize that the results of this manuscript do not represent evidence of the presence of Majorana zero modes in the reported devices. The work was published to present a device architecture that may allow fusion experiments using future Majorana zero modes.”

With Majorana II, Microsoft says it has extended the topological state time of qubits from 12 milliseconds to up to 20 seconds, improving the stability period by more than a thousand times, which allows for quantum operations. The company said that in some tests it was possible to exceed the one-minute mark.

According to Microsoft, this was possible by changing some of the materials used in the chip's construction, replacing aluminum with lead, and using a combination of indium arsenide and indium arsenide antimonide in the active semiconductor region. Thus, the company stated that it expects to have a functional, error-free quantum computer by 2029—the same year that IBM expects to have the Starling processor operational, which promises to have 200 logical qubits and be capable of solving more than 100 million quantum operations.

Microsoft said the breakthrough was made possible by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into the research process through a new scientific platform called Microsoft Discovery. The algorithms tested combinations of materials, different voltages, and their potential consequences for the entire project.

“The use of agentic AI to automate measurements was a game-changer. It does some calculations and starts asking: ‘What is the lowest point where everything still works properly?’ And it manages to perform all these voltage adjustments in parallel, something a human being cannot do. Because of how our minds work, we tend to work in a more linear way,” stated Chetan Nayak, a Microsoft researcher on the project.

Despite this, doubts about topological qubits remain, as explained by Ivan Oliveira, a researcher at the Brazilian Center for Physics Research:

— This is already the second version of a quantum chip they've released without a clear demonstration of the implementation of any protocol. Until this is done (execution of logical switches of 1 and 2 qubits, small algorithms, such as entanglement, etc.), the community will remain suspicious. The Majorana fermion has not even been experimentally demonstrated beyond doubt, which requires the reproduction of experiments by several. In other words, there are doubts even about the existence of this particle.

In an interview with Science magazine, Sergey Frolov, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh (USA) who is critical of Microsoft, stated: “The Microsoft Quantum project follows a persistent pattern of unreliable claims, so the new claims are not surprising.”

The rush to develop quantum computing is explained from an economic perspective. If these machines become a reality, they could profoundly alter various sectors, such as materials research, medicine, logistics, energy, and the financial market. At the end of May, the Trump administration announced that it would grant $2 billion in subsidies to nine quantum computing companies, including equity stakes from the US government—IBM will receive half of the amount.

According to the investment bank Jefferies, the quantum market could become a $198 billion opportunity by 2040. The consulting firm McKinsey estimates that four sectors (chemical industry, science, finance, and mobility) could see an increase of $2 trillion by 2035 as a result of these technologies.

— Microsoft is putting its neck on the chopping block. It's hard to believe that a company with its reputation would be bluffing. If it proves the existence of the Majorana fermion, and even uses this particle in a real quantum chip, it will probably win the Nobel Prize in Physics. In other words, there are only two paths for them: glory or ruin — says Oliveira.

TECH

Ultra-thin semiconductors overcome performance limits with localized thick-contact design

As semiconductor chips become increasingly thinner, the components inside chips are locked in a fierce race to achieve the ultimate ultra-thin state. However, this has presented a structural limitation: the thinner the device, the harder it is for electricity to flow.

Recently, a research team at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) successfully resolved this issue through a simple yet innovative approach: "thickening only the necessary parts."

The research team, led by Professor Byoung Hun Lee from POSTECH's Department of Electrical Engineering and the Department of Semiconductor Engineering, has developed a technology that dramatically lowers contact resistance by redesigning the metal-semiconductor contact structure in ultra-thin tellurium (Te) transistors.

Why ultra-thin chips face limits...With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing, the volume of data that semiconductors must process is surging. Consequently, the time and energy loss occurring between the "logic" (which handles computations) and "memory" (which stores data) have been identified as a major bottleneck.

To address this, 3D integrated structures that stack logic and memory vertically are gaining significant traction as a next-generation technology. Fabricating these structures requires devices that can operate stably even at temperatures below 400°C.

Tellurium (Te) is highly regarded as a strong candidate for semiconductor channel material due to its high charge mobility, room-temperature stability, and low-temperature processability. However, its narrow band gap makes it prone to "leakage current," where current leaks even when the transistor is turned off. To minimize this, the channel must be fabricated to an ultra-thin thickness of under 5 nanometers (nm) to precisely control electron transport.

Schematic of the tellurium transistor employing a raised source/drain structure, and the improved transfer characteristics resulting from reduced contact resistance (demonstrating an over 17-fold increase in on-state current). Credit: POSTECH

The thin-channel performance dilemma...The dilemma arises because when the channel becomes too thin, electron transport across the interface between the metal electrode and the semiconductor becomes severely restricted. A Schottky barrier—an energy barrier that electrons must cross between the metal and semiconductor—grows larger as the channel gets thinner.

Ultimately, while researchers could reduce leakage current, doing so simultaneously increased contact resistance, significantly degrading device performance.

