AMD hasnt been very forthcoming when it comes to information about its RX 9000 series GPUs, but we just got an update as to why the cards wont be available until sometime in March. The company cites software optimization and FSR 4 as the two reasons why it most likely decided to delay the launch of RDNA 4. But is that all there is to it, or is AMD waiting to see some of Nvidias best graphics cards before pulling the trigger on the RX 9070 XT?The update comes from David McAfee, AMDs vice president and general manager of the Ryzen CPU and Radeon graphics division. A couple of days ago, McAfee took to X (Twitter) to announce that AMD was excited to launch the RX 9000 series in March. This caused a bit of an uproar, with many enthusiasts wondering why AMD was choosing to wait so long.Recommended VideosI really appreciate the excitement for RDNA4. We are focused on ensuring we deliver a great set of products with Radeon 9000 series. We are taking a little extra time to optimize the software stack for maximum performance and enable more FSR 4 titles. We also have a wide range David McAfee (@McAfeeDavid_AMD) January 22, 2025Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming McAfee now explains that AMD is taking a little extra time to optimize the software stack for maximum performance and enable more FSR 4 titles. While a bit vague, this confirms what many leakers have been saying: RDNA 4 is ready hardware-wise, but now, AMD seems eager to improve it on the software side. While not a bad approach, it does feel like there might be more to it.After all, the GPUs have been spotted with preorders opening on January 22, and several retailers appear to already have them in stock. McAfee admits as much, saying: We also have a wide range of partners launching Radeon 9000 series cards, and while some have started building initial inventory at retailers, you should expect many more partner cards available at launch.There are more signs pointing to the fact that AMD may have had other plans for the release date of RDNA 4. VideoCardz spotted a Reddit ad posted by the official AMD account, and the ad clearly states that the GPUs are available, saying: When the stakes are high, every play counts play now with the ultimate performance of AMD Radeon RX 9000 series graphics cards. It also gives us a closer look at the RX 9070 XT in its Made By AMD (MBA) design.If late January was the initial plan for the RX 9000 series, its clear that AMD pulled back. Greater availability for FSR 4 titles and improved drivers are both good reasons to delay, but its possible that AMD might also want to see how Nvidias RTX 5070 Ti will fare when it (most likely) hits the market in February.Theres one good thing here, though, and thats GPU availability. McAfee implies therell be plenty of RDNA 4 cards to go around, which is great, especially considering that Nvidias RTX 50-series might be very hard to come by at launch.Editors Recommendations

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090MSRP$1,999.00 Score Details Nvidia is, once again, leaving its mark on the flagship throne with the RTX 5090.ProsUnrivaled 4K gaming performanceInnovative, attractive Founder's Edition designDisplayPort 2.1 and 4:2:2 encoding32GB of memory for AI workloadsDLSS 4 is a treat...Cons...when it works properlyInsanely expensivePower requirements are off the chartsTable of ContentsTable of ContentsNvidia RTX 5090 specs4K gaming performance1440p gaming performance1080p gaming performanceRay tracingA closer look at DLSS 4Great for those in the marketThe RTX 5090 is a hard GPU to review. By the numbers, its undoubtedly the best graphics card you can buy. Thats what happens when youre the only one in town making this class of GPU, and as it stands now, Nvidia is. If you want the best of the best and dont mind spending $2,000 to get it, you dont need to read the rest of this review though, Id certainly appreciate if you did.Recommended VideosNo, the RTX 5090 is about everything else that RTX 50-series GPUs represent. It delivers that flagship gaming performance, but it also ushers in an entirely new architecture, DLSS 4, and the era of neural rendering. And on those points, the dissection of the RTX 5090 is far more nuanced.Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming Jacob Roach / Digital TrendsThe RTX 5090 is angled toward PC gamers who want the best of the best regardless of the price but its also the first taste weve gotten of Nvidias new Blackwell architecture in desktops. The big change is neural rendering. With RTX 50-series GPUs, Nvidia is introducing neural shaders along with DirectX though we wont see the fruits of that labor play out for quite some time.For immediate satisfaction, Nvidia has DLSS 4. This feature is coming to all RTX graphics cards, replacing the convolutional neural network (CNN) that DLSS previously used with a new transformer model. Nvidia says this leads to a quality boost across the board. For the RTX 5090, the more important addition is DLSS Multi-Frame Generation, which promises up to 4X frame generation in 75 games on day one. DLSS 4 is coming to all RTX graphics cards, but DLSS Multi-Frame Generation is exclusive to RTX 50-series GPUs, including the RTX 5090.RTX 5090RTX 4090ArchitectureBlackwellAda LovelaceProcess nodeTSMC N4TSMC N4CUDA cores21,76016,384Ray tracing cores170 4th-gen144 3rd-genTensor cores680 5th-gen576 4th-genBase clock speed2017MHz2235MHzBoost clock speed2407MHz2520MHzVRAM32GB GDDR724GB GDDR6XMemory speed30Gbps21GbpsBus width512-bit384-bitTDP575W450WList price$1,999$1,599Although it might seem like Nvidia could just flip a switch and enable DLSS Multi-Frame Generation on all of its GPUs, thats not exactly the case. Nvidia says with 4X frame generation and Ray Reconstruction enabled, there are five AI models running on your GPU for each rendered frame. To manage all of that, the RTX 5090 includes an AI management processor, or AMP, which handles scheduling of these different workloads across the ray tracing, Tensor, and CUDA cores.Outside of AI hardware, the RTX 5090 brings 32GB of GDDR7 memory. Nvidia bumped up the capacity from 24GB on the RTX 4090, though that doesnt have a ton of applications in games. The extra memory here really helps AI workloads, where training large models can easily saturate 32GB of memory. The bigger boost is GDDR7, which is twice as efficient as GDDR6 while providing twice as high of a data rate.Nvidia also redesigned its ray tracing and Tensor cores for Blackwell, both of which it says are built for the new Mega Geometry feature. The bigger standout for me is the media encoding engine, however. Nvidia now supports 4:2:2 video encoding, along with DisplayPort 2.1 output. Those are some significant upgrades over the RTX 4090, regardless of what the benchmarks say.Jacob Roach / Digital TrendsTwice as fast as the RTX 4090? Not quite. Based on my results, the RTX 5090 is about 30% faster than the RTX 4090 when the new DLSS Multi-Frame Generation feature isnt brought into the mix. And its a feature you might want to leave out of