Technology

Hints and answers for Connections for May 20, #709.

Here are hints and the answer for today's Wordle No. 1,431 for May 20.

• The US has expressed concerns about Apple's AI deal with Alibaba in China
• Around one in five of Apple's sales are in China – its second-largest market
• Apple has also been slammed for manufacturing in India, not the US

The Trump administration and Congress are concerned about Apple's deal with Alibaba to power some of the AI features on iPhones in China, noting potential privacy concerns (via The New York Times).

Worries about data sharing and national security implications have been raised, with the potential legal requirements for Apple and Alibaba to adhere to Chinese regulator rules central to the discussion.

Moreover, only Alibaba has publicly confirmed the agreement, with Apple remaining silent – this could indicate potential uncertainty or an unfinished deal, or it could just be a typical Apple move of keeping developments under tight wraps until the final moment.

US worried about Apple's deal with Alibaba for AI tools

The deal is being scrutinized amid ongoing US-China tensions, with concerns about aiding China's AI development and improving Chinese military AI capabilities both noted.

"Alibaba is a poster child for the Chinese Communist Party’s military-civil fusion strategy, and why Apple would choose to work with them on A.I. is anyone’s guess," Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois proclaimed.

Apple has already dropped a deal with Chinese chipmaker YMTC over pressure from the US, and the Cupertino tech giant is also facing challenges from the trade war-induced tariffs and supply chain shifts out of China, with industry experts warning of sharp price hikes for consumers partaking in the next refresh cycle.

However, China is the company's second-largest market, accounting for around one-fifth of its sales, highlighting the importance of a deal so as not to miss out against local smartphone makers.

The US administration has considered restricting US companies from doing business with the likes of Alibaba and other Chinese firms, but no details have been confirmed.

Although the company has sought to diversify its supply chain, President Trump has criticized Tim Cook for increasing production in India, urging domestic US manufacturing instead – one of the President's ultimate goals.

Ultimately, Apple risks issues whichever way the deal swings, either missing out on millions of Chinese sales or potentially serious implications within the US. Apple had a 13% smartphone market share in China during the first three months of 2025 (via Canalys), putting it several paces behind Xiaomi, Huawei, OPPO and vivo.

"The US smartphone market is expected to experience considerable volatility over the next two to three quarters, impacted by inventory corrections and weakening consumer confidence," Canalys Research Manager Le Xuan Chiew explained.

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• "AI is the new electricity", Michael Dell declares
• Opening Dell Technologies World 2025, he highlights importance of AI innovation
• "AI isn’t your product, but AI can power your purpose" Dell says

The founder and CEO of Dell Technologies has urged businesses of all sizes to fully embrace the potential offered by AI in order to stay competitive and thrive ahead of the competition.

Delivering the opening keynote at Dell Technologies World 2025, Michael Dell warned how, "the real danger is staying still,” as he highlighted several ways AI can benefit firms.

"AI is the new electricity - and Dell is the grid powering this transformation," he declared.

Making AI easier

During the keynote, the founder guided us along “Dell Technologies Way”, where the company’s services and systems power a wide range of businesses, industries and individuals alike.

“Our street is alive with your energy, and yes - your creativity and your data,” he declared, “whether you’re developing cancer treatments, or growing a business, data is at the center of everything, everywhere, all of the time.”

This included the company’s “AI Factory” platform, which saw its second generation unveiled as part of a long-standing partnership with Nvidia.

“For most of us…AI isn’t your product, but AI can power your purpose,” Dell added, “you don’t need your own Colossus, but you do need AI, and we’re taking all the learnings from these massive systems to make AI easier for you.”

“From AI PCs to small, domain-specific models running on the edge to the planetary scale AI data centers, we’ve got you covered.”

(Image credit: Future / Mike Moore)

Dell noted how over 75% of enterprise data will soon be created and processed at the edge - “and AI will follow the data - not the other way around.”

"The future of AI will be decentralized, low-latency and hyper-efficiency - and that's why Dell is pioneering the edge AI revolution, bringing real-time intelligence to wherever the data lives.”

"Here at Dell, we love data,” he added, “we store it, we protect it, we organize it, and we transform it into actions and insights that drive human progress - and turbocharged by AI, that engine of progress is going faster than ever before," he added.

“The pace of innovation is at Mach 3 - we’re creating the future.”

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• 817 Microsoft software engineers lost their jobs in Washington state alone
• The redundancies were believed to be targeting inefficient management layers
• Around a third of Microsoft's code is AI-written, Google and Meta are also in a similar place

Microsoft recently confirmed around 6,000 to 7,000 job cuts globally, including an estimated 2,000 redundancies in its home state of Washington.

