IT General

The data center market is booming with little indication it'll be slowing down anytime soon — despite efforts to halt the processing sprawl.

According to a new report by S&P Global, the global data center market ballooned to $61 billion in 2025, a half billion dollar increase from last year and another record high for the industry. The money is trying to keep pace with expanding infrastructure projects needed to funnel more data processing power to generative AI and its makers.

SEE ALSO: NVIDIA earnings report: Why the AI bubble will bounce into 2026

Despite concerns that interest in AI will wane and render projects moot, S&P experts told CNBC that they predict demand for AI applications will stay strong in 2026, and skepticism of major AI players is unlikely to change the market trends. Still, the numbers may not be as positive as they appear. S&P Global found that a majority of the financing surge came from private equity financing, a precarious debt model that's needed to feed the massive, energy-intensive industry, CNBC reported.

According to an October S&P Global report, data centers were expected to increase their power grid use by another 22 percent by the end of 2025, and predict that number will triple by 2030. Other experts have spotted similar trends.

In response to these trends, communities around the country have been pushing back against data center deals. Earlier this month, a coalition of 350 nonprofit environmental organizations signed a letter outlining major concerns about the environmental impact of large data centers, urging all 50 states to halt the expansion of data center projects. Over the last year, data center deals have faced legal and social blowback from community groups and local advocacy organizations, including cases in Virginia and Wisconsin. Advocates have even created litigation tool kits to support the fight against AI data center expansion.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has pledged to accelerate federal data center permitting and bypass established environmental laws in order to meet goals outlined in its new AI action plan.

When I built my first fully custom PC in 2017, I made several mistakes that I vowed never to repeat. Most of them were corrected in the new PC I built earlier this year—except for one. If I could turn back time, getting a different power supply is the only decision I’d change.

Gaming phones were all the rage from around 2017 to 2020—ROG Phone, Razer, Nubia, etc. The segment still exists, and one could argue they’ve never been better—so why don't people seem to care anymore?

Valve has quietly pulled the plug on the cheapest Steam Deck model. This means the entry price for the popular gaming handheld just jumped significantly. If you were holding out for the most affordable way to get into PC handheld gaming, you are officially out of luck.

A debris field comprised of a Starlink satellite's remains is floating through space, after a minor explosion broke off pieces of the tech and sent them tumbling around Earth's orbit.

Space X reported the anomaly earlier this week, which the company said resulted in trackable debris that included the satellite's propulsion tank and the largely intact satellite body, which is still in orbit. SpaceX says the satellite, which the company says isn't close enough to the International Space Station (ISS) to pose a risk to astronauts, will reenter the atmosphere and reach its "demise" in the next week.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

"As the world’s largest satellite constellation operator, we are deeply committed to space safety. We take these events seriously. Our engineers are rapidly working to root cause and mitigate the source of the anomaly and are already in the process of deploying software to our vehicles that increases protections against this type of event," wrote SpaceX.

Earth's orbit is filled with such debris, prompting concern among experts who warn that accumulating space junk will impede our space efforts, lead to greater and more dangerous collisions, and, more importantly, pose increased risk to humans on the ground. Last week, a SpaceX satellite and a satellite from Chinese company CAS Space nearly crashed into each other.

The anomaly comes one week after the aerospace and telecommunications companies launched 27 new Starlink satellites into the Earth's orbit, marking the 580th flight of the company's Falcon 9 rocket since its first successful deployment in 2015 — it was the 162nd flight in 2025 alone, Space reported. Out of more than 10,000 Starlink satellites sent into space, around 9,300 are still active.

The Elon Musk-owned company is continuing a major push to become the leading supplier of rural broadband internet and emergency satellite communications services, including ongoing deals with the U.S. government. SpaceX has struck out against federal funding allocations for fiber internet access projects and courted favor with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in an effort to gain priority for satellite internet over other broadband efforts.

Ever since I added an air quality monitor to my Home Assistant server, I’ve been intrigued by the data I’ve collected. I’m now able to build automations around these numbers, triggering alerts and appliances when certain criteria are met.

The Home Depot is one of the most popular hardware stores in the United States, offering a wide variety of tools from all the top brands. And while most people walk in and look for Stanley, Milwaukee, Ryobi, or even Craftsman hand tools, you'll be pleasantly surprised by how great Home Depot's house brand tools are in terms of quality and price point.

NotebookLM is officially moving up to Gemini 3, bringing significant upgrades to its processing power alongside the introduction of Data Tables. Google said that the ability to synthesize information into structured tables was the most requested feature by far.

Are you tired of seeing people say that you have to have a dedicated side project to be a “real” developer? That’s simply not the case. Here’s what makes a “real” developer, and you probably already meet the criteria.

The vast majority of phones feature exactly two things on the back: cameras and flash. But if you have a recent Google Pixel, there's an inconspicuous little circle next to those lenses that unlocks a weirdly specific superpower most other phones simply can’t match.

Just because you can use a Raspberry Pi as a media server doesn’t mean that you should. I’d say there are better uses for your single-board computer, especially when media server duties can be passed off to a machine that’s better-suited to video operations.