the mix in some titles, as Ill dig into later in this review. That sounds like a solid generational jump, but I went back to my RTX 4090 review for a sanity check. Its not nearly as big as what weve seen previously.With the RTX 4090, Nvidia provided over an 80% generational improvement, which is massive. Here, its actually more of a lateral move. The RTX 5090 is 30% faster than the RTX 4090, but its also 25% more expensive, at least at list price. That said, good luck finding an RTX 4090 in stock at $2,000, much less at list price. The RTX 5090 may not be the generational improvement I expected, but the reality for buyers is still that its the best option for flagship performance.The average is brought down by a handful of games where the RTX 5090 doesnt show a huge increase. InAssassins Creed Mirage,for example, theres about a 17% uplift. Similarly, inForza Motorsport,the improvement shrinks to just 14%. Those arent exactly the margins I was hoping for when Nvidia announced a new flagship GPU, and especially one that comes in at a significantly higher price.Jacob Roach / Digital TrendsMake no mistake; there are still big wins. As you can see above, I measured a massive 54% improvement inCyberpunk 2077,which is really impressive. In the previous generation, the RTX 4090 was the only GPU that could run this game at 4K Ultra without upscaling and still achieve 60 frames per second (fps). Now, the RTX 5090 is comfortably reaching into the triple digits. This is the kind of improvement I expected to see across the board.Cyberpunk 2077isnt a one-off thankfully. Although the improvements arent quite as large across the board, I saw similarly impressive uplifts inHorizon Zero Dawn Remastered, Returnal, andDying Light 2.The improvement may not be above 80% like we saw in the previous generation, but theres still a clear improvement. If you want the best of the best, Nvidia is claiming that throne with the RTX 5090.Its just the expectations that are important. Despite some big wins, I suspect most games will look likeBlack Myth: Wukong, Red Dead Redemption 2,andCall of Duty Modern Warfare 2.Youre getting a nice chunk of extra performance, no doubt, but that lift doesnt fundamentally change the gameplay experience in quite the same way that the RTX 4090 did.Looking over my 4K data, it became clear that the RTX 5090 establishes somewhat of a new normal. The RTX 4090 had an outsized generational improvement, as Nvidia continued to navigate the waters of how it wanted to market its flagships moving forward. The RTX 5090 is disappointing by comparison, and Im not sure theres much reason for RTX 4090 owners to run out and buy Nvidias latest. But for those that want the best, its hard arguing with the numbers the RTX 5090 puts up.Its easy to argue, however, with Nvidias misleading claims. Were nowhere near twice the performance of an RTX 4090, and the company confirmed to me that its seeing a 30% average uplift internally, as well. Thats the kind of improvement Id expect to see out of an 80-class card, but it looks like the death of Moores Law has to hit everyone at some point.Jacob Roach / Digital TrendsEven at 1440p, its very easy to run into a CPU bottleneck with the RTX 5090. You can see that just from looking at the averages above; the RTX 5090 shrinks down to just a 22% lead over the RTX 4090. All of my data here is fresh, and run with a top-of-the-line Ryzen 9 9950X. In short, if you plan to use the RTX 5090 at 1440p, youre giving up a serious chunk of its performance potential, and youre probably better off with a used RTX 4090.Forza Motorsport and especially Red Dead Redemption 2show the problem here. The RTX 5090 is still able to squeeze out a win across games at 1440p, but the margins are much thinner. Thats not a critique of the graphics card, but it is the reality of trying to run this monstrous GPU at any resolution below 4K.There are still some solid wins for Nvidias latest, particularly in games that scale well on your CPU. Cyberpunk 2077is once again a standout victory, but you can see similarly large improvements inDying Light 2andReturnal.Jacob Roach / Digital TrendsOne game thats worth zooming in on isBlack Myth: Wukong.This is the only game in my test suite that I run with upscaling enabled by default, and it shows what can happen when forcing upscaling on at a lower resolution. The RTX 5090 is providing a 20% improvement, but as you continue to push down the internal resolution, that lead will continue to flatline.Regardless, the RTX 5090 really isnt built for 1440p. You can use it at this resolution, but youre giving up a chunk of what the RTX 5090 is truly capable of.Jacob Roach / Digital TrendsThe idea of using an RTX 5090 at 1080p is a little silly, but I still ran the card through all of the games I tested at this resolution. Here, the CPU bottleneck becomes more extreme, pushing the RTX 5090 down to just a 15% lead over the RTX 4090. You could see that as disappointing, but frankly, I see this resolution as unrealistic for a $2,000 graphics card.However, looking at 1080p data is still valuable, at least at a high level. Its important to remember that DLSS Super Resolution renders the game at a lower internal resolution, so the advantage of the RTX 5090 slips a bit with DLSS upscaling turned on. The RTX 5090 can easily make up that gap with DLSS Multi-Frame Generation and even push much further but these results are a good reminder of bottlenecks you can run into when using flagship hardware with upscaling.Nvidia dominates when it comes to ray tracing, so its no surprise that the RTX 5090 enjoys a top slot among the games I tested. However, the improvements arent as large as I expected. Nvidia has solved, for lack of a better word, real-time ray tracing. Games that arent pushing full-on path tracing are seeing less of an improvement, largely due to the fact that lighter forms of ray tracing are fair game for GPUs as weak as the Intel Arc B580.Dying Light 2is a good example of this dynamic. When this game released a few years back, it was one of the most demanding titles you could play on PC. But even at 4K with the highest graphics preset and no help from upscaling, the RTX 5090 makesDying Light 2look like childs play with a comfortable 90 fps average.InReturnal,the situation is even more extreme. This is one of those lighter ray tracing games available, and sure enough, the RTX 5090 crosses triple digits without breaking a sweat, even at 4K.Things get interesting when looking at those more demanding ray tracing games, though.Cyberpunk 2077,once again, serves as a mile marker for the RTX 5090. Its the first GPU to get close to 60 fps at 4K with the RT Ultra preset, which is quite the achievement. Of course, its possible to push the RT Overdrive preset, as well more on that in the next section but looking at raw performance, Nvidia is pushing to new heights.The next frontier is path tracing, and for that, I usedBlack Myth: Wukong.The RTX 5090 provides a great experience, even at the Cinematic graphics preset in the game. But games likeBlack Myth such asAlan