Google just announced plans for a new underwater cable called Sol that will connect Spain directly to Florida for the first time.

The Sol cable will stretch across the Atlantic Ocean, making stops in Bermuda and the Azores islands before reaching its final destinations. In Florida, it will land at Palm Coast through a new cable station built by DC Blox. In Spain, Google is working with Telefónica's Telxius to bring the cable to the port city of Santander.

The name Sol means "sun" in both Spanish and Portuguese, which Google chose because both landing spots enjoy warm weather year-round.

Google has been busy building underwater cables over the past 15 years, investing in about 30 different projects. These cables cross all the major oceans and often reach small island nations that previously had limited internet connections.

Telxius, Google's Spanish partner, has worked with the tech giant on several other cable projects including Firmina, Dunant, and Grace Hopper. The company now provides capacity on more than a dozen underwater cables around Europe and the Americas.

The European Union just started a big project to make quantum computer chips better and easier to produce.

They created a team called SUPREME with 23 partners from eight different countries. Think of it like a group project where the smartest people from different schools work together to solve a hard problem.

The main goal is simple but important. Right now, making quantum chips is really hard and many attempts fail. It's like trying to bake a perfect cake but half the time it comes out wrong. SUPREME wants to create a recipe that works every time.

The team includes big names like universities from the Netherlands, research centers from France, and tech companies from Germany and Finland. They plan to focus on special techniques with fancy names like Josephson junctions and 3D integration methods.

The project will happen in two steps. They expect to start the pilot program in early 2026, and by 2027, other people should be able to use their metho

The quantum computing world is moving fast, with countries and companies racing to build better systems and make them available to more people.

Jan Brecht will start as the company's Chief Technology Officer in September. He comes from Nissan where he was the top digital officer. Before that, he worked at Mercedes-Benz and Adidas in similar tech roles.

The grocery business is getting more competitive, so companies like Ahold Delhaize are spending more on technology. The CEO said in May that using AI and data helps them grow and save money. They want to find new ways to serve customers better.

Earlier this year, the company also hired Ann Dozier to run tech operations for their U.S. stores. She came from a wine and spirits company and focuses on making shopping easier both online and in stores.

The company had some tech troubles last November when hackers got into their systems. This caused problems with online shopping for several days and put personal information of over 2 million workers at risk.

Other grocery stores are also working hard on their tech. Giant Eagle got new warehouse software. Sam's Club is making their shopping app better. Albertsons is building better ways to use data after their plan to merge with Kroger fell through.

The UK government is looking for someone to run its new artificial intelligence program. They want to hire a "head of ventures" to lead their sovereign AI effort.

Back in January, the Labour government announced a big AI plan called the AI Opportunities Action Plan. This plan includes 14 billion pounds worth of data center projects across Britain.

The government wants to create special areas called AI Growth Zones. These zones will make it faster and easier to build data centers by speeding up planning approvals and giving better access to power grids. The goal is to bring in investment from other countries.

The plan also includes spending 1 billion pounds to expand the UK's research computer power by twenty times over the next five years. Another 500 million pounds will go to a new Sovereign AI Unit.

The person who gets this job will work directly with Matt Clifford, who advises the Prime Minister on AI matters. The job pays between 67,250 and 79,440 pounds per year, plus a big pension contribution of almost 29 percent.

The UK is also looking for a new CEO for ARIA, their research agency that works like America's DARPA program.

We talk with Ido Kotler (CPO of Pelanor) about how artificial intelligence is radically transforming financial operations in the Cloud. From smart alerts to autonomous agents, discover why the future of FinOps depends on AI more than you might think.

The European Commission released the General-Purpose AI Code of Practice on Thursday. This guide helps companies understand how to follow the EU AI Act, which is a set of rules for artificial intelligence.

Thirteen independent experts worked with over 1,000 stakeholders to create it. The guide covers three main areas: transparency, copyright, and safety and security. For transparency, it even includes a form template so businesses know exactly what information they need to report.

Companies can choose to sign up for this code voluntarily. If they do, they get less paperwork and more legal certainty compared to companies that try to prove compliance in other ways.

The timing matters because the EU is getting ready for its next big enforcement date. On August 2, new rules for general-purpose AI will start. AI models built after that date will have one year to comply. Models built before then get two years.

Polish energy giant Orlen just signed a deal with Microsoft for what they call central Europe's biggest AI project. The partnership will cost around $105 billion and aims to change how the company works across more than 200 businesses in over a dozen countries.

Microsoft will provide software licenses for tools like Copilot, plus cloud services and training programs for staff.

Orlen wants to use AI for cybersecurity, production processes, data analysis, and making workers more efficient at their jobs. They're building a new AI center that will work like a testing ground where employees can learn about AI and try out new projects.

The company's boss said energy transformation needs to happen now, and AI will help workers focus on more important tasks instead of boring, repetitive work. They want AI assistants to help make decisions based on data analysis.

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