It's now come to light that over 40% of the Washington layoffs were related to software engineering (817 roles) (via Bloomberg), with the company previously stating that the layoffs were part of a broader cost cutting effort and a shift in investments into AI.

Together with software engineers, the heaviest affected roles in Washington were product management (373 roles) and technical program management (218 roles), with business program management (55 roles), customer experience program management (44 roles) and product design (31 roles) also on the table.

Over 800 Microsoft software engineers laid off in Washington state

Despite the clear and ongoing need for software engineers in an increasingly software-defined world, it has become apparent that Microsoft deer appropriate to replace human workers with artificial intelligence. CEO Satya Nadella recently confirmed that AI now writes around one third of some projects' code, with the recent layoffs raising concerns about AI's effects on human workers and software developers.

More broadly, this is a trend that we are seeing from other tech companies including Salesforce and Workday. Google's CEO Sundar Pichai and Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg have also noted how much of their code is now written by AI.

However, Microsoft has been criticized for mixed messaging. The company stated that the recent layoffs were primarily designed to reduce inefficiencies in middle management by removing unnecessary layers, and while 17% of the Washington redundancies did relate to managers, the loss of hundreds of software engineers raises alarm bells.

Microsoft Principal Software Engineering Manager Mike Droettboom suggested in a LinkedIn post that Python and open-source remain important roles even though companies are enacting major shifts: "Looking around the room, I saw so many faces – some I have known for almost 25 years – coming together again with the same shared purpose, even as the company names on our badges change."

"My heart goes out to the majority of the team that was laid off," Droettboom added.

TechRadar Pro has asked Microsoft for further transparency into the roles affected by its redundancies.

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• Amazon's rollout of Alexa+ lacks much public evidence
• Technical issues may be delaying a wider release
• Amazon claims Alexa+ is in use by hundreds of thousands of homes

Amazon unveiled Alexa+ with great fanfare more than six weeks ago, but there hasn't been much of a conversation among AI and voice assistant users about it since. My informal check of more than a dozen heavy Alexa users around the U.S. found none with access to it, and a report from Reuters suggests it's far from the explosive event Amazon hyped it up to be at the debut presentation.

Alexa+ is supposed to be Amazon's infusion of AI into the eleven-year-old voice assistant. Using generative AI as a glow-up tool makes Alexa smarter, more useful, better at conversation, and just more intuitive as an assistant. Alexa+ is supposed to give the voice assistant many new and enhanced abilities to carry out your requests, such as processing multiple prompts at once and adapting to personalize its services. For instance, it should remember your dietary preferences while helping you order food.

Invites for early access were meant to start going out in late March. Anecdotally, none have arrived, and a look around social media doesn't reveal any buzz either. Here at TechRadar, Alexa has, for weeks, been telling Editor at Large Lance Ulanoff that he's "on the early access list," but there's still no sign of Alexa+.

Even a Reddit post covered by TechRadar has since been removed from the website. Amazon begs to differ about that conclusion. The company is expressing confidence over the current and future release of Alexa+.

"Early Access to Alexa+ is ramping up. It’s already open to hundreds of thousands of customers, and we expect it to roll out to millions over the coming month," an Amazon spokesperson told TechRadar. "This is no different than other invite programs we’ve run – we scale as we learn."

Alexa+ plans

As Amazon insists there is no slow-walking of Alexa+, the reasons behind an apparent delay aren't official either. That said, the Reuters report cited possible technical issues around the speed and accuracy of the revamped Alexa, as well as higher-than-preferred costs to run the new models. There's a bit of déjà vu here since Amazon made a lot of noise around an AI-enhanced Alexa in the fall of 2023, with an early preview promised in the weeks ahead that never actually happened.

It's a far cry from the 2014 reveal of the original Amazon Echo, which started shipping just a few weeks after it appeared on a stage. Amazon might feel the stakes are too high to prioritize timing over performance this time. If Alexa+ fumbles at launch, it could undercut Amazon’s entire smart home strategy. Worse, it might reinforce the idea that Alexa is more of a talking timer than a true digital assistant.

Amazon also recently made it so Alexa interactions are processed only in the cloud, removing the option for local processing. This change may boost Alexa+’s brainpower, but it also raises privacy flags that may need to be dealt with before a wide release.

