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If you're thinking you can replace your human call center staff with a server farm of bots, think again. Nearly three-quarters of enterprises that deploy AI customer communications agents later roll them back or shut them down, according to new research suggesting the systems are far harder to manage reliably in production than the AI hype implied. Swedish comms-as-a-service firm Sinch surveyed more than 2,500 AI decision makers from various countries and industries for its AI Production Paradox study. The starkest finding is undoubtedly the 74 percent rollback or shutdown rate for deployed AI customer communications agents tied to governance failures, but that’s not the only sign enterprise AI deployments are falling short of expectations. AI rollback rates, which Sinch told us specifically refer to AI projects that were deployed and pulled from live service rather than projects that failed before launch, actually rise to 81 percent among organizations that it describes as having “fully mature guardrails.” That, says Sinch Chief Product Officer Daniel Morris, suggests governance alone is not fixing the problem. "The most advanced organizations aren't failing less; they're seeing failures sooner. Higher rollback rates reflect better monitoring and control, not weaker performance," Morris said in a press release. “If governance was the fix, the most mature teams would roll back less, not more. Our data points to a deeper issue.” According to the findings, 84 percent of AI engineering teams are spending at least half their time on safety infrastructure, leaving little time to develop AI. This is exacerbated by the fact that most firms said spending on AI trust, security, and compliance ranks ahead of AI development itself. “When 75% put trust, security, and compliance in that top three — ahead of AI development itself at 63% — that’s a finding about where the priority sits within their AI customer communications programs,” a Sinch spokesperson told us in an email. In other words, it seems like most organizations realize that their biggest issue with AI isn’t getting it working properly - it’s getting it to just work safely in the first place. “The operational cost of running AI safely at scale is much larger than most organizations expect,” the Sinch representative explained. The numbers don’t change based on organizational size or budget, either, Sinch told us. “The rollback rate holds consistently across every region and every industry in the study, which suggests size isn’t a meaningful protective factor,” the company said. “Rollback isn’t a symptom of under-investment or being too small to afford proper guardrails.” Of course, as a business communications service provider, Sinch linked its results back to AI customer service agents not being properly deployed on comms infrastructure designed for AI agents, a problem it’s naturally positioned to offer a fix for. Regardless, that three-quarter rollback figure doesn’t seem too out of place when you consider recent customer service automation news. As we’ve reported on multiple occasions, replacing customer service staff with AI hasn’t gone to plan for many businesses. Gartner said in June 2025 that half of organizations expecting AI to significantly reduce customer service headcount would abandon those plans by 2027. Sinch’s numbers suggest the problem may extend beyond staffing cuts to the AI agents themselves. Not that far-fetched when Gartner was already warning last year that fully agentless contact centers were not practical in the real world. "Our vendor evaluations reveal that a agentless contact center is not yet technically feasible, nor is it operationally desirable," Brian Weber, VP analyst in the Gartner Customer Service & Support practice, told The Register, adding that unexpected costs and unintended results were contributing to abandonment plans - just like what Sinch is reporting now. ®

