Meta is significantly expanding its Hyperion AI data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana, purchasing roughly 1,400 acres adjacent to the existing 2,250-acre site, according to Fortune. The combined land parcels will create a campus more than twice the size of Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans.
The land purchase paves the way for a phase 2 expansion of the Hyperion project, which has been widely discussed as one of the nation's largest AI data centers, according to multiple people affiliated with companies working on or around the Meta site. Fortune observed active work underway on the newly acquired land.
Meanwhile, in the realm of quantum computing, IonQ, a publicly traded company, is facing scrutiny following a report by short seller Wolfpack Research, Fortune reported. Wolfpack, which is short IonQ's stock, alleges that the company misled investors about the organic demand for its quantum computing technology and its dependence on "secretive backdoor earmarks" inserted into the Pentagon budget by friendly lawmakers. The report claims these earmarks were cancelled after Republicans took control of Congress in 2025.
In other news, Peter Thiel has linked his warnings about the Antichrist and an impending apocalypse to what he calls the "end of modernity," Fortune reported. In recent talks and interviews, Thiel has portrayed climate activist Greta Thunberg as a key example of the forces driving Western civilization toward a crisis. He views environmentalism, technology regulation, and global governance as spiritual markers of an "end-times struggle over the future of the West."
MIT Technology Review highlighted the importance of securing agentic systems, suggesting that companies treat agents like powerful, semi-autonomous users and enforce rules at the boundaries where they interact with identity, tools, data, and outputs. This approach is recommended in recent AI security guidance from standards bodies, regulators, and major providers.
Separately, MIT Technology Review reported on a potential advancement in cleantech metal extraction. At the Eagle Mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the mine's owner is testing a new process developed by the startup Allonnia to extract nickel from lower-quality ore. The process involves mixing a fermentation-derived broth with concentrated ore to capture and remove impurities. Kent Sorenson, Allonnia's chief technology officer, stated that this approach could help companies continue operating sites that have burned through higher-quality ore.
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