The war for AI talent is all too real. organizations across industries are rushing to implement it in its various forms, and the high demand is outpacing supply. According to an August 2024 report by digital transformation services company UST, 76% of survey respondents cite a severe shortage of AI-skilled personnel. How companies deal with the shortage varies.For example, based on a review of the H1B Visa Salary Base, efinancialcareers found that a member of the technical staff, (an intentionally vague job description) at OpenAI paid one individual a $650,000 salary. Thats salary alone, not total compensation. Anthropic paid another individual a $405,000 salary, also as a member of the technical staff while Balyasny Asset Management paid an AI researcher $275,000. These are some high-end examples, but six-figure salaries are common.When it comes to total compensation, Menlo Ventures reported that recent packages ranged from $900,000 to $2.8 million for Level 3 to 6 ML engineers and $1.7 to $4.2 million for AI researchers."The demand for AI talent is currently at an all-time high, with no end in sight," said Matt Corbett, president of the embedded recruiting division at global talent advisory ZRG in an email interview. "The demand is global, with the US at No. 1, India at No. 2, China at No. 3, and the UK at No. 4. AI talent demand outstrips supply, so compensation is being driven up."Related:Despite some cooling of overall global venture capital over the last two to three years, the AI sector has remained strong with AI startups grabbing nearly a third of VC funding. In addition, the global AI funding deal count jumped 24% between Q1 2024 and Q2 2024."In 2024, nine AI deals raised over $1B. The current global software engineering talent marketplace cannot adjust quickly enough to absorb this accelerating focus on AI investments, so the increase in compensation will likely continue through 2025," says Corbett.Matt Corbett, ZRGMore generally, many organizations have complained they cant compete with Big Tech companies for IT talent, simply because their pockets arent as deep. According to The Wall Street Journal, some organizations are offering million-dollar pay packages or accelerated stock-vesting schedules. Even entire teams are being poached.Corbett says the impact of AI in the financial services sector is in direct proportion to the size of the financial services company.In the past, smaller firms could be more agile, flexible with a boutique experience. Now that we have entered the era of AI, the larger firms with extensive amounts of data, insights, transaction history, etc. are able to pool that knowledge with an internal LLM which provide unprecedented amounts of knowledge and capability in the hands of every client-facing representative, says Corbett.Related:That takes knowledgeable AI talent to execute, however. According to a recent IBM study involving 300 CEOs from retail, corporate, commercial and investment banks and financial market companies, 53% are struggling to find the right AI talent. While money is one of the most powerful motivators when it comes to attracting and retaining employees, it isnt the only one.Company ValuesRuth Ebeling,North America lead of HR and technology people strategy at Boston Consulting Group has not observed companies sacrificing other positions for AI talent, but employers seeking data, AI and GenAI talent must re-evaluate why candidates should choose the company and why employees should want to stay.Any scarce talent cohort with skills in high demand tends to command higher salaries and often seek companies with a strong employee value proposition tailored to data [and] AI talent.For tech talent, broadly, things like compensation, work-life balance, flexible work models, learning and development, and career pathing typically top their list of preferences, says Ebeling in an email interview. Technologists are almost twice as likely to turn down a job offer that does not offer a hybrid or flex work model than non-tech talent.Also, a link to the company purpose and their ability to have impact is attractive.Related:More specifically, data and AI talent are keenly aware of the power and responsibility of managing data and AI and GenAI well. In recent years, theyve watched many tech icons leave lucrative roles with AI companies in large part due to ethics, or a perceived lack thereof.AI lighthouse leaders have set the tone powerfully -- Responsible AI (RAI) matters and no one should stake their career in a company that can't say the same, says Ebeling. Companies seeking this talent should clearly state their RAI policies and procedures.Proud GenAI technologists will put this on their resume as well.Noosheen Hashemi, CEO and co-founder at precision health company January AI, says his company has definitely felt the impact of high AI talent demand, so company values are important.Competing with the astronomical salaries offered by Big Tech and venture-funded startups is a challenge, particularly as we aim to attract individuals who are both technically skilled and deeply committed to healthcare innovation, says Hashemi in an email interview. However, rather than reducing our team size to fund these roles, we prioritize candidates who resonate with our mission of transforming healthcare. We actively seek individuals with personal or professional experiences tied to healthcare, which often fosters a greater commitment to the work. This focus on mission alignment helps us attract talent motivated by impact rather than just salary.AI detector GPTZero also leads with value.