So, Alexa+ technically exists, and Amazon swears it’s being used. But you'll have to wait for a review of Alexa+ from someone's home. Until then, Alexa+ is more ghost than AI ghost in the machine.

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2024 was a banner year for Qualcomm at Computex, with the massive launch of its Snapdragon X Elite laptop processors putting it at the forefront of the event. In fact, Qualcomm’s keynote presentation last year was so impressive that I declared them the winners of the event, with guest stars from makes of many of the best laptops including Microsoft, HP, Dell, and Asus appearing alongside Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon.

During today’s keynote at Computex 2025, things were a little more subdued. No exciting chip announcements here; instead, Amon got up on stage and discussed the (admittedly quite good) progress Qualcomm has made with the Snapdragon platform over the past year. A key factor he pointed to was the rapid growth in apps supported on the Snapdragon X Elite platform, along with the now 1,400+ games that are playable on Snapdragon laptops.

CEO Cristiano Amon gave a slightly strange AI-powered Q&A during Qualcomm's keynote presentation. (Image credit: Future)

Much like last year, Amon showcased Qualcomm’s impressive pull in the Windows computing market despite only entering the CPU fight with Intel and AMD last year. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made a brief appearance in the presentation, along with executives from Asus and HP.

There were also some cheeky jabs at Intel and Apple (the latter regarding the fact that Fortnite is fully playable on Snapdragon hardware), plus the usual slew of corporate drivel about how AI is revolutionizing… something. Honestly, I kind of tuned out for a bit there, until Amon fired up a laptop live on stage which proceeded to ask him (presumably human-curated) questions about Qualcomm’s AI hardware in a synthy robot voice. Pretty cool, I guess, but what really caught my attention was a teaser at the very end of the keynote presentation.

What’s next for Snapdragon

So, while we got no new chips from Qualcomm at Computex, it looks like we now have a tacitly announced date for the next generation of Snapdragon X systems-on-a-chip (SoCs). It’s September 23: the date of Qualcomm’s own event, Snapdragon Summit, which will take place in Hawaii.

What exactly are we getting in September? Amon wouldn’t say, only that “the revolution continues” and “I promise you that you will be impressed”. Still, there are some pretty reasonable assumptions that I’m willing to make here.

Qualcomm's second-gen Snapdragon X chips were something I had hoped to see at Computex, but it seems we'll be waiting a while longer. (Image credit: Qualcomm)

While naming conventions are still a bit up in the air (since we’re only a single generation into Qualcomm’s Windows laptop chips), the current popular assumption is that the next-gen SoCs will use the ‘Snapdragon X2’ moniker, so I’ll just go with that here. I expect the initial launch to feature both X2 Elite and X2 Plus chips for the premium and midrange laptop markets, with broad integration across the majority of productivity laptop manufacturers; Dell’s XPS series, Asus’s Zenbooks, Lenovo’s Yoga line, the works.

A ‘basic’ Snapdragon X2 chip will likely follow a bit further down the line (similar to how the Snapdragon X chip was announced at CES in January this year), providing a more budget-conscious alternative. But I’m most interested in the rumored 2nd-gen Snapdragon X Elite chip for desktops…

A desktop revolution?

Will we get a non-integrated Snapdragon X2 Elite? I wouldn’t quite bet on that; so far, we’ve only seen Snapdragon chips in compact PCs from the likes of Lenovo. So don’t expect to see a third option beyond Intel and AMD when it comes to motherboards for DIY PCs - but do expect more mini PCs and systems like the best all-in-one computers.

It's mini PCs that arguably stand to gain the most from a proper desktop-focused Snapdragon chip. (Image credit: Geekom)

While ‘Team Q’ (still workshopping that name, I’m open to suggestions!) might be a relative newcomer to this particular industry arena, it’s made a serious impact. Cristiano Amon’s keynote included a somewhat surprising statistic: as of last quarter, Qualcomm now holds about 9% of the integrated processor market for the US and the top 5 European markets. Considering the fierce competition, it’s a seriously impressive showing.

Given how much Qualcomm changed the game with the arrival of its first X Elite chips last year, I think the use of the word ‘revolution’ might actually be somewhat justified here. I don’t say that lightly; it’s a phrase that I’m frequently annoyed to see used to describe extremely marginal changes. But with Qualcomm finally making Windows on Arm work with the Snapdragon X series, I’ve got high hopes for whatever Team Q does next.

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Sesame Street has a new address. When the iconic children's television program kicks off its 56th season later this year, it will be on Netflix, but, perhaps more importantly, it will also be on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the US.

