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Fitbit Recalls 1.7 Mn Smartwatches Due to Burn Risk

A Fitbit smartwatch. Reuters file photo
A Fitbit smartwatch. Reuters file photo
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Fitbit Recalls 1.7 Mn Smartwatches Due to Burn Risk

A Fitbit smartwatch. Reuters file photo
A Fitbit smartwatch. Reuters file photo

Fitbit on Wednesday recalled 1.7 million of its Ionic smartwatches used for tracking steps and other activity due to the risk of batteries overheating and burning wearers.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a recall notice that it received slightly more than 100 reports of Ionic wearers being burned by the smartwatches.

A handful of those burns were reported to be second-degree or third-degree.

"Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled Ionic smartwatches," the commission urged.

About a million Ionic smartwatches have been sold in the United States and another 693,000 or so outside the country, according to the notice.

Fitbit is offering refunds of $299 each for the recalled smartwatches, which the company had manufactured in Taiwan but stopped producing in 2020.

Google completed its buy of Fitbit early last year in a deal valued at $2.1 billion and is expected to soon release a Pixel smartwatch designed to sync with Android-powered smartphones.

Fitbit was a pioneer in the market for "wearable" devices used to keep track of activities from sleep to running but quickly faced rivals including an Apple Watch with sophisticated health-focused features.

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Technology

Toyota, Hyundai Recall More than 1.1 million Vehicles

A Toyota logo is seen at a dealership in El Monte, Calif., Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
A Toyota logo is seen at a dealership in El Monte, Calif., Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
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Toyota, Hyundai Recall More than 1.1 million Vehicles

A Toyota logo is seen at a dealership in El Monte, Calif., Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
A Toyota logo is seen at a dealership in El Monte, Calif., Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Toyota and Hyundai are recalling a combined 1.1 million vehicles due to problems with the instrument panel displays and seat belts, US auto regulators said Thursday.

Toyota is recalling 591,377 automobiles because the instrument panel display can fail and not show the driver critical information including vehicle speed, brake system and tire pressure warning lights, which could lead to a crash and injury.

Models included in the Toyota recall are the 2023-2024 Venza, RAV 4 Prime, RAV 4, GR Corolla and Crown; 2024-2025 Lexus TX and LS and Toyota Tacoma and Grand Highlander; 2025 Lexus RX, Toyota Crown Signia, Camry, RAV 4 plug-in hybrid and 4 Runner, The AP news reported.

Dealers will update the instrument panel software for non-plug-in hybrid vehicles free of charge. For plug-in hybrids, dealers will replace the panel display or update the software, also free of charge.

Owners may contact Toyota’s customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota’s numbers for this recall are 25TB08 and 25TA08. Lexus’ numbers for this recall are 25LB05 and 25LA05.

The Hyundai recall includes 568,580 Palisade SUVs in which the seat belt buckles may fail to latch and not properly restrain passengers in a crash, increasing the possibility of injury.

Until a fix is performed, passengers are being advised to insert the belt firmly into the buckle with a quick and direct motion, pulling on the belt to ensure the seat belt is fully secured. Dealers will inspect and replace the seat belt buckle assemblies, as necessary, free of charge.

Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai’s number for this recall is 283. Owners can search for their vehicle identification number, or VIN, on NHTSA.gov.

Technology

Microsoft Boosts Wisconsin Data Center Spending to $7 billion

A Microsoft logo is seen a day after Microsoft Corp's $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn Corp, in Los Angeles, California, US, June 14, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
A Microsoft logo is seen a day after Microsoft Corp's $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn Corp, in Los Angeles, California, US, June 14, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
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Microsoft Boosts Wisconsin Data Center Spending to $7 billion

A Microsoft logo is seen a day after Microsoft Corp's $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn Corp, in Los Angeles, California, US, June 14, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
A Microsoft logo is seen a day after Microsoft Corp's $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn Corp, in Los Angeles, California, US, June 14, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Microsoft on Thursday said it plans to build a second massive artificial intelligence data center in Wisconsin, bringing its spending in the state to more than $7 billion.

The new project will join a $3.3 billion data center in Mount Pleasant in the southeastern corner of the state, announced last year. Microsoft said Thursday that the initial data center remains on track to open next year and will employ about 500 people at its peak, expanding to about 800 once the second data center is complete, Reuters reported.

The area in Racine County, which sits nestled between Milwaukee and Chicago, has drawn the attention of US presidents of both political parties in recent years. It was initially the site of a proposed $10 billion factory by electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn, which builds phones for Apple and others, during the first term of President Donald Trump, but those plans were drastically scaled back. At a Microsoft event last year, President Joe Biden, then running against Trump for a second time, highlighted Foxconn's pullback and Microsoft's decision to move forward with a data center.

On Thursday, Microsoft said that the site would eventually house the world's most powerful AI supercomputer, connecting together hundreds of thousands of powerful chips from Nvidia . The company said that it plans to pre-pay for electrical infrastructure to avoid raising electricity rates in the region and that a state-of-the-art cooling system will tap into Wisconsin's cool climate and reduce the data center's yearly water use to that of an average restaurant.

"This is where the next generation of AI will be trained, setting the stage for breakthroughs that will shape the future. New discoveries in medicine, science, and other critical fields will start right here, with the models we train in Wisconsin," Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a blog post.

Technology

Huawei Unveils New Computing Tech as China Seeks AI Strength

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Huawei is seen at 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 Huawei is seen at 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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Huawei Unveils New Computing Tech as China Seeks AI Strength

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Huawei is seen at 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 Huawei is seen at 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

Chinese tech juggernaut Huawei plans to launch powerful computing setups that allow chips to connect at high speeds, an executive said Thursday, as Beijing looks to bolster domestic AI prowess and reduce reliance on Western firms.

Geopolitical tensions between China and the United States have intensified technological competition between the countries, each seeking to achieve supremacy in the vital fields of artificial intelligence and advanced computer chips.

Shenzhen-based Huawei and California-based Nvidia are among the tech giants that have repeatedly been caught up in the rivalry, each facing various restrictions on their overseas operations.

Huawei's Deputy Chairman Eric Xu said Thursday that the firm intends to launch the Atlas 950 and Atlas 960 "SuperPoDs", part of efforts to meet "long-term computing demand", according to a press release.

The products will be used to integrate thousands of Huawei chips, significantly enhancing the computing power that underpins various AI applications, AFP reported.

They are expected to be launched in the fourth quarters of this year and 2027, respectively, according to a report Thursday by state-controlled Chinese business news outlet Jiemian, citing Xu.

"These two SuperPoDs will deliver an industry-leading performance across multiple key metrics, including the number of NPUs (neural processing units), total computing power, memory capacity, and interconnect bandwidth," said Xu, quoted in the press release.

The announcement comes one day after a report by the Financial Times said that China's internet regulator had instructed domestic tech giants including Alibaba and ByteDance to terminate orders for certain Nvidia products.

According to the FT, citing unnamed sources, the Cyberspace Administration of China ordered companies to end all testing and purchase plans for Nvidia's RTX Pro 6000D chips, state-of-the-art processors made especially for the country.

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang said Wednesday that he was "disappointed" by the report.

Observers believe that Beijing's moves to wean Chinese tech companies off Nvidia's offerings are part of its effort to accelerate domestic production from companies like Huawei.

The FT report also said that Beijing regulators have recently summoned Huawei and Cambricon -- another domestic chipmaker -- for discussions on how their products stack up against Nvidia's chips for the Chinese market.