Lightning Fast: Modern and upcoming data center projects require massive amounts of AI accelerators, and produce similarly massive amounts of data. Traditional silicon-based networking is starting to choke on gigabytes, which is why major manufacturers are now focusing on more advanced technology solutions to move all those bits around.

GlobalFoundries and Marvell Technology have announced an expanded partnership in manufacturing novel connectivity solutions. The multi-year agreement centers on GlobalFoundries’ silicon germanium (SiGe) technology, with the company increasing production capacity at its Burlington, Vermont plant.

SiGe-based solutions are used in high-performance connectivity products, including pluggable optical transceivers, Near-Packaged Optics (NPO), and Co-packaged Optics (CPO). As GlobalFoundries highlights in its announcement, these silicon photonics solutions are becoming increasingly important for AI data centers and other massively packed data-crunching infrastructure.

Jensen Huang says Marvell could become the next trillion-dollar company, and this deal might show why

AI systems are growing in scale, which means they require faster accelerators exchanging data through high-speed interconnects. GlobalFoundries already offers a portfolio of SiGe, high-frequency connectivity solutions capable of reaching 200 Gbps per optical lane.

GF said it has manufactured advanced SiGe technology for over a decade, and keeps investing in the co-integration of SiGe, silicon photonics, and advanced packaging solutions for new optical connectivity architectures such as NPO and CPO.

While GlobalFoundries ramps up production, Marvell is looking ahead to its own business prospects. The fabless chip manufacturer has seen its valuation explode thanks to the AI boom, and is expected to play a major role in the future of AI data centers and AI growth at scale.

Nvidia has significantly invested in Marvell as part of a broader partnership that includes silicon photonics and next-gen data center collaboration, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has said he expects Marvell to become the next trillion-dollar company on Wall Street.

According to Robb Johnson, Marvell’s VP of foundry technology, the industry is moving toward higher-bandwidth optical architectures for data centers’ connectivity fabric, and Marvell is aggressively ramping up investment to lead that transition. Thanks to the expanded cooperation with GlobalFoundries, the Santa Clara-based company will have access to all the SiGe chips and transceivers it needs. The two companies have been working together on optical networking technology for over a decade now.

In “traditional” data centers, optics have mostly been used to connect racks and other crucial computing resources across the plants. Cheaper copper-based interconnects are still tasked with moving data at shorter distances, but the technology is approaching its practical limit at 400 Gbps per lane.

Formerly head of Character.AI, Karandeep Anand is now Disney’s chief technology officer. 

Despite touting the name “Resident Evil,” the movie adaptations of Capcom’s series have mostly ignored the best elements of survival horror games: the sense of dread as you creep into a new location; the desperation you feel when you’re running low on ammo and health items. The six Resident Evil movies starring Milla Jovovich were more interested in bombastic action. So leave it up to Zach Cregger, the director of Barbarian and Weapons, to crack the code of making a genuinely great adaptation: Just make it feel like the best games in the franchise.

And to be clear, I’m not talking about delivering fan service. There are a slew of terrible CG Resident Evil movies that exist to do just that, including the failed 2021 live action reboot, Welcome to Raccoon City. Cregger’s secret weapon is that he’s both an excellent horror filmmaker — someone who knows how to write interesting characters, build tension and deliver scares in unique ways. And he’s a fan of the franchise who understands the true magic of survival horror games.

Resident Evil centers on Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier tasked with making a last-minute run to a remote mountainside town. Of course, that’s Raccoon City. Along the way, he’s also dealing with the anxiety of potentially becoming a father after his girlfriend discovers she’s pregnant. He’s an everyman with deep flaws, the ideal protagonist for a Resident Evil story.

After an accident on a snowy road, we shift into a first-person view as Bryan creeps towards an injured woman, much like the camera slowly approaching the first zombie in the original Resident Evil. Once the victim reveals herself to be some sort of crazed monster (not a zombie), it almost feels as if we’re controlling Bryan over the shoulder as he tries to avoid her around an overturned police car. Of course, the film can never deliver the interactivity of the games, but Cregger’s camera gets close. Throughout the film, we’re often following Bryan from directly behind, or right over the shoulder, evoking the iconic camera angle of Resident Evil 4.

