Welcome to the September 24, 2025 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for computer professionals three times a week.

HEADLINES AT A GLANCE

• U.N. General Assembly Opens with Plea for AI Safeguards
• OpenAI to Join Tech Giants in Building Five New Datacenters in U.S.
• 2025’s Top Programming Languages
• Google’s Ad Monopoly under Microscope
• Defense Hackathon Seeks to Solve Arctic Surveillance
• Singapore Start-Up Wins ‘Nobel Prize for Students’
• TikTok Algorithm to Be ‘Retrained’ by Oracle
• AI Ushers in a Golden Age of Hacking
• Microsoft Is Turning to the Field of Microfluidics to Cool AI Chips
• Satellites, Drones Unlock Benefits ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ on Michigan Farms
• Unforgeable Quantum Money Stored in Ultracold ‘Debit Card’
• High-Tech Tax Authority Helps Greece Return to Europe's Financial Mainstream
• South Korea Court Orders Fine for Defamation of Virtual K-Pop Stars

U.N. General Assembly Opens with Plea for AI Safeguards

In a letter presented at the U.N. General Assembly Monday, more than 200 global leaders, scientists, and Nobel laureates issued the Global Call for AI Red Lines, urging binding international safeguards against dangerous AI uses. The letter warns that AI’s rapid progress poses “unprecedented dangers,” including risks of lethal autonomous weapons, autonomous replication, and nuclear warfare applications. Signers of the letter include ACM A.M. Turing Award laureates Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio.
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OpenAI to Join Tech Giants in Building Five New Datacenters in U.S.

OpenAI announced plans to build five new U.S. datacenters in partnership with SoftBank and Oracle, part of an infrastructure push tied to the $500 billion “Stargate Project” unveiled in January at the White House. The facilities will be located in Ohio, Texas, New Mexico, and an additional Midwest site.
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2025’s Top Programming Languages

IEEE Spectrum's list of the top programming languages of 2025 is again topped by Python, with the biggest change in the top five being JavaScript’s drop from third place last year to sixth place this year. The “Jobs” ranking, which looks at the skills employers are looking for, is also topped by Python, up from second place last year.
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Google’s Ad Monopoly under Microscope

Google’s digital advertising monopoly is under renewed scrutiny as U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema considers remedies, following her earlier ruling that the company illegally monopolized ad-auction technology. The U.S Justice Department, backed by 17 states, is urging the court to order Google to divest its ad exchange, AdX, arguing that only structural separation can restore competition.
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Defense Hackathon Seeks to Solve Arctic Surveillance

A defense tech hackathon in Toronto brought together young innovators from across Canada to tackle one of the country’s toughest challenges: Arctic surveillance. Hosted by Canadian defense innovation network The Icebreaker and supported by space tech firms, the event tasked seven teams with creating scalable solutions for monitoring vessel traffic in northern waters using satellite data. Team Greypoint Industries won first place and C$5,000 for integrating drones with satellite imagery.
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Singapore Start-Up Wins ‘Nobel Prize for Students’

Singapore start-up Stick ‘Em, founded by Adam Huh Dam and Chong Ing Kai, won the $1 million Hult Prize, dubbed the “Nobel Prize for students”, beating 15,000 teams worldwide. Their low-cost robotics kits, made with chopsticks and simple electronics, teach children problem-solving and STEM skills. Since 2020, Stick ‘Em has reached more than 10,000 students in Singapore and expanded to 11 countries, including Uganda and Indonesia.
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TikTok Algorithm to Be ‘Retrained’ by Oracle

Oracle will rebuild and secure TikTok’s U.S. algorithm as part of a deal separating the app from its Chinese owner, ByteDance, according to the White House. The project involves retraining the recommendation system to ensure U.S. users’ data is protected while maintaining content personalization and engagement. Under the plan, Oracle will lease a copy of ByteDance’s algorithm, then reconstruct it to operate under U.S. oversight, with full security and data controls.
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AI Ushers in a Golden Age of Hacking

Cybersecurity experts warn that generative AI is enabling attackers to weaponize everyday tools, such as calendar invites or coding assistants, to steal data undetected. Recent incidents show hackers hijacking AI systems to exfiltrate corporate databases, conduct supply-chain attacks, and manipulate platforms such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini through hidden prompts. AI-driven ransomware campaigns are also emerging. Some are warning of a scenario where an attacker’s AI works in tandem with a victim’s AI.
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Microsoft Is Turning to the Field of Microfluidics to Cool AI Chips

Microsoft is testing microfluidics to cool processors at its expanding AI datacenters, sending fluid through tiny chip channels for more efficient heat management. Unlike conventional cooling, the technique allows fluids at higher temperatures, up to 70°C (158°F), while still boosting performance. The method also enables overclocking, letting Microsoft temporarily overheat chips to handle spikes in demand without adding hardware.
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Satellites, Drones Unlock Benefits ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ on Michigan Farms

In Michigan, farmers are embracing precision agriculture, where drones, satellite imagery, and AI guide fertilizer use to boost yields while cutting waste and pollution. At Sandborn Farms, drones apply nutrients only where crops thrive, while low-yield patches are left for pollinators and wildlife, advancing “precision conservation.” The technique is based on research by Bruno Basso, a professor of sustainable agriculture at Michigan State University, who analyzed 15 years of satellite imagery across 120 million acres in 12 states to identify crop trends.
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Unforgeable Quantum Money Stored in Ultracold ‘Debit Card’

A prototype “quantum debit card” created by Julien Laurat and colleagues at the Kastler Brossel Laboratory in France can store unforgeable quantum money using ultracold atoms and photons. The system relies on the no-cloning theorem, a fundamental law of physics that prevents duplication of quantum states, making counterfeiting impossible. By embedding memory devices cooled to near absolute zero, the team enabled temporary storage of quantum currency, a first for this field.
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High-Tech Tax Authority Helps Greece Return to Europe's Financial Mainstream

Technology has revamped Greece's tax system, allowing Independent Authority for Public Revenue analysts to monitor transactions in real time and dispatch inspectors to businesses suspected of fraud. Cashless and paperless systems have been rolled out, with algorithms used to analyze custom declarations, bank records, payroll data, tax filings, and card payments and identify any anomalies. Smartphones and drones are used to record video and audio from ports, farms, and other sites, and mobile phone activities are cross-referenced with sales recorded by payment terminals and cash registers.
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South Korea Court Orders Fine for Defamation of Virtual K-Pop Stars

A South Korean court has ruled that defaming virtual K-pop idols can be treated as defaming the real people behind them. A social media user was ordered to pay 500,000 won (U.S.$360) for derogatory comments about Plave, a virtual boyband animated through motion-capture technology. The defendant argued the insults targeted only the avatars, not the anonymous performers, but the court said avatars representing real people extend legal protection to those individuals.
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