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Your Weekly Technology Intelligence Brief 14th January 2026

Intelligence, Security, Infrastructure, Energy & Quantum Innovation

Two weeks into 2026, and the technology landscape continues its breathless acceleration. Artificial intelligence shifts from hype to practical deployment, cybersecurity threats intensify with sophisticated malware campaigns, quantum computing reaches critical milestones, telecommunications networks modernise at scale, and energy infrastructure strains under unprecedented AI-driven demand. This week's developments confirm that 2026 will demand constant adaptation from organisations across every sector.

🤖 Artificial Intelligence: From Pilots to Production

AI Requires Less Training Data Than Previously Thought

Johns Hopkins University researchers published findings this week that challenge fundamental assumptions about AI development. Their study demonstrates that AI systems built with brain-inspired architectures can begin mimicking human brain activity before receiving any training data whatsoever.

The research team created dozens of artificial neural networks with different architectures and showed them images of objects, people, and animals without prior training. When they compared the systems' internal activity to brain responses from humans and non-human primates viewing identical images, they discovered something remarkable: the architecture itself matters more than the volume of training data.

Convolutional neural networks produced activity patterns closely matching human brain responses without training, whilst transformers and fully connected networks showed little meaningful change regardless of neuron count. The untrained convolutional models performed comparably to traditional AI systems that typically require exposure to millions or billions of images. This suggests that more brilliant architectural design, rather than simply throwing more data and computing power at problems, could dramatically accelerate AI development whilst slashing costs and energy consumption.

Samsung Doubles Galaxy AI Device Rollout

Samsung announced plans to double the number of devices featuring Galaxy AI capabilities from approximately 400 million to 800 million in 2026. Galaxy AI combines Google's Gemini models with Samsung's Bixby across smartphones, tablets, televisions, and home appliances.

Co-CEO T.M. Roh stated that AI will be applied to all products and services as usage of search, generative editing, translation, and summarisation grows. The expansion significantly boosts Google's consumer reach as it competes with OpenAI's upcoming GPT-5.2. With hundreds of millions more AI-native devices, everyday interactions, search, content editing, and translation will increasingly flow through on-device assistants. This accelerates the shift towards AI-mediated discovery and consumption, pressuring marketers to optimise for AI summaries, multimodal queries, and device-level experiences rather than traditional browser search.

At CES 2026, AI Enters the Physical World

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year showcased artificial intelligence moving decisively from screens into the physical world. Humanoid robots, autonomous vehicles, and industrial automation dominated exhibitions, signalling AI's expansion beyond software into hardware that interacts with real environments.

The emphasis on real-time intelligence highlighted a less glamorous but critical theme: computing power. Chip manufacturers characterised an industry running up against physical limitations. Shankar Krishnamoorthy of Synopsys noted that traditional chip development pace can't keep up with modern AI model demands, stating, 'Customers demand monster chips, so we must accelerate innovation cycles by several times.' The scale and speed of today's AI build-out already drive up energy consumption and costs. No amount of chip efficiency can fully compensate for a constraint that governs everything else in the AI ecosystem, even if a few exhibitors came to trumpet it.

Snowflake Brings Google Gemini Into Enterprise Data Infrastructure

Snowflake is integrating Gemini models into its Cortex AI framework, allowing customers to apply Google's foundational models directly to their governed data, regardless of cloud provider. Enterprises can now analyse multimodal datasets, PDFs, CRM entries, sensor logs, audio, and morewithout moving data outside Snowflake's environment. The integration extends Snowflake's model-agnostic strategy, which already supports OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Mistral, and DeepSeek. Gemini will power SQL-based and API-driven inference and later support Snowflake Intelligence and Cortex Agents. This offers scalable, compliant access to multimodal modelling for segmentation, forecasting, personalisation, and analytics, bringing AI-driven intelligence closer to the enterprise data layer.

🔐 Cybersecurity: Sophisticated Threats Target Critical Systems

Microsoft Desktop Window Manager Zero-Day Actively Exploited

Microsoft disclosed a critical information disclosure vulnerability in the Desktop Window Manager component that threat actors are actively exploiting in real-world attacks. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2026-20805 and publicly disclosed on 13th January, allows authenticated local attackers to extract sensitive information from system memory without requiring user interaction.

