We are told that AI is displacing tech workers, but is that really the case? If AI is revolutionizing Amazon, then why would Amazon lay off thousands only to issue H1Bs to import cheaper workers?
Trump Admin Trying to Convince Taiwan to relocate half of chip industry to US
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/09/taiwan-pressured-to-move-50-of-chip-production-to-us-or-lose-protection/The U.S. is reportedly exerting significant pressure on Taiwan to relocate as much as 50% of its advanced semiconductor chip manufacturing capacity to American soil. This strategic push aims to secure critical chip supply chains and reduce U.S. reliance on Taiwan amidst rising geopolitical tensions.
The pressure is framed with an implied warning that Taiwan could face a reduction in U.S. protection if it does not comply with these demands. This highlights the U.S. government’s determination to onshore vital technological production.
Taiwan, home to TSMC, a global leader in chip manufacturing, faces a complex decision balancing economic interests with geopolitical realities. The move underscores the intense competition and national security implications surrounding advanced chip technology.
While AI Is Eliminating Jobs, It’s Ok Because We’ll All Just Be Entertained by AI Video
The narrative is the AI is eliminating the need for hiring entry level and even mid level employees with technical skills. Those are not only “techie” abilities, but financial analysists, accounting and other white collar jobs. Since last year, many companies such as Sales Force have announced that they are AI first. Tech giants such as Microsoft, Amazon, Sales Force and others have laid off record number of employees. AI is the reason, it’s just part of the evolution of economy brought about by the swift execution of destructive capitalism.
But if AI is replacing people, why then are the tech companies hiring H1Bs?
• H-1B Visa Numbers: The use of H-1B visas is presented as a mechanism for corporations to bring in labor, pay them less, and effectively lay off American workers.
◦ Salesforce: Salesforce laid off 4,000 employees while claiming AI redundancy. However, between 2023 and 2025, Salesforce received approval for a total of 3,683 H-1B visas (1,137 in 2025, 1,525 in 2024, and 1,021 in 2023)—a number almost equal to the number of people laid off.
◦ Amazon: The company that venture capitalists claim will be “100% AI by 2030” was approved for a total of 12,391 visas. Specifically, Amazon received approval for 10,044 H-1B visas in 2025 alone. Amazon Web Services (AWS), its cloud division, was approved for 2,347 H-1B visas, often for developers. The source questions why AWS needs over 2,000 visas to bring workers into the US if AI is supposedly replacing human coders.
◦ Tesla: Tesla is currently facing a lawsuit alleging that it replaced over 6,000 American workers with visa holders as a means to cut costs.
Why Are We Locating Data Centers in Regions Where There Is Little Water, And Why In Close Proximity to Neighborhoods?
Data Center Halted in Howell Michigan
https://planetdetroit.org/2025/09/data-center-rezoning-howell/A proposed large-scale data center in Howell, Michigan, is facing significant local opposition and has encountered hurdles in its rezoning application, effectively halting its progress. Residents and local officials have raised concerns about the project’s impact.
Concerns center on the data center’s potential strain on local infrastructure, including water and energy resources, as well as its environmental footprint and impact on the community’s character. Local pushback has been a key factor in the project’s delay.
This situation highlights the growing tension between the accelerating demand for AI and digital infrastructure and the interests of local communities. It underscores the challenges of siting massive, energy-intensive facilities in residential or ecologically sensitive areas.
10 Nuclear Reactors for ChaGPT
https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/09/openai-and-nvidias-100b-ai-plan-will-require-power-equal-to-10-nuclear-reactors/A massive $100 billion AI initiative planned by OpenAI and Nvidia is projected to demand an enormous amount of electricity, equivalent to the power output of 10 large nuclear reactors. This highlights the unprecedented energy consumption required for advanced AI development and deployment.
The staggering energy demand underscores the growing challenge of powering future AI infrastructure. Without significant new energy generation capacity, the expansion of AI could place immense strain on existing power grids.
This estimate emphasizes the need for sustainable and scalable energy solutions to support the exponential growth of artificial intelligence. It brings into focus the environmental and economic implications of AI’s burgeoning power requirements.