Wake 2andCyberpunk 2077 that have a path tracing mode still need to resort to upscaling, introducing the CPU more into the mix and limiting the performance uplift. Maybe in the next few generations well see a native 60 fps in this title from an Nvidia flagship.There really isnt much to talk about when it comes to ray tracing on the RTX 5090, and thats exactly how Nvidia wants it. In the vast majority of games, youre looking at rasterized performance that comfortably clears 60 fps at native 4K and can easily climb into the triple digits. Ray tracing still forces some upscaling wizardry in titles like Black Myth: Wukong,but for the most part, you can flip on ray tracing without a second thought. Thats the way it should be.Jacob Roach / Digital TrendsThe chart above is the story Nvidia wants to tell about DLSS 4. Nvidia didnt make this chart, nor did it tell me to make it, but theres a clear narrative that emerges from the data here. Even factoring in PC latency, which is the main issue with frame generation technology, DLSS 4 is doing some magical things. Youre going from an unplayable frame rate to something that can fully saturate a 4K, 240Hz monitor like the MSI MPG 321URX. And youre doing so with around half of the average PC latency as native rendering.The devil is in the details here, however, and Nvidia has a few little devils to contend with.Heres a different side of the story. Above, you can see a short section of gameplay Im going for five stars here inCyberpunk 2077with the RT Overdrive preset. Im using DLAA for a little boost to image quality, and Im using the 4X frame generation mode. Given that Im playing on a 4K display with a 138Hz refresh rate, these seem like ideal settings for my setup. Watch the video, and you tell me if it looks like an ideal experience.I can point out a lot of problems here, picking out single frames with various visual artifacts between each swipe of the mouse, but you dont need to pixel peep to see the issue. Theres an unnatural motion blur over everything, and the edges of objects are mere suggestions rather than being locked in place. You dont need a trained eye to see that this is a bad experience. You dont need a point of comparison, even. You can watch this video in a vacuum and see that DLSS 4 has some clear limitations. Thats not a damning critique of DLSS 4. Its a wonderful tool, but you need to use it correctly.Like any frame generation tech, your experience will rapidly deteriorate when you feed the frame generation algorithm with a low base frame rate like I did in Cyberpunk 2077.Nvidia wants you to use Super Resolution to get to a playable base frame rate of near 60 fps, and then click on Multi-Frame Generation to saturate a high refresh rate display. Using Multi-Frame Generation alone, especially if youre hovering around 30 fps, will give you a bad experience.Marvel Rivals - DLSS 4 GameplayCyberpunk 2077shows the worst of what DLSS 4 has to offer, butMarvel Rivalsshows the best. This is one of various games that uses Nvidias new DLSS Override feature, allowing you to add up to 4X Multi-Frame Generation to games with DLSS Frame Generation through the Nvidia app. Not only is the base frame rate high enough here well over 60 fps, even with DLAA turned on but you also have a third-person camera. There are some minor artifacts, but nothing that ruins the experience and nothing youd even notice during gameplay.Alan Wake 2 - DLSS 4 GameplaySimilarly, the artifacting isnt nearly as bad inAlan Wake 2as it is inCyberpunk 2077.Here, once again, Im starting with a base frame rate of around 30 fps and using Multi-Frame Generation to make up the difference. There are some artifacts, and Id recommend using a combination of Super Resolution and Frame Generation instead. But the experience is at least better compared toCyberpunk 2077due to the camera angle.You dont want to just crank DLSS 4 to 4X mode and call it a day. It needs to be fed with a base frame rate of ideally 60 fps. Although the latency doesnt significantly increase up to three generated frames something that Nvidia should be applauded for on its own the number of visual artifacts does. Realistically, I suspect DLSS 4 will more often run in 2X or 3X mode alongside Super Resolution. That, in a lot of games, will provide a much better experience than relying on Multi-Frame Generation alone.Over the past few generations, Nvidia has increasingly relied on DLSS to market its graphics cards, and that same playbook is at work here. Its just not the same selling point that it once was. Super Resolution is still pulling a lot of the weight, and even a single generated frame is enough to saturate most gaming monitors, even as refresh rates climb. Theres still a use for 4X Multi-Frame Generation, and with the right circumstances, it works extremely well. But when it comes time to spend $2,000 on a graphics card, I would seriously consider how much DLSS Multi-Frame Generation is offering over a $7 utility like Lossless Scaling.For my money, it isnt providing much of an advantage.This is where you need to carefully consider your setup. You want to be using Multi-Frame Generation alongside Super Resolution in those prestige games likeCyberpunk 2077andAlan Wake 2,and if you dont have a monitor capable of producing that high of a refresh rate, that second or third generated frame goes to waste. Unlike DLSS 3, Multi-Frame Generation isnt a feature that just works on its own; it needs to work as part of the rest of your gaming rig.Jacob Roach / Digital TrendsNvidias CEO hit the nail on the head when defending the price of the RTX 5090: When someone would like to have the best, they just go for the best. If theres one thing I can say with absolute certainly, especially considering the lack of flagship competition from AMD, its that the RTX 5090 is the best. It doesnt matter if its $1,500, $2,000, or $2,500 Nvidias CEO is right when he says that the appetite for this type of product doesnt factor in price nearly as much as more inexpensive options.The question isnt if the RTX 5090 is the best; it is. The question is if you need the best, and theres a bit more discussion there. The generational improvements are here, but they dont touch what we saw with the RTX 4090. DLSS 4 is incredible, but it falls apart when its not fed with the right information. And 32GB of GDDR7 memory is welcome, but its only delivering a benefit in AI workloads, not in games.If youre sitting on an RTX 4090, theres not much reason to upgrade here. Theres a performance boost, but the real value lies in DLSS 4, and thats something thats very easy to get around without spending $2,000. The RTX 5090 really shines for everyone else.Maybe you had to skip the RTX 40-series due to poor availability, or maybe the RTX 2080 Ti you have just isnt providing the grunt that it used to. In those situations, the RTX 5090 is great. But if youre in the market to spend $2,000 on a graphics card, you probably dont need me to convince you.Editors Recommendations

Emilia Prez and The Brutalist are expected to contend for best picture.