The vulnerability resides in a foundational Windows system service that manages visual effects and window rendering across the operating system. By successfully exploiting this flaw, attackers with local access can read confidential data from protected memory regions, potentially compromising authentication credentials, encryption keys, and other security-sensitive information critical to system integrity.

The vulnerability demands only low-privilege local access, eliminating the need for administrative credentials or user interaction to trigger exploitation. This accessibility significantly elevates the threat level across both enterprise and consumer environments. The targeted nature of exploitation suggests threat actors are focusing on high-value targets or organisations already compromised through initial access vectors such as phishing, supply chain attacks, or secondary exploitation chains. Security operations centres should implement enhanced monitoring for anomalous Desktop Window Manager process activity, suspicious memory access patterns, and unauthorised credential use. Microsoft is expected to release a security patch imminently.

CastleLoader Malware Framework Targets US Government

A sophisticated malware loader designated CastleLoader has emerged as a significant threat to U.S. government agencies and critical infrastructure sectors. The loader has impacted approximately 469 devices across multiple industries, with particular focus on government entities.

According to extensive malware analysis, CastleLoader demonstrates advanced capabilities, including stealthy persistence mechanisms, sophisticated anti-detection features, and modular functionality that allows operators to adapt to changing objectives. The malware's targeted attack on government infrastructure raises concerns about nation-state involvement or advanced persistent threat actors seeking long-term access to sensitive systems.

Coordinated Attacks Target AI Infrastructure

Security researchers documented a surge in coordinated attacks targeting artificial intelligence infrastructure, with more than 91,000 malicious sessions recorded between October 2025 and January 2026. GreyNoise's honeypot infrastructure captured the data, revealing two distinct threat campaigns systematically exploiting the expanding surface area of AI deployments.

The first campaign exploited server-side request forgery (SSRF) vulnerabilities, targeting Ollama's model pull functionality and Twilio SMS webhook integrations. Attackers injected malicious registry entries to redirect HTTP requests to the adversary's infrastructure. The campaign peaked over the Christmas period, generating 1,688 sessions within 48 hours. Analysis revealed consistent fingerprints across 62 source IPs in 27 countries, indicating VPS-based tooling rather than traditional botnets.

More concerning is the second campaign, which launched on 28th December 2025, targeting 73+ large language model endpoints. Two IP addresses orchestrated 80,469 sessions over eleven days, conducting systematic reconnaissance of misconfigured proxy servers that might expose access to commercial AI APIs. The attack tested both OpenAI-compatible and Google Gemini API formats across all major model families: GPT-4o, Claude, Llama, DeepSeek, Gemini, Mistral, Qwen, and Grok.

The infrastructure analysis traced the campaign to two dedicated IPs with extensive CVE exploitation histories, resulting in more than 4 million sensor hits. The operators demonstrated professional capability, with attack patterns consistent with reconnaissance feeding into larger exploitation pipelines. Organisations should implement strict model pull restrictions, configure egress filtering to prevent SSRF callbacks, and deploy rate-limiting for suspicious ASNs.

React2Shell Vulnerability Exposes 85,000 Websites

A persistent nine-month-long campaign has targeted Internet of Things (IoT) devices and web applications to enrol them into a botnet known as RondoDox. As of December 2025, the activity has been observed leveraging the recently disclosed React2Shell vulnerability (CVE-2025-55182, CVSS score: 10.0) as an initial access vector.

React2Shell is a critical security vulnerability in React Server Components (RSC) and Next.js that could allow unauthenticated attackers to achieve remote code execution on susceptible devices. According to statistics from the Shadowserver Foundation, approximately 84,916 instances remain susceptible to the vulnerability as of 4th January 2026, with 66,200 cases located in the U.S., followed by Germany (3,600), France (2,500), and India (1,290).

If you run a website or manage digital infrastructure built with React or Next.js, this threat demands immediate action. Patches exist and should be applied without delay. The hackers certainly aren't waiting.

