Welcome to the August 25, 2025 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for computer professionals three times a week.

HEADLINES AT A GLANCE

• AI Giants Call for Energy Grid Agreement
• FTC Chair Warns U.S. Platforms Not to Weaken Privacy by Applying EU's DSA
• Russia Orders State-Backed MAX Messenger App Pre-Installed on Phones, Tablets
• New Design Officer Aims to Make Federal Websites ‘Satisfying’
• Waymo Granted Permit to Test Autonomous Vehicles in NYC
• DARPA Seeks to Secure Communications with Quantumness
• Number of Girls Taking GCSE Computer Science Drops
• Google Wants You to Know the Environmental Cost of Quizzing Its AI
• Robots to Deliver Just Eat Takeaway Meals in Switzerland
• Quantum Computer Simulates Quantum Process
• Shoprite's Checkers Trials High-Tech Shopping Trolleys in South Africa
• Multipurpose Robots Take Shape

AI Giants Call for Energy Grid Agreement

Dozens of scientists at Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI are calling on software, hardware, infrastructure, and utility designers to help normalize power demand during AI training. Their concern is that the fluctuating power demand of AI training threatens the electrical grid's ability to handle that variable load. The researchers argue that oscillating energy demand between the power-intensive GPU compute phase and the less-taxing communication phase pose an obstacle to AI model development.
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FTC Chair Warns U.S. Platforms Not to Weaken Privacy by Applying EU's DSA

In a letter to Apple, Google, and other U.S. tech platforms, U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Andrew Ferguson urged them not to implement the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) or other EU or U.K. online laws. Ferguson said such laws "present emerging and ongoing threats to the free exchange of ideas."
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Russia Orders State-Backed MAX Messenger App Pre-Installed on Phones, Tablets

The Russian government is requiring that all mobile phones, tablets, and other gadgets sold in that country come pre-installed with the state-backed messenger app MAX beginning September 1. The move comes after Russia said this month it had started restricting communications on WhatsApp and Telegram, accusing the foreign-owned platforms of failing to share information with law enforcement.
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New Design Officer Aims to Make Federal Websites ‘Satisfying’

The White House's new chief design officer, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, plans to revamp U.S. government websites through the National Design Studio (NDS), aiming for Apple Store-like aesthetics and user experiences. Established by executive order, the NDS will advise agencies on standardizing design, reducing costs, and improving usability for services like passports, taxes, and social security. Gebbia emphasized mobile-friendly, minimalist interfaces.
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Waymo Granted Permit to Test Autonomous Vehicles in NYC

Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving unit, has received a permit to test autonomous vehicles (AV) in New York City, marking the city’s first AV testing rollout. Beginning late September, up to eight autonomous Waymo vehicles will operate in Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn, although state law requires a safety driver behind the wheel of each.
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DARPA Seeks to Secure Communications with Quantumness

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) launched the Quantum-Augmented Network (QuANET) program to explore how quantum devices can enhance security in existing communication networks. Unlike a full quantum Internet, which faces technological hurdles, QuANET focuses on near-term applications such as transmitting quantum-encoded images at video-quality speeds. Researchers are testing innovations like hyperentanglement, which could secure more data with fewer signals, and developing quantum-like light and interface cards to integrate quantum features into traditional systems.
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Number of Girls Taking GCSE Computer Science Drops

The number of girls in the U.K. taking a GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) in computer science fell to 20,708 this year from 21,020 in 2024, after increasing from 2022. There also was a drop in boys taking GCSE computer science this year, pushing the total number of students taking the exam to 91,619 from 95,841 last year. Said Heather Smith of Okta, “If we want more girls to enter and thrive in these fields, we must make STEM not just accessible, but genuinely welcoming.”
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Google Wants You to Know the Environmental Cost of Quizzing Its AI

A new report from Google revealed that every text query submitted to its AI chatbot Gemini requires the same amount of energy as watching nine seconds of TV. The search engine giant determined around five drops of water are consumed and 0.03 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent is emitted for each individual Gemini text query. A study by UNESCO suggests energy usage can be decreased “dramatically” by using terser prompts to query smaller AI models.
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Robots to Deliver Just Eat Takeaway Meals in Switzerland

Through a partnership with on-demand delivery company Just Eat Takeaway, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology spinoff RIVR will deploy robots to deliver orders from Zekis World restaurant in Oerlikon, Switzerland. The delivery robots are equipped with four limbs that can help it handle stairs, and wheels to navigate urban spaces. Equipped with AI, the robots can avoid pedestrians and other obstacles on their own, but will be monitored remotely for the first 30 days.
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Quantum Computer Simulates Quantum Process

Researchers at Japanese scientific research institute RIKEN used two 20-qubit quantum computers to simulate quantum information scrambling, a process in which information spreads throughout a quantum system, becoming harder to reconstruct. The team performed three simulations via cloud-based trapped-ion quantum computers, including creating scrambled states for quantum statistical calculations. “We only used 20 qubits to conduct the simulations in this study,” said RIKEN’s Kazuhiro Seki, adding that using more than 50 qubits could make such a study “too difficult for a classical computer to handle.”
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Shoprite's Checkers Trials High-Tech Shopping Trolleys in South Africa

Beginning this month, Shoprite will roll out "smart" trolleys (shopping carts) at two of its Checkers supermarket locations in Cape Town, South Africa. The Xpress Trolley shopping carts will allow customers to scan items as they go and keep track of their spending. They also feature in-store navigation and built-in payment terminals so customers do not have to wait in line to pay for their purchases.
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Multipurpose Robots Take Shape

Modular robots developed by researchers at Dartmouth College, Rutgers University, and Yale University can assemble themselves into different structures with the help of drones. The robots are comprised of cube-shaped blocks, each with eight rigid rods and a 3D-printed center with a battery and Wi-Fi module, and tension-adjustable strings that determine the resulting structure's shape. The researchers demonstrated how the robots can be formed and deformed into shapes including makeshift scaffolds, bridges, and stretchers.
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