How AI Can Protect Underwater Cables That Carry Your Internet

Summary

WSJ Tech News Briefing Episode: How AI Can Protect Underwater Cables That Carry Your Internet Release Date: February 18, 2025 Host: Julie Chang, The Wall Street Journal

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1. Introduction to Critical Undersea Infrastructure

In this episode, Julie Chang delves into the often-overlooked undersea pipelines and cables that are vital for transporting fuel and maintaining the backbone of the Internet. Highlighting their significance, Chang sets the stage for exploring innovative solutions to protect this critical infrastructure from potential threats.

2. The Rise of Reward Programs with Bilt Technologies

Before addressing the main topic, Chang discusses the booming market of credit card rewards, introducing listeners to Bilt Technologies—a fintech company revolutionizing how consumers earn points.

• Bilt Technologies Overview:

  • CEO Encore Jain shared insights on expanding Bilt's reward programs beyond rent payments. “We handle everything from ACH payments to even the legacy checks and cash through to debit and credit for these apartment buildings,” Jain explained (01:51).

• Innovative Reward Systems:

  • Bilt allows customers to earn reward points for paying rent, aiming to soon extend this model to mortgages. Jain emphasized the dual benefit for both renters and landlords, stating, “Their vision is essentially to create a platform for businesses to target all these people moving into these new apartment complexes” (03:10).

• Impact on Local Businesses:

  • The program not only rewards tenants but also offers local businesses a streamlined way to reach new residents. As Christopher Mims pointed out, traditional flyer methods are inefficient: “It's really hard to track. It's a lot of ground effort,” leading to Bilt’s rewards ecosystem as a more effective alternative (03:32).

3. Launch of the "Bold Names" Podcast Season

Chang introduces the new season of Bold Names, a sister podcast featuring interviews with influential leaders.

• Guests and Highlights:
  • Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, discusses the transformative potential of AI, acknowledging both its promises and the journalistic pushback on its implications (04:44).
  • Palmer Luckey, known for inventing Oculus, shares his journey from being ousted by Meta to collaborating with Elon Musk on autonomous military technologies aimed at supporting American allies (04:52).

This segment underscores the podcast’s commitment to featuring bold leaders shaping the tech landscape.

4. AI-Powered Protection for Undersea Cables

Returning to the episode's main focus, Chang explores how artificial intelligence is being harnessed to safeguard undersea cables that are essential for global communications and energy distribution.

Interview with William Boston on North IO

• North IO’s Mission:

  • William Boston, a WSJ contributor, discusses North IO, a company leveraging AI to create a detailed digital replica of the ocean floor. Founder Jan Vent aims to transform murky underwater environments into navigable and secure spaces. “We are trying to collect this data... and present it in a standardized way that ultimately creates what they call a digital twin of the ocean,” Boston explains (07:32).

• Technological Challenges:

  • Developing real-time data analysis is crucial for immediate threat detection. Boston highlights, “If we want to prevent something terrible from happening, we have to be able to respond immediately,” emphasizing the need for advanced infrastructure and smarter AI systems capable of distinguishing between benign objects and potential threats like unexploded bombs (09:22).

• Applications and Collaborations:

  • North IO’s primary product, True Ocean, serves multiple purposes—from aiding scientists in monitoring climate change to assisting mining companies in locating valuable resources like magnesium. The company is currently collaborating with the German government on a project named Argus, focusing on AI-driven threat identification (10:48).

5. Conclusion

Julie Chang wraps up the episode by reiterating the importance of protecting undersea infrastructure through innovative AI solutions. She acknowledges the strides companies like North IO are making while also recognizing the ongoing challenges in achieving real-time data processing and precise threat detection.

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Notable Quotes and Timestamps

• Encore Jain on Bilt’s Innovation:
  “We handle everything from ACH payments to even the legacy checks and cash through to debit and credit for these apartment buildings.” (01:51)

• Christopher Mims on Traditional Marketing Limitations:
  “It's really hard to track. It's a lot of ground effort.” (03:42)

• William Boston on North IO’s Digital Twin Concept:
  “We are trying to collect this data... and present it in a standardized way that ultimately creates what they call a digital twin of the ocean.” (07:32)

• Challenges in Real-Time Threat Detection:
  “If we want to prevent something terrible from happening, we have to be able to respond immediately.” (09:22)

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Timestamps Reference

• [01:51] - Encore Jain discusses Bilt Technologies’ payment solutions.
• [03:10] - Jain explains benefits for local businesses using Bilt’s platform.
• [03:32] - Christopher Mims on the inefficiency of traditional marketing methods.
• [04:44] - Overview of upcoming episodes featuring Reid Hoffman and Palmer Luckey.
• [04:52] - Palmer Luckey on his current ventures and collaborations.
• [07:32] - William Boston introduces North IO’s mission and digital twin concept.
• [09:22] - Discussion on challenges faced by North IO in real-time data processing.
• [10:48] - Collaboration between North IO and the German government on Project Argus.