⚡ Energy: AI's Insatiable Power Appetite Creates Crisis and Opportunity

US Electric Grid Faces AI-Driven Crisis

The massive energy needs of artificial intelligence data centres became a major political controversy in 2025, and new reporting suggests it will intensify significantly in 2026. Data centre projects have become political lightning rods amongst politicians, ranging from Senator Bernie Sanders on the left to Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on the right.

PJM Interconnection, the largest US grid operator serving over 65 million people across 13 states, projects it will be six gigawatts short of its reliability requirements in 2027. Joe Bowring, president of independent market monitor Monitoring Analytics, stated he's never seen the grid under such projected strain. Data centres now consume 4.4% of U.S. electricity, more than some entire states, and will reach double or triple that amount by 2028.

Residential electricity prices are forecast to rise another 4% on average nationwide in 2026 after increasing about 5% in 2025, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. With the cost of living at the centre of American politics, the impact of data centres on local communities will likely play a role in the mid-term elections next November.

'We have gone from a period where data centres were seen as an unmitigated good and as an engine of growth by a lot of elected officials and policymakers to people now recognising that we're short,' said Abe Silverman, who served as general counsel for the public utility board in New Jersey from 2019 until 2023. 'We do not have enough generation to serve existing customers and data centres reliably.'

FERC Orders PJM to Create Data Centre Rules

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) directed grid operator PJM to establish transparent rules to facilitate service of AI-driven data centres and other large loads co-located with generating facilities. These rules will safeguard grid reliability and protect consumers in the mid-Atlantic territory.

'As technology leaps forward, clear and fair regulations must keep pace to support advancement, help prevent price volatility, and promote competition, ultimately benefiting consumers by keeping electricity costs manageable,' said FERC Chairman Laura Swett. 'Today's order is a monumental step towards fortifying America's national and economic security in the AI revolution, whilst ensuring we preserve just and reasonable rates for all Americans.'

FERC also directed PJM to report by 19th January 2026, on the status of its proposals to accelerate the addition of generating capacity, including an expedited interconnection process for shovel-ready projects, changes to PJM's reliability backstop mechanism for resource shortfalls, and enhanced load forecasting and demand flexibility measures.

Data Centres as Grid-Interactive Assets

Researchers and engineers at Emerald AI, in collaboration with NVIDIA Corporation, Oracle, Salt River Project (SRP), and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), introduced a new software-based approach to stabilise the power grid by treating data centres as valuable 'flexible' resources. This approach, outlined in a paper in Nature Energy, entails adjusting the power usage of AI data centres in response to power grid signals.

The research team used Emerald Conductor, a software control framework that intelligently adjusts data centre power consumption in response to grid signals while still meeting application performance and service-level agreements (SLAs). By analysing power-performance trade-offs across different AI workloads, the system selectively modulates jobs that can tolerate minor adjustments, for example, reducing the power of 'flexible' jobs that can handle slight slowdowns.

A real-world demonstration showed a 25% reduction in power use over three hours, indicating that flexible scheduling of AI workloads can support grid reliability and sustainability without compromising performance. This represents a paradigm shift: data centres transforming from passive energy consumers into active grid stakeholders, co-investing in infrastructure upgrades, enabling load flexibility, and deploying on-site power generation and storage to improve reliability and manage costs.

Data Centres Add £6.5 Billion to Grid Costs.

Data centres tied to the biggest US grid just added another £6.5 billion to the cost of procuring power supplies, intensifying concerns that the artificial intelligence boom is worsening energy inflation. After a December auction held by grid operator PJM Interconnection, costs attributable to data centres totalled £23.1 billion for June 2025 through May 2028, according to independent watchdog Monitoring Analytics. These fast-growing consumers accounted for 49% of the total cost of £47.2 billion for three consecutive auctions held since mid-2024.

🏗️ Digital Infrastructure: 5G Matures, 6G Takes Shape

5G Standalone Deployments Accelerate Globally

The telecommunications landscape is witnessing a decisive shift towards 5G Standalone (SA) architectures. At least 85 operators across 47 markets had launched commercial 5G SA networks by the end of 2025, according to the Global Mobile Suppliers Association. This acceleration is underpinned by growing industry confidence that 5G SA is now sufficiently mature to support network slicing at scale and to guarantee specific service-level agreements.

