🚨 Leaked AI Memos, Ghost Joins Fediverse, Big Tech’s Grid Wars

Newslit Daily

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🚨 Leaked AI Memos, Ghost Joins Fediverse, Big Tech’s Grid Wars

Plus: Cybersecurity Warning & Google’s EU Battle.

Jose Montes de Oca

Mar 20, 2025

Transcript

Good morning. It’s Thursday, March 20. Today we are covering:

What Google and Meta's Leaked Internal Memos Reveal About Power, AI, and Control
Substack rival Ghost is now connected to the fediverse
Big Tech’s data center boom poses new risk to US grid operators
UK cybersecurity agency warns over risk of quantum hackers
Google Search charged with breaking EU antitrust rules

Let’s dive in

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What Google and Meta's Leaked Internal Memos Reveal About Power, AI, and Control

By K.W. Hampton via Medium

Sergey Brin has returned to Google's AI division, pushing a hardline work culture with demands for 60-hour workweeks, strict in-office presence, and prioritization of speed over safety.
A leaked memo reveals Google’s shift away from AI safety measures, urging employees to remove processes that slow development, even if they exist to prevent harmful consequences.
Meta and Google’s internal memos expose a growing power struggle in AI, where control, rapid deployment, and reduced oversight take precedence over ethical considerations.

Substack rival Ghost is now connected to the fediverse

By Sarah Perez via TechCrunch

Ghost, an open-source newsletter platform and Substack rival, has integrated with the fediverse, allowing publishers to share content across federated platforms like Mastodon, Threads, and Pixelfed via ActivityPub.
The new social web beta, available to Ghost Pro subscribers, enables federated following, interactions (likes, replies, reposts), and a social web reader to track short- and long-form content from across the open social web.
Future updates will include deeper membership integrations, enhanced profile customization, and moderation tools, while compatibility issues persist with Meta's Threads, preventing interactions.

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Big Tech’s data center boom poses new risk to US grid operators

By Tim McLaughlin via Reuters

A major incident in Virginia’s "Data Center Alley" saw 60 data centers disconnect from the grid simultaneously, causing a surge in excess electricity and forcing grid operators to intervene to prevent cascading outages.
The frequency of sudden disconnections by data centers and crypto miners has increased, with over 30 near-miss incidents in Texas alone since 2020. Power usage by data centers has tripled in the past decade and could triple again by 2028, increasing the risk of widespread outages.
Grid operators suggest requiring data centers to “ride through” voltage dips instead of disconnecting, but Big Tech companies like Amazon, Google, and Meta oppose this, citing risks to their hardware and cooling systems. Regulators are struggling to find a solution that balances grid stability with industry concerns.

UK cybersecurity agency warns over risk of quantum hackers

By Dan Milmo via The Guardian

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) warns organizations to upgrade their encryption systems to post-quantum cryptography by 2035, as advancements in quantum computing could break current encryption methods.
Large entities, including critical infrastructure operators in energy and transport, should identify systems needing upgrades by 2028, implement key changes by 2031, and complete the transition by 2035, per NCSC guidance.
While quantum computers remain under development, their ability to solve complex mathematical problems at unprecedented speeds poses a future threat, making early migration to quantum-resistant encryption crucial, according to experts.

Google Search charged with breaking EU antitrust rules

By Jess Weatherbed via The Verge

Google has been charged by the European Commission for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA) by favoring its Shopping, Hotels, and Flights services in search rankings over competitors, and for restricting app developers from directing users to alternative distribution channels outside the Google Play Store.
The EU's preliminary ruling states that Google's parent company, Alphabet, could face fines up to $35 billion (10% of its global annual revenue) if found guilty. Google argues that the imposed changes would harm consumers and businesses, leading to higher travel prices and a 30% traffic drop for some sites.
This case follows the EU's broader crackdown on Big Tech, with Apple and Meta also facing DMA-related charges. Alphabet, designated as a gatekeeper under the DMA in 2023, had made prior changes to Google Search to comply but remains under scrutiny.