OpenIA needs 6 Giant Data Centers
https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/09/why-does-openai-need-six-giant-data-centers/
- Abilene, Texas: Flagship campus, already operational with Nvidia GB200 racks, plus planned 600-megawatt expansion
- Shackelford County, Texas: New Oracle-developed site
- Doña Ana County, New Mexico: New Oracle-developed site
- Midwest location (undisclosed): New Oracle-developed site
- Lordstown, Ohio: New SoftBank-developed site, operational next year
- Milam County, Texas: New SoftBank/SB Energy site
For example, ten gigawatts is equivalent to the output of roughly 10 nuclear reactors, which is enough electricity to power millions of homes. But what does OpenAI really need those data centers for? It all goes back to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s dream of providing intelligence as a service to billions of people.
Oracle’s arrangement follows a similar pattern, with a reported $30 billion-per-year deal where Oracle builds facilities that OpenAI pays to use. This circular flow, which involves infrastructure providers investing in AI companies that become their biggest customers, has raised eyebrows about whether these represent genuine economic investments or elaborate accounting maneuvers.
The arrangements are becoming even more convoluted. The Information reported this week that Nvidia is discussing leasing its chips to OpenAI rather than selling them outright. Under this structure, Nvidia would create a separate entity to purchase its own GPUs, then lease them to OpenAI, which adds yet another layer of circular financial engineering to this complicated relationship
Sounds just like EVs – the promise can only be fulfilled if we build in order to see the result
AI can only fulfill its promise if we build the compute to power it,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in the announcement. “That compute is the key to ensuring everyone can benefit from AI and to unlocking future breakthroughs.”
Howell Data Center
An unnamed “Fortune 100 technology firm that develops, owns, and operates technology campuses globally as an end user and owner/operator” –likely one of the large hyperscale cloud providers – is set to be the end-user of the campus if it goes ahead. Evaluation work for the site has reportedly been going on since mid-2024.
The project would include across numerous parcels east of Handy Township along Marr Road, Fleming Road, Warner Road and Owosso Road. The parcels that make up the site are currently zoned as AR – Agricultural Residential, SFR – Single Family Residential, and NSC – Neighborhood Service Commercial and would be rezoned to RT – Research and Technology.
Much of the land in question is owned by local farmer Ryan Van Gilder, who called the project a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to welcome one of the largest and most respected companies in the world to our hometown.”
$1 billion data center plan hits roadblock in Howell Township
The Howell Township Planning Commission voted unanimously against rezoning land for a massive data center Tuesday night, following a seven-hour meeting with hundreds of reported public comments.
The project, from developers Stantec Consulting Michigan Inc. and Randee LLC, would occupy a 1,077-acre site of largely agricultural land north of I-96, roughly 54 miles from Detroit.
Hacks On AI Assistants Puts Gmail at Risk
So far, prompt injections have proved impossible to prevent. That has left OpenAI and the rest of the LLM market reliant on mitigations that are often introduced on a case-by-case basis and only in response to the discovery of a working exploit.
Accordingly, OpenAI mitigated the prompt-injection technique ShadowLeak fell to—but only after Radware privately alerted the LLM maker to it.
A proof-of-concept attack that Radware published embedded a prompt injection into an email sent to a Gmail account that Deep Research had been given access to. The injection included instructions to scan received emails related to a company’s human resources department for the names and addresses of employees. Deep Research dutifully followed those instructions.
By now, ChatGPT and most other LLMs have mitigated such attacks, not by squashing prompt injections, but rather by blocking the channels the prompt injections use to exfiltrate confidential information. Specifically, these mitigations work by requiring explicit user consent before an AI assistant can click links or use markdown links—which are the normal ways to smuggle information off of a user environment and into the hands of the attacker.
Digital Twins, Digital ID
Good god. The Swiss people just approved digital IDs. Australia implemented them in Dec. UK last week. In all 3 nations, deep state-allied politicians are behind them. This is a digital ID/censorship emergency. Please share and reply below with info about other nations. https://t.co/b0X1Ne7CVf pic.twitter.com/YEgVE4ROdX
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) September 28, 2025
Censorship Industrial Complex
And after the government combines your personal, banking, and voting data under a single digital ID, it will add social media and vaccine information. Same with Real ID in the US. The Censorship Industrial Complex was dress rehearsal for digital ID. https://t.co/dXf2DemhqM
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) September 27, 2025
Larry
The man behind the digital ID push is Larry Ellison, owner of Oracle, CBS, CNN, and, soon, TikTok. He wants data centralization and total surveillance. "Citizens will be on their best behavior because we're constantly watching & recording everything that's going on." Terrifying. https://t.co/mb05XvnOAx pic.twitter.com/cUx45ORy2F
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) September 27, 2025