The ability to deliver multiple virtual networks with distinct performance characteristics over a single physical infrastructure addresses a fundamental challenge in telecommunications: how to serve vastly different use cases, from ultra-reliable low-latency communications to massive IoT deployments, without building separate networks for each. The maturation of network slicing also has significant implications for spectrum efficiency and capital expenditure, potentially allowing operators to extract greater value from existing infrastructure investments whilst meeting diverse enterprise requirements.

Large-scale private 5G network implementations are providing tangible evidence of the technology's value proposition for enterprise and industrial applications. Frankfurt Airport's deployment of Europe's largest private 5G campus network, covering more than 20 square kilometres, exemplifies the scale at which organisations are willing to invest in dedicated wireless infrastructure.

6G Standards Timeline Crystallises

The first 6G specifications will be included in 3GPP's Release 21, with the timeline for actual spec work to be decided by June 2026. This marks a critical checkpoint for candidate technologies under study in the radio access network (RAN) and system architecture working groups. Release 20, which started in 2025, focuses on feasibility studies and technical reports, whilst Release 21 is where real specification work begins, with freezes projected around 2029. Commercial deployment sits closer to 2030.

Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) and artificial intelligence are emerging as defining characteristics of 6G architectures. The concept of AI-native networks, where AI is integrated into every layer of the network rather than applied as an overlay, is gaining traction amongst technology leaders. However, industry observers note that telecom economics may remain constrained as network capabilities continue to outpace consumers' willingness to pay for enhanced services.

The growing focus on network APIs as a monetisation mechanism reflects operators' recognition that new revenue streams will be essential to justify continued infrastructure investment. The formation of joint ventures such as 'Aduna' by Ericsson and global telecommunications providers signals the industry's strategic pivot towards programmable network software and API-driven services as necessities from 2026 onwards.

Direct-to-Device Satellite Services Expand

Direct-to-Device (D2D) satellite services are moving from pilot to early commercial deployment, extending mobile coverage to remote and underserved regions without the need for costly new infrastructure. This technology enables standard mobile phones to connect directly to satellites when terrestrial networks aren't available. The first commercial launches are expected throughout 2026, with rural connectivity, emergency services, and maritime communications seeing the most immediate benefits—the ultimate goal: global mobile coverage with no dead zones.

⚛️ Quantum Computing: 2026 Emerges as Pivotal Year

Error-Corrected Quantum Systems Arrive

IBM publicly stated that 2026 will mark the first time a quantum computer outperforms classical computing for practical problems, a phenomenon researchers call 'quantum advantage.' Microsoft, collaborating with Atom Computing, plans to deliver an error-corrected quantum computer to Denmark and the Novo Nordisk Foundation. Srinivas Prasad Sugasani, vice president of quantum at Microsoft, stated: 'We feel very excited about 2026, because much of the work that happened over the last few years is coming to fruition now.'

The key phrase is error-corrected. Current quantum computers are susceptible to environmental interference; a stray cosmic ray or a tiny temperature fluctuation can corrupt calculations. Error correction uses multiple physical quantum bits to create one reliable logical quantum bit, dramatically improving accuracy.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo and Nanofiber Quantum Technologies published a breakthrough protocol that combines two distinct error-correction approaches. This hybrid method achieves both low resource requirements and fast computations, solving a trade-off that has plagued quantum computing for years. Initial tests successfully minimised the number of quantum bits required whilst maximising computational speed, pushing computational accuracy to almost the theoretical limit.

D-Wave Acquires Quantum Circuits for £550 Million

At CES 2026, D-Wave Systems drew standing-room-only crowds for a live demonstration of quantum computing solving real business problems in real time. Days before the event, D-Wave announced its most significant strategic development: the £550 million acquisition of Quantum Circuits Inc., a Yale spinout developing error-corrected gate model quantum systems. The deal comprises £300 million in D-Wave stock and £250 million in cash, with the deal expected to close in late January 2026.

This acquisition expands D-Wave's capabilities beyond optimisation to address applications in quantum chemistry, molecular simulation, and other problems where representing quantum states directly provides an advantage. Dr Rob Schoelkopf, QCI's chief scientist and co-founder, will join D-Wave along with QCI's team of superconducting quantum computing experts. Schoelkopf, a Yale professor who invented both the transmon and the dual-rail qubit technologies, will lead a new research and development centre in New Haven, Connecticut.