The pair announced the exclusive deal with a brief and adorable video featuring Cookie Monster, who discovers and then eats the Netflix "N".

A decade ago, when HBO (yes, it was just called "HBO" back then) announced its historic deal with Sesame Street to bring the series to its premium cable programming, it also shifted the show's original home to second-tier status. All first-run episodes appeared first on HBO and then, nine months later, the same episodes would air on the freely available PBS.

Netflix's deal, however, fundamentally changes that equation. New season 56 episodes featuring Grover, Big Bird, Elmo, and the rest of the characters will air on Netflix and PBS at the same time.

Essentially, this is two levels of good news for the beloved show: One, Sesame Street, whose future was no longer certain, has a popular and well-funded new home; and two, all youngsters and homes engaged in the Sesame Street story, regardless of their access or financial status, will have full access to the season's show.

G is for Good News

Neither Netflix nor Sesame Street is revealing the terms of the deal, but without Netflix's support, it was unclear if Sesame Street would survive.

When I spoke to Sesame Street Execs a decade ago as they were inking the HBO deal, they revealed to me that viewers on PBS accounted for a small percentage of their funding.

"What people don’t understand is that PBS only funds less than 10% of production costs of show. The show was funded for many years by licensing income," said Jeff Dunn in 2015, who is now Executive Chairman at Sesame Workshop.

The key to people buying content and products revolving around the Sesame Street franchise and funding the non-profit Sesame Street Workshop, is a bigger audience devoted to its characters and themes. Netflix, which has roughly 310 million subscribers compared to Max's estimated 110 million, should help in that regard.

(Image credit: Netflix) Big changes

The season 56 Sesame Street Netflix subscribers (and those watching on PBS) will encounter later this year will be quite different from previous editions.

• Characters will be talking directly to viewers.
• Episodes will take viewers inside the apartment building where the characters live
• Elmo's World will return, and Cookie Monster will get a cookie cart
• Viewers will find more on-screen animations
• Longer story segments

Netflix has also committed to developing games for Sesame Street and Sesame Street Mecha Builders.

The streamer is planning to release Sesame Street Season 56's 35 episodes in three batches on Netflix. It will also add some 90 hours of classic episodes to the platform. As for how many episodes that represents, we'll leave that to The Count to figure out.

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• US generates 57% of global spam, VIPRE analysis of 1.45B emails shows
• Expanding US data centers make spam enforcement harder and threats worse
• Cybercriminals shift to simple, human-focused phishing using PDFs and SVGs

A new report has claimed the United States is now the largest source of spam emails in the world.

VIPRE’s Q1 2025 Email Threat Trends Report, the US was responsible for more than half (57%) of all spam sent worldwide during the first quarter of the 2025.

VIPRE analyzed 1.45 billion emails for its report, focusing on the geolocation of the origin IP address found in email headers, rather than on domain extensions like .com.

A problem that's going to get worse

While there is no single cause, the scale of data center infrastructure in the US makes it difficult to enforce spam regulations effectively and results in greater numbers of entry points for spam emails to spread.

With even more data centers being built across the US, this is a problem that’s only going to get worse in the coming years.

The report notes that of the spam analyzed, 67% was classified as malicious, linked to phishing or malware.

Callback phishing is rising fast, accounting for nearly one in five phishing attempts. Cybercriminals also appear to be opting for simpler, human-focused methods over more complex, technical ones.

SVG attachments were found to be climbing in popularity among attackers, coming in second place just behind PDFs, as they can be used to trick users into visiting malicious sites.

The manufacturing sector is the top target for email-based attacks, with retail and finance sharing second place.

VIPRE says the malware landscape has shifted recently, with the XRed backdoor-type malware family taking the top spot ahead of the second-most prominent malware family (Lumma) by a factor of three. StealC, AgentTesla, and Redline followed behind.

“There’s a clear shift in cybercriminals’ preference towards low-tech, high-impact, human-centric tactics. This demands a fundamental rethink of email security - one that addresses the human element as vigilantly as the technological,” said Usman Choudhary, Chief Product and Technology Officer, VIPRE Security Group.

“With cybercriminals mastering the art of human deception, and crafting phishing attacks that bypass conventional defenses, email security in turn demands an approach that weaponizes cybercriminals’ own actions and uses their patterns to create a unique, future-proofed response,” he added.

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• New users who sign up for the IPVanish Advanced plan can claim a free eSIM
• The free eSIM includes 3GB of data and covers 200 destinations
• The eSIM comes with IPVanish's VPN features, like threat protection and cloud storage

IPVanish has announced the launch of a new eSIM offering 3GB of free data to first-time customers who sign up for its Advanced 1-year or 2-year plans.

