US Fermilab hit in cyberattack targeting Microsoft's SharePoint, Bloomberg News reports
"Attackers did attempt to access Fermilab's SharePoint servers," a Department of Energy spokesperson told Bloomberg.
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Business Times
4 hours ago
- Business Times
Broadcom launches Jericho chip to advance AI data centre networks
[SAN FRANCISCO] Broadcom's silicon division launched its next-generation Jericho networking chip on Monday (Aug 4), which is designed to connect data centres over 96.5 km apart and speed artificial intelligence (AI) computation. The company's Jericho4 introduces and improves several features that increase the amount of networking traffic speeding across large networks that operate inside and between data centres. Building and deploying AI has become more computationally intensive and requires stringing together thousands of graphics processors (GPUs). Cloud computing companies such as Microsoft and Amazon require faster, more sophisticated networking chips to ensure data moves efficiently. Security when transferring data beyond the physical walls of a data centre is crucial for cloud companies because of the potential attacks that could intercept it ahead of reaching its destination. Broadcom's engineers designed the Jericho chips to be deployed at a massive scale, and a single system can encompass roughly 4,500 chips, according to Ram Velaga, senior vice-president and general manager of Broadcom's Core Switching Group. To help mitigate issues around network congestion, the Jericho4 chips use the same high-bandwidth memory (HBM) that designers such as Nvidia and AMD use for their AI processors. It's necessary because of the volume of data that needs to be stuffed into memory at any given moment of operation. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up 'The switch is actually holding that traffic (in memory) till the congestion frees up,' Velaga said. 'It means you need to have a lot of memory on the chip.' The longer the distance the data must travel from the chip to its destination, the more memory designers must include in the chip as well. In addition to performance improvements, the Jericho4 also beefs up security by encrypting data. Broadcom opted to use Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's three nanometre process for the Jericho4. REUTERS
CNA
7 hours ago
- CNA
Commentary: The AI job cuts are accelerating
LONDON: Microsoft, by chief executive Satya Nadella's own description, is 'thriving'. Its quarterly profits soared by almost 25 per cent and its market valuation hit US$4 trillion last week. In any normal situation, it would seem incongruent that the company is at the same time slashing its workforce by the thousands. The pursuit of a leaner workforce is not new. In times of economic uncertainty, companies prune excesses - cutting headcount and eliminating inefficiencies. But today it is not just about doing more with fewer people. Companies are preparing for a time where there might be less work for their employees altogether. Even as business leaders claim AI is 'redesigning' jobs rather than cutting them, the headlines tell another story. It is not just Microsoft but Intel and BT that are among a host of major companies announcing thousands of layoffs explicitly linked to AI. Previously when job cuts were announced, there was a sense that these were regrettable choices. Now executives consider them a sign of progress. Companies are pursuing greater profits with fewer people. THE RISE OF ONE-PERSON FIRMS For the tech industry, revenue per employee has become a prized performance metric. Y Combinator start-ups brag about building companies with skeleton teams. A website called the 'Tiny Teams Hall of Fame' lists companies bringing in tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue with just a handful of employees. OpenAI's Sam Altman has gone further, predicting the eventual rise of a one-person US$1 billion company. That may still sound far-fetched - but it is undeniable large language models are already reshaping white-collar work. While new jobs are being created in the AI age and some workers redeployed, a lot of positions will be eliminated. Companies are increasingly saying the tasks of those workers no longer exist. Already it's clear the hiring of coders has dropped off a cliff. And almost daily, my inbox delivers examples of AI's prowess versus humans. Among the latest is how one Big Four firm has slashed turnaround times for research by 75 per cent, reclaiming 3,600 analyst hours by using AI-generated reports. FEWER STARTER JOBS AND FRAGMENTED CAREER PATHS Younger workers should be particularly concerned about this trend. Entire rungs on the career ladder are taking a hit, undermining traditional job pathways. This is not only about AI of course. Offshoring, post-COVID budget discipline, and years of underwhelming growth have made entry-level hiring an easy thing to cut. But AI is adding to pressures. Dirk Hahn, chief executive of recruiter Hays, said to me: 'While there will be exceptions, the rise of AI could constrain the recovery in some junior white-collar roles.' If the footholds are eroding, where does that leave future workers? What shape do organisations take if there are fewer starter jobs and middle management positions? Professional development and leadership pipelines need to be redefined. The consequences are cultural as well as economic. If jobs aren't readily available, will a university degree retain its value? Careers already are increasingly 'squiggly' and not linear. The rise of freelancing and hiring of contractors has already fragmented the nature of work in many cases. AI will only propel this. CAN LEANER FIRMS LAST? But are leaner organisations necessarily better ones? I am not convinced these companies are more resilient even if they perform better financially. Faster decision making and lower overheads are great, but does this mean fewer resources for R&D, legal functions or compliance? What about a company's ability to withstand shocks - from supply chain disruptions to employee turnover and dare I say it, runaway robots? Some companies such as Klarna have reversed tack, realising that firing hundreds of staff and relying on AI resulted in a poorer customer service experience. Now the payments company wants them back. The tech bros touting people-light companies underestimate the complexity of business operations and corporate cultures that are built on very human relationships and interactions. In fact, while AI can indeed handle the tedium, there should be a new premium on the human - from creativity and emotional intelligence to complex judgment. But that can only happen if we invest in those who bring those qualities and teach the next generation of workers - and right now, the door is closing on many of them.
CNA
8 hours ago
- CNA
Broadcom launches Jericho chip to advance AI data center networks
SAN FRANCISCO :Broadcom's silicon division launched its next-generation Jericho networking chip on Monday, which is designed to connect data centers over 60 miles (96.5 km) apart and speed artificial intelligence computation. The company's Jericho4 introduces and improves several features that increase the amount of networking traffic speeding across large networks that operate inside and between data centers. Building and deploying artificial intelligence has become more computationally intensive and requires stringing together thousands of graphics processors (GPUs). Cloud computing companies such as Microsoft and Amazon require faster, more sophisticated networking chips to ensure data moves efficiently. Security when transferring data beyond the physical walls of a data center is crucial for cloud companies because of the potential attacks that could intercept it ahead of reaching its destination. Broadcom's engineers designed the Jericho chips to be deployed at a massive scale, and a single system can encompass roughly 4,500 chips, according to Ram Velaga, senior vice president and general manager of Broadcom's Core Switching Group. To help mitigate issues around network congestion, the Jericho4 chips use the same high-bandwidth memory (HBM) designers such as Nvidia and AMD use for their AI processors. It's necessary because of the volume of data that needs to be stuffed into memory at any given moment of operation. "The switch is actually holding that traffic (in memory) till the congestion frees up," Velaga said. "It means you need to have a lot of memory on the chip." The longer the distance the data must travel from the chip to its destination, the more memory designers must include in the chip as well. In addition to performance improvements, the Jericho4 also beefs up security by encrypting data.