A proposed mega-scale datacenter in the US state of Utah has caused controversy after a physics professor estimated that the facility and its associated power generation could dump 23 atomic bombs' worth of energy per day. But the real question is whether it will actually ever get built. The datacenter is part of the Stratos Project Area in Box Elder County, Utah, overseen by the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA), a state agency straddling the military, local government, and private developers. Creation of the Stratos Project Area, covering about 40,000 acres of land, was given the go-ahead in a May 4 announcement from the Box Elder County Commission, after delaying a vote amid residents’ concerns. At full buildout, the proposed Stratos campus could require up to 9 GW of power, making it one of the largest datacenter developments in the world. Meta’s planned Hyperion cluster is aiming for 5 GW, for example, while the first facilities hitting 1 GW are only expected to come online this year. For comparison, 9 GW is roughly comparable to New York City’s average electricity demand. Utah State University physics professor Dr Rob Davies estimated that the proposed Stratos campus and its associated natural gas power plant could dump energy equivalent to 23 atomic bombs per day into the surrounding Hansel Valley. Davies’ preliminary analysis said this could raise daytime temperatures by 2°F to 5°F (1°C to 3°C) and nighttime temperatures by 8°F to 12°F (4°C to 6°C), potentially causing serious ecological impacts in the high-desert valley. Not surprisingly, many have questioned Davies’ figures, especially as he doesn’t publish his math, with the topic debated on forums such as Reddit. However, even skeptics such as Andy Masley, a writer and researcher who claims to have taught high school physics, find that the math broadly checks out, so long as the bomb you measure it by is the one dropped on Hiroshima, which at about 15 kilotons, was much smaller than modern weapons. The key thing to bear in mind, however, is that an atomic bomb releases its energy all at once in the blink of an eye, whereas in the datacenter’s case, the release of the heat will be spread across 24 hours. However, the point Davies was making is that this will be extra energy being pumped into what is already a fragile desert environment, and the figures “strongly indicate the need for thorough and independent ecological assessment” of the impact of the Stratos Project. A recent study by a team at the University of Cambridge also suggested that datacenters can create heat islands, raising surrounding temperatures by several degrees at distances of up to 10 km (over 6 miles). This was met with skepticism by Omdia Senior Research Director Vlad Galabov, who told The Register that “Simple physics suggests that even very large datacenters contribute only a small additional heat flux when spread over kilometres.” The Stratos Project is intended as a long-term scheme, with a multi-year buildout, meaning that it may not reach full capacity for a decade, if at all. Reports suggest that the finance industry is becoming increasingly concerned about the level of borrowing that is needed to continue this datacenter build boom. The Financial Times reported recently that banks are looking for new ways to offload risks, with JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley trying to distribute datacenter-related deals across a broader range of investors. CoStar Group also warned that construction costs for modern bit barn campuses have surged, thanks to massive upfront spending on land, power support systems and specialized construction, leading to large projects running into the billions of dollars. According to some estimates, building 1GW of AI datacenter capacity costs around $35 billion, with Nvidia’s figures said to peg the costs at $50 to $60 billion. If correct, the developers of the Stratos facility will be looking at costs in excess of $300 billion. Alan Howard, principal analyst for colocation and DC building at Omdia, puts the figure slightly lower, but still sees problems ahead. “Thinking about a rough $8m per MW, that would put datacenter construction at ~$8 billion for just building construction including power and cooling. The power generation and IT equipment would be on top of that, so the number would be over $100 billion,” he told The Register. “What’s important here is that the money comes from different sources: Stratos pays for site development; other companies will likely pay for building construction; even other companies will build and operate the onsite power generation; and even other companies will buy and operate the IT equipment." "The tricky part is the tepid climate for funding these big projects. While there will be multiple companies providing funding for different pieces, the debt financing underwriting process will look at the broader project as part of their risk assessment,” he stated. Developers in the US and elsewhere are also facing increasing opposition to datacenter projects from local communities, with projects being delayed or entirely canceled in response. ®

PFAS is overal dus ook in je bloed. Onderzoekers in de Verenigde Staten hebben in vrijwel alle onderzochte bloedmonsters sporen van zogeheten ‘forever chemicals’ aangetroffen. In een nieuwe studie werden PFAS-verbindingen gevonden in 98,8 procent van ruim tienduizend geanalyseerde monsters.

PFAS, voluit per- en polyfluoralkylstoffen, vormen een grote groep chemische verbindingen die nauwelijks afbreken in het milieu. Juist door die hardnekkigheid worden ze vaak aangeduid als ‘forever chemicals’. Wereldwijd zijn inmiddels meer dan 15.000 varianten bekend.

Decennialang zijn PFAS gebruikt in talloze industriële toepassingen. Ze zitten onder meer in waterafstotende coatings, verpakkingsmaterialen en antiaanbaklagen van pannen. Via productieprocessen en afvalstromen zijn de stoffen terechtgekomen in bodem, drinkwater en voedselketens. Daardoor komen mensen er vrijwel onvermijdelijk mee in contact.

PFAS in verschillende combinaties

Voor het onderzoek werden 10.566 serum- en plasmamonsters onderzocht die bij het laboratorium waren aangeleverd voor PFAS-analyses. Volgens toxicoloog Laura Labay biedt deze omvangrijke dataset een realistisch beeld van hoe verschillende PFAS vaak samen voorkomen in mensen.

Uit de analyses bleek dat slechts een klein deel van de monsters maar één enkele PFAS-verbinding bevatte. In de meeste gevallen ging het om een mix van meerdere chemicaliën tegelijk. Dat is volgens de onderzoekers belangrijk, omdat stoffen elkaar mogelijk kunnen versterken of juist beïnvloeden wanneer ze gecombineerd aanwezig zijn.

Een van de meest voorkomende verbindingen was perfluorhexaan sulfonzuur (PFHxS), een stof die onder andere wordt toegepast in textiel, meubels en lijmen. Deze chemische stof werd in bijna 98 procent van de onderzochte monsters teruggevonden. In verschillende landen is het gebruik ervan inmiddels beperkt of verboden vanwege mogelijke schadelijke effecten op onder meer het immuunsysteem en de lever.