The eSIM covers 200 countries and will provide instant connectivity when abroad. The eSIM comes bundled with IPVanish's core VPN features like threat protection, secure browser, and cloud storage.

This limited-time promotion is designed to provide secure, unrestricted internet access for travelers while also showcasing the full range of premium VPN features of the Advanced plan.

Is the eSIM market the next big move for VPN providers?

IPVanish has become the third major VPN service to launch its own eSIM. Previously, we have covered similar moves by NordVPN with Saily and ExpressVPN with holiday.com.

This growing trend signals that VPN providers are expanding their focus beyond just secure browsing—a comprehensive digital solution for travelers seems to be the approach.

When we spoke with the CEO of Saily, we discussed how eSIMs come with enhanced security features to protect users from the risks of connecting to public Wi-Fi networks abroad.

Subbu Sthanu, Chief Commercial Officer at IPVanish said, “Today’s travelers need more than just convenience—they need secure, uninterrupted connectivity wherever they go. By bundling a free eSIM with our VPN, we’re giving our customers a complete traveler’s toolkit to stay safe and connected on the move."

With this new eSIM, IPVanish users can travel worry-free, benefiting from features like threat protection, secure cloud storage, and advanced privacy tools.

“Whether you’re navigating unfamiliar networks or working remotely abroad, we believe digital freedom should never come at the cost of personal security,” he added.

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• HP has introduced the OmniBook 5 Series, using Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors
• Both the OmniBook 5 14 and OmniBook 5 16, feature OLED displays
• They're both expected to be available in July

Computex 2025 is well underway, which means there's plenty of new tech ranging from new desktop PC hardware to portable devices – and we have a new lineup for the latter which is intent on improving productivity.

HP has announced its new OmniBook 5 Series, with the OmniBook 5 14-inch and the OmniBook 5 16-inch laptops providing significant leaps in processing power (using Snapdragon X Plus and X chips) and visual quality; most importantly, HP claims its new series has 'the world's longest battery life in a consumer AI PC notebook'.

As per HP's blog, each laptop will feature up to 34 hours of battery life, which should ensure consumers get the most out of their activities. When running low on battery, you'll be able to get right back up to speed with HP Fast Charge, which charges you up to 50% in just 30 minutes.

These impressive claims may not come as a surprise, since Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors are ideal for battery efficiency, providing exceptional performance that rivals some of Apple's M-based chips while ensuring battery life is at its best.

It's also worth noting that both laptops will have OLED displays, capable of providing excellent picture quality thanks to deep black levels stemming from a high contrast ratio. This will be ideal for video content, including creative tasks that require great color accuracy – and this is further supported with a 95.3 DCI-P3 color gamut and 0.2ms response time.

Perhaps the biggest highlight here, beyond power and capabilities, is the pricing. The HP OmniBook 14 is anticipated to launch in July, starting at $799 via HP's online store. Its counterpart, the HP OmniBook 16, is also expected to launch in July, starting at $849 – and both of these are affordable prices, considering the benefits available here.

(Image credit: HP) OLED is all I ever need...

At those sensible asking prices, OLED laptops that have great battery life and performance are all I need – and that's why I think this new OmniBook 5 Series is worth keeping an eye on.

Despite the concerns of burn-in and text fringing (which have been improved with next-gen OLED displays), using an OLED display has single-handedly uplifted my enjoyment while gaming and watching movies. And if you're lucky like me, you won't actually notice text fringing when working.

In my Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x review, I highlighted how it's one of the best OLED displays I've ever seen; I won't be surprised if I end up saying the same about HP's new OmniBook Series.

With the claims of battery life that rival other Snapdragon laptops, it's a no-brainer starting at $749 – and the Snapdragon X Plus (8-core version) features 45 NPU TOPS for AI applications and tasks.

We'll have to wait for real-world performance results, but stick around and check out our Computex 2025 live blog to keep an eye out for more details.

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• Multiple researchers came up with a new method of location sharing
• The method keeps user privacy while sharing relevant data
• It could have big implications across industries

Researchers have come up with a new method to “prove” where you’re located, without actually having to share sensitive location data.

If adopted, the method could have major implications for businesses such as ride-sharing or delivery, smart cities and public transport, or digital advertising and marketing.

