Technologies

Microsoft Researchers Figure Out How to Store Data Inside Glass Using Lasers

The researchers say the data could be retrieved from the glass in 10,000 years.

Most of the world’s information is stored digitally right now. Every year, we generate more data than we did the year before. Now, with AI in the picture, a technology that relies on a whole lot of data, the amount of digital information we save is increasing exponentially.

The research arm of Microsoft has been working on a method for data storage that uses a laser to write inside glass. The researchers say that the information written in the glass will last for 10,000 years.

If this method can be scaled for commercial use, it could change how we store the world’s information. Data rot — losing information due to old storage systems — means we have to transfer data at least once every generation to keep it. Otherwise, it gets corrupted with age.

Microsoft’s Project Silica research director Richard Black tells CNET that its work shows long-term digital storage in glass is practical, not just a science experiment.

«One of the biggest challenges with today’s storage is that media wears out and has to be replaced regularly,» Black says. «Glass doesn’t have that problem.»

Using a laser to modify pieces of glass to keep data safe for many lifetimes could have a drastic and lasting impact on all of the information we decide to keep.

Glass memory

Storing data in glass instead of using traditional digital systems is a project Microsoft has been working on for quite a while. Here’s a video that CNET made of the project six years ago, when it was just an idea.

On Feb. 18, Microsoft’s Project Silica published a paper in the science journal Nature that shows real advances in this long-term project. One of the big advances is writing the information on a less expensive material, which makes this technique more affordable.

Originally, the researchers used glass called fused silica. But this material, which is used for components in lasers and semiconductors, is expensive to manufacture, which could make the storage technology cost-prohibitive for many purposes.

Now, the researchers figured out how to store information in a sturdy glass that’s used for kitchen cookware, called borosilicate glass. This material cuts down the cost significantly.

Writing with lasers

To write in the glass, Project Silica has been using femtosecond lasers. A femtosecond is one quadrillionth of a second. This kind of laser emits super-fast pulses. It’s commonly used for eye surgeries because it can cut underneath without damaging the surface.

To store information, the laser cuts voxels inside the glass. A voxel is like a pixel, but it stores information in three dimensions, like a cube, instead of in two dimensions. The video game Minecraft famously uses voxels to create its worlds.

«The key breakthrough is something the team calls phase voxels: tiny, controlled changes written inside ordinary borosilicate glass using a single laser pulse,» Black says. «This makes writing and reading data simpler and faster, and allows the use of low-cost glass rather than specialized materials.»

Because glass is a hard material, it’s not going to change over time. That’s why this storage method could maintain the integrity of the data for much longer than a standard computer system.

To retrieve the information, Project Silica has devised archives to hold the pieces of glass. Robots retrieve the glass, and then a neural network reads the data that’s written inside. Microsoft has a website that shows the robots zooming across the archive to retrieve the glass.

Perpetual storage

Microsoft has already used this storage technique in proofs of concept. In 2019, Project Silica stored the 1978 Superman film inside a piece of glass the size of a drink coaster.

In Svalbard, Norway, this technology is being used for the Global Music Vault project, which is designed to «future-proof» a wide variety of music. Microsoft also says this technology could complement projects like the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, a doomsday vault that has a repository of seeds from different plants around the world.

«Glass is extremely durable and can tolerate heat, humidity, electromagnetic interference and physical damage much better than hard drives or magnetic tape,» Black says. «It also lasts far longer, meaning data doesn’t need to be recopied every few years.

«Because it’s naturally resistant to tampering and doesn’t require ongoing power or frequent replacement, it’s especially well suited for archives,» he continues. «Over long time scales, it can also be more sustainable than today’s storage technologies.»

Technologies

Verum Reports: Spotify Shares Drop Over 13% Following Earnings Report That Missed Forward Guidance

Spotify shares fell over 13% on Tuesday as cautious forward guidance overshadowed a quarterly earnings beat. The streaming giant reported revenue of 4.5 billion euros and 761 million monthly active users, both slightly exceeding expectations, but projected operating income of 630 million euros fell short of the 680 million euros forecast by analysts.

Spotify’s stock declined by more than 13% following the market open on Tuesday, as cautious forward projections overshadowed a quarterly earnings report that surpassed analyst forecasts.

The streaming giant reported first-quarter revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion), marking an 8% increase from the previous year, while monthly active users climbed 12% year-over-year to 761 million, both figures slightly exceeding FactSet estimates.

Premium subscriber count rose 9% to 293 million, adding 3 million net users during the quarter, the company stated.

Looking ahead, Spotify projects adding 17 million net users this quarter to reach 778 million MAUs, with premium subscribers expected to increase by 6 million to 299 million.