Thickening only where it matters...To overcome this, the POSTECH team applied the "Raised Source and Drain (RSD)" structure, a technique conventionally used in silicon processes. The core idea is to deposit additional tellurium to thicken only the areas directly in contact with the electrodes where the current enters and exits (the source and drain).

By keeping the current-flowing channel at a thin 4 nm to suppress leakage current while adding extra tellurium to the sections in contact with the metal electrodes, the team allowed the current to flow with significantly improved efficiency.

Results, scalability, and future impact...Experimental results demonstrated that devices utilizing this structure experienced a dramatic 50-fold reduction in contact resistance, dropping from 97.5 kΩ·μm to 1.7 kΩ·μm. Furthermore, in an extreme environment of -196°C, the on-state current when the device was fully turned on increased by more than 17 times.

The team effectively succeeded in simultaneously achieving both low resistance and high performance within an ultra-thin structure. Notably, this technology can be implemented through a large-area, low-temperature deposition process known as sputtering, ensuring the high scalability required for actual semiconductor mass production.

"We have broken through the chronic dilemma of ultra-thin semiconductors—where thinner channels traditionally resulted in higher resistance—with a novel band engineering approach called 'localized thickness control,'" said Professor Byoung Hun Lee of POSTECH.

"We expect this to become a core platform technology that can be widely applied not only to tellurium but also to enhancing the performance of various 2D and ultra-thin semiconductor devices, ultimately accelerating the realization of next-generation 3D integrated circuits."

Provided by Pohang University of Science and Technology

DOSSIER

TECH

Nokia resurrected, riding the wave of AI

All of them were stars of the dot-com era before fading into the background with the bursting of the bubble and the emergence of a new generation of tech darlings. But Dell Technologies, Nokia, and Lenovo are back in full force, thanks to the relentless boom in spending on artificial intelligence.

The race to build AI infrastructure has led to a dizzying increase in demand for everything from computer servers to storage components, networking equipment, and even old chips. This has resulted in a frenetic rise in stocks worldwide with any kind of exposure to these areas.

The latest wave has taken iconic tech names from the 1990s, including many of the so-called "Four Horsemen"—a group considered the equivalent of the Magnificent Seven at the time.

In addition to Dell, Nokia, and Lenovo, other dot-com era stars that have returned to shine this year include Micron, Intel, Texas Instruments, and Cisco. In total, these seven stocks have surged by an average of 158% by 2026, adding a combined market value of $1.7 trillion.

“About six months ago, we started to realize that the expansion of AI infrastructure is really expanding, and there’s a huge supply shortage, especially in the more basic hardware sector, where capacity growth has been very limited in recent years,” said Yan Taw Boon, portfolio manager at Neuberger Berman. “But demand is skyrocketing — from ‘boring’ CPUs to networks, passive components, storage, and memory.”

From manufacturers of cell phones considered outdated to a reinvented producer of chips for calculators, these are some of the “retro” tech stocks that are making an impressive comeback:

Dell shares surged 33% on Friday, the biggest single-day gain in history, after the hardware maker — best known for its personal computer business — released results showing growing demand for its AI servers.

The surge may recall Dell's heyday, when its stock soared more than 200% for three consecutive years in the late 1990s. But after the company lost more than 80% of its value in the wake of the dot-com bubble burst, it was taken private in 2013. Dell returned to the capital markets in late 2018 and is now worth $125 billion more than its peak valuation of $148 billion in March 2000.

The exceptionally strong results demonstrate that Dell is “the latest tech company once seen as an industry dinosaur to rediscover a new reason for existing as an artificial intelligence powerhouse,” said Emmanuel Valavanis of Forte Securities.

Lenovo gained global prominence by acquiring the personal computer division of International Business Machines (IBM) in 2005. The acquisition secured the rights to the iconic ThinkPad line of business notebooks and laid the groundwork for the company to eventually become the world's largest PC manufacturer.

Although the personal computer industry has faced a structural decline for years, Lenovo's bet on artificial intelligence products and services helped the Chinese hardware company register 20% revenue growth last year. Currently, almost 40% of its total sales come from these AI-related businesses.

Lenovo's shares rose 105% in May, reaching an all-time high and recording its best month in over 25 years. This year, its shares are the best performers on the benchmark Hang Seng Index, accumulating a 159% increase and providing investors with a return more than three times that of the second most profitable stock on the index.

Nokia...Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) got off to a strong start in 2026, presenting first-quarter results on April 23 that demonstrated accelerated momentum in artificial intelligence infrastructure and led the Finnish telecommunications equipment manufacturer to significantly raise its full-year growth expectations in its Network Infrastructure business. The company's shares rose 11.87% in pre-market trading to $11.03, reflecting investor enthusiasm for Nokia's positioning in the AI ​​expansion cycle.

The presentation revealed net sales of €4.5 billion, representing 4% year-over-year growth on a constant currency and portfolio basis, while comparable operating margins expanded 200 basis points to 6.2%. Most significantly, Nokia's AI and Cloud segment recorded 49% sales growth and captured €1.0 billion in orders during the quarter, leading management to revise its addressable market assumptions and raise projections in key business segments. Quarterly Performance Highlights...Nokia's Q1 2026 results demonstrated broad operational improvement, with gross margins expanding 320 basis points year-over-year to 45.5%—a reflection of improved product mix and operational discipline. The company generated €0.6 billion in free cash flow during the quarter and maintained a solid net cash position of €3.8 billion after paying €0.2 billion in dividends.