[W]e are invested in the AI game, but we also have strong company values that [underscore] that respecting and taking care of our employees is our top priority, says Edward Tian, CEO at GPTZero in an email interview. We arent letting employees go to afford taking on AI experts with high salaries. Instead, we prioritize education and training for our current employees, providing them with learning opportunities to develop their AI skills and expanding our skills as a company to stay on top of our game. Thats the thing about AI it is evolving so rapidly that the best AI experts are the ones who are constantly learning and educating themselves on whats changing.Align AI Expectations With Actual CapabilitiesImed Yahmadi, CTO of call center software company Readymode, says that finding and retaining AI talent is challenging, but his strategy is to set appropriate expectations for what AI-powered solutions will deliver. That involves addressing practical AI uses cases and partnering with other organizations, like Amazon, to fill the gaps.This expectation setting means the company doesnt need to hire massive AI engineering teams, which helps the organization protect itself from talent shortfalls.Setting realistic expectations might sound straightforward, but in the tech world, its surprisingly rare, says Yahmadi in an email interview. Many companies set the bar for AI so high that it becomes nearly impossible to reach. We focus on applications where AI has already demonstrated reliability and value. As a result, we avoid overextending.Run LeanSince IT consultancies arent immune from the talent shortage, they must think creatively, too.We are always trying to be creative in how we can attract top talent and retain the talent we have. Competing with the big names with deep pockets is difficult when limited talent is on the market, says Cheryl Pounders, talent acquisition manager at technology consultancy https://smartbridge.com/ Smartbridge in an email interview. We choose to focus on the things we can control that benefit the employee and the company, such as incentives. [These include] paying bonuses for earning certifications in areas that our clients are looking for experts in, annual incentive plans and hybrid work arrangements.How does the company do it? It runs lean, which also helps avoid job cuts in soft economy conditions. In the meantime, Pounders is optimistic about emerging talent enabled by schools and certification programs that are churning out new and upskilled talent.Think DifferentlyJulia Stalnaya, CEO and founder of B2B hiring platform Unbench says flexible hiring models are becoming essential for companies grappling with talent shortages or budget constraints.I've seen organizations transition existing teams to part-time roles to retain talent while managing costs, says Stalnaya. Additionally, there's a growing trend toward hiring part-time specialists, contractors, and subcontractors for short-term or project-based work. This approach allows companies to test new AI models or ideas while managing resources.UpskillCompanies are finding that upskilling existing employees helps fill the talent gaps. It can also help keep existing employees motivated. Upskilling is also a staple that candidates have come to expect.One practical solution is to encourage motivated team members to pivot to AI-focused roles. With proper training and development, these transitions can build a more adaptable workforce. In my experience, flexibility and a willingness to learn are becoming critical traits for all specialists as markets evolve rapidly, says Unbenchs Stalnaya. Over the next few years, we'll see more professionals transitioning into AI roles and new graduates entering the workforce with AI expertise. As AI becomes a standard business function, the demand will level out. Eventually, AI specialists will be as common as software developers are today -- a vital but normalized part of the workforce.Spend management firm Emburse, has been upskilling its data science team so they are also GenAI experts."All of the hype around AI, and more specifically generative AI, has driven a lot of demand in the market in a relatively short period of time. That has certainly put pressure on the supply of talent which, of course, has an upward effect on compensation, says Ken Ringdahl, chief technology officer at Emburse. [W]e did not have to necessarily recruit a lot of new talent. Rather, it was more about investing in our existing talent both in terms of new education and skills but also providing the tools to be successful.Reassess the Hiring StrategyBCGs Ebeling points out that while upskilling is something organizations should proactively provide, that they should also revisit their hiring strategy.Ruth Ebeling, Boston Consulting GroupEmployers must also shift how they think about the skills these roles require.Certainly, data and AI skills are a must, but more important than that is self-starter behavior or the intellectual curiosity and ability to learn and self-teach, says Ebeling. This technology is moving so quickly, there is no online curriculum that keeps folks on the cutting edge.They do so by experimenting.Often the best recruit is someone who has demonstrated this capability of self-teaching through experimentation, [such as teaching] themselves to play a new instrument, learning a new language, or creating a side hustle because their day job didn't push their limits.Employers should value this skill above a 15-year-old degree that may not be relevant any longer.Bottom LineMany organizations cant compete with the compensation packages being offered by Big Tech, large companies and AI startups, so they need to think long and hard about why scarce talent would want to work for the company, and what makes employees want to stay.While money is the top motivator for many individuals, younger generations expect different things from their employers than older generations have. Values matter more than ever. So does upskilling, a clear career path and policies that make sense in 2025.

