Marketplace Tech

Those massive AI data centers going in across the country can use as much energy as an entire city. President Trump said this week he wants tech companies to "pay their own way," and touted a new Microsoft pledge to bear the full cost of their AI energy needs.Plus, Apple announces its long awaited new AI Siri will be powered by Google.But first, Nvidia can once again export its second best H200 chips to China if it follows some new security rules and pays the U.S. government 25% of its sales. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Anita Ramaswamy, columnist at The Information, to discuss all these topics on this week’s “Marketplace Tech Bytes: Week in Review.”

When it comes to AI, educators biggest worry: cheating.With the click of a button, students can form papers, generate test answers or even finish their homework. Leading educators to address its use directly and the expectations for their students.But Kristi Girdharry, director of the writing center and associate professor at Babson College, has gone a step further. She’s actively integrating AI into her coursework. All in the hopes that her students learn to outwork their robot counterparts.“I have a mantra going with my students now,” said Girdharry. “I always say, ‘you have to be better than a robot.’”

The pretty Swiss lakeside town of Lugano has set out to become Europe’s bitcoin capital, with the aim of attracting bitcoin companies and the cryptocurrency itself to the city. In Lugano, you can still pay for everything in Swiss francs, but in hundreds of shops and restaurants you can also pay in bitcoin. The city has even started accepting it for municipal services. The BBC’s John Laurenson went to check it out.

Much like graphics processing units, high bandwidth memory is essential for training and running AI. It's paired with all those NVIDIA chips that have been selling like hotcakes and only a small handful companies in the world make it. Now the surge in demand from data centers has created a global shortage for everything else — the PCs and smartphones and other consumer electronics that also use memory chips. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Tom Mainelli, vice president of device and consumer research at IDC, about how long this shortage could last.

On Jan. 7, 2025, the Eaton and Palisades Fires began, killing 31 people and destroying around 13,00 homes in the Los Angeles area. A year later, residents are looking to rebuild the lives and homes they once had. Marketplace’s David Branccacio and his wife lost their Altadena home to the Eaton fire, and have yet to break ground on a new building. But as they continue to plan for construction in the new year, they are focusing on fire-resistance for the future.Branccacio joined “Marketplace Tech” host Meghan McCarty Carino to speak about the technology and building that goes into fire-resistant homes.