Microsoft’s new Azure AI data center in Atlanta, Georgia — the second in its Fairwater series — is ushering in a new era of connected AI super clusters that will power what The Register calls “the 100 trillion-parameter models of the near future.” Fairwater Atlanta, which became operative in October, is part of “a new class of data center – one that doesn’t stand alone but joins a dedicated network of sites functioning as an AI superfactory to accelerate AI,” training models “on a scale that has previously been impossible,” according to Microsoft. The new purpose-built data center is connected to the tech giant’s first Fairwater site, located in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. Read more

AI audio firm ElevenLabs has secured deals with actors Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine, who will use the company’s tech to generate AI versions of their iconic voices. The announcements, made at the inaugural ElevenLabs Summit, came as the company revealed plans to aggregate AI availability of more than 25 famous voices — including Maya Angelou, Alan Turing and Liza Minnelli — in its new Iconic Marketplace, a platform focused on “ethical sourcing and licensing of some of the world’s most recognizable voices.” ElevenLabs said McConaughey is signing on as an investor in the company. Read more

A year after launching its ultra-low-price digital shopping destination Haul as a tab on its website and app, e-commerce giant Amazon is launching a standalone app called Amazon Bazaar that sells the same inventory. The Amazon Bazaar standalone will initially bow in 14 additional territories, bringing the total availability of the company’s ultra-low-priced inventory to 25. Haul sells a wide range of fashion, home goods, and lifestyle products, most priced under $10, and some as low as $2. The app has helped Amazon compete with Chinese bargain sites Shein, Temu and TikTok Shop. Read more

Samsung has begun rolling out conversational AI in several languages for its 2025 TVs using Vision AI Companion, a generative AI-based version of the company’s smartphone virtual assistant Bixby. The move, announced in September, lets viewers ask questions about what’s onscreen — or any topic — and receive customized recommendations or help managing tasks using natural two-way dialogue. Samsung describes the experience as interactive viewing that brings a visual element to query sessions and says it turns the TV into a connected community hub for the household powered by models from Perplexity and Microsoft. Read more

Microsoft and Google are making big investments in European AI infrastructure, with the Seattle-based software giant spending more than $10 billion to build a data hub in Portugal, and Alphabet investing $6.35 billion on new construction and expansion of an existing complex in Germany. The moves are the latest in U.S. tech’s push for a global AI footprint. Microsoft is working with Nvidia, the UK startup Nscale and data center building specialist Start Campus. Google is bringing green initiatives to its project in Deutschland, which it estimates will bring 9,000 jobs and nearly $1.2 billion to German GDP. Read more