D-Wave plans to make an initial dual rail gate model system generally available in 2026. Full details of the updated product roadmap and the accelerated path to error-corrected gate-model quantum computing will be presented at the Qubits 2026 conference on 27th January in Florida.

Hardware Breakthroughs Enable Mass Production

Quantum computers traditionally require enormous, expensive equipment. Recent hardware breakthroughs promise to change that trajectory. Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder developed a quantum control device almost 100 times thinner than human hair. This microchip-sized component precisely controls laser frequencies essential for running quantum computers, whilst using far less power than current bulky systems.

Crucially, it's made using standard chip manufacturing, enabling mass production rather than custom fabrication. These innovations might seem incremental, but they're critical for scaling quantum computers from research curiosities to practical machines. Mass-producible components using standard manufacturing enable quantum computers far larger than anything possible with today's custom-built systems.

Separately, a quantum-structured-light research paper published in Nature Photonics examines how shaping light into complex quantum forms can pack more information, security, and power into each photon. This fast-moving breakthrough could reshape quantum communication, computing, and high-resolution imaging. Scientists are learning to engineer light in rich, multidimensional ways that dramatically increase the amount of information a single photon can carry, making quantum communication more secure, quantum computers more efficient, and sensors far more sensitive.

US Reauthorises National Quantum Initiative

Lawmakers introduced the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act on 8th January, seeking to restore a lapsed federal framework for coordinating U.S. quantum research and policy. The bipartisan bill responds to growing concerns that future quantum computers could undermine current encryption systems, accelerating the need for post-quantum security planning. The legislation aims to provide continued funding and direction for agencies such as NIST and NSF as quantum technology shifts from long-term research toward early deployment.

What It All Means

Two weeks into 2026, several themes crystallise across these five technology domains:

Artificial intelligence is transitioning decisively from hype to practical deployment. Research demonstrates that more brilliant architectural design, not just more training data, can dramatically accelerate development. Major companies are embedding AI into hundreds of millions of consumer devices. The technology moves from screens into the physical world through robots and autonomous systems. Yet computing power constraints and energy demands increasingly govern everything else.

Cybersecurity threats intensify with sophisticated malware frameworks targeting government infrastructure, coordinated attacks on AI systems, and critical vulnerabilities in widely used frameworks. Threat actors demonstrate professional capabilities, systematic reconnaissance, and patient persistence. The message remains clear: no organisation is immune, and vigilance must be eternal.

Energy infrastructure faces a crisis that is simultaneously technical, political, and economic. AI-driven data centres strain grids designed decades ago, driving residential electricity prices upward and creating political lightning rods across the spectrum. Yet innovative approaches emerge: data centres as flexible grid assets, co-investment in infrastructure upgrades, and regulatory frameworks that balance innovation with consumer protection.

Digital infrastructure evolves through genuine 5G Standalone deployments at scale, crystallising 6G timelines and specifications, and satellite services extending coverage globally. Telecommunications operators are pivoting towards network APIs and programmable services, seeking new revenue streams to justify continued infrastructure investment as network capabilities outpace consumer willingness to pay.

Quantum computing reaches critical milestones as error-corrected systems arrive for customer deployment, hardware breakthroughs promise rapid scaling, and government funding frameworks secure continued research investment. The technology transitions from pure research to commercial relevance, with 2026 emerging as the pivotal year when quantum advantage becomes demonstrable for practical problems.

What ties these developments together? Acceleration continues, but so does the growing recognition of constraints: energy, infrastructure, economics, and politics. The organisations that thrive in 2026 won't be those with the best five-year plans. They'll be those nimble enough to respond to a future arriving faster than anyone predicted, whilst navigating the very real limitations that shape what's actually possible.

Next week, we'll continue tracking these developments and their implications. Until then, stay informed, stay vigilant, and perhaps start questioning whether your strategic assumptions adequately account for both acceleration and constraint.

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Date of Publication: 14th January 2026

Eric Williamson
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The Digital Commonwealth Limited

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