The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. AI build-out is becoming an unprecedented economic investment, potentially totaling $10.3 trillion from 2025–2032, or 3.6% of annual GDP, greater than that for previous build-outs of canals, railroads, and the electrical grid combined. The boom is boosting datacenter construction, creating high-paying AI, electrical, and construction jobs, and increasing stock-market wealth. However, it also is diverting scarce electricity, labor, and land resources from other industries and contributing to higher technology, housing, and electricity costs.
From "AI Build-Out Becoming Biggest Economic Bet in U.S. History"
The Wall Street Journal (09/23/26) Konrad Putzier; Justin Lahart
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U.S. Department of Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the winners of its Energy and Critical Infrastructure challenge, which explored whether quantum and hybrid computing could improve energy-grid planning. Teams examined how to determine the location and capacity of energy storage and microgrids as electricity demand grows from datacenters, manufacturing, and other industrial users. The Qtyche team was named winner of the competition, while BosonQ Psi was selected as runner-up.
From "DOE Announces Winning Teams in Quantum Grid Planning Competition"
U.S. Department of Energy (09/24/26)
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The Hill
Alabama reached a settlement of at least $100 million with TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, over allegations the platform contributed to mental health problems among minors. Under the settlement, TikTok must introduce daily time limits, stronger content moderation, improved parental controls, and a ban on cosmetic filters for teen users, as well as “productive pauses” to reduce endless scrolling. TikTok must also restrict access and notifications for minors between midnight and 6 a.m., and during school hours.
From "TikTok Settles for over $100 Million in Mental Health Lawsuit"
The Hill (09/25/26) Mira Bhakta
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ScienceAlert
Researchers led by Philip Walther of the University of Vienna in Austria demonstrated what they say is the first quantum processor operating in space, aboard a satellite launched in June 2025. The photonic system survived rocket launch and orbital conditions. Operating during periods when the satellite passed through Earth’s shadow, the researchers observed a clear Hong-Ou-Mandel interference effect, confirming the processor successfully generated and manipulated quantum states in orbit.
From "Quantum Computer Operates in Space"
ScienceAlert (09/27/26) Michelle Starr
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Associated Press
Recent computer science and engineering graduates have an unemployment rate of about 7.1%, according to an Associated Press analysis. Employment among young workers in AI-exposed occupations is 19% below where it would be if it had kept pace with employment in fields less exposed to being reshaped by AI, according to the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. Tech companies are posting fewer software-development jobs while expecting workers to manage AI tools and evaluate their outputs.
From "As the Coding Boom Fades, CS Grads Focus on AI Skills"
Associated Press (09/25/26) Heather Hollingsworth; Nicky Forster
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Waseda University (Japan)
A tool developed by researchers at Waseda University in Japan efficiently detects build dependency errors in large-scale software projects. The mkcheck2 tool combines eBPF (Extended Berkeley Packet Filter)-based system-call tracing with incremental dependency analysis, allowing it to examine only modified portions of dependency graphs. Tests across 300 open-source projects showed a 99.7% reduction in build-time overhead from 148% to 0.3%, while average analysis time fell from about 1,267 seconds to 24 seconds per commit.
From "An Efficient, Accurate Approach for Build Dependency Verification"
Waseda University (Japan) (09/25/26)
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