De onderzoekers benadrukken dat mensen meestal niet worden blootgesteld aan één afzonderlijke PFAS-soort, maar aan complexe combinaties van meerdere stoffen met uiteenlopende eigenschappen. Volgens Labay dragen veel mensen waarschijnlijk vijf of meer verschillende PFAS tegelijk in hun lichaam mee.

De studie keek voornamelijk naar dertien veelvoorkomende PFAS-verbindingen. Daardoor is de totale hoeveelheid aanwezige chemicaliën mogelijk nog groter dan uit de resultaten blijkt. Daarnaast werd alleen onderzocht óf de stoffen aanwezig waren, niet in welke concentraties.

Is het schadelijk?

Wetenschappers proberen nog altijd beter te begrijpen hoeveel blootstelling schadelijk is voor de gezondheid. Eerder onderzoek bracht PFAS al in verband met onder meer versnelde celveroudering, veranderingen in de hersenen en een verhoogd risico op bepaalde vormen van kanker. Een direct oorzakelijk verband is echter nog niet definitief vastgesteld.

PFAS blijven populair in de industrie doordat ze producten bestand maken tegen hitte, water en vet. Tegelijkertijd zorgt diezelfde eigenschap ervoor dat de stoffen extreem langzaam afbreken zodra ze in het milieu terechtkomen. Overheden en toezichthouders zoeken daarom naar manieren om het gebruik te beperken, veilige alternatieven te ontwikkelen en bestaande vervuiling op te ruimen.

Volgens de onderzoekers laat de studie vooral zien hoe omvangrijk het probleem inmiddels is geworden. In totaal werden meer dan zeventig verschillende combinaties van PFAS aangetroffen in de bloedmonsters.

Bron: Science Alert

BOEKAREST (ANP) - De NAVO zal de Amerikaanse ideeën over een groter Europees en een kleiner Amerikaans aandeel in het bondgenootschap overnemen, zegt NAVO-topman Mark Rutte. 'NAVO 3.0', zoals de VS het noemen, is "de logische volgende stap", meent Rutte. Hij verwacht dat de 32 landen dat op de komende NAVO-top zullen vastleggen.

De regering van de Amerikaanse president Trump wil dat Europese landen grotendeels voor hun eigen verdediging gaan zorgen, met uitzondering van die met kernwapens. De VS kunnen zich dan bijvoorbeeld op hun rivaliteit met China richten. Het benodigde extra geld voor defensie is op de top in Den Haag afgesproken, nu zou het tijd zijn dat om te zetten in Europese slagkracht om de Amerikaanse te vervangen. Missies buiten het NAVO-gebied moeten worden afgebouwd.

De NAVO 3.0-gedachte zal terugkeren in de slotverklaring van de top, zei Rutte woensdag na overleg met Oost-Europese leiders. De VS gunnen Europa wel de benodigde tijd, zodat er geen gaten vallen, herhaalde hij.

Bij anti-azc-protesten in onder meer Loosdrecht, Arnhem en Amersfoort duiken personen uit extreemrechtse actiegroepen op. Met een franchisemodel en gecoördineerde acties wakkeren ze protesten aan. Of sprake is van georganiseerd geweld, moet AIVD-onderzoek uitwijzen, liet asielminister Bart van den Brink weten.

• Carrick has accrued 33 points from 15 league matches

• United hierarchy not concerned by relative inexperience

Manchester United are to open formal discussions with Michael Carrick with a view to appointing him as permanent head coach.

The 44-year-old’s success since taking the role on an interim basis in early January has impressed Jason Wilcox, the director of football, and the chief executive, Omar Berrada. After replacing Ruben Amorim, who was sacked on 5 January, Carrick has returned 33 points from 15 Premier League matches, the most accrued during that span.

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With the PM’s future numbered in days no wonder Charles might have felt reading out the government’s agenda was not the best use of his time

The king looked fed up. His attempts to throw a sickie had come to nothing. Did the government really want to go ahead with the state opening? Apparently it did. Would it be OK if he phoned it in? He fancied a day WFP. Working from palace. It wouldn’t. It was a three-line whip. One of the few occasions a monarch was obliged to attend.

“My lords. Pray be seated,” Charles said. He sounded exhausted already. Where was everyone, he wondered. The Labour benches had plenty of gaps on them. The chronicle of a death foretold. Over on the Tory side of the Lords, there were fewer tiaras on display than usual. Must be because Claire’s Accessories has closed down. But at least he could see Chris Grayling. Always good to see someone being rewarded for abject failure. It’s the kind of thing that makes Britain great.

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Jongeren maken zich zorgen over de polarisatie in de samenleving. Niet omdat mensen verschillend denken, maar omdat er minder naar elkaar wordt geluisterd. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van de Erasmus Universiteit in Rotterdam. Volgens de ondervraagden moet vooral de politiek een beter voorbeeld geven.