Nicole Kobie

London

Journalist and Author at Freelance

Contributing Editor at WIRED Magazine

Like everyone else: @njkobie.bsky.social PC Pro, Wired, Etc. mail: [email protected] Buy my book, The Long History of the Future: https://t.co/S3TS9yeZzK

Articles

Hidden Costs Of Robotaxis Could Slow Scaling - If The Tech Ever Works

5 days ago | forbes.com | Nicole Kobie

The Baidu Robotaxi, launching test runs in the Jiading area of Shanghai, China, on July 15, 2024. ... More (Photo by Ying Tang/NurPhoto via Getty Images)NurPhoto via Getty ImagesThe tech for robotaxis might be there one day (though, perhaps not yet for Tesla and its safety drivers). Regulators are busy at work. But can autonomous vehicles' business models really afford scale?
Half of developers want to quit over "embarrassing" tech stack

1 week ago | itpro.com | Nicole Kobie

Nearly half of developers would quit their jobs over the "embarrassing" tech they have to work with – with three in ten considering resigning over a lack of AI. That's according to a survey by Storyblok of 200 senior developers, which found that nine in ten use AI to code frequently. The polled developers said they make use of AI in their coding in order to increase efficiency (30%), to automate routine tasks (23%), and to boost their own skills (22%).
Supplier hack leaks UBS data - including CEO's phone number

1 week ago | itpro.com | Nicole Kobie

A hack of Chain IQ has led to the leak of data on 130,000 employees of many companies, notably banking giant UBS – including its CEO. Procurement service provider and UBS spin-off Chain IQ was reportedly attacked last week as part of a wider spate of hacks by ransomware group Worldleaks that targeted 20 companies, with 1.9 million files leaked. That included data about UBS employees, as well as information from other banks.
Scania admits leak of data after extortion attempt

1 week ago | itpro.com | Nicole Kobie

Swedish trucking giant Scania has confirmed the hack of a third-party website leaked 34,000 files, but says the impact is so far "very limited."Last week, a hacker claimed to have breached an insurance subdomain at Scania's website, claiming to have accessed and exfiltrated 34,000 files – which were then offered for sale on the dark web.
Report: OpenAI considered accusing Microsoft of anticompetitive behavior

1 week ago | itpro.com | Nicole Kobie

The relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI could be set to get nasty, with the latter reportedly considering accusing its investor and partner of anti-competitive behavior. Microsoft was an early – and generous – backer of OpenAI, with an initial investment of $1 billion in 2019 since expanding to $13 billion in total, while Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella offered to hire OpenAI CEO Sam Altman when he was briefly ousted by the company's board.
Nvidia, Deutsche Telekom team up for "sovereign" industrial AI cloud

1 week ago | itpro.com | Nicole Kobie

Nvidia is teaming up with Deutsche Telekom to build what it's calling "the world's first industrial AI cloud" – and continuing to push the idea of sovereign AI. Nvidia is calling the collaboration "the world's first industrial AI cloud." It will be built by next year in Germany and operated by Deutsche Telekom, with the aim of supporting industrial applications including design, engineering, simulation, digital twins, and robotics.
Google pins weekend outage on "unexercised" feature

1 week ago | itpro.com | Nicole Kobie

Google has apologised for a Cloud outage last week that knocked offline many of its own customers, saying the fault was down to a new feature that wasn't properly tested – and promising to do better at communicating such incidents in the future. On Thursday last week, outages on status trackers like Downdetector began to suggest an issue with tens of thousands of reports of outages for Google Cloud, Spotify, Discord, and more.
Just 10 tech companies are responsible for half of all data center energy consumption

2 weeks ago | itpro.com | Nicole Kobie

Emissions from four leading AI companies increased by 150% since 2020, with electricity consumption by data centers up by 12% annually — four times faster than global growth. That's according to a report from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), part of the United Nations (UN). Those figures only go up to 2023, the most recent year of full data, the ITU noted, so the more recent acceleration of AI is likely to be using much more energy and causing even more emissions.
Rogue And Illegal Ebikes Spark Challenges In UK Cities

3 weeks ago | forbes.com | Nicole Kobie

Rush-hour cyclists, traffic and pedestrian commuters on Bishopsgate in the City of London, the ... More capital's financial district, on 28th February 2025, in London, England. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)In Pictures via Getty ImagesEbikes are a perfect solution for getting around cities — but rogue designs that aren’t legal on UK roads need to be addressed, as do other sources of friction.
Latest ChatGPT update lets users record meetings and connect to tools like Dropbox and Google Drive

3 weeks ago | itpro.com | Nicole Kobie

OpenAI has announced new updates for ChatGPT which allow users to record and transcribe meetings, as well as connectors for cloud tools such as Google Drive. The new transcription tools put ChatGPT directly into competition with Otter.AI and Zoom's built-in tools, while the cloud connectors target the AI productivity tools built into offerings from Google and Microsoft.