Richard Pallardy, Freelance WriterFebruary 7, 20257 Min ReadTithi Luadthong via Alamy StockArtificial intelligence technology is pervasive in the third decade of the 21st century. It manifests in nearly every product or service used in the Western world. And it will only become more entangled in our daily lives. As such, it has the potential to create extensive liability.Both the design of AI, which may -- intentionally or not -- be trained using private data and protected intellectual property, and its implementation, which may result in provision of false or inaccurate information, may lead to claims against AI companies and the customers who use their technology as part of their operations.Legislation specific to AI is scant and very new -- and it is untested in the courts. Most current cases rely on common law -- contractual violations and breaches of intellectual property rights. Some may even resort to torts. And the vast majority of these cases are still in progress, either in the early stages or in appeals courts.They will likely be incredibly expensive for defendants, but costs are difficult to discern. Firms are unlikely to publicly disclose their rates and judgments against defendants are too rare to allow for any generalizations. As new European legislation comes into force and additional legislation follows in the United States, the landscape will almost certainly change. Now, AI liability exists in a state of limbo.Jorden Rutledge, an associate attorney with the Artificial Intelligence Industry Group at law firm Locke Lord, recently spoke with InformationWeek. Rutledge has represented tech companies and advised them on their deployment of AI tools.Hediscusses what is happening in the courts right now and how AI litigation will likely play out in coming years.Where are the US and the EU on AI liability in terms of legislation?The EU is further along than the US. The US has some proposals -- the NO FAKES Act [introduced in July 2024] -- but nothing has really gotten off the ground. The EU is slightly ahead, but there isn't anything really there yet. There has also been some discussion about revenge porn. States have started to get involved. Ultimately, it's going to have to be a federal issue. Hopefully the new administration can get to it.Is AI liability largely a civil issue at this point? Have there been any cases of criminal liability?It's been addressed civilly in terms of trade, secret protections, copyright, and trademarks. Criminally, I haven't seen any cases yet. In the very near future, AI- generated porn and people cyberbullying through AI are going to be hot buttons for prosecutors. Prosecutors will have to take those cases. There are some barriers to creating those things with a lot of the AI out right now. Once those barriers are removed, I think those prosecutions will come into play.It would be helpful to have actual laws on this topic, as opposed to applying the common law to these novel scenarios.What kind of laws are coming into play?There's a lot of liability. If you ask plaintiff attorneys, there's a whole lot more liability than if you ask me. The laws relied on now are largely trade secret laws and copyright laws. Getty Images filed suit against Stability AI, alleging copyright violations. Common law and the right to publicity are going to come into play. The ubiquity of AI will create scenarios of liability in ways we cant imagine yet.Where are litigators finding holes in those protections?Right now, it's largely in the copyright context. The main fight there is going to be fair use. That gets into a complex tangle of what's transformative use and what's not. I suspect there are multiple cases going on right now, either dancing around the topic or directly addressing it. I expect that'll be decided on appeal. Then probably, if there's a circuit split, the Supreme Court will have to sort it out.Jorden Rutledge, Locke LordThe fair use argument is an AI company's strongest argument. As a practical matter, the people who have their art used or scraped, have a persuasive argument. Their stuff got taken. It was used. That just seems off to a lot of people.Have we seen any cases involving the improper use of peoples private data? How would that be proven?I've heard rumblings of it. The problem will be the scraping of documents. The scraping used by AI companies in building their models has been a black box. They will fight to preserve that black box. Their argument will be, You don't know what we scraped. We don't even know what we scraped.How does improper data use even get discovered?It's one of those things that is nearly impossible to find. If you're a plaintiff asking for discovery, you're going to get very frustrated, very fast. Imagine, for example, that I wrote a book. Someone wrote a summary of my book. If the AI company scrapes the summary and not my book, do I really have a claim for copyright officially at that point? You can't know unless you know exactly what was ingested. When its billions or trillions of pages of documents, I don't think you'll ever fully be able to determine that. It's going to be a discovery morass.Does the AI black box -- the difficulty of tracing the actions of an AI program -- make it harder or easier to defend against liability claims?It makes it easier to defend. They can say We can't tell you how it does what it does. Try to explain neural networks to a judge -- good luck to you.How far is liability being traced back? Are companies that deploy AI technology from other providers indemnified by their contracts?Some companies have indemnified their users in certain ways. It depends on the circumstances. If someone created a defamatory picture of a public figure, that person could sue the creator and then also sue OpenAI for letting them do it. The argument is better against the individual. In part, it depends on how aggressive the plaintiff wants to be. There's always a strong chance that the owner of the AI or the owner of the generative or the