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This episode of WSJ Tech News Briefing provides a comprehensive look into how artificial intelligence is being utilized to protect vital undersea infrastructure, ensuring the stability and security of global communications and energy supply. Additionally, it offers insights into the evolving landscape of fintech rewards programs and the launch of influential tech leadership podcasts.

Transcript

[Oracle Representative]

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See if you [e-mail] WSJTech oracle.com WSJTech.

[Julie Chang]

Welcome to Tech News Briefing. It's Tuesday, February 18th. I'm Julie Chang for the Wall Street Journal. There are a lot of undersea pipelines and cables running through the ocean. They're used to carry fuel and transm. But how do we protect this critical infrastructure? We'll hear how one company is using, that's right, artificial intelligence in hopes of getting an accurate picture of what's happening on the ocean floor. But first, credit card rewards are a big business. We all know that little dance you do at the end of a group dinner to see who's going to use their card to get those points or sending referral codes to everyone. You know when you've opened a new card to get that referral bonus. And there are so many card options out there. One of them is a reward program from fintech company Bilt Technologies. Customers have already been using the Bilt card to pay their rent and collect reward points. And Bilt's CEO Encore Jain says he's aiming for mortgages next. Jane joined WSJ columnists Tim Higgins and Christopher Mimms on the brand new season of Bold Names, our sister podcast that brings on the bold named leaders featured in the pages of the Wall street to ask them about their businesses and business decisions. Tim and Christopher are here with me now. Tim Mims, first of all, congrats on the new season.

[Encore Jain]

Well, thank you.

[Tim Higgins]

Yeah, thanks for having us.

[Julie Chang]

Tell us about your first guest this season, Encore. James seems to have some big goals for the company.

[Encore Jain]

Yeah, Encore Jane definitely has big ideas for revolutionizing the way you pay for rent. You might be familiar with his company because it just seems to be all over TikTok with videos including Martha Stewart and Paris Hilton talking about it. How do you get loyalty points for paying your rent? He's created a way to do that either through his payment system with these landlords or also co branded credit card with Wells Fargo where people can use it and collect points. We've got some audio. Why don't you take a listen to what he had to say.

[Christopher Mims]

So we have built a purpose built payment solution for for apartment buildings and rental homes. We handle everything from ACH payments to even the legacy checks and cash through to debit and credit for these apartment buildings. And for the first time we reward customers every Single time. They pay their rent on time.

[Julie Chang]

So it sounds like Jade wants to make bilt like the amex of rent.

[Tim Higgins]

One key thing is he's trying to offer rewards points to get people onto the platform. But the value proposition is as much about the landlords that he's serving. So he wants to be just a payments provider for all of them. And, you know, he claims to have the biggest reach of anybody in that market.

[Julie Chang]

Jane also says local businesses would be benefiting from this. Explain that a bit for us.

[Encore Jain]

Their vision is essentially to create a platform for businesses to target all these people moving into these new apartment complexes. They get reward points in addition to the other kind of loyalty points that they're getting within the system. We got some audio here of him talking about it.

[Christopher Mims]

If you're a local business, to reach people at apartment buildings, it's been really clunky, right. They put up a flyer saying, get 10% off when you come to our restaurant down the street.

[Encore Jain]

The flyer slid under your door in the middle of the night for free pizza or whatever.

[Christopher Mims]

Yeah, it's really hard to track. It's a lot of ground effort. And so we said, what if we just created a rewards ecosystem where through build, they can now reach every local resident at all of our apartments and condo buildings from the moment they move in with benefits and rewards that we create and fund.

[Julie Chang]

Jane is a serial entrepreneur and he's the child of immigrants. Did he have any thoughts on the politics of immigration in this country right now?

[Encore Jain]

It seems like he loves to talk about just entrepreneurship in general. He comes from a family where that was very important. His father came from India and just kind of the that immigrant work ethic. And he's frustrated with the current debate within this country.

[Christopher Mims]

I think that is very anti American to be anti legal immigration. And I think most people in this country do support bringing the best and brightest from all over the world legally to here to help create economic value for all of us.

