Researchers say Australia could gain a multibillion-dollar economic boost by 2040 by supporting semiconductor technologies, and are calling for government help. The Semiconductor Sector Service Bureau will release a roadmap with recommendations on Thursday. Its chair, David Skellern, said several Australian companies are already doing world-competitive work with little support. Modelling by Deloitte put the potential gain at $5.3 billion, while leaving constraints unaddressed could cost about $14.7 billion. A spokesperson for Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres said the government recognises the sector's importance.
Quantinuum's latest quantum computing hardware, Helios, has demonstrated significant improvements in error correction. Each increase in the size of logical qubits improved performance by a factor of over 10, marking the best scaling seen yet. The company's advancements include reducing leakage errors by a factor of 6.5 and developing software to rapidly analyze error data. These developments bring quantum computing closer to practical applications, though challenges remain in scaling qubit counts and reducing hardware error rates.
Rama Afullo, a Kenyan American engineer, founded Satlyt after Google and SpaceX rejected his proposal for orbital data centers. Satlyt's software, set to launch on a SpaceX rocket, will enable satellites to share large computing jobs. The company has raised $8 million and aims to operate AI models on satellites, potentially saving costs by reducing data transmission to Earth. Satlyt's software will be tested on a spacecraft built by Indian startup TakeMe2Space, with NASA and other customers involved in the mission.
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Microsoft has unveiled the Surface Laptop Ultra, priced from $2,599, and the RTX Spark Dev Box for $5,999, both designed for AI development. Windows 11 will receive updates to support local AI models and a revamped Copilot with three tabs. The company also introduced Microsoft Execution Containers for secure AI agent activities. The Surface Laptop Ultra will start shipping on October 16.
