Tech Times Weekly Wrap: Pentagon's Supercomputer, Waymo's Robotaxi Police Stop, Elon Musk's Jab at Zuck's 4th of July Post

Last week saw massive developments in the world of tech, and Tech Times' Weekly Wrap brings you a refresher to it, starting with the Pentagon's upcoming plans to launch a new supercomputer for its cloud service for the US military. It is followed by the latest controversy faced by Waymo in Phoenix where it was stopped by a police officer for a traffic violation, only to find no drivers.

One of the biggest Fourth of July posts online was from Mark Zuckerberg's patriotic surfing video, in which Elon Musk took a not-so-subtle jab against the Meta CEO. 

Pentagon's New Supercomputer Cloud Service for Miltary

The Department of Defense (DoD) has introduced its latest initiative that will bring over its supercomputers to be accessible by the United States military via a cloud service. This will allow the US troops to take advantage of the massive computing power offered by the supercomputer, offering a new unified network that is under the management of the Pentagon. 

Under the High-Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP), its supercomputer resource centers were made possible to access by Rescale and Parallel Works after working on its prototype for 18 months. 

This will now help in the integration of the Pentagon's Defense Supercomputing Resource Centers (DSRCs) to commercial cloud services to bring flexible access for the military.

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Waymo's Robotaxi Pulled Over in Phoenix 

Waymo's June traffic stop over at Phoenix by its police officers has recently gone viral online, showing the bodycam footage of the law enforcement personnel stopping a robotaxi without a driver. The Jaguar I-PACE electric vehicle retrofitted with Waymo's technology has violated traffic laws in the area, prompting the said traffic stop.

It was revealed that Waymo's robotaxi drove onto the opposite lane and towards oncoming traffic after beating a red light as it avoided an "inconsistent construction signage." It was not able to get back to the proper lane, the reason it was pulled over.

However, after finding no drivers in the robotaxi, the police were unable to issue a citation or violation, claiming that it was a computer. 

Elon Musk vs. Zuck's 4th of July Video

Mark Zuckerberg is known for his surfing and wakeboarding skills, and in the spirit of the US Independence Day, he brought another video of him not only performing the watersport activity but also holding the American flag and drinking beer while wearing a tuxedo. 

Many were amused and overjoyed with his patriotic display, but there are some haters online, including a wild discussion on X which Elon Musk participated in. 

Whole Mars Catalog began the discussion by saying Zuckerberg "z(s)ucks" and Musk replied by saying he would prefer to work instead of enjoying the holiday on yachts. 

Not much was said after that, only this jab against the Meta CEO for spending his holiday in an all-out fashion.

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