Transcript
A (0:00)
AI is transforming industries, but the data centers powering it require more energy and water than ever. At the break, join Christophe Beck, chairman and CEO of Ecolab, for insights on using water effectively while safeguarding this critical resource for future generations. Here's your afternoon TNB Tech minute for Monday, January 5th. I'm Julie Chang for the Wall Street Journal. Bitcoin accumulation firm Strategy recorded a nearly $17.5 billion unrealized loss in the fourth quarter after a sharp decline in the value of its bitcoin stash. Shares of strategy plunged 48% last year, mirroring a gloomy year for bitcoin. The largest cryptocurrency itself fell more than 6% last year, its worst annual performance since 2022. Still, both strategy and bitcoin are off to a strong start in 2026. Bitcoin climbed nearly $94,000 as of Monday morning, while strategy gained about 4%. The company said it recently snapped up about 116 million DOL worth of Bitcoin. China's electric vehicle market may see demand cool further this year, that's according to Nomura analysts. In a note, China released its new policy for auto subsidies at the end of 2025, which the analysts say they believe signals further policy tightening. They add that the new policy will hurt local demand in the near term, especially for mass market models, and that Chinese EV makers will need to shift their focus toward product upgrades instead of price cuts. Finally, AT&T is planning to relocate its global headquarters from downtown Dallas to a nearby suburb by the second half of 2028. That's according to a Monday all staff email viewed by the Wall Street Journal. The telecom firm is the sixth biggest employer in Dallas. Its departure from downtown would continue a years long trend of companies decamping from the urban core. Per real estate data firm CoStar, Dallas downtown has the second highest office vacancy rate in the nation. Seattle AT&T has been consolidating its office space into fewer hubs nationwide. For a deeper dive into what's happening in tech, check out Tuesday's Tech News Briefing podcast. How are data center operators working to improve sustainability and water savings at every stage of the data center lifecycle? Here's Ecolabs Christophe Beck with some thoughts. The Mach 7 or the Mach 4 are the ones who are really so focused on high tech, are the most forward looking. They have the means, they have the mindset, they have the passion for innovation and they're really open to try new things as well because everything is new with AI and with that technology as well. I think even if we're not where we wanted to be with that industry right now, we will be ahead in the next few years because innovation that's coming up right now is working much better than we thought. And it's really thinking in circular ways, being in a data center or in a microchip manufacturing plant. Learn more About Ecolab@ecolab.com Custom content from WSJ is a unit of the Wall Street Journal Advertising Department. The Wall Street Journal news Organization was not involved in the creation of.