Linux taught me many things. And as it turns out, some of the lessons I've learned from Linux come in handy when using Windows. As a daily driver of both operating systems, here are six ways that Linux has made me a better Windows user.

ChatGPT can act even friendlier now, with new personality customization options that let users choose just how warm and enthusiastic the bot is in conversation.

SEE ALSO: ChatGPT is changing the abortion landscape

OpenAI announced the new personality settings in a Friday post on X. The update rolled out immediately to ChatGPT users alongside a long-awaited pinned chats feature, new ways to generate or edit emails, and updates to ChatGPT browser Atlas.

The new tools add more fine tuning of ChatGPT's personality using levels of warmth and enthusiasm (labelled as "more," "less," or "default"). Users can also adjust the way the bot organizes its responses, such as how frequently it generates lists, as well as the amount of emojis it employs, in addition to its base style and tone. There's still no option to exclude emojis entirely.

Professionals have warned that overly anthropomorphic and sycophantic chatbots can exacerbate mental health concerns, including AI psychosis and dependency. A previous ChatGPT model, the still-available GPT-4o, was adjusted earlier this year after facing criticism for "overly agreeable" behavior. CEO Sam Altman has referred to the issue as a "personality problem."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

OpenAI launched its new GPT-5.2 model series one week ago, boasting new capabilities for "professional knowledge work" that include better processing benchmarks and less hallucinations, the company reports.

ChatGPT's developers also recommitted itself to its mental health and teen safety promises amid escalating lawsuits. In a blog post published Thursday, OpenAI explained it was introducing a new set of under-18 user principles to GPT-5.2 intended to create additional guardrails around sensitive topics and encourage age-appropriate interactions. It's also working on a new age verification system for young users. GPT-5.2 reportedly scores higher on internal mental health safety tests, including stress testing for self harm, than previous models.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

Clean code is one of the first ideas that makes developers feel like professionals. For many developers, though, it can stop being a helpful guideline and become a trap instead. That's why you need to learn where to draw the line and recognize when it starts working against you.

Memory prices are through the roof, SSDs aren't far behind, and soon GPUs will be feeling the brunt of market forces too. If you've been saving up money to upgrade or build a PC, you may have been looking at rising prices with dismay and are probably thinking about weathering the storm.

FREE BOOKS: The latest Stuff Your Kindle Day takes place on Dec. 16-20. Winter Wonderland, hosted by Indie Author Central, is offering free wintery reads for Kindle e-readers.

Stuff Your Kindle Day is back again, and this time it's festive.

Winter Wonderland, hosted by Indie Author Central, is offering wintery books for free or just $0.99. And the books that you download are yours to keep forever. Does your library desperately need a boost? It doesn't matter. These books are free to download, so you might as well stock up.

SEE ALSO: I tested the best Kindles to help you find the perfect e-reader

Looking to make the most of the latest Stuff Your Kindle Day? We've lined up everything you need to know about this popular event.

When is Stuff Your Kindle Day?

Winter Wonderland takes place from Dec. 16-20. Unlike a lot of Stuff Your Kindle Days that take place over 24 hours, this event runs for five days. That gives you time to properly assess your options, make a list of top priorities, and then download everything you want to read. Take your time and enjoy the process.

Who can take part in Stuff Your Kindle Day?

There are many great things about Stuff Your Kindle Day, including the fact that everyone can participate. Kindle, Kobo, and Nook readers can download these books for free. You can even download these books on your preferred app and read them straight from your phone.

Which e-books are free?

Finding all of these free wintery books is straightforward thanks to the helpful hub page on Indie Author Central. Everything is neatly organized with filters for genre, content level, spice level, and availability. You can head directly to what you want to read thanks to the nice people at Indie Author Central.

Is Stuff Your Kindle Day the same as Amazon Kindle Unlimited?

Everything you download on Stuff Your Kindle Day is yours to keep, and there's no limit on the number of books you can download. Stuff Your Kindle Day downloads don't count towards the 20 books that Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscribers can borrow at the same time, so don't hold back.

The best Stuff Your Kindle Day deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Kindle (16GB) $89.99 at Amazon
$109.99 Save $20   Get Deal Why we like it

These popular e-readers help you take your entire library on the go. With weeks of battery life and an anti-glare display, you can read anywhere and anytime with the Kindle. The price is down to $89.99 for a limited time, saving you $30.

Holiday streaming is a seasonal joy that only rolls around once a year, and I always look forward to relaxing with my collection of holiday music. I like to use YouTube Music to stream tunes during this season for many reasons, the main one being its YouTube integration.

Are you just starting out with soldering and want to practice on a few cheap and easy projects? That’s exactly where I am in my microcontroller journey, and these are the simple projects I did first to really start to hone my soldering skills.

I've been using the free tier of Google Gemini's API to generate snarky descriptions of visitors captured on my video doorbell in Home Assistant. It worked perfectly until very recently. Google has unfortunately slashed the number of free requests for many of its models, with Gemini 2.5 Flash cut down to just 20 requests per day. If you've been hit by the same problem, here's what to try instead.

This was another busy week in tech, with big updates for Home Assistant, Steam's 2025 replay going live, a revamped Jellyfin desktop app, iRobot's bankruptcy, and much more. Here are the biggest stories from this past week you might have missed.