[Julie Chang]

So, Tim Christopher, who else can we expect to hear from this season?

[Encore Jain]

We got the boldest of bold names. Reid Hoffman. Palmer Luckey.

[Tim Higgins]

Reid Hoffman is famous for starting LinkedIn, of course, and he is very of the moment because he just wrote this book about how AI is going to be amazing and it could have this incredibly positive impact on our lives. We pushed back on some of that and got some great answers that are exclusive to the journal. Palmer Luckey. He is best known as the inventor of Oculus, sort of the father of modern VR. Also famous for getting fired from Meta for basically supporting Trump. He's feeling vindicated. He's texting with Elon Musk about their anti woke views. And he's a giant military contractor that is selling the US Military autonomous aircraft and cruise missiles. And he's ready to help American allies defend themselves with our weapons, if not our troops. So stay tuned for that.

[Julie Chang]

The first episode of the new season of Bold Names, hosted by our very own Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins, is out now. Episodes drop on Fridays. You can catch [e-mail] podcasts or on your favorite podcast player. Gentlemen, thank you for joining me.

[Encore Jain]

Thank you, thank you.

[Julie Chang]

Coming up, how one company is using AI to protect critical undersea infrastructure that's after the break.

[Oracle Representative]

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[Julie Chang]

Deep underwater, there are massive stretches of pipelines and cables running atop the ocean floor. They form the critical infrastructure that delivers fuel like natural gas or transmit the data that's the backbone of the Internet. But the ocean floor is not an easy area to reach, let alone protect. One company, north IO, is tapping into the power of artificial intelligence to make this undersea world a little less murky. WSJ contributor William Boston has been following this company and he's with me now. William, tell us about this company, north IO, how exactly would it use AI to protect undersea technology?

[William Boston]

We have to take a step back a bit. A few years ago, the company's founder, Jan Vent, was a student and he was looking at basically geospatial mapping of the oceans. And his concern at the time was was being able to better see what's under the ocean. He was developing a program that would help to sift through the data that's available to basically see and navigate under the ocean, to find objects that are there and to be able to distinguish between a pile of rocks and a pile of unexploded bombs that developed further to where we are today. Most of the sensory data that we have now is acoustic. Satellites can only penetrate with cameras so far into the ocean because it gets too dark to see. And so most of the Information that scientists work with, that the military works with now is sonar, various types of sonar. It gets very complicated. But what North I.O. is trying to do is to collect this data, much in the way that Google Maps sources data from many different sources for its image of the high, and then fuse it together, what they call data fusion, and present it in a standardized way that ultimately creates what they call a digital twin of the ocean. Little of the ocean has actually been mapped that it's still a mystery what the actual contours of the terrain is. And then going a step deeper to not just understanding the topography, but actually what's on the ocean floor.

[Julie Chang]

And what are some of the challenges the company faces while working on this?

[William Boston]

There are a lot of challenges that companies like North I.O. face trying to create a digital twin and a replica of the sea so that we can see what's happening and see what the founder, Jan Vent, likes to call anomalies, things that change, so that we know, oh, well, something's changed. Is that a threat? And one of the great challenges is, first of all, being able to do this quickly. If we want to prevent something terrible from happening, we have to be able to respond immediately. And as it is now, it takes too long to analyze the data. It could take weeks to analyze the data. So North I.O. was trying to work on a system where we can do that ultimately in real time. So that's going to take a lot of infrastructure that needs to be built, a lot more sensors stationed in the ocean, sending out sonar signals, helping us identify what's underwater, and then it's precision. It's being able to have AI that's smart enough on autonomous underwater vehicles on ships that the AI can look at a box and know whether or not that's just a box that fell off a ship or is that a bomb. The scientists are not there yet. The AI is pretty good, but they still have a long way to go.

[Julie Chang]

Who is North IO working with right now?

[William Boston]

Well, the German government is financing a project that North IO is working on called Argus Argus, and that is specifically designed to use AI in order to find a way to identify threats. North IO's main product is something called True Ocean, which is this idea of creating a digital twin of the ocean. And it can be used by scientists to monitor climate change. How is climate change affecting the oceans, temperatures and currents and so on, as well as to help mining companies find magnesium deposits on the ocean floor. Being able to find them raises the potential to mine on the ocean floor.

[Julie Chang]

That was WSJ contributor William Boston and that's it for Tech News Briefing. Today's show was produced by Jess Jupiter with Deputy editor Scott Salloway. I'm Julie Chang for the Wall Street Arnold. We'll be back this afternoon with TNB Tech Minute. Thanks for listening.

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