This Week’s Top 5 Stories in Technology
AMD and HPE Power DOE’s $1bn AI Supercomputer Push
The US Department of Energy is moving to further solidify American leadership in science and technology with a US$1bn investment in two new AI supercomputers: described as the next evolution in leadership-class AI systems.
A second-generation exascale supercomputer named Discovery, and a new AI-focused cluster called Lux, will both be built at the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
Both systems will be powered by AMD technologies and constructed in partnership with HPE.
The Lux system, led by AMD and leveraging Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), is planned for deployment in early 2026, while the HPE-led Discovery system is expected to arrive in 2028.
This new portfolio is purpose-built for the AI era and forms part of the DOE’s mission to advance American leadership in AI and supercomputing across science, energy, and national security.
The systems also support the US AI Action Plan’s push for secure and sovereign national AI infrastructure.
“When we built Frontier for Oak Ridge National Laboratory and ushered in exascale, we achieved the pinnacle in supercomputing history and a triumph for the US,” said Antonio Neri, President and CEO at HPE.
“We are proud to build on that leadership innovation and strong public-private partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, ORNL and AMD, to build Discovery and Lux, accelerating the next era of scientific discovery and AI innovation.”
Why Anthropic has Signed Huge Deal with Google Cloud
Anthropic is expanding its AI infrastructure through a multi-billion dollar agreement with Google Cloud.
The company plans to deploy up to one million of Google's tensor processing units (TPUs) to meet the escalating demand for its Claude AI models and to further its research and development efforts.
This move highlights the intense competition for computing resources within the artificial intelligence industry.
The expansion is a response to rapid growth.
According to Anthropic, it now serves over 300,000 business customers and its largest accounts, which are those paying more than US$100,000 annually, have grown nearly sevenfold in the last year alone.
The additional infrastructure set to bring more than 1GW of new capacity online in 2026 is designed to keep pace with this trajectory.
Could AI Smart Glasses Help Amazon Drivers ID Your Doorstep?
Amazon is advancing its logistics network by integrating artificial intelligence into wearable technology for its delivery personnel.
Amazon is currently testing a new prototype “Amelia”: a pair of smart glasses designed to make its delivery process faster and safer.
These AI-powered glasses could enhance delivery accuracy and efficiency by providing drivers with hands-free operational support.
Delivery Associates can use the glasses to find customer doorsteps, identify correct packages and capture proof of delivery without the need for a separate handheld device.
According to Beryl Tomay, Amazon's Vice President of Transportation, the technology is being tested across numerous locations with hundreds of drivers.
“We’re testing it at several locations with over a dozen delivery service partners and hundreds of drivers across the country,” Tomay says.
Beryl explains that the glasses function as a smart aid for drivers: “The computer vision and AI-powered glasses act as a smart companion for drivers displaying real-time navigation and delivery instructions conveniently in the driver's field of view. This offers a hands-free option for drivers to get delivery information at each stop which helps drivers keep a safer eye on their surroundings instead of looking down at a phone.”
SAP Drives Growth With Cloud and AI Transformation
SAP has posted strong third-quarter results, signalling continued momentum in its transition to a cloud-centric business model.
According to its Q3 earnings report, SAP's cloud backlog increases by 23% to €18.84bn, a figure that would be four percentage points higher at constant currencies.
This growth demonstrates sustained customer demand for SAP's cloud offerings.
Cloud revenue experiences a 22% rise to reach €5.29bn, with the Cloud ERP Suite, a core component of SAP's growth strategy, expanding by 26% to €4.59bn.
This points to strong adoption rates for its S/4HANA Cloud and associated solutions.
While there is a notable decline in software licence revenue, this is consistent with SAP's move toward subscription-based services. This strategy lifts the share of more predictable revenue to 87%.
Azure Outage: The Risks of Cloud Infrastructure Reliance
Just a week after a devastating AWS outage brought operations to a halt for millions of users and thousands of businesses worldwide, Microsoft is now hitting headlines for similar reasons.
Azure’s latest outage has, once again, exposed the inherent vulnerabilities of a hyperconnected digital ecosystem.
Household names impacted in this outage include Asda, M&S, O2, Starbucks, Kroger, Alaska Airlines and Heathrow Airport thanks to Domain Name System (DNS) issues: the same cause at the root of AWS’ outage last week.
The incident lasted more than eight hours.
For many – whether businesses or individuals – the disruption shows a growing dependence on a handful of global cloud platforms that serve as the backbone for services ranging from communications to transaction processing and essential productivity tools.
The latest outage – impacting critical sectors like travel and even gaming – reinforces urgent calls for greater cyber resilience and digital sovereignty in today’s economy following AWS’ disruption last week.