owner of the sort of black box can be liable as well. Plaintiffs would always want to get the owner involved in the case.Have there been any notable tort claims in regard to AI technology?Not that I've seen. I looked a little bit a few months ago and didn't see anything. Once it starts getting meshed into apps and used more, I think that'll happen. I think the plaintiffs bar will try to jump on that. I can imagine a lot of personal injury cases involving technology where the plaintiffs are going to want to know how things were created and if they were done by an AI. That would probably help their cases.How should companies go about structuring their contracts to limit liability?Employment agreements can outline how to use AI. I would recommend that companies using AI to help workflows strongly consider how to protect them as trade secrets. As for using AI that would hurt someone else -- as in the electric vehicle context -- I don't think there's much you can do to limit your liability contractually.Are we seeing any trends as to who is prevailing in AI liability cases?No. It isn't really one way or the other. I think that that trend will be found once we go up to appeals. That's going to take a little time. There are trial balloons. The courts have said some things on various motions. But the primary cases are being very heavily litigated. When things get heavily litigated, it takes a while. They have some of the best attorneys in the world helping them out.Are there any cases that you're keeping an eye on? Are there any trends youre paying attention to?I'm keeping an eye on a few of the federal cases that have been filed against OpenAI. They're largely about trade secrets and copyright -- the ingestion portion of it. What we're waiting on is the output portion of litigation. What do we do with that? There's no national trend, and there's certainly no national precedent about how we're going to treat it. Hopefully within the next five years we'll have a much clearer view of the path ahead.What are law firms charging to defend these liability cases?They're all good firms. I'm sure they're working the cases very hard. I'm sure theyre working long hours. There are a lot of filings in these cases.Has there been any regulatory action regarding AI liability in the US?Not that I've seen yet. That's in part because it's such a new technology. People don't know where those things fall -- whose jurisdiction it is.How long do you think it will take for legislation to catch up to these issues?I think the legal avenues will kind of crystallize in around five years. I'm less optimistic about the legislative fix, but hopeful.Read more about:RegulationCost of AIAbout the AuthorRichard PallardyFreelance WriterRichard Pallardy is a freelance writer based in Chicago. He has written for such publications as Vice, Discover, Science Magazine, and the Encyclopedia Britannica.See more from Richard PallardyNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports

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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. Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Evil Housekeeper problem Dan Hon is principal of Very Little Gravitas, where he helps turn around and modernize large and complex government services and products. In trying to make sense of the wrecking ball that is Elon Musk and President Trumps DOGE, it may be helpful to think about the Evil Housekeeper Problem. Its a principle of computer security roughly stating that once someone is in your hotel room with your laptop, all bets are off. Its incredibly hard to protect a system from someonein this case, the evil housekeeper, DOGEwho has made their way inside and wants to wreck it. This administration is on the record as wanting to outright delete entire departments. But, if you cant delete a department, then why not just break it until it doesnt work? Thats why what DOGE is currently doing is such a massive, terrifying problem.Read the full story. Meta has an AI for brain typing, but its stuck in the lab Back in 2017, Facebookunveiledplans for a brain-reading hat that you could use to text just by thinking. We're working on a system that will let you type straight from your brain, CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared in a post that year. Now the company, since renamed Meta, has actually done it. Except it weighs a half a ton, costs $2 million, and wont ever leave the lab. Still, its pretty cool.Read our story to learn why. Antonio Regalado How the tiny microbes in your mouth could be putting your health at risk Jessica Hamzelou This week Ive been working on a piece about teeth. Well, sort of teeth. Specifically, lab-grown bioengineered teeth. Researchershave created these teethwith a mixture of human and pig tooth cells and grown them in the jaws of living mini pigs. Part of the reason for doing this is that although dental implants can work well, theyre not perfect. They dont attach to bones and gums in the same way that real teeth do. And around 20% of people who get implants end up developing an infection called peri-implantitis, which can lead to bone loss. It is all down to the microbes that grow on them. Theres a complex community of microbes living in our mouths, and disruptions can lead to infection. But these organisms dont just affect our mouths; they also seem to be linked to a growing number of disorders that can affect our bodies and brains.If youre curious, read on. This story is from The Checkup, MIT Technology Reviews weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday,sign up here. The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 DOGE staffers are feeding sensitive federal data to AI systems Its just one of many alarming security lapses at this point. (WP$)+The courts are slamming the brakes on some of Trumps executive orders. (NBC)+The trauma and anguish this is all causing is a feature, not a bug. (New Yorker$)+And its really got nothing to do with saving money either. (Vox)2 Thousands of sick people worldwide are being abandoned mid-trial Due to the US abruptly withdrawing funding via USAID. (NYT$)3 Last month was the hottest January on recordWhich was a shock, as scientists expected the La Nia weather cycle to cool things down. (FT$)4 DeepSeek is sending sensitive data over unencrypted channels This really doesn't look good. (Ars Technica)+US lawmakers are pushing to ban DeepSeek from government-owned devices. (WSJ$)+DeepSeek might not be such good news for energy after all.