ai infrastructure10 articles
NadMesh Botnet Is Raiding Exposed AI Services for Cloud Keys, and the Numbers Don't Add Up
A Go-based botnet called NadMesh, discovered in early July 2025, systematically scans for exposed AI services (such as ComfyUI, Ollama, and n8n) to steal cloud credentials, Kubernetes tokens, and environment variable secrets, with the operator's own dashboard claiming over 3,800 harvested AWS keys. While the botnet prioritises AI service endpoints and MCP tools, the majority of its observed exploit traffic actually targets more traditional attack surfaces like Docker APIs and Jenkins consoles, with MCP exploitation accounting for less than 1% of recorded attempts. Defenders are urged to place exposed services behind authentication, check systems for persistence artefacts, and immediately revoke — not merely rotate — any credentials that may have been exposed.
IBM's Mainframe Business Takes a 25% Stock Hit as Customers Blow Budget on AI Hardware
IBM's mainframe sales took a significant hit in Q2 after customers diverted their capital spending toward servers, storage, and memory to secure AI-related hardware ahead of anticipated supply shortages and price increases. This unexpected shift in client priorities, compounded by large deals failing to close on time, caused Infrastructure revenue to fall 7% and triggered a 25%+ drop in IBM's share price. While businesses like Red Hat and Distributed Infrastructure performed well, the quarter highlights how the AI infrastructure boom is disrupting traditional enterprise IT purchasing patterns.
IBM's Mainframe Business Takes a Kicking as Customers Blow Their Budgets on AI Hardware Instead
IBM's mainframe business suffered a sharp decline in Q2 after customers diverted their capital spending toward servers, storage, and memory to secure AI infrastructure ahead of anticipated price increases and supply shortages. This unexpected shift in client priorities, compounded by execution failures and cybersecurity distractions, caused IBM's Infrastructure revenue to fall 7 percent and its share price to drop more than 25 percent. While some areas such as Red Hat and Distributed Infrastructure performed well, the quarter highlights how the AI hardware boom is disrupting traditional enterprise IT spending patterns.
Anthropic Signs $19B, 20-Year Lease Despite Never Having Turned a Profit
Anthropic, which has never turned a profit, has signed a 20-year, $19 billion lease with datacenter operator TeraWulf for a 401-megawatt facility in Kentucky that isn't expected to be operational until 2027–2028. The AI startup's ability to meet its payment obligations depends on its continued success in raising capital, with an IPO expected later this year. The deal carries financial risk for both parties, as TeraWulf is restructuring its own assets to finance the project, leaving it exposed if Anthropic's fundraising falters.
Oracle Counts the Ways Its AI Bet Could Blow Up in Its Face
Oracle is making massive bets on AI infrastructure, including a reported $300 billion capacity deal with OpenAI as part of the Stargate initiative, but has acknowledged in a regulatory filing that these investments carry serious risks — including customer non-payment, overcapacity, power shortages, and construction challenges. The company is caught in a difficult position where scaling back could cause it to fall behind competitors, yet continuing to invest requires taking on substantial debt, with plans to spend $70 billion on capital expenditures in fiscal 2027 and raise around $40 billion in debt and equity. Investors appear unconvinced, with Oracle's stock falling more than 40% over the past month.
SpaceX Is Renting Out Its Nvidia Chips to Google for $920 Million a Month
SpaceX has signed a $920 million per month deal with Google, running from October 2026 to June 2029 and potentially worth around $30 billion in total, granting Google access to approximately 110,000 Nvidia AI chips to support its Gemini Enterprise agent platform. The agreement comes ahead of SpaceX's IPO, where Google — which holds a roughly 5% stake — stands to benefit from a strong debut. SpaceX has also secured a separate $1.25 billion monthly deal with Anthropic, positioning itself as a major AI infrastructure provider by leasing out computing capacity originally built for Musk's own xAI lab.
Berkshire Hathaway Drops $10 Billion on Alphabet's AI Infrastructure Gamble
Alphabet is raising $80 billion to expand its AI infrastructure, with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway contributing $10 billion through a private placement, alongside public share offerings backed by Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Morgan Stanley. The company, which reported 22% revenue growth and a 63% surge in Google Cloud revenue in Q1 2026, plans capital spending of $180–190 billion in 2026 to meet what it describes as "unprecedented customer demand." Critics note, however, that much of the AI cloud boom is being driven by OpenAI and Anthropic, both of which remain unprofitable.
SoftBank Bets 75 Billion Euros on French AI Data Centres
SoftBank has announced plans to invest up to 75 billion euros in AI data centers across France, with an initial phase of 45 billion euros targeting 3.1 gigawatts of capacity in the Hauts-de-France region by 2031. The project, announced at President Macron's Choose France summit, includes partnerships with Schneider Electric and French startup Sesterce, and is expected to create thousands of jobs. The investment is part of SoftBank's broader global AI infrastructure push, though many of its international projects, including efforts in the US, UK, and Abu Dhabi, have yet to fully materialise.
SpaceX's IPO Filing: Monopoly Ambitions, Mounting Losses, and Musk at the Controls
SpaceX has filed for a long-awaited IPO, arguing that its extreme vertical integration across rocket manufacturing, satellite deployment, AI, and data centre infrastructure makes it uniquely positioned to dominate a self-claimed $28.5 trillion total addressable market. Despite revenues of $18.7 billion in FY2025, the company posted a $4.9 billion loss, with losses accelerating into 2026. The filing grants Elon Musk near-total control as CEO, CTO, and board chairman, leaving investors largely betting on his vision and execution.
Nvidia Posts Record Quarter, Investors Shrug
Nvidia reported record first-quarter results, with revenue up 85% year-on-year to $81.6bn and net income more than tripling to $58.3bn, driven by surging demand for AI infrastructure chips. Despite beating expectations, shares fell 1.6% in after-hours trading, as analysts noted investors have grown accustomed to Nvidia's exceptional performance and are seeking even higher growth. Concerns about increasing competition, as major clients develop their own chips, also weighed on investor sentiment.