OpenAI launches GPT-5.4 with native computer use mode, financial plugins for Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets

The big headlines on this release are efficiency, with OpenAI reporting that GPT-5.4 uses far fewer tokens (47% fewer on some tasks) than its predecessors).
CNET

AI Data Centers: What to Know About Their Water and Energy Use

OpenAI's Sam Altman says AI's water concerns are "totally fake." The truth about AI's impact on natural resources is more complicated. Macy is a writer on the AI Team. She covers how AI is changing ...
IEEE

A Data-Driven Real-Time Optimal Power Flow Algorithm Using Local Feedback in Distribution Networks

Abstract: The increasing penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) adds variability as well as fast control capabilities to power networks. Dispatching the DERs based on local information to ...
CNET

Microsoft Researchers Figure Out How to Store Data Inside Glass Using Lasers

Most of the world's information is stored digitally right now. Every year, we generate more data than we did the year before. Now, with AI in the picture, a technology that relies on a whole lot of ...
Business Wire

European Enterprises Adopt Robust Sustainability Practices

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The focus of sustainability efforts by European enterprises is shifting from pure regulatory compliance to achieving measurable financial and operational outcomes, according ...
Houston Chronicle

How much water do AI data centers use? A new survey could help Texas regulators find out.

Water consumption by data centers and cryptomining facilities will be the focus of a new data-collection effort launched Friday by the Texas Public Utility Commission. Demand to build new data centers ...
AZ Central

We estimated data centers' water and power use. Here's how

Data center operators and utilities often do not disclose facility-specific energy and water usage data. The Republic built a database to estimate data centers' energy capacity by analyzing air ...
Marketplace

Caterpillar profits driven by demand from AI data centers

These are good times for Caterpillar. The company that makes all of that yellow heavy construction equipment — previously of Peoria, Illinois, now based in Irving, Texas — reported profits that beat ...
TechRepublic

10 Clever Microsoft Excel Tricks to Use in 2026

Excel has outlasted many tech trends, and in the age of AI, it remains very much in the mix. While new platforms promise automation and out-of-the-box intelligence, many teams continue to rely on ...
Reuters

Microsoft rolls out initiative to limit data-center power costs, water use impact

Jan 13 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab on Tuesday unveiled an initiative to curb water usage at its U.S. data centers and limit the impact on the general population from any potential ...
Reason

Data Centers Use Lots of Electricity. This Bill Would Let Them Go Off the Grid.

Tech companies are building data centers as quickly as possible to run AI. These facilities are controviersial because they use copious amounts of electricity and might tax an electrical grid that in ...