(MIT Technology Review)5 Google had to re-edit a Super Bowl advert for its AI toolAfter yup, you guessed it, the AI spewed out factually inaccurate stuff (about cheese.) (BBC)+OpenAI is making its TV advertising debut at the Super Bowl.(Quartz$)6 US shoppers are being charged $50 or more to get packages from ChinaThe new tariffs seem to be throwing e-commerce, shipping and US border services into disarray. (Wired$)7 US immigration is gaming Google to create a mirage of mass deportationsSeems you dont need to change reality these days. You can just change search engine results. (The Guardian)8 This is what Apples future home robot might be like It might even befun. (The Verge)+Will we ever really trust humanoid robots enough to welcome them into our homes?(MIT Technology Review)9 An asteroid has a 1.9% chance of hitting Earth in 2032Well that would be something for us all to look forward to. (Ars Technica)10 Intentionally bad conservative girl make-up videos are all over TikTok Its giving drained, its giving dusty. (Fast Company)Quote of the day "Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool." What Marko Elez, one of Musks 25-year-old DOGE acolytes, tweeted last July, theWall Street Journalreports (he has since resigned.) The big story Is the digital dollar dead? STEPHANIE ARNETT/MITTR July 2023 In 2020, digital currencies were one of the hottest topics in town. China was well on its way to launching its own central bank digital currency, or CBDC, and many other countries launched CBDC research projects, including the US. How things change. Three years later, the digital dollareven though it doesnt existhas become political red meat, as some politicians label it a dystopian tool for surveillance. And late last year, the Boston Fed quietly stopped working on its CBDC project. So is the dream of the digital dollar dead?Read the full story. Mike Orcutt 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.)+ Want to cook the perfect boiled egg? First,set aside half an hour+ Well thats a side to Elvis Presley Idcertainly never heard about before.+ Kudos to Electric Six for making (surely) one of the cheapestmusic videosof all time.+ Heres a fun challenge for the weekend:let yourself get bored. Go on, I dare you.

Firm to rethink how the university uses its 200 buildingsThe university includes more than 200 buildings, some dating back to the 18th centuryAllies & Morrison has picked up a job to develop a future vision for Trinity College Dublin following an international selection process.The practice will draw up a masterplan covering the entire 200-building estate of the historic University, which includes sites dating back to the 18th century.The brief for the project is calling for a campus which is more inclusive and champions climate action, biodiversity and student wellbeing, while supporting the universitys 2030 decarbonisation strategy.Allies & Morrison, which has an office in Dublin, said it will start engagements with student and staff in order to identify opportunities for Trinity to use its places and spaces more creatively, sustainably and effectively.The practice is also working on the Republic of Irelands Town Centre First programme, which is seeking to revitalise town centres across the country.Ongoing projects at Trinity include a 7,200sq m engineering and computer science teaching facility designed by Coady Architects.

Job now called the Round set to get going this summer with 100m enabling workCGI showing an oval-shaped courtyard at the centre of the schemeFoster & Partners 1bn towers scheme at 18 Blackfriars has been renamed the Round, the developer behind it has said.US firm Hines said the new name had been inspired by the circular cultural hub at its heart that will host year-round events and cultural programming.The firm has released new pictures of how the scheme will look when completed, showing an oval-shaped courtyard, an interior view of a multi-storey office space and the crown of its tallest 47-storey tower.It will also contain two residential towers,20,000 sq ft of affordable workspace, a social enterprise-run community cafe and a 300-seat auditorium for local communities and businesses to use.It will also include childrens play areas, cafes, restaurants and shops.Interior view of office space at The RoundFoster & Partners Head of StudioNigel Danceydescribed the scheme asa healthy mixed-use development that plugs into - and significantly enhances - the existing urban fabric.He added: Vibrant new public spaces are central to design concept - connecting with a cycle highway and a number of public transport interchanges - to encourage car-free travel. Our proposal aspires to define the office of the future, with flexible floorplates for longevity and cascading green terraces, which bring a social dimension to the workplace.The tallest tower at the 18 Blackfriars scheme, now known as the Round, will top out at 47 storeysHines said it has agreed a Section 106 package with Southwark council which includes 74m as a Community Infrastructure Levy payment and 12m as an affordable workspace contribution.Main contractor bids for both parts of the scheme are being worked on by five firms with Multiplex pricing both the office and residential elements.Hines is hoping main construction work will start in spring 2027.The job is one of the largest set to get going in London this year withfour firms due to find out this springwho was won the 100m enabling works and basement contract.

