Issue #69

Paris beats London, Coinbase held to ransom, data centres heat Sweden, and more. 

‍News from May 15 - May 22, 2025

The UK Strikes Another Deal

The UK and EU agreed to a trade deal this week, which PM Sir Keir Starmer described as a “new era” in post-Brexit UK-EU relations.

Under the terms of the deal, the EU will lower export controls on British goods so long as the UK follows EU rules on food trade, emissions trading, and energy. In exchange, the UK will continue to grant EU fishermen access to British waters. 

UK arms manufacturers will gain access to the EU’s £150 billion rearmament fund, with an ability to bid for defence contracts, while British holidaymakers can use the EU’s new e-gates at ports of entry so long as the EU country permits it. 

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson: “Britain will once again be paying countless millions of pounds into EU coffers - for the privilege of becoming the non-voting punk of the EU Commission!” 

Source

AI Hallucinates in Court

Anthropic AI, in court for allegedly training its models on copyrighted song lyrics, was criticised by the sitting judge for submitting a legal brief containing an AI-hallucinated citation. 

In a hearing, an attorney representing various music publishers declared that Anthropic AI’s legal filing was generated with AI and the sources a “complete fabrication”. Anthropic defence attorney Ivana Dukanovic said the chatbot Claude had been used to generate the filing and that, while the sources were genuine, certain errors had gone undetected. 

Anthropic AI defence attorney Ivana Dukanovic: “Unfortunately, although providing the correct publication title, publication year, and link to the provided source, the returned citation included an inaccurate title and incorrect authors.” 

This comes after another California judge criticised two law firms last week for submitting a brief containing fabricated materials. 

Source

OpenAI Builds World’s Largest Data Centre

OpenAI announced its plans to build the world’s biggest data centre in Abu Dhabi. 

The 5-gigawatt-capacity data centre will be the same size as Monaco at 10 square miles and consume as much power as 5 nuclear reactors. OpenAI, which is building this with UAE tech conglomerate G42, will be the main user. 

This comes after Donald Trump visited the country to facilitate more collaboration between the UAE and the US as part of a broader strategy to stop China from capturing the market. Some US officials have voiced concerns, saying that sharing advanced semiconductor capabilities with Chinese-linked companies like G42 is a national security concern. 

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman: “Abu Dhabi has been talking about AI since before it was cool.” 

Source

Bulletin Board

• Green Tech Makes CO2 Decline in China. Green energy has caused CO2 to decline in China for the first time. Analysis by UK-based Climate Brief noticed a 1.6% decline in China’s annual carbon dioxide emissions despite a nationwide surge in energy demand. The report attributed China’s wind, solar and nuclear infrastructure to the decline after it grew faster than energy consumption. China is the world-leader in EVs, solar power and robotics and is set to comprise half the world’s green energy production by 2030. Source
• Data Centres Heat Sweden. Data centres are being used in Finland and Sweden to heat towns and cities via a system of underground pipes and pumps, significantly offsetting energy consumption and reducing household energy costs. Microsoft Corp. is now building a data centre near Epsoo, which will heat 100,000 homes. Mayor of Espoo Kai Mykkanen: “These data centres are actually big fans, allowing electricity to be converted cheaply into heat… It’s easier to produce emissions-free electricity than emissions-free heat.” Source
• Builder.ai Goes Insolvent. Tech unicorn Builder.ai has entered insolvency proceedings after months of leadership shakeups and decreasing monthly revenue. The Microsoft-backed company, which built an app to simplify app-building, raised $450 million in funding. However, it is alleged that the company regularly inflated its financials and relied on humans, not AI, to build apps. Builder.ai spokesperson: “The business has been unable to recover from historic challenges and past decisions that placed significant strain on its financial position.” Source
• Coinbase Held to Ransom. An “unknown threat actor” demanded $20 million from crypto exchange Coinbase, threatening to leak customer data obtained through bribed overseas employees. The stolen information included account data, social security numbers, and passport IDs. In response, Coinbase offered the same amount for information leading to the perpetrators’ arrest. CEO Brian Armstrong: “For these would-be extortionists, or anyone seeking to harm Coinbase customers, know that we will prosecute you and bring you to justice.” Source
• Paris Beats London. Paris is now Europe’s leading tech hub, beating London for the first time in Dealroom’s rankings, thanks to a burgeoning AI scene. While London is home to more VC-backed startups and has a higher overall enterprise value, Paris has witnessed a fivefold growth in enterprise value since 2017 and is now home to the likes of Mistral AI and Poolside. This comes as UK-founded Revolut announced it will make Paris its HQ in Western Europe. Source

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