CCS2 ports 600 kW fast-charging pitstops are coming to Formula E After a couple of years' delay, mid-race recharging is ready to go. Jonathan M. Gitlin Jan 23, 2025 8:25 am | 6 Credit: Oscar Lumley/LAT Images Credit: Oscar Lumley/LAT Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreNow 11 seasons in, Formula E has come a long way from its sometimes-chaotic early days and those mid-race pitstops to change cars. Car swaps went away a long time ago, but when the series gets back to racing next month in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the mid-race pit stop will be back. Except this time, the cars will be quickly recharged by powerful 600 kW fast chargers.The new race feature, which Formula E is calling "pit boost," is a 30-second pitstop, during which time the car receives a 600 kW fast chargemore than twice as much power as a Tesla Superchargerthat adds 10 percent (3.85 kWh) to the battery's state of charge. It's mandatory for every car in the race, but a team is only allowed to charge one of its two cars at a time, and only within a specified window of time during the race.Some people are probably going to be unimpressed with the length of the stopswhile they're shorter than you might see at a prototype stop at Le Mans or Daytona, you also won't see mechanics running around changing tires. We're also talking an order of magnitude longer than a current Formula 1 pitstop, which will no doubt be used as ammunition by Formula E's detractors, just as the lap-time comparisons are.But the laws of physics are what they are. You can only safely put so much energy into a battery in a given time. Any recharge of a significant percent of the battery's state of charge would take several minutes, and that's really not conducive to an entertaining sprint race. (And it's not like the TV director would spend the entire time focusing on a car in the pits as opposed to all the other cars racing on track.)Trying new stuffPit boost joins attack mode in the Formula E box of tricks. The sport has never been afraid to try new things as a way to entertain the fans, and although not every experiment has been a raging success, others cannot be written off as failures.Fan boostwhere people voted online to give three drivers extra power during parts of the racewas not well-received and contributed little to the show. But "attack mode," a time-limited power-up that's activated by driving over a specific part of the racetrack, has added an interesting strategy component to the races and delivered plenty of excitement.Formula E has also shown it can respond to criticismthis year there's a new compound in Hankook tires that's far racier than the durable-but-gripless rubber of the last two seasons. And in addition to adding more power, during attack mode the front electric motor is allowed to actually send power to those wheelsnormally it is relegated to just harvesting energy under deceleration.Formula E wants pit boost to do something similar, but it neither replaces attack mode nor is tied to itit's now a second thing that race strategists are going to have to deal with."I think it's gonna be fantastic because it's gonna create a little bit of jeopardy into the race. And there are teams that are gonna be using that energy in different ways in different moments. And definitely, you know, it's gonna bring that excitement that we want," said Albert Longo, Formula E's co-founder and chief championship officer.The team view"Pit boost is mainly a strategic element, which, like any change of this nature, will impact our approach, as a stop mid race isnt something weve had in the Championship since the Gen1 era," said Frederic Espinos, team director at Lola Yamaha ABT Formula E Team."Choosing the right moment to pit, which balances the risk of losing track position with the extra power boost, will be essential, especially as only one car at a time will be able to come in for the pit boost, so we will have to go for slightly different strategies even if naturally it would seem going as soon as possible will be the best option. To add further jeopardy, pit boost will be available during the safety car, which could present a beneficial opportunity if you are lucky but if not it could destroy your race," Espinos said."Equally as important to the strategy of when to take pit boost is the execution of it. Although it isnt somewhere you can really gain time, there is the potential to lose a lot, so practice will be key as we introduce this new feature. Ultimately, we can expect added unpredictability in the race and a lot of learnings for the teams, particularly in the early stages," Espinos said.Not every race will feature pit boostthe idea is to give the series some variation. So one race of the Jeddah double-header will require pit boost, but the other will not. "What we thought for season 11 is that basically, let's launch this new system in places where we can do a completely different race the day after," Longo said. "Let's implement that in places where basically, in only 24 hours, you're gonna see a completely different race. So you are actually going to be seeing the difference... by the pit boost," Longo said.That's the plan for this season, at any rate; if it proves a success, Longo said it would probably be rolled out much more widely next year. Formula E says it's confident in the reliability of the chargers or it wouldn't be introducing themit called off pit boost in both 2023 and 2024, after all. But there will be a couple of spares in the paddock in case a team (or two) experiences a failure, according to Formula E's head of championship, Pablo Martino.The Jeddah double-header will be held next month on February 1415. If the first two rounds of this season were anything to go by, it should be worth watching.Jonathan M. GitlinAutomotive EditorJonathan M. GitlinAutomotive Editor Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica's automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC. 6 Comments

No blackwing, though Cadillac gives the Lyriq a race car-inspired glow-up Now there's a Lyriq with 615 horsepower and Le Mans-inspired sounds. Jonathan M. Gitlin Jan 23, 2025 8:00 am | 9 Credit: Cadillac Credit: Cadillac Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreThe Cadillac Lyriq was the first of a new breed of General Motors' electric vehicles. Built around a common battery platform (which used to be called Ultium), the midsize SUV has been on sale for about three years now, and for model year 2026, there's a new version available, the first Cadillac EV to wear the V-series badge."V-Series captures the spirit of Cadillac, embodying our relentless pursuit of engineering excellence through our racing and production vehicles," said John Roth, vice president of Global Cadillac. "LYRIQ-V takes this commitment a step further in the EV era, pushing our performance pedigree of V-Series to new heights with a powerful, personalized and high-tech driving experience that fits perfectly into our customers' lives," Roth said.As with other Cadillac V-series cars, you can expect a much higher power output than the base models. In this case, that's a hefty 615 hp (459 kW) and 650 lb-ft (880 Nm)not quite double the output of the single-motor Lyriq we drove back in 2023. The Lyriq-V uses a pair of motors to achieve that output, powered by the same 102 kWh battery pack as in the normal Lyriq.That's sufficient for an EPA range estimate of 285 miles (459 km), which is less than the regular all-wheel drive Lyriq, but the range hit is probably down to the Lyriq-V's 22-inch wheels. (When fitted to the regular Lyriq, the larger wheels also sap some of that car's 307-mile EPA range.)There are some other new additions to the Lyriq-V to go with that increased output, like V-mode, which delivers a 060 mph time of 3.3 seconds when you engage launch control. There's also Competitive mode, which Cadillac says "enables a suite of traction management features specifically engineered to increase vehicle agility." Cadillac Cadillac Super Cruise is standard on the Lyriq-V. Super Cruise is standard on the Lyriq-V. Push the red V button when you want to have fun. Cadillac Push the red V button when you want to have fun. Cadillac Super Cruise is standard on the Lyriq-V.Push the red V button when you want to have fun. Cadillac To go with this improved canyon-carving ability, the new front seats have more side bolstering, and there's a sporty new soundtrack, with powertrain sounds that were inspired by Cadillac's V-Series.R sports prototoype, which make use of the 23-speaker Dolby Atmos sound system. There are also bigger front brakes from Brembo and some unique styling parts like the front fascia and side rockers.Oh, and did we mention it still features Apple CarPlay, unlike GM's slightly more recent (but still Ultium-based) EVs?Production of the Lyriq-V begins in the coming weeks at GM's Spring Hill factory in Tennessee, with a starting price of $79,990 (including destination charge).Jonathan M. GitlinAutomotive EditorJonathan M. GitlinAutomotive Editor Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica's automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC. 9 Comments