The AI ​​and Cloud segment emerged as the performance highlight, with its 49% growth rate now representing 8% of the company's total sales. Order capture of €1.0 billion from this segment in Q1 alone provided visibility of sustained momentum and catalyzed Nokia's decision to raise its assumptions for the full year.

AI Supercycle Accelerating Addressable Market...Nokia's presentation highlighted a fundamental shift in its market opportunity, driven by what CEO Justin Hotard characterized as an "AI supercycle." The company now projects its total addressable market will expand from €101 billion in 2025 to €126 billion by 2028, representing a compound annual growth rate of 8%.

Nokia suffered two major setbacks in the 2000s: first, the telecommunications boom that eventually turned into a collapse; then, its mobile phone business was deeply affected by the rise of smartphones. From a peak market value of €300 billion (US$349 billion), its shares fell by as much as 98% by 2012.

After selling its mobile phone division to Microsoft in 2014, Nokia reinvented itself by focusing on the less glamorous business of telecommunications network equipment. Its most recent revival was driven by the acquisition of Infinera, an American optical networking specialist, in 2025, just as AI-focused data centers began to increase the demand for faster connections between computing clusters.

Shares of the Finnish company have already surged more than 124% this year, making it the fourth best performer in the STOXX Europe 600 index. Even so, the stock remains about 80% below its all-time high from the dot-com bubble era.

Few companies better symbolize the resurgence of traditional technology stocks than Cisco, the network equipment manufacturer that was one of the biggest symbols of the dot-com bubble and briefly became the most valuable company in the world in 2000.

The company reinvented itself, migrating from traditional networks to artificial intelligence infrastructure. Its success in the AI ​​era was evident in the results released earlier this month, which included a strong revenue forecast for the fourth fiscal quarter and a plan to reduce staff to accelerate its AI-focused transformation.

These results represented further evidence that growth trends are strengthening, reinforcing the acceleration in AI-related demand observed last year. This movement helped the stock return to record levels, finally surpassing the peak reached in March 2000.

Network Infrastructure: Optical Networks Leading Growth...Nokia's Network Infrastructure segment recorded 6% year-over-year sales growth to approximately €1.9 billion, with performance heavily driven by Optical Networks, which surged 20% to €821 million. This strength reflects Nokia's strategic positioning for AI-driven data center interconnection and cloud infrastructure expansion.

While Optical Networks thrived, IP Networks grew a modest 3% to €626 million, and Fixed Networks fell 13% to €383 million as Nokia continues strategic portfolio adjustments in this sub-segment. Overall segment gross margins expanded 150 basis points to 43.4%, although operating margins fell 30 basis points to 6.7% due to investment in growth initiatives.

Nokia's competitive positioning in optical networks received a significant boost with product launches at the OFC conference. The company introduced a new architecture featuring four coherent optical building blocks powering 13 application-optimized solutions, promising customers up to 70% reductions in total cost of ownership.

The new approach replaces Nokia's previous two-engine-per-generation strategy with four specialized DSPs—Ontario, Huron, Superior, and Pacific—each optimized for different distance and capacity requirements ranging from 60 km to 15,000 km transmission distances. This modular architecture allows Nokia to serve diverse customer applications more efficiently, reducing development costs and time to market.

Mobile Infrastructure: AI-RAN momentum gaining traction...Nokia's Mobile Infrastructure segment delivered 3% year-over-year growth to approximately €2.5 billion, with significantly improved profitability metrics. Gross margins expanded substantially by 430 basis points to 48.5%, while operating margins increased by 380 basis points to 8.9%—demonstrating the impact of cost discipline and a favorable product mix.

Nokia's balance sheet remained solid with €3.8 billion in net cash at the end of the quarter, up from €3.4 billion at the end of Q4 2025. The generation of €0.6 billion in free cash flow was primarily driven by working capital seasonality.

The working capital contribution of €530 million was broken down into €220 million from receivables improvements, partially offset by €150 million from inventory accrual, and supported by €460 million from increased liabilities. The company paid out €200 million in dividends while also funding capital expenditures, cash taxes, and restructuring activities.

Looking ahead, Nokia maintained its full-year 2026 comparable operating profit forecast of €2.0 billion to €2.5 billion, with management indicating that current performance is tracking "slightly above the midpoint" of that range.

Specifically for Q2, Nokia expects sequential net sales growth of 5-9% and comparable operating profit representing 12-16% of the full-year total—implying Q2 operating profit in the range of €240-400 million. The company also updated its comparable financial income and expense assumption to a positive €150-250 million for the full year.

Nokia projects a comparable operating profit free cash flow conversion of 55-75% by 2026, with capital expenditures of €900-1 billion and cash tax outflows of approximately €500 million. The comparable income tax rate is expected to be 26-27%.

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