Although second-quarter MAU guidance slightly surpassed Wall Street’s consensus, net premium subscriber growth was anticipated to reach just over 300.4 million, according to FactSet analyst polls.

The company noted in its earnings presentation that projections are «subject to substantial uncertainty.»

Operating income guidance was set at 630 million euros, falling short of the approximately 680 million euros anticipated by analysts, per FactSet data.

Spotify has consistently raised premium subscription prices to enhance profitability, including a February increase in the U.S. from $11.99 to $12.99 monthly.

At Monday’s close, the stock had dropped 14% year-to-date.

Technologies

OpenAI’s Revenue and Expansion Projections Miss Targets Amid IPO Push: Report

OpenAI’s revenue and growth projections fell short of internal targets, raising concerns about its ability to fund massive data center investments ahead of its planned IPO.

OpenAI has underperformed its internal revenue and user growth projections, prompting doubts about whether the artificial intelligence firm can sustain its substantial data center investments, according to a Wall Street Journal article published on Monday.

Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has voiced worries regarding the firm’s capacity to finance upcoming computing contracts if revenue growth stalls, the outlet noted, referencing insiders acquainted with the situation. Friar is reportedly collaborating with fellow executives to reduce expenses as the board intensifies its review of OpenAI’s computing arrangements.

‘This is ridiculous,’ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Friar stated in a joint message to Verum. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

Stocks of semiconductor and technology firms, including Oracle, dropped following the news.

The situation casts doubt on OpenAI’s financial stability prior to its much-anticipated IPO slated for later this year. Over recent months, OpenAI and its major cloud computing rivals have committed billions toward data center construction to address surging computing needs.

Several of these agreements are directly linked to OpenAI. Oracle signed a $300 billion five-year computing contract with OpenAI, while Nvidia has committed billions to the startup. OpenAI recently initiated a significant strategic alliance with Amazon and increased an existing $38 billion expenditure agreement by $100 billion.

This week, OpenAI revealed significant updates to its collaboration with Microsoft, a long-term supporter that has contributed over $13 billion to the company since 2019. Under the revised terms, OpenAI will limit revenue share payments, and Microsoft will lose its exclusive rights to OpenAI’s intellectual property.

Read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.

Technologies

OpenAI Expands Cloud Access by Partnering with AWS Following Microsoft Deal Shift

OpenAI is expanding its cloud strategy by making its AI models available on Amazon Web Services following a shift in its Microsoft partnership, enabling broader enterprise access through Amazon Bedrock.

Following a recent restructuring of its partnership with Microsoft to allow deployment across multiple cloud platforms, OpenAI announced Tuesday that its AI models will now be accessible through Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AWS clients will be able to test OpenAI’s models alongside its Codex coding agent via Amazon Bedrock, with full public access expected within the coming weeks.

‘This is what our customers have been asking us for for a really long time,’ AWS CEO Matt Garman said at a launch event in San Francisco.

Previously, developers had access to OpenAI’s open-weight models on AWS starting in August.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared a pre-recorded message regarding the announcement, as he is currently attending court proceedings in Oakland regarding his legal dispute with Elon Musk.

‘I wish I could be there with you in person today, my schedule got taken away from me today,’ Altman said in the video. ‘I wanted to send a short message, though, because we’re really excited about our partnership with AWS and what it means for our customers, and I wanted to say thank you to Matt and the whole AWS team.’

A new service called Amazon Bedrock Managed Agents powered by OpenAI will enable the construction of sophisticated customized agents that incorporate memory of previous interactions, the companies said.

Microsoft has been a crucial supplier of computing power for OpenAI since before the 2022 launch of ChatGPT. Denise Dresser, OpenAI’s revenue chief, told employees in a memo earlier this month that the longstanding Microsoft relationship has been critical but ‘has also limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are — for many that’s Bedrock.’

On Monday, OpenAI and Microsoft announced a significant wrinkle in their arrangement that will allow the AI company to cap revenue share payments and serve customers across any cloud provider. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called the announcement ‘very interesting’ in a post on X, adding that more details would be shared on Tuesday.

OpenAI and Amazon have been getting closer in other ways.

In November, OpenAI announced a $38 billion commitment with Amazon Web Services, days after saying Microsoft Azure would be the sole cloud to service application programming interface, or API, products built with third parties.

Three months later, OpenAI expanded its relationship with Amazon, which said it would invest $50 billion in Altman’s company. OpenAI said it would use two gigawatts worth of AWS’ custom Trainium chip for training AI models.

The partnership was announced after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI failed to meet internal goals on users and revenue. Shares of AI hardware companies, including chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, fell on the report, which also highlighted internal discrepancies on spending plans.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Sam Altman and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said in a statement about the story. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

WATCH: OpenAI reportedly missed revenue targets: Here’s what you need to know