Lisa Morgan, Freelance WriterJanuary 23, 202510 Min ReadPanther Media GmbH via Alamy StockArtificial Intelligence is virtually everywhere, whether enterprises have an AI strategy or not. As AI capabilities continue to get more sophisticated, businesses are trying to capitalize on it, but they havent done enough foundational work to succeed. While its true that companies have been increasing their AI budgets over the last several years, its become clear that the ROI of such efforts varies significantly, based on many dynamics, such as available talent, budget, and a sound strategy. Now, organizations are questioning the value of such investments to the point of pulling back in 2025.According to Anand Rao, distinguished service professor, applied data science andartificial Intelligence at Carnegie Mellon University, the top three challenges are ROI measurement, realization, and maintenance.If the work Im doing takes three hours and now it takes a half an hour, thats easily quantifiable, [but] human performance is variable, says Rao. The second way is having a baseline. We don't [understand] human performance, but we are saying AI is 95% better than a human, but which human? The top-most performer, an average performer, or the new employee?When it comes to realizing ROI, there are different ways to look at it. For example, if AI saves 20% of five peoples time, perhaps one could be eliminated. However, if those five people are now spending more time on higher value tasks, then it would be unwise to let any of them go because they are providing more value to the business.Related:The other challenge is maintenance because AI models need to be monitored and maintained to remain trustworthy. Also, as humans use AI more frequently, they get more adept at doing so while AI is learning from the human, which may increase performance. Enterprises are not measuring that either, Rao says.[T]here's a whole learning curve happening between the human and the AI, and independently the two. That might mean that you may not be able to maintain your ROI, because it may increase or decrease from the base point, says Rao.Anand Rao, Carnegie Mellon UniversityTheres also a time element. For example, ChatGPT-4 was introduced in March 2023, but enterprises werent ready for it, but in six months or less, businesses had started investing systematically to develop their AI strategy. Nevertheless, theres still more to do.[T]he crucial fact is that we are still in the very early days of this technology, and things are moving very quickly, says Beatriz Sanz Saiz, global consulting data and AI Leader at business management consulting firm EY. Enterprises should become adept at measuring value realization, risk and safety. CIOs need to rethink a whole set of metrics because they will need to deliver results. Many organizations have a need for a value realization office, so that for everything they do, they can establish metrics upfront to be measured against, whether that is cost savings, productivity, new revenue growth, market share, employee satisfaction [or] customer satisfaction.Related:The GenAI ImpactWhile many enterprises have had plenty of success with traditional AI, Kjell Carlsson, head of AI strategy at enterprise MLOps platform Domino Data Lab, estimates that 90% of GenAI initiatives are not delivering results that move the needle on a sustained basis, nor are they on track to do so.[M]ost of these organizations are not going after use cases that can deliver transformative impact, nor do they have the prerequisite AI engineering capabilities to deliver production-grade AI solutions, says Carlsson. Many organizations are under the misconception that merely making private instances of LLMs and business apps with embedded GenAI capabilities available to business users and developers is an effective AI strategy. It is not. While there have been productivity gains from these efforts, in most cases, these have been far more modest than expected and have plateaued quickly.Related:Though GenAI has many similarities to driving business value with traditional AI and machine learning, it requires expert teams that can design, develop, operationalize and govern AI applications that rely on complex AI pipelines. These pipelines combine data engineering, prompt engineering, vector stores, guardrails, upstream and downstream ML and GenAI models, and integrations with operational systems.Successful teams have evolved their existing data science and ML engineering capabilities into AI product and AI engineering capabilities that allow them to build, orchestrate and govern extremely successful AI solutions, says Carlsson.Kjell Carlsson, Domino Data LabSound tech strategies identify a business problem and then select the technologies to solve it, but with GenAI, users have been experimenting before they define a problem to solve or expected payoff.[W]e believe there is promise of transformation with AI, but the practical path is unclear. This shift has led to a lack of focus and measurable outcomes, and the derailment of plenty of AI efforts in the first wave of AI initiatives, says Brian Weiss, chief technology officer at hyperautomation and enterprise AI infrastructure company Hyperscience. In 2025, we anticipate a more pragmatic or strategic approach where generative AI tools will be used to deliver value by attaching to existing solutions with clearly measurable outcomes, rather than simply generating content. [T]he success of AI initiatives hinges on a strategic approach, high-quality data, cross-functional collaboration and strong leadership. By addressing these areas, enterprises can significantly improve their chances of achieving meaningful ROI from their AI efforts.Andreas Welsch, founder and chief AI strategist at boutique AI strategy firm Intelligence Briefing, says early in the GenAI hype cycle, organizations were quick to experiment with the technology. Funding was made available, and budgets were consolidated to explore what the technology could offer, but they didnt need to deliver ROI. Times have changed.Organizations who have been stuck in the exploration phase without assessing the business value first, are now caught off guard when the use case does not deliver a measurable return, says Welsch. Set up a formal process and governance that assess the business value and measurable return of an AI product or project prior to starting. Secure stakeholder buy-in and establish a regular cadence to measure progress, ensure continued support or stop the project, [and] assess existing applications in your company. Which of those offers AI capabilities that you are not using yet? You dont need to build every app from scratch.Many Potholes to NavigateJamie Smith, CIO at University of Phoenix, says the cost of AI is being reflected more frequently in SaaS contracts, whether the contracts specify it or not.Weve seen this in the past 6 months, as the cost to compute using AI rises and rises and is set to continue to do so as models grow more robust -- and therefore more power hungry. SaaS providers are looking at their utility bills and passing