Sony Pictures

Bryan finds a conveniently placed pistol and manages to take down the crazed woman, but of course, that’s only the beginning. A mad dog chases him into a barn, where he encounters (and fails) a classic ladder puzzle. He finds an even more conveniently placed shotgun when he seeks refuge in an abandoned farm house, but it’s useless to him until he finds shells. (In one of the few overt callbacks, he encounters a room with a lone typewriter, like the classic Resident Evil save rooms.)

Anyone unfamiliar with the games would have no problem enjoying this film. But Cregger’s understanding of the series also makes it feel like a true survival horror game. We’re viewing every new room and dark corner from Bryan’s perspective, and the sense of dread is palpable. Even though it doesn’t take long for Bryan to snag a few guns, he’s also always aware of the precise amount of ammunition he’s holding. Much like the games, resource scarcity is a constant source of tension. He masterfully uses the first-person perspective several more times throughout the film, and at times the camera jerkily shifts in different directions, as if someone is quickly pushing a gamepad’s right stick for camera controls.

Sony Pictures

Cregger’s Resident Evil is a lesson in making a good video game adaptation. You can’t just slavishly recreate things the fans want to see – like the atrocious Super Mario Galaxy or the forgettable Uncharted – but you also shouldn’t completely reject the best elements of the games, like the terrible ’90s Super Mario Bros. film. A small amount of creativity and effort managed to make the Sonic and Minecraft movies watchable. With Nintendo spinning up a Legend of Zelda movie and Hollywood broadly eager to crib from video game source material, I hope more creatives take notes from this reboot.

Hawthorn’s reward for trouncing the minor premiers is the matchup they’d been hoping to avoid – a date with back-to-back reigning premiers Brisbane, who pasted the Hawks by 67 points just last month. On a more positive note, Sam Mitchell’s men do at least have home advantage after a week off.

The reason it stings so much is that Hawthorn, who last reached the Grand Final back in 2015, have beaten both of the other preliminary finalists this season. Meanwhile, they’ve lost each of their past three meetings with the Lions.

Flock Safety announced a voluntary employee separation program on Friday, offering a “generous” severance package to those who want to leave amid growing backlash against the surveillance technology company, according to an internal email shared with WIRED.

Applications for Flock’s voluntary severance program opened Friday, and employees have until October 2 to decide whether to leave the company. Flock expects to grant buyouts to the majority of workers who apply, according to the email. People familiar with the program but not authorized to discuss it publicly say they believe that a significant number of the startup’s roughly 1,500 employees may try to depart.

Flock is making the severance offers as it continues to lose customers amid growing frustration across the US about its sprawling network of license plate readers, which have raised concerns about privacy and misuse. In the last month, WIRED has documented officers allegedly abusing Flock to track former romantic partners and colleagues, exposed how widely some agencies share access to the system, shown how little is known about the manufacturing of the devices, and revealed in new detail how much information Flock’s cameras collect based on data from a dismantled Flock device.

Founded in 2017, Flock raised money at a valuation of more than $8 billion in a funding round that closed in April. The company has had many of its contracts either not extended or dropped this year, which could leave it short of revenue goals, according to two of the people. A wave of vandalism targeting its cameras has unexpectedly increased expenses. Without buyouts, Flock almost certainly would have to lay off some staff, one of the people believes.

In an internal announcement, Flock said the separation program provides “greater agency” for its workers and “treats employees with transparency, respect, and choice.” It also described the package as the “most generous” ever offered by the company, roughly double its previous severance offers.

Flock did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Some Flock employees have said they have received buyout offers in the range of tens of thousands of dollars, one of the people said. The package also gives employees several months of health care coverage and the ability to exercise stock options within two years after separation, a longer period than the company typically offers resigning employees, according to the email and people familiar with the offer.

Flock employees are expected to learn whether their applications were accepted on October 9, according to the email. Most accepted employees would leave the company by October 29, though in some cases Flock may ask employees to remain for another one to three months.

People familiar with Flock’s severance plan tell WIRED that some employees may take the offer amid speculation that the company, which has raised about $1.2 billion in venture capital, might resort to selling off parts or all of its business to stay afloat. “When you see enough of the vandalism” targeting Flock cameras this year, one of the people says, “you know the writing is the wall” that something has to change.

