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Facebook Bans Sales of Amazon Conservation Areas on its Apps

An aerial view shows a river and a deforested plot of the Amazon near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil August 14, 2020. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
An aerial view shows a river and a deforested plot of the Amazon near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil August 14, 2020. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
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Facebook Bans Sales of Amazon Conservation Areas on its Apps

An aerial view shows a river and a deforested plot of the Amazon near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil August 14, 2020. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
An aerial view shows a river and a deforested plot of the Amazon near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil August 14, 2020. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

Facebook on Friday said it will stop allowing the sale of land in Amazon rainforest conservation areas at marketplaces on the social network or its Instagram and WhatsApp services.

The announcement came as Facebook defends itself against accusations that it has long put profit over societal good, and caused some online to question why it had allowed sales of precious rainforest land in the first place.

"We are updating our commerce policies to explicitly prohibit the buying or selling of land of any type in ecological conservation areas on our commerce products across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp," the online social network said in a post.

"Protected areas are crucial for conserving habitats and ecosystems and are critical to tackling the global nature crisis."

Facebook focused the announcement on the Amazon rainforest, saying it planned to ramp up the effort.

Facebook said it will review listings at its online Marketplace against an authoritative database of protected areas to identify and block listings for sales of land there.

"Wait, this is something that was happening?" read a tweeted reply to Facebook sharing the announcement at its verified Twitter account.

The sale of land in conservation areas happens on other platforms and offline, but Facebook is working to stop it from happening in its family of apps, the company said.

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Technology

Nvidia Making AI Module for Outer Space

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says artificial intelligence powered by the company's graphics processing units is quickly infusing nearly everything from Disney character robots to data centers that may one day be orbiting the planet. JOSH EDELSON / AFP
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says artificial intelligence powered by the company's graphics processing units is quickly infusing nearly everything from Disney character robots to data centers that may one day be orbiting the planet. JOSH EDELSON / AFP
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Nvidia Making AI Module for Outer Space

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says artificial intelligence powered by the company's graphics processing units is quickly infusing nearly everything from Disney character robots to data centers that may one day be orbiting the planet. JOSH EDELSON / AFP
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says artificial intelligence powered by the company's graphics processing units is quickly infusing nearly everything from Disney character robots to data centers that may one day be orbiting the planet. JOSH EDELSON / AFP

Nvidia chief Jensen Huang on Monday said the leading artificial intelligence chip maker is heading for space with a goal of powering orbiting data centers.

An Nvidia graphics processing unit (GPU) was launched into space late last year by startup Starcloud in what was touted as an off-planet debut for the technology, but now Nvidia is creating a module intended as a building block for data centers there.

"We're working with our partners on a new computer called Vera Rubin Space One," Huang said as he kicked off the GPU-maker's annual developers conference in Silicon Valley.

"It's going to go out to space and start data centers."

Partners in the project include Starcloud, which is planning a November satellite launch that will mark the "cosmic debut" of the new Nvidia module.

A Starcloud-1 satellite, about the size of a small refrigerator, is expected to be packed with 100 times more computing power than any previous space-based operation.

"In 10 years, nearly all new data centers will be being built in outer space," predicted Starcloud co-founder and chief Philip Johnston.

The startup explained that it plans to power Google AI with the Nvidia GPUs to show that large language models can run in outer space.

Nvidia described the Vera Rubin module as being optimized for AI, enabling real-time sensing, decision making, and autonomous functioning.

"Space computing, the final frontier, has arrived," Huang said.

"With our partners, we're extending Nvidia beyond our planet - boldly taking intelligence where it's never gone before."

Tech firms are floating the idea of building data centers in space and tapping into the sun's energy to meet out-of-this-world power demands in a fierce artificial intelligence race.

More than a dozen startups, aerospace leaders, and major tech firms are involved in the development, testing, or planning of space-based data centers.

The big draw of space for data centers is power supply, with the option of synchronizing satellites to the sun's orbit to ensure constant light beaming onto solar panels.

Building in space also avoids the challenges of acquiring land and meeting local regulations or community resistance to projects.

Critical technical aspects of such operations need to be resolved, however, particularly damage to the orbiting data centers from high levels of radiation and extreme temperatures, and the danger of them being hit by space junk.

Technology

Samsung Shares Rise After Nvidia’s Huang Flags Tie-up on New AI Chips

10 September 2025, Bavaria, Munich: The Samsung logo can be seen at the Samsung stand during the International Motor Show (IAA Mobility). (dpa)
10 September 2025, Bavaria, Munich: The Samsung logo can be seen at the Samsung stand during the International Motor Show (IAA Mobility). (dpa)
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Samsung Shares Rise After Nvidia’s Huang Flags Tie-up on New AI Chips

10 September 2025, Bavaria, Munich: The Samsung logo can be seen at the Samsung stand during the International Motor Show (IAA Mobility). (dpa)
10 September 2025, Bavaria, Munich: The Samsung logo can be seen at the Samsung stand during the International Motor Show (IAA Mobility). (dpa)

Shares of Samsung Electronics rose as much as 5% on Tuesday after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the South Korean company was producing Nvidia's new artificial intelligence chips.

The news fueled expectations that Samsung's foundry division, which makes logic chips for customers including Tesla, Apple and Samsung's phone division, may be able to turn around ‌as early ‌as next year after posting ‌billions ⁠of dollars in annual ⁠losses in recent years, analysts said.

At Nvidia's GTC developer conference in California on Monday, Huang unveiled Nvidia's new AI inference processor based on technology from chip startup Groq.

"I want to thank Samsung who manufactures the Groq LP30 ⁠chip for us and they're cranking as ‌hard as they ‌can," he said, adding the chips were in production, ‌and would be shipped in the second half ‌of this year.

Samsung also showcased the Nvidia chips made using its 4-nanometer manufacturing process at the GTC.

Samsung shares were up 4.3% at 196,800 won ‌as of 0252 GMT, after earlier reaching 198,000 won. The broader market was ⁠up 2.7%.

Sohn ⁠In-joon, an analyst at Heungkuk Securities, expected Samsung's foundry business would be able to reach breakeven later next year. But he said weak demand from mobile phones stemming from surging memory chip prices could weigh on foundry earnings.

Advanced Micro Devices' CEO Lisa Su will meet Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee in South Korea on Wednesday, media reports said, with eyes on whether the two would discuss cooperation in memory chips and logic semiconductors.

Technology

Nebius Signs AI Capacity Deal with Meta for at Least $12 Billion

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Nebius during the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Nebius during the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
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Nebius Signs AI Capacity Deal with Meta for at Least $12 Billion

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Nebius during the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Nebius during the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

Amsterdam-based Nebius Group said on Monday it has signed a new five-year deal with Meta Platforms to provide the social media giant with $12 billion of dedicated AI computing capacity ⁠across multiple locations by ⁠2027.

Under the deal, Meta will also buy an additional $15 billion worth of capacity planned by Nebius over ⁠the coming five years if it is not sold to other customers, giving the contract a total value of up to $27 billion, Nebius said.

Nebius is a so-called "neocloud" company that sells hardware and cloud capacity ⁠as ⁠services to other tech firms. It uses Nvidia processors to provide AI cloud infrastructure.

It signed an initial $3 billion deal with Meta in November.