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Apple's iPhones have been able to send emergency messages through satellites for years. Last year the service expanded to support regular iMessages but they may not hold their space-texting monopoly for long. Carriers and satellite network providers have successfully tested their own respective phone-to-space setups, bringing Android phone owners that much closer to potentially linking up to satellites in 2025.Using satellites to send messages (and eventually video and voice calls) keeps phone owners connected beyond the range of terrestrial mobile networks, and Apple has trumpeted success stories for how Emergency SOS has secured rescues and likely saved lives for years.Apple's service through partner Globalstar's network of satellites is already available in a number of countries, though it isn't available worldwide (contrary to prior reports, Apple isn'tintegrating SpaceX's Starlink satellite network directly -- instead, T-Mobile's partnership with Starlink will let iPhone-owning customers access that satellite connectivity). On the other hand, Apple's service is free for now and has a concierge-like Earth-based network that triages SOS messages to direct emergency responders to user locations. It's a bespoke service that's set a standard for how smartphone owners connect using satellites, something that we've seen Android phone-makers slowly copy, most notably Google with its Pixel 9 series.Read more: I Visited Google for an Inside Look at the Pixel 9's Satellite SOS Tool Using Emergency SOS on iPhone to message for help using satellites. Kevin Heinz/CNETThe big change in 2025 could be carriers finally seeing a payoff from years-long partnerships with satellite network providers, more of which are testing their phone-to-satellite services. Unlike Apple or Google's solutions, these aim to bring satellite connectivity to users across a broad range of smartphones and should function like your regular cellular serviceSeveral players in the space are at varying stages of readiness to deliver connectivity -- which at the moment only allows sending casual texts as well as SOS messages to emergency responders. While providers all intend to offer even more services, including letting users send data as well as voice and video calls, there are some roadblocks to getting there, like needing to build out more robust satellite networks that can handle those larger bandwidth requirements. T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in August 2022 when the company partnership was first announced. T-MobileCarriers and satellite network provider partnerships lighting up service in 2025The major US carriers announced partnerships with satellite network companies starting in 2021, with sporadic news of testing phone-to-satellite connections since. The furthest along seems to be T-Mobile and its partnership with SpaceX's Starlink, which got approval in November from the Federal Communications Commission to start enabling the carrier's customers to text using SpaceX's thousands of microsatellites. In December, the carrier started letting customers register for a free open beta to text using Starlink satellites, which will start "in early 2025."When Starlink service will be fully turned on for T-Mobile users is uncertain, but the company got emergency approval to activate it for victims of Hurricanes Milton and Helene last year as well as those suffering from the Los Angeles wildfires in January. Neither the carrier nor Starlink has announced service for customers beyond these emergency allocations, but the capability of switching it on and off for specific regions is promising.SpaceX is also asking the FCC to build its future satellites with "direct-to-cellular" hardware, which would enable voice calls, messaging and basic web browsing "at theoretical peak speeds of up to either 3.0 Mbps or 7.2 Mbps peak upload... and up to either 4.4 Mbps or 18.3Mbps on the downlink," according to the filing. Starlink fields a massive network of thousands of micro-satellites operating in low-earth orbit to deliver service. SOPA Images/Getty ImagesVerizon and AT&T are both partnering with AST SpaceMobile, a satellite network company that announced at the end of January that it was granted FCC approval to start testing satellite-to-phone service. This enables the company to start using its first five satellites operating in low Earth orbit to test connecting with carrier customers' devices at an unspecified date.AST SpaceMobile hasn't given a timeline for when it will move from tests to connecting carrier customers to its network. The company also didn't clarify whether its five satellites will be restricted to text and emergency messages or if its BlueBird satellites will be capable of sending more bandwidth-heavy messages with data, voice or video.AT&T has an agreement with AST SpaceMobile to lease certain 850 MHz and 700 MHz spectrum to use with their satellite service. While the carrier doesn't have a specific date for when its customers will be able to use that service, it's working toward a commercial launch when "all devices will have access to satellite based voice, data, and text services," AT&T associate vice president of tower strategy and roaming John Wojewoda said in a statement. When the service launches with voice capabilities, the emergency 911 response is expected to be supported.Presumably, AST SpaceMobile will provide the same service to both AT&T and Verizon, which the former signed up with in Dec. 2022 and the latter partnered with last May. Verizon had led the charge among carriers to link with a satellite network provider when it announced a partnership with Amazon's Project Kuiper in Oct. 2021, though that effort has thus far resulted in a pair of test satellites that launched last October -- the first two of a planned 3,200-plus satellite constellation the tech company plans to launch in the next six years.Verizon retains that partnership to provide backhaul for its cellular network and exploration of possible future work together, the carrier noted.But that's not all for Verizon. The carrier also announced back in August it partnered with satellite network provider Skylo as another way for customers to send messages through satellites.Google Pixel 9 phones were the first to use this service with iPhones quickly following, and the Galaxy S25 will use Skylo's satellites for emergency communications. Verizon hasn't confirmed any other phones that will get this functionality or when it will move beyond emergency messages, though they had been targeting early 2025 to allow social texts, too.Verizon also hasn't shared a timeline for when any of its satellite network partners will be able to carry data, voice or video messaging.Carriers will likely offer the easiest way for everyday phone owners to send messages over satellite in 2025. Similar to seamlessly switching over to partner carriers to get service abroad, it's likely that texting through satellites will be easy and intuitive: Verizon confirmed that it will be usable through a customer's native messaging app, automatically accessing a satellite whenever terrestrial signal is lost. Yet, for now, no carrier is far enough along to offer satellite messaging to its customer base across all phones. Watch this: In-Depth Hands-On: I Tried Google's Pixel 9 Satellite SOS 06:25

