January 2026 reveals AI’s true battleground: not just code, but power, chips, and physical infrastructure. From TSMC and ASML shaping compute supply to robots, exoskeletons, and soaring energy demand, the race for intelligence now spans factories, grids, and even orbit above and below too now
Japanese automaker Nissan is the latest victim of the Everest ransomware group, which claims to have stolen 900GB of sensitive data. The breach, announced January 10, threatens internal records, dealer info, and possibly customer data —raising serious concerns for its Australian operations.
The Victorian Department of Education has confirmed a major data breach affecting all 1700+ government schools. Hackers accessed the names, emails, and encrypted passwords of current and former students, impacting potentially hundreds of thousands of individuals just weeks before the new school year
Google Unveils Powerful AI Future at Cloud Next 2025
At Cloud Next 2025, Google launched Ironwood, its fastest and most energy efficient AI chip, alongside major updates to Gemini, Vertex AI, and Cloud WAN. With AI now powering over 2 billion monthly Workspace assists, Google is leading the way in building a connected AI future.
Google showed off amazing new AI tools at Cloud Next 2025 in Las Vegas that will change how businesses work worldwide. The company now has tech centers in 42 regions around the world, linked by over two million miles of cables on land and under the sea, with more than 200 connection points across 200+ countries. This huge growth shows Google's push to build a strong base for an AI-powered future.
"The chance to improve lives and reimagine things is why Google has been investing in AI and machine learning for more than two decades,"
said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, showing the company's big-picture thinking. The star of Google's AI show is Ironwood, their newest AI chip. Pichai proudly shared,
"Compared to our first public TPU, Ironwood is 3,600 times faster. It's the most powerful chip we've ever built and will open doors to the next wave of AI models."
This huge jump in speed, plus being 29 times more energy-efficient, puts Google ahead in building green AI tech. This means businesses can now use much more powerful computing while using less energy.
Google's developer community is booming, with over 4 million developers now using Gemini, Google's best AI models. Even more exciting is that Vertex AI use has skyrocketed 20 times in just the past year, as more people use Gemini, Imagen for pictures, and Veo for videos. In Google Workspace, business users get more than two billion AI helps every month, completely changing how work gets done. These numbers show the real-world impact of Google's AI tools in action.
The new Cloud Wide Area Network (Cloud WAN) is another game-changer, giving all businesses access to Google's private global network. This system is over 40% faster while cutting costs by up to 40%, giving businesses better speed for less money. For companies that need to keep data in their own buildings, Google Distributed Cloud now brings Gemini models on-site through team-ups with big names like NVIDIA and Dell, making AI available to everyone no matter their setup.
As announced at Google Cloud Next, NVIDIA is partnering with Google Cloud to bring agentic AI on-prem with support for Gemini models—powered by NVIDIA Blackwell and Confidential Computing for top-tier performance and security. Hear more from CEO Jensen Huang below.
"Organizations around the world are building with Google Cloud to drive growth and transform industries,"
said Thomas Kurian, Google Cloud CEO, highlighting how these tools help real businesses. As companies move into an AI-powered world, Google Cloud Next 2025 shows that Google is leading the AI revolution, not just joining it. They're creating tools that make cutting-edge AI easy to use for companies of all sizes. Their new Agent2Agent Protocol lets AI tools from different makers talk to each other safely, showing Google's push to build an AI world where everything works together to help businesses succeed.
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January 2026 reveals AI’s true battleground: not just code, but power, chips, and physical infrastructure. From TSMC and ASML shaping compute supply to robots, exoskeletons, and soaring energy demand, the race for intelligence now spans factories, grids, and even orbit above and below too now
By 2027 the race to become the first cosmic CEO is moving from science fiction to strategy. Starcloud has already trained an AI model in orbit on an Nvidia H100, while Google prepares Project Suncatcher. What remains missing is not ambition, but clear pricing and proof orbital compute can pay.
Australia’s National AI Plan is a welcome start on skills and safety, but it plays too safe. While the US, Europe and the Gulf pour sovereign capital into chips, compute and energy, Canberra is still talking about catalysing investment rather than committing.
NVIDIA’s blockbuster quarter has reset the AI narrative, turning fears of a bursting tech bubble into renewed conviction in a structural shift. With record data-centre sales and sold-out Blackwell GPUs, NVIDIA now looks less like a chip stock and more like core AI infrastructure in the AI build-out
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