The paper, presented recently at the 2025 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, was drafted by authors Jens Ernstberger (Technical University of Munich), Chengru Zhang (University of Hong Kong), Luca Ciprian (Technical University of Munich), Philipp Jovanovic (University College London), and Sebastian Steinhorst (Technical University of Munich). It is called “Zero-Knowledge Location Privacy via Accurate Floating-Point SNARKs”.

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How it works and what are the downsides?

Simplified, it works like this: instead of revealing their exact location (as is the case today), the user creates a cryptographic commitment (essentially, the data is locked behind a crypto key). The data cannot be changed, but also cannot be viewed by third parties.

Then, the device runs a zero-knowledge proof algorithm, proving that the data locked behind the crypto key is accurate. Ultimately, the verifier (which can be an app, or a server) checks the zero-knowledge proof, and because of the cryptographic properties, they can confidently confirm the location meets the condition without ever seeing the exact coordinates.

The method’s key limitation is that it doesn’t inherently guarantee the authenticity of the location data. Since the system relies on the device, or user, to provide the location data in the first place, it can still be spoofed (if the GPS data is fake, for example).

In the paper, the researchers proposed a solution for verifying that a location proof isn’t forged, which involves network communication with a third party (for example, the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals). In that case, data on where the device says it is located would no longer be non-interactive.

Via The Register

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The theme for Huawei’s global data storage product line’s flagship event, the Innovative Data Infrastructure (IDI) Forum 2025, was “Data Awakening, AI Rising”.

Xie Liming, Vice President of Huawei Data Storage Product Line, pulled the curtains on Huawei’s new flagship, the New-Gen OceanStor Dorado Converged All-Flash Storage, the ideal choice for enterprises' mission-critical services.

What you need to know

Businesses are rapidly embracing AI globally for their mission-critical applications and need an AI-ready data infrastructure that is both scalable and can rapidly deliver ROI to drive what we call Intelligent transformation.

Artificial intelligence alters this data into something more important for any business: an intangible asset.

Proprietary data is at the heart of this AI revolution and requires AI-ready data storage: legacy, conventional storage technologies are just not good enough.

Huawei has identified three major focuses of primary storage in the AI era:

• Converged cloud-native capabilities: Enterprise-class block, file, and object services are provided to reduce business complexity and total cost of ownership (TCO).
• Intrinsic resilience: Ransomware protection is integrated into production storage to enable early detection and rapid response against ransomware attacks, minimizing data loss and downtime while accelerating service recovery.
• AI agents: Self-optimized AI agents greatly improve efficiency and user experience.

The direction of travel of the entire tech industry is towards all flash storage, a no-compromise, best-in-class media technology based.

Huawei has developed a bespoke, industry-leading hardware stack with its own DPU (data processing units), NICs (network interface cards), large capacity SSDs (solid state drives) and controllers.

Meet the New-Gen OceanStor Dorado Converged All-Flash Storage

The converged and resilient all-flash storage with AI agents brings mission-critical applications into the AI era. This New-Gen storage has three features:

• Converged: This new product is the first within the industry to integrate block/file/object parallel architecture in order to reduce complexity and total cost of ownership. A unified, multi-protocol resource pool cuts the TCO by 25%, and performance is improved by 20% thanks to multi-protocol parallel IO paths.

• Resilient: The product delivers 99.99999% single-system reliability thanks to its SmartMatrix full-mesh architecture and supports active-active solutions for SAN, NAS, and S3, ensuring zero data loss. It provides business continuity even if seven out of eight controller enclosures are faulty. The system provides built-in ransomware protection for both blocks and files with 99.99% ransomware detection accuracy.
• AI Agent: The industry's first storage with AI agents boosts management efficiency and streamlines operations. For example, the ransomware protection AI agent can deploy the solution in just 1 minute and prevent ransomware attacks with no latency.

Moreover, the New-Gen OceanStor Dorado Converged All-Flash Storage offers seamless upgrades across controllers or entire clusters with zero data migration or service interruption thanks to the FlashEver guarantee.

But it is the first step of a journey. Integrating data storage, data management, resource management and the AI toolchain, Huawei’s just-released AI Data Lake solution aims to deliver a high-quality AI corpus and speed up model training and inference.

The aim is to empower enterprises to embrace AI, the next logical step to digital transformation.

Huawei is one of a handful of players worldwide that can deliver the full AI stack: inference and training, across hardware, software and services. Having a one-stop-shop approach allows businesses to increase efficiency by reducing friction that’s inherent when dealing with many parties.

• Find out more about the game-changing New-Gen OceanStor Dorado Converged All-Flash Storage offering from Huawei.

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