February 7, 20254 min readThe Wild and Contentious History of Mathematical SymbolsA mathematician has uncovered the stories behind the symbols used in mathBy Max Springer edited by Clara Moskowitz Nadiinko/Getty ImagesWar in Europe is a staple topic in the study of history, but theres one major conflict most history books wont teach youthe battle of the equals sign, =. These two parallel lines were, in fact, the source of major conflict between European mathematicians in the mid 1500s. This is just one of many untold histories in The Language of Mathematics: The Stories behind the Symbols by author and mathematician Ral Rojas. In it, Rojas explores the complex, and sometimes uncertain, history of mathematical symbolism.Another debate has been raging for centuries, for instance, over who invented the symbol for zero, 0. Over the years, competing camps have debated adopting one or another notation for many different aspects of mathematics. Rojass tale guides us along the historical arc of mathematics, intertwining its evolution with the cultural, philosophical and practical needs of the societies that shaped and relied on it.Scientific American spoke to Rojas about this history, the deeply engaging humanity of mathematics and the egos at play in defining the mathematical language we take for granted today.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]What inspired you to write this book about the stories behind these symbols?I started teaching in 1977, and across my nearly 50 years, I noticed that students were always interested in the history of mathematics. When you teach linear algebra or calculus, its important to tell students about the people who developed the concepts and how those concepts came to be. I started doing seminars on the history of mathematical notation and had every student study one symbol and explain its origin. I found that those students who are falling asleep in class suddenly wake up when you add a human story behind the abstract symbols.Throughout the book, you discuss symbols that ultimately failed to become the standard en route to the notation we know today. How were these things decided?One of the interesting things about the history of mathematical notation is its regional variation over the centuries. There was one kind of notation in Italy, another in Germany, the U.K. and France. All these different regions were producing symbols, and with the advent of the printing press, there was an explosion of proposals. So how did it happen that a single symbol could become standardized?One good example is the symbol of equality, =. This relation was mostly expressed with words in the beginning. Later [Ren Descartes in France started using the rotated Taurus symbol, , while [Gottfried Wilhelm] Leibniz in Germany used a wedgelike shape. And [before Descartes and Leibniz] Robert Recorde in [the U.K.] invented the equality sign we use today, though in an elongated form. Mathematicians found themselves in a kind of battle over arithmetical symbols based on popularity. A notable contest was between + and versus p and m, which the Italians preferred for denoting operations. Eventually, the plus and minus signs became universal, as did the English symbol for equality, but only after decades of famous mathematicians competing in these popularity contests to set the trends.Is there a particular symbol in the history of mathematics that significantly influenced how we think about abstract concepts?There is one symbol, which has an incredibly long history that has not yet been fully written: 0. How did it arise? We know it was used by the Babylonians, but they didnt write a 0 as we know it. They worked with a positional base-60 system and simply left a blank where we would write 0 today. This was their natural way of showing zero: if its nothing, then you dont have to write anything.Later, through the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Greeks took the positional number system to India, where we believe the Hindu culture developed the first representation of 0. Theres a friendly competition between anthropologists working to find the oldest instances of 0 in writing. Every five or six years, someone finds an older engraving. Its fascinating because this simple symbol we use every single day without thinking about it has a history that encompasses thousands of years.You describe Gerhard Gentzens for all symbol () as a "cubist tear flowing from an eye that Picasso could have painted." Whats the story behind that notation?Gentzens life is deeply tragic to me. He was an exceptional mathematician who, like many others in Nazi Germany, compromised with the regime. Although he was never a political person, he became a member of the Nazi Party and later joined the SSthe most criminal arm of the regime. Absorbed in his work, he made these compromises to advance his career. Even after the war, he expressed no guilt, claiming that he was neither a soldier nor doing anything wrong. He had taken a position at the University of Prague, however, displacing others under Nazi occupation. Ultimately, he chose not to flee after the war, was captured, and died of starvation in prison.There is no excusing his actions, but his life remains tragic from beginning to end, especially when considering what he might have accomplished had he taken a different path. Its fascinating that such a simple symbolthis upside-down Acarries such a complex and poignant history.What do you hope readersespecially those outside the math communitymight take away from your book?Its important to understand that mathematics is a historical process, just like any social science or politics. Mathematics didnt arise complete and finished through the work of just one mathematician; it has a cultural history that spans many years. For centuries, weve been looking at the sky or computing. In school, they teach addition and multiplication but rarely explain the origins or history of the symbols. This vast history is untold, but the excitement of doing mathematics comes from this knowledge that you are building on a framework developed by fascinating people over thousands of years.

