This week’s stories are about tech and AI, coming from the EU, the Netherlands and the USA

Google changes European travel search results to comply with EU rules

Google is changing the way it displays travel and shopping search results in the European Union to comply with the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, while warning that the changes could reduce search quality and affect the user experience. (By the way I have a story here about Google)

I read this story at Ars Technica and the European Commission fined Google 460 million Euros in July for allegedly favoring its own services over competitors in travel and shopping-related searches.

Under the changes, Google will remove some features from hotel and flight searches in Europe, including real-time pricing and availability information. Instead, a link to a specialized travel search engine will appear prominently at the top of the results, followed by two additional links with less information, per the story.

Google will also display a results carousel featuring hotels, airlines and restaurants. The listings will not include real-time prices or availability, and their ranking will be determined by Google’s search algorithms rather than its commercial relationships, the story said.

The changes are being rolled out gradually across the EU. Google has until Sept. 23 to comply with the requirements, following a 60-day deadline set by European regulators. Failure to comply with the DMA could result in a fine of up to 5% of the company’s global revenue, according to the story.

Google also warned about the potential impact on businesses. The company said in 2024 that earlier EU-mandated changes had contributed to a 30% decline in free direct booking traffic to businesses.

The company argues that the latest requirements could further reduce traffic to businesses that rely on Google search to reach customers.

Google changes European travel search results to comply with EU rules

ASML begins construction of new production campus amid AI chip boom

Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML begun construction of a new production campus in Eindhoven as demand for equipment used to manufacture artificial intelligence (AI) chips continues to surge. The first phase of the BIC North project is scheduled for completion in 2029.

I read this story at Reuters and ASML, the world’s largest manufacturer of semiconductor production equipment, broke ground on the new campus on a roughly 35-hectare site near Eindhoven Airport. The facility will be about 7 kilometers from the company’s headquarters and main manufacturing operations in Veldhoven, the story said.

CEO Christophe Fouquet said the semiconductor industry’s growing global demand requires continued investment and that the new campus will expand ASML’s production capabilities.

The first phase will include office and logistics facilities as well as cleanrooms used to manufacture specialized equipment. ASML also plans to introduce a new “Flow Factory” concept designed to make the assembly of its large chipmaking machines faster and more efficient, per the story.

Once fully developed, the campus is expected to provide space for up to 20,000 employees. ASML said the site’s electricity supply has also been secured.

The expansion comes as the AI boom drives increased demand for advanced semiconductor manufacturing capacity. ASML announced in July that nearly all of its capacity for extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, lithography systems — critical for producing advanced processors and memory chips — had already been booked through the end of 2027.

Let me note that ASML’s customers include TSMC, Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron and Intel. The chipmakers are expanding production to meet growing demand for AI computing capacity from companies including Nvidia, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Amazon.

Christophe Fouquet, CEO at ASML

Data center boom turns landowners into millionaires

The rapid expansion of data centers to meet growing artificial intelligence demand is creating major windfalls for some U.S. landowners, even as communities raise concerns about their environmental and infrastructure impacts. In Pennsylvania, about 100 families have sold land to a data center developer for millions of dollars.

I saw this story at CBS News and more than 70% of Americans oppose having data centers built in their communities, according to a Gallup poll.

But for some residents of Salem Township, Pennsylvania, the data center boom has become a once-in-a-lifetime financial opportunity.

Michael Hodgson, 38, bought a 14-acre property in the rural community in 2019. He later sold the land to a developer for millions of dollars — nearly 60 times what he had originally paid — allowing him to retire, the story said.

Hodgson is among dozens of landowners who have benefited from the development push. Nearly 100 families in the area sold more than 1,700 acres to a data center developer this year. Individual families received between $1 million and more than $35 million, while the developer paid $586 million for the entire tract, or more than $300,000 per acre, per the story.

The value of land in the area was less than $5,000 an acre just two years ago. Jack Sordoni, a Salem Township native and land developer who helped organize the sales, described the surge in demand as a “gold rush.”

Sordoni said the deal also includes millions of dollars in community benefit agreements designed to strengthen local services. The funding is expected to support fire and police departments, emergency and medical services, water and sewer systems, as well as education, the story noted.

Data center boom turns landowners into millionaires