Flock CEO Garrett Langley said on the All-In podcast last month that “the biggest damage” caused by the backlash against the company had been “internal morale.”

“Because you go on to X or you go on to Reddit and you go, why are people so mad at us when we’ve been doing the same thing for nine years?” Langley said. “And why are they so mad at us for things we don’t do? And we just want people to be safe.”

Several countries are planning to regulate smart glasses over growing concerns around nonconsensual recording and harassment.

Prosecutors in Paris have launched a criminal probe into suspected sexual harassment committed using smart glasses, Reuters reported earlier today (18 September), citing local officials.

According to the publication, at least one probe has been launched following complaints over users filming women nonconsensually using smart glasses to post to social media – a trend that has risen in popularity since the launch of Meta’s AI glasses earlier this summer.

The French prosecutors, however, did not name a company or brand in their response to Reuters’ questions about the investigation. SiliconRepublic.com has reached out for further information.

The French data protection authority CNIL further told Reuters that it had received fewer than 10 complaints regarding smart glasses being used in the workplace.

While smart glasses are not new technology, Meta’s growing portfolio has contributed to a steep rise in global sales, according to a Counterpoint report from February.

AI-equipped smart glasses accounted for 88pc of total shipments in the sector as of H2 last year, while Meta held more than 80pc of global smart glasses shipments – AI-powered and otherwise.

The social media giant sold more than 7m of its AI glasses made in partnership with the French-Italian eyewear brand Essilor last year. The two were also reportedly in discussions to double production of their glasses to at least 20m by the end of this year to meet the “unprecedented” demand for their products, mainly in the US.

The sharp growth in sales and popularity of these types of glasses comes despite huge public backlash against the technology, with people highlighting issues around covert recording and sexual harassment.

This year, in particular, has seen a rise in social media videos of men approaching unsuspecting women while wearing camera-fitted glasses, and recording them without consent to post to social media.

Some wearers have also tampered with an indicator light on the Meta devices to hide the fact that glasses were recording. Although Meta updated the glasses to address the issue, many still say it is hard to discern whether a recording indicator is active or not.

The backlash has led to a number of UK cinemas considering ​banning smart glasses, while a German consumer advocacy group filed a complaint against Meta and other companies that sell these devices in the country.

Australia, meanwhile, is considering banning camera-equipped smart glasses in the workplace, while Norway said it is also planning to regulate their use.

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As computing systems move toward denser processors, tightly coupled server nodes, and higher-power racks, managing the heat they generate has become a defining challenge in data center design. Modern AI accelerators can dissipate well over 1,000 watts, and a single rack may release more than 100 kilowatts of heat. This is far beyond what air cooling can practically remove. Single-phase direct liquid cooling addresses this by circulating water or a water-glycol coolant through coldplates mounted directly on high-heat components. The coolant absorbs the heat and carries it away in a closed loop to a coolant distribution unit. Because liquid stores far more heat than air and removes it much faster, this approach supports higher chip and rack densities within a smaller footprint. This paper explains how single-phase direct liquid cooling works, how it compares with two-phase and immersion cooling, and how rising processor power and rack density are shaping the future of thermal

There’s a lot for Mark Zuckerberg to cover at this year’s keynote.

New and updated smart glasses

‘Phoenix’ Mixed Reality headset

Meta (via UploadVR)

Avatars and the metaverse

AI and developers

• Russia’s Scientific and Production Center Ushkuynik says ten disassembled Skorlupa hulls fit in one GAZelle van
• Each hull can be assembled in an estimated four hours (by Russian estimates) using a cordless screwdriver and can travel up to 200 km while carrying up to 250 kg of payloads
• The Skorlupa comes with up to four communication modules and can carry up to four fiber-optic drones, allowing it to serve as both a mothership for attack or recon drones and a one-way attack craft

Russia’s Scientific and Production Center Ushkuynik has released new details on Skorlupa, a light uncrewed surface vessel whose headline feature isn’t speed, stealth, or sensors.

According to www1.ru, company CEO Alexey Chadayev says ten of the boats fit into the cargo bed of a single GAZelle light van when broken down, and that one hull goes together in about four hours with an ordinary screwdriver.