OpinionFebruary 7, 20254 min readThe US Is Not Ready for Bird Flu in HumansBird flu is infecting more people than we think. We need to stop it now before a new pandemic beginsBy Megha Satyanarayana edited by Dan Vergano Aberration Films LTD/Science Photo Library/Getty ImagesRight after President Donald Trump took office, amid the flurry of executive orders and agency upheavals, the administration told the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention not to release any reports or communications until one of Trumps people could take a look at them. Among the many reports not released that week was a study on how many veterinarians had gotten bird flu.On the surface, this might seem like a small thing compared to the drama unfolding over tariffs, immigration, the firings of inspectors general and whatever new, egregious thing Elon Musk is doing without congressional approval. But this report matters. The H5N1 bird flu virus has been on the warpath since 2022, infecting chickens, cows, wild birds and now pigs, ducks, cats and several other animals.This virus is versatile. This virus is mutating. And it is surely infecting more people than we think.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Sure, the risk of a human epidemic is still considered low. (Sound familiar?) Widespread human-to-human disease hasnt been proven. But viruses are masters of adaptation a strain of bird flu that has made people really sick has now been found in cows. We are one fateful mutation away from yet another infectious disease that runs riot among people, and our country has just reelected a president who doesnt just discount public health, but actively thwarts it. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who would run our biggest health care agency, has not publicly walked back his antivaccine sentiments. The doctors who would run the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health both decried common sense infection control during COVID. Our agricultural and food safety systems [MS1] are riddled with loopholes that have allowed this virus to spread.Weve seen this movie before. Millions of people have died in the COVID pandemic that began under Trumps watch. The Biden administration has missed key opportunities to stop bird flus spread. As a nation, we still have not recovered from the physical, mental and social toll of COVID. What will happen if bird flu starts coursing through us?In January U.S. poultry producers killed a staggering 14 million egg-laying hens. In December 2024, that number was 13.2 million. Avian influenza not only spreads quickly; it kills quickly toousually within a couple of days. When poultry producers find infected birds, whether in tight cages or roaming free-range, they basically get paid to kill the entire flock to try and slow down the disease. This is how we have managed avian flu in the past.But then in March 2024 H5N1 started appearing in dairy cows. The USDA asked farmers to separate sick cows from the herd. Milk cows get trucked around a lot, farm to farm, state to state. It was one month later, after multiple herds were already affected, that the federal government started requiring that they be tested before crossing state lines. Some states with infected herds took months to require testing. Until December we werent required to test milk to help track infection. Only the sickest cows are culled, meaning disease can still spread. Despite all the killing of chickens, how we handled cows is a huge part of why bird flu is still circulating. A slightly different strain has now infected ducks. The Biden administration had a good opportunity to slow this virus. Yet here we are.I cant wrap my head around how hard it would be to vaccinate thousands of chickens. Do you think factory farms will substantially ease the crowding conditions that are simply cruel, even without a quickly spreading virus thrown in the mix?So now people are getting sick. Most of them are farm workers. But how many people, really, have gotten H5N1? In our current immigration environment, who expects a sick farm worker to voluntarily get tested? Go to the doctor? Find a way to isolate in crowded living and work conditions? Go to a hospital in a state such as Texas, where there are chickens and cows all over the place, and hospitals are required to ask a persons citizenship status? In rural areas, who stocks influenza tests, let alone ones that are specific for H5N1?History gives us reason for pessimism. The Trump administration and red-state officials had no problem downplaying the number of people who had COVID. If H5N1 becomes more transmissible, will we do the same again?This is why that report on veterinarians is importantthe question isnt if they are getting infected, its how many. If we want to understand how this virus spreads and how it may morph into something dangerous to humans, we need open, unvarnished data. Slowing the flow of communication increases the flow of disease. The pause on CDC communications was supposed to lift on Feb. 1. The report still hasnt been released.Before Biden left office, HHS gave Moderna $590 million to make an mRNA-based vaccine for bird flu, calling it a move to strengthen pandemic preparedness. We have an H5N1 vaccine stockpilebut farmworkers arent getting it. Do we have any faith that RFK, Jr., will push to authorize either the stockpile or Modernas offering? This is the man who tried to stop the availability of COVID vaccines at the height of the pandemic.As the Trump administration slashes and burns federal government, as his cronies take the helms of agencies designed to uphold the health and welfare of both humans and the animals we use for food, Im preparing for a repeat of their COVID response. Maybe we will be lucky and fewer people will die. But we didnt have to get sick in the first place.My partner made a joke the other day about fixing himself a $50 omelet. A couple of days ago, Waffle House announced a price hike. So much for bringing grocery prices down. Eggs feed millions of Americans. Weve long known that public health is an economic issue. Right now, it is decidedly a political one, too. Lets see if the administration will at least act on that.This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of Scientific American.