the cost to businesses, says Smith. As a result, SaaS contracts -- and partnerships more broadly -- are going to come under a lot more scrutiny. If these costs are rising, then partners productivity needs to match.Edward Smyshliaiev, chief technology officer at Hedgefun:D says many organizations derail their AI ROI though a combination of overambition, under-preparation and a lack of alignment between AI teams and business leaders.AI isnt a magic wand; its a tool. To wield it effectively, companies need to ensure data pipelines are clean and reliable and invest in training staff to interpret and act on AI outputs, says Smyshliaiev. A shared vision between AI teams and leadership is critical -- everyone must know what success looks like and how to measure it.Sean Bhardwaj, managing partner at strategic consulting firm Breakthrough Growth Partners is a fractional chief AI officer and strategist. In this role, hes observed that two of the top reasons enterprises arent realizing better ROI on their AI initiatives is because they lack a foundational strategy and focus on the human side of AI adoption.For example, one of his clients wanted to implement AI-driven customer recommendations, only to discover mid-project that the data infrastructure couldnt support it. Similarly, organizations often assume that teams will adopt AI enthusiastically, which isnt necessarily the case.Planning for adoption with training and incentives is essential to see real engagement and impact, says Bhardwaj. I advise companies to see each stage as an investment in capability-building, with each phase laying the groundwork for the next.All too often, organizations discard AI initiatives that dont meet initial expectations rather than rethinking their approach.John Bodrozic, co-founder and CIO at homeowner lifecycle platform HomeZada, has observed that enterprises are relying solely on standalone AI to solve problems or find new growth opportunities, but they are ultimately being led by development teams and not product management teams.There are so many areas where AI can impact bottom-line cost savings and top line revenue growth, but only when these use-case scenarios are explored by cross-functional teams that combine software and AI development specialists with members of the functional team, says Bodrozic. Without this direct interaction, ROI from AI is challenging at best.The Business ViewA 2023 Gartner report found that only 54% of AI projects get past the proof-of-concept phase, and many of those fail to deliver on the promised financial or operational impact. According to Ed Gaudet, CEO and founder of health care risk management solution provider Censinet, companies may believe that AI will make everything better, but they never specify what better means.Enterprises must take a phased, strategic approach [that requires] defining clear use cases that have actual business value like the automation of a drudgery, supply chain optimization, or leveraging chatbots to meet better customer experience. Secondly, organizations need to create structural capabilities like a good data governance framework, scalable infrastructure and strong developer and engineering skills. Companies that train their employees in AI have a 43% higher success rate deploying AI projects.Nicolas Mougin, consulting and support director at global cloud platform Esker, credits rushed implementations as a reason for ROI shortfalls.The pressure to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving technological landscape drives many organizations to implement AI without sufficient planning. Instead of conducting thorough needs assessments or piloting solutions, businesses often rush to deploy tools in the hope of gaining an edge, says Mougin. However, hastily executed projects overlook key considerations such as data readiness, scalability or user adoption.Edward Starkie, director, GRC at global risk intelligence company Thomas Murray, believes that most organizations are not in a suitable position to be able to adopt AI and exploit it to its fullest extent.To be successful there is a level of maturity that is required which [depends] upon having the necessary mechanisms supporting the design, creation and maintenance of the technology in a field which is short of genuine expertise, says Starkie. [E]specially at board level, a lack of education is a key contributing factor. [Mandates] are being issued without the without understanding the importance of the core components being in place.About the AuthorLisa MorganFreelance WriterLisa Morgan is a freelance writer who covers business and IT strategy and emergingtechnology for InformationWeek. She has contributed articles, reports, and other types of content to many technology, business, and mainstream publications and sites including tech pubs, The Washington Post and The Economist Intelligence Unit. Frequent areas of coverage include AI, analytics, cloud, cybersecurity, mobility, software development, and emerging cultural issues affecting the C-suite.See more from Lisa MorganNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports

Feedback is delighted by a YouTuber's sterling efforts to make Michael Crichton's velociraptors more accurate but points out that they're still far too big 22 January 2025 Josie FordJurassic Feathered ParkThe wheel of time turns, the cycle repeats and another Jurassic Park movie is coming out this year. Feedback has faint hopes due to the presence of director Gareth Edwards, who proved in Monsters and Godzilla that he can direct films featuring huge creatures. But still, yawn.While we all wait with bated breath, YouTuber CoolioArt is supplying dinosaur footage to keep us sated. They are using the animation tool Blender to redo key scenes from the original Jurassic Park, in order to give the Velociraptors feathers. So far, they have done the kitchen scene and the climactic scene in the visitor centre (just before, spoiler alert, the Tyrannosaurus rex saves the day).Given the amateur nature of the project, the animations are really good. However, one problem remains: the raptors are still way too big. You see, despite his reputation for careful research, Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton was a bit prone to getting things badly wrong.AdvertisementCrichtons biggest scientific fail was arguably his 2004 climate change novel State of Fear. This features environmental terrorists who fake natural disasters to convince the world of the dangers of global warming. They have to do this because, in the universe of the book, all the scientific evidence that greenhouse gas emissions are heating up the climate is flawed or faked.There is even a series of pages entirely dominated by graphs from weather stations in the US that show local temperature declines, and which are meant to be more meaningful than the trend in the average global temperature for some reason. Crichton also recycles the myth that the warming trend is an artefact of urban heat islands. Its like a terrible Reddit thread in book form.Even Jurassic Park, Crichtons most famous creation, wasnt immune. He wanted to feature a dromaeosaurid dinosaur, as they were understood to be fast and intelligent hunters contrasting with the lumbering T. rex. Unfortunately, the scariest ones had a name that Crichton didnt think was cool Deinonychus antirrhopus so he used every detail of that species but incorrectly called them Velociraptor.Thats why, in the books and films, an adult Velociraptor is about as tall as a human being. In reality, a Velociraptor was about as tall as a turkey. Feedback imagines that an angry Velociraptor could still cause problems for a human being, but its just not the same when the terrifying predator is about the size of the average toddler.The irony is that the evidence that dromaeosaurids had feathers was pretty equivocal in the 1990s, so it was justifiable to present the raptors as featherless but not to triple their height.Which explains why CoolioArt has overdubbed some of the dialogue in the kitchen clip. When the girl whispers What is it?, a female voice dubbed over the boys now cheerily says Its a Deinonychus. 