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Data centres power what we do online. So why all the controversy now?

You might never go inside one of these massive structures – but your digital presence has, probably hundreds of times a day. What goes on in a data centre?

  • Angus Holland

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Best TV shows this year (so far): Celia Pacquola in Dog Park; Madeleine Sami and Kate Box in Deadloch; Kylie Minogue in her Netflix documentary; Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms; and Noah Wyle in The Pitt.

The best TV shows of the year (so far)

While big hitters such as The Pitt delivered, there have also been a few genuinely delightful surprises.

  • Meg Watson, Louise Rugendyke, Craig Mathieson, Debi Enker, Kylie Northover and Karl Quinn
One of the magnetic games that have been voluntarily recalled by the supplier for non-compliance with the permanent ban.

Amazon, eBay, Kogan ordered to halt sales of potentially deadly toys

Australia’s consumer watchdog has ordered online retailers to halt sales of a range of toys and games products - including chess sets - marketed for children that contain potentially deadly magnets if swallowed.

  • Elias Visontay
Novelist Charlotte McConaghy won the prize for literary fiction at the Australian Book Industry Association Awards.

How a gamble on a remote island saved Charlotte McConaghy’s novel

The Australian novelist was among the big winners at the book industry’s night of nights.

  • Melanie Kembrey
Mark Zuckerberg arrives at court in Los Angeles this year at a landmark trial over social media addiction.

Tech giants ship more than $14 billion offshore amid AI debate

New filings show the extent to which Google, Meta and Amazon send revenue overseas, as new media laws loom.

  • David Swan and Jessica Yun
Amazon’s robotic fulfilment centre in Ravenhall, Melbourne, a warehouse almost double the size of Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Australia’s addiction to Amazon is set to blow past $5 billion

The numbers show how rapidly the online giant is growing with shoppers as it begins to make more money from ads, subscriptions and fees than by selling goods.

  • Jessica Yun
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Elon Musk’s Starlink has a network of more than 10,000 satellites in orbit to offer internet services. Now Amazon wants in.

Amazon’s $16.3 billion deal amps up rivalry with Elon Musk

Jeff Bezos’ Amazon is buying satellite operator Globalstar in a landmark deal to step up competition with SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk in the satellite communications market.

  • Michelle F. Davis, Ryan Gould, Loren Grush, Matt Day and Bruce Einhorn
Lauren Sánchez Bezos treats the pursuit, and spreading, of joy as a kind of mandate. Or is she just rubbing it in?

Who says money can’t buy happiness? Meet the unabashedly happy Mrs Sánchez Bezos

As half of an unfathomably powerful couple, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, seems to have influenced the uber-rich to stop apologising, and start enjoying themselves.

  • Amy Chozick
Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei.

This superintelligent AI is so powerful, even its creators are afraid of what it’s capable of

If Anthropic’s new AI tool falls into the hands of bad actors, they could hack pretty much every major software system in the world. And so could your kids.

  • Thomas L. Friedman
Atlassian’s billionaire co-founder, Scott Farquhar.

For every $100 in data centres, $80 leaves Australia almost immediately

Data centres are the infrastructure boom of the decade. But how much of the investment actually stays in the country?

  • David Swan