Nvidia’s debt pile alarms traders, Iran hackers shut down UK power plant

Traders are ramping up their bets against chip behemoth Nvidia over concerns about the web of financing behind the global AI data centre boom. The price of financial protections against defaults on Nvidia’s debt climbed to a record high after a string of major funding announcements. Analysts warned that Nvidia’s dealmaking with AI giants had created a risk of “cascading losses” across the sector. Nvidia’s so-called credit-default swaps (CDS), financial instruments used to insure against potential non-payment of debts, have more than doubled in price in the space of two months. Telegraph

A senior leader at OpenAI has said people should prepare to defend against “ongoing, persistent” cyber-attacks from AIs, as cutting-edge artificial intelligence models gain advanced capabilities to plan and launch offensives. The leading AI company this week announced a pause in development of its most advanced internal models amid rising safety fears, and Chris Lehane, its chief global affairs officer, said: “We are hitting a different chapter, a different moment within AI, in terms of what the capabilities of this technology can do.” He spoke to the Guardian after cutting-edge AI agents-in-training unexpectedly broke out of a supposedly secure “sandbox” environment. The Guardian 

Iran shut down a British power plant for four days in an unprecedented cyber attack, The Telegraph can disclose. It is thought to be the first time that hackers affiliated to the Iranian regime have succeeded in closing down such a facility in the UK, and is believed to be the most successful cyber attack of its kind. The Telegraph understands that the incident took place at the same time as a series of attacks on US water infrastructure last month, which affected 12 states and caused concern in the White House. Telegraph 

A North East construction company has introduced robots to help build homes due to a ‘severe shortage of bricklayers’. JT Lifestyle Homes (JTLH) has unveiled the first phase of its robot-built housing development at Maple Close in Thornley, County Durham, using a wall-laying robot known as WLTR, or ‘Walter.’ Dr Jan Telensky, founder of JTHL, said: “There is a severe shortage of bricklayers at a time when the country needs 1.5 million more homes. Northern Echo

When they first started appearing, it was hard to tell where they were coming from, these posters, flyers and food menus that all looked like they had rolled off the same industrial printing press. Belfast was awash with them during Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann this month, but by that time most people had them sussed out. “More AI,” they sighed, glancing at a caricatured guitarist on a gig poster or an abnormally glistening burger on a menu…But  there is a growing backlash from creatives and venue owners, who say ‘AI slop’ is artistically empty and putting real artists’ jobs at risk. BBC 

I live in Scotland and just got my solar install up and running a few days ago. While it’s obviously still very early days, I’m really happy with how it’s all going so far — and with my decision to go for a full panel and battery system. Was I tempted to wait for plug-in solar when the news filtered through earlier this year that this option was to become officially available with kits in the UK? No, because I wanted a full solar setup for a few reasons that I’ll detail here — along with my initial thoughts on how my system is working (although I’ve already dropped a spoiler on that). Tech Radar