10/10, no notes.AI for rOAdsSometimes, on a grey Monday when the column is due, Feedback can be found hastily scratching around for story ideas because nobody has done anything especially silly within sight of us. However, on Monday 13 January the following item dropped into our lap.The UK government announced that it was going to unleash AI because of its vast potential to improve the countrys decaying public services. This vision of the future is called the AI Opportunities Action Plan. Feedback feels that the name could have used a bit of work: it abbreviates to AIOAP, which sounds like the Terminator movie Arnold Schwarzenegger will make when hes 85 and an old-age pensioner himself.The AIOAP contains a lot of proposals, one of which caught Feedbacks eye. According to BBC News, AI will be fed through cameras around the country to inspect roads and spot potholes that need fixing.Like a rabbit caught in headlights, or, more aptly, like a driver heading straight for a pothole because theyre being tailgated and theres no room to steer, Feedback found ourself staring blankly forward into space, stunned by the visionary nature of this vision.Its not that we doubt that AI could be trained to spot potholes. On the contrary: it would probably do it rather well. Instead, we are concerned that this might be solving a non-existent problem.The BBC reported in March 2024 that English and Welsh roads are blighted by potholes, with a backlog of repairs estimated to cost 16.3 billion. That is a long way short of Elon Musk buying Twitter money, but its still roughly equivalent to the GDP of Jamaica. Furthermore, Feedback can attest to a deep familiarity with the numerous potholes in our local area, many of which have gone unrepaired for months.The problem, in short, doesnt seem to be lack of knowledge about where the potholes are. We wouldnt have a backlog that would cover the cost of building several skyscrapers if the potholes werent being logged. This is doubly so for any road busy enough to have cameras on it.Instead, the problem seems to be getting the actual repairs done. Feedback doesnt see how the AI will help with that. No, we need to turn to genetics.The only solution is an army of Ron Swanson clones to go and fill the potholes.Got a story for Feedback?You can send stories to Feedback by email at feedback@newscientist.com. Please include your home address. This weeks and past Feedbacks can be seen on our website.

Steven Puetzer/Getty ImagesHow did you sleep last night? Your response might depend on how long you were in bed, how much of that time you spent tossing and turning or whether you feel rested. But it might also depend on whether you exercised today, what your wearable device says, or when you are being asked.This article is part of special series investigating key questions about sleep. Read more here.Everyone has their own definition of sleep quality and that is the problem, says sleep researcher Nicole Tang at the University of Warwick, UK.Though sleep quality and what defines it is a puzzle scientists are still figuring out, we do know that a good nights rest involves a series of sleep cycles, the distinct succession of phases of brain activity we experience during sleep (see diagram below). And for most of us, each stage of those cycles is necessary to wake up feeling refreshed. The average person experiences four to five complete cycles during a night and disrupting these can come with health consequences, both in the short and long term.Poor sleep quality is associated with many adverse physical health outcomes, says Jean-Philippe Chaput at the University of Ottawa, Canada. Similar to what you can expect from not sleeping enough (see Why your chronotype is key to figuring out how much sleep you need), these include a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and weight gain.Although there is no definitive consensus on what defines sleep quality, researchers and doctors frequently analyse sleep with an electroencephalogram (EEG), which tracks brain activity during sleep

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. This is what might happen if the US withdraws from the WHO On January 20, his first day in office, US president Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization. The US is the biggest donor to the WHO, and the loss of this income is likely to have a significant impact on the organization, which develops international health guidelines, investigates disease outbreaks, and acts as an information-sharing hub for member states. But the US will also lose out. Read the full story.Jessica HamzelouWhy the next energy race is for underground hydrogen It might sound like something straight out of the 19th century, but one of the most cutting-edge areas in energy today involves drilling deep underground to hunt for materials that can be burned for energy. The difference is that this time, instead of looking for fossil fuels, the race is on to find natural deposits of hydrogen. In an age of lab-produced breakthroughs, it feels like something of a regression to go digging for resources. But looking underground could help meet energy demand while also addressing climate change. Read the full story.Casey Crownhart This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Reviews weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. Cattle burping remedies: 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2025 Companies are finally making real progress on one of the trickiest problems for climate change: cow burps. The worlds herds of cattle belch out methane as a by-product of digestion, as do sheep and goats. That powerful greenhouse gas makes up the single biggest source of livestock emissions, which together contribute 11% to 20% of the worlds total climate pollution, depending on the analysis. Enter the cattle burping supplement. DSM-Firmenich, a Netherlands-based conglomerate, says its Bovaer food supplement significantly reduces the amount of methane that cattle belchand its now available in dozens of countries. Read the full story.James Temple Cattle burping remedies is one of our 10 Breakthrough Technologies for 2025, MIT Technology Reviews annual list of tech to watch. Check out the rest of the list, and cast your vote for the honorary 11th breakthrough. The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Tech leaders are squabbling over Trumps new Stargate AI project Musk says its backers dont have enough money. Satya Nadella and Sam Altman disagree. (The Guardian)+ Its far from the first time Musk and Altman have clashed. (Insider $)+ The scrap could threaten Musks cordial relationship with Donald Trump. (FT $) 2 Trump has threatened to withhold aid from California He falsely claimed the states officials have been refusing to fight the fires with water. (WP $)+ A new fire broke out along the Ventura County border last night. (LA Times $)3 Redditors are weighing up banning links to X In response to Elon Musks salute. (404 Media)+ Not everyone agrees that the boycott will have the desired effect, though. (NYT $)4 How right-leaning male YouTubers helped to elect TrumpYoung men are responding favorably to content painting them as powerless. (Bloomberg $) 5 Why the US isnt handing out bird flu vaccines right now Its not currently being treated as a priority. (Wired $)+ How the US is preparing for a potential bird flu pandemic. (MIT Technology Review)6 Why you might be inadvertently following Trump on social media And why it may take a while for Meta to honor requests to unfollow. (NYT $)+ The company has denied secretly adding users to Trumps followers list. (Insider $)+ Handily enough, Trump has ordered the US government to stop pressuring social media firms. (WP $)7 Investors interest in weight-loss drugs is waningA disappointing trial and falling sales spell bad news for the sector. (FT $) + Drugs like Ozempic now make up 5% of prescriptions in the US. (MIT Technology Review)8 A software engineer is trolling OpenAI with a new domain nameAnanay Arora registered OGOpenAI.com to redirect to a Chinese AI lab. (TechCrunch) 9 Macbeth is being turned into an interactive video game