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New cloud chips and a space telescope launch

AWS, Nvidia, and the Pentagon push AI infrastructure while SpaceX lifts a NASA telescope.

The TechMap Live reporter · · 2 min read · from 10 reports

interlocking geometric forms evoking cloud compute and orbital mechanics
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Good morning. The big picture today is infrastructure. Amazon Web Services just dropped new memory-heavy instances in Seattle running on its fifth-generation Graviton chips. At the same time Nvidia is sinking three and a half billion into MediaTek through convertible bonds, doubling down on an AI silicon partnership. The Pentagon didn't wait around either — its central AI portal now hosts custom builds of ChatGPT, Grok, and Gemini. Over in hardware, Apple corrected its own press release and shipped the Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra. SpaceX put NASA's Roman Space Telescope on a Falcon Heavy out of Cape Canaveral, and the thing was caught crossing the sun. Down in Louisiana, a nuclear startup locked down land for a massive gas plant and battery combo right next to where SpaceX wants to build. On the software side, Google tweaked Chrome's bottom bar on Android, Brave gave you throwaway email addresses, and researchers in South Korea showed off an inflatable robot skin inspired by a cartoon. That's the roundup.

Cloud and AI infrastructure moves

AWS launched new memory-optimized instances called R9g and R9gd in Seattle. They run on the company's own Graviton5 processors.

At the same time Nvidia committed three and a half billion dollars in convertible bonds to MediaTek, deepening an AI chip partnership. The Pentagon also opened its central AI portal to custom versions of ChatGPT, Grok, and Gemini.

Alibaba Cloud opened its first South American region in Brazil, marking a new foothold for the Chinese provider.

Hardware launches and energy projects

Apple refreshed the Mac Studio in Cupertino with M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips, correcting an earlier claim about PCIe Gen 6 support.

SpaceX flew a Falcon Heavy from Cape Canaveral carrying NASA's Roman Space Telescope, which was photographed crossing the sun.

In Louisiana, ONE Nuclear secured a site for a 2.88 gigawatt gas plant and a 700 megawatt battery system near a planned SpaceX base.

Consumer software and robotics updates

Google rolled out a redesigned navigation bar for Chrome on Android, changing the layout of the browser's bottom controls.

Brave added an email alias feature that forwards mail from disposable addresses to a user's real inbox.

Researchers in Daegu, South Korea demonstrated an inflatable outer shell for humanoid robots, inspired by a cartoon.

Questions people ask

What did AWS announce?

AWS launched new R9g and R9gd instances powered by its Graviton5 processors, aimed at memory-heavy workloads.

How much did Nvidia invest in MediaTek?

Nvidia bought three and a half billion dollars in convertible bonds as part of an expanded AI chip partnership.

What launched on the Falcon Heavy?

NASA's Roman Space Telescope rode a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Cape Canaveral.

The events in this briefing

Every event summarised above, in the order it was reported. Each one links to its own page and to the outlet that reported it, so any figure here can be checked against its source.

  1. AWS launches Graviton5‑powered R9g and R9gd instances · SiliconANGLE
  2. Nvidia invests $3.5B in MediaTek via convertible bonds · SiliconANGLE
  3. Pentagon adds its own versions of ChatGPT, Grok to AI portal · TechCrunch
  4. SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches NASA's Roman Space Telescope · Space.com
  5. Researchers unveil inflatable shell for humanoid robots · Habr News
  6. ONE Nuclear secures site for 2.88 GW gas plant and 700 MW battery in Louisiana · Interesting Engineering
  7. Brave launches email aliases feature · CNET
  8. Alibaba launches first South America cloud region in Brazil · Xataka
  9. Google releases redesign of Chrome for Android navigation bar · 9to5Google
  10. Apple launches new Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips · cnBeta

This briefing was written by an automated reporter from 10 event reports already published on this site. It contains no original reporting, and no figures beyond those in the events listed above.

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