The Scottish play is being given a 21st century makeover. (The Verge) 10 Why measuring the quality of your sleep is so tough Not everyone agrees on what counts as good sleep, for a start. (New Scientist $)Quote of the day I acknowledge that this action is largely just virtue signalling. But if somebody starts popping off Nazi salutes at the presidential inauguration of a purported first world country, then virtue signalling is the least I can do. A Reddit moderator explains their decision to ban links to X in their forum after Elon Musks gestures at a post-inauguration rally this week, NBC News reports. The big story Welcome to Chula Vista, where police drones respond to 911 calls February 2023 In the skies above Chula Vista, California, where the police department runs a drone program, its not uncommon to see an unmanned aerial vehicle darting across the sky. Chula Vista is one of a dozen departments in the US that operate what are called drone-as-first-responder programs, where drones are dispatched by pilots, who are listening to live 911 calls, and often arrive first at the scenes of accidents, emergencies, and crimes, cameras in tow. But many argue that police forces adoption of drones is happening too quickly, without a well-informed public debate around privacy regulations, tactics, and limits. Theres also little evidence that drone policing reduces crime. Read the full story. Patrick Sisson We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet 'em at me.) + If you were struck by the beautiful scenery in The Brutalist, check out where it was filmed.+ This newly-unearthed, previously unreleased Tina Turner track is a banger.+ What to expect from the art world in the next 12 months.+ Let's take a look at this years potential runners and riders for the Oscars.

On January 20, his first day in office, US president Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization. Ooh, thats a big one, he said as he was handed the document. The US is the biggest donor to the WHO, and the loss of this income is likely to have a significant impact on the organization, which develops international health guidelines, investigates disease outbreaks, and acts as an information-sharing hub for member states. But the US will also lose out. Its a very tragic and sad event that could only hurt the United States in the long run, says William Moss, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. A little unfair? Trump appears to take issue with the amount the US donates to the WHO. He points out that it makes a much bigger contribution than China, a country with a population four times that of the US. It seems a little unfair to me, he said as he prepared to sign the executive order. It is true that the US is far and away the biggest financial supporter of the WHO. The US contributed $1.28 billion over the two-year period covering 2022 and 2023. By comparison, the second-largest donor, Germany, contributed $856 million in the same period. The US currently contributes 14.5% of the WHOs total budget. But its not as though the WHO sends a billion-dollar bill to the US. All member states are required to pay membership dues, which are calculated as a percentage of a countrys gross domestic product. For the US, this figure comes to $130 million. China pays $87.6 million. But the vast majority of the USs contributions to the WHO are made on a voluntary basisin recent years, the donations have been part of multibillion-dollar spending on global health by the US government. (Separately, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation contributed $830 million over 2022 and 2023.) Its possible that other member nations will increase their donations to help cover the shortfall left by the USs withdrawal. But it is not clear who will step upor what implications it might have to the structure of donations. Martin McKee, professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene at Tropical Medicine, thinks it is unlikely that European members will increase their contributions by much. The Gulf states, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa, on the other hand, may be more likely to pay more. But again, it isnt clear how this will pan out, or whether any of these countries will expect greater influence over global health policy decisions as a result of increasing their donations. Deep impacts WHO funds are spent on a range of global health projectsprograms to eradicate polio, rapidly respond to health emergencies, improve access to vaccines and medicines, develop pandemic prevention strategies, and more. The loss of US funding is likely to have a significant impact on at least some of these programs. It is not clear which programs will lose funding, or when they will be affected. The US is required to give 12 months notice to withdraw its membership, but voluntary contributions might stop before that time is up. For the last few years, WHO member states have been negotiating a pandemic agreement designed to improve collaboration on preparing for future pandemics. The agreement is set to be finalized in 2025. But these discussions will be disrupted by the US withdrawal, says McKee. It will create confusion about how effective any agreement will be and what it will look like, he says. The agreement itself also wont make as big an impact without the US as a signatory, says Moss, who is also a member of a WHO vaccine advisory committee. The US would not be held to information-sharing standards that other countries could benefit from, and it might not be privy to important health information from other member nations. The global community might also lose out on the USs resources and expertise. Having a major country like the United States not be a part of that really undermines the value of any pandemic agreement, he says. McKee thinks that the loss of funding will also affect efforts to eradicate polio and to control outbreaks of mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Burundi, which continue to report hundreds of cases per week. The virus has the potential to spread, including to the US, he points out. Moss is concerned about the potential for the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trumps pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, is a prominent antivaccine advocate, and Moss worries about potential changes to vaccination-based health policies in the US. That, combined with a weakening of the WHOs ability to control disease outbreaks, could be a double whammy, he says: Were setting ourselves up for large measles disease outbreaks in the United States. At the same time, the US is up against another growing threat to public health: the circulation of bird flu on poultry and dairy farms. The US has seen outbreaks of the H5N1 virus on poultry farms in all states, and the virus has been detected in 928 dairy herds across 16 states, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been 67 reported human cases in the US, and one person has died. While we dont yet have evidence that the virus can spread between people, the US and other countries are already preparing for potential outbreaks. But this preparation relies on a thorough and clear understanding of what is happening on the ground. The WHO provides an important role in information sharingcountries report early signs of outbreaks to the agency, which then shares the information with its members. This kind of information not only allows countries to develop strategies to limit the spread of disease but can also allow them to share genetic sequences of viruses and develop vaccines. Member nations need to know whats happening in the US, and the US needs to know whats happening globally. Both of those channels of communication would be hindered by this, says Moss. As if all of that werent enough, the US also stands to suffer in terms of its reputation as a leader in global public health. By saying to the world We dont care about your health, it sends a message that is likely to reflect badly on it, says McKee. Its a classic lose-lose situation, he adds. Its going to hurt global health, says Moss. Its going to come back to bite us.