Meta’s big plan: The longest subsea cable in the world

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

Meta’s big plan: The longest subsea cable in the world

The context: In our instantly connected world, data travels at nearly the speed of light across cables that criss-cross ocean beds between continents. Their total length: 1.4 million kilometres. These networks are built by public-private consortiums—of tech companies and state-owned telecom companies. Over recent years, they have become territory for geopolitical—and corporate—rivalry. This Big Story explains the politics of subsea cables in detail.

What happened now: Meta has confirmed its plans to build the world’s longest subsea cable that will connect the US and India—along with South Africa and Brazil. Dubbed Project Waterworth, the cable will be over 50,000 km long—i.e. longer than the Earth’s circumference (40,075 km). Meta hasn’t revealed any numbers, but TechCrunch in November put the predicted cost at over $10 billion. This is a rough representation of the subsea cable’s planned route:

The big picture: More than 95% of the world's internet traffic is transferred through undersea cables. Ergo, those who control the cables… That’s why Meta is aiming for exclusive ownership with Waterworth—to take on Google, which controls 100% of many of its 33 undersea cable routes. The move will elbow out publicly owned telecom companies—and tighten the control of a handful of companies with the deep pockets required to finance these projects.

Point to note: The route chosen by Meta also avoids tricky parts of the globe—avoiding China and "geopolitical hotspots" in the Suez canal and South China sea. It focuses instead on connecting the US to lucrative global markets like India—a ‘geopolitical’ choice in itself. Science Direct has more on India emerging as “a cradle” for undersea cables due to its geographical location. Times of India reports on three other projects that will increase our internet speed and capacity. (BBC News)

Delhi’s new Mukhya Mantri is…

Rekha Gupta—who was elected as MLA for the very first time from Shalimar Bagh. She will be the fourth woman Delhi CM in history.

About Gupta: She is described as “a grassroots leader with an RSS–ABVP background”—and is infamous for her nasty tweets. Gupta is also known for her staunch advocacy of women’s rights. A former colleague at the Delhi University Students’ Union from Congress says:

We did not always agree on ideology because she had a staunch RSS ideology and did not support Gandhian ideology. But when it came to issues, as women, we supported each other. We both fought for women’s issues such as safety on campus and for more women’s colleges.

Then there’s the more uncharitable view of her selection:

The choice of a low-profile leader as the chief minister suits the Centre as Delhi lieutenant governor V.K. Saxena, who hails from Gujarat, is known to be close to both Modi and home minister Amit Shah.

Point to note: Gupta ran for the Shalimar Bagh seat in two previous Assembly elections and lost. Third time’s the charm for Rekha-ji.

What’s next: The BJP won on a platform promising welfare benefits—especially for women—a grand Yamuna clean-up and the benefits of ruling party support at the Centre. There wasn’t much in the way of saffron politics. But it remains to be seen what it will do once in power. The Hindu has lots more on Gupta’s career.

Your lifestyle is gonna kill ya!

A new Oxford study has found that lifestyle and environmental factors have a far greater impact on the risk of early death than ‘bad’ genes—a 17% risk as opposed to just 2% for the latter. These 25 identified factors—now fancily termed “exposome”—include smoking, socioeconomic status, physical activity, and living conditions. What’s also interesting:

The authors used a unique measure of ageing (a new "aging clock") to monitor how rapidly people are ageing using blood protein levels. This enabled them to link environmental exposures that predict early mortality with biological ageing.

Why this matters: Of the 25 factors identified, 23 can be modified—with lifestyle or policy changes. It also shows that the size of your wallet is more likely to determine the length of your life—than your parents:

Your income, postcode and background shouldn't determine your chances of living a long and healthy life. But this pioneering study reinforces that this is the reality for far too many people.

News Medical has lots more on the study.

The AI Pin shutdown: $699 of junk

The context: Founded by two former Apple engineers—blessed with A-list funders like Sam Altman—Humane was valued at $850 million—before it even sold a single device. In April, they unveiled the $699 AI Pin—hyped as a revolutionary device—much like the iPhone (see this Big Story). Fast forward to 2024, the AI Pin was finally launched with a resounding thud—more likely to be returned than bought: “1,000 purchases were canceled before shipping, and more than $1 million worth of product has been returned.”

What happened now: The company has finally shut down—its flagship product reduced to a “pricey paperweight”. HP will be scooping up various parts of Humane for $116 million—and will stop selling the pin. That’s far less than the $230 million Humane raised and the $1 billion it hoped to sell for last year. Nail in the coffin for consumers: Humane is offering refunds only to those who purchased the device in the past 90 days. They also have to download all their data—including emails, photos etc—which is going to soon disappear forever.

Why any of this matters: There is a serious disconnect between the insane hype around AI and its utility. The AI Pin proved to be a dud because it didn’t do nada—proving the technology isn’t advanced to support everyday wearable tech. It’s telling that Humane founders will now work integrating artificial intelligence into HP’s personal computers, printers and connected conference rooms—far more likely candidates for daily use. Reminder: Both Google and Microsoft have been forced to offer their AI products for free—to get people to actually use them. (The Verge)

Fish know the hand that feeds them

A new study has found that wild fish are, well, like dogs. Lol! They can recognize and follow specific humans—especially those who feed them. Researchers conducted a series of experiments in the Mediterranean Sea that looked like this:

The first experimental phase—the training—tested if fish could learn to follow an individual diver. The training diver, Katinka Soller, started by trying to attract the attention of local fish; she wore a bright red vest and fed fish while swimming a length of 50 meters.

Over time, Soller removed the conspicuous cues until she wore plain dive gear, kept the food hidden, and fed the fish only after they had followed her the full 50 meters.

In other words, given time and repetition, the fish could easily identify her among other divers—and knew she would be carrying food—without visual evidence. You can see the fishy pals in hot pursuit below.

What this tells us: In the words of study co-author Maëlan Tomasek:

It might be strange to think about humans sharing a bond with an animal like a fish that sits so far from us on the evolutionary tree, that we don’t intuitively understand. But human-animal relationships can overcome millions of years of evolutionary distance if we bother to pay attention. Now we know that they see us, it’s time for us to see them.

Popular Science has a highly detailed account of the experiments—if you’re interested.

what caught our eye

business & tech

Following on from pushing out job postings, Tesla is setting up shop in India, picking showroom spots in New Delhi and Mumbai as it gears up to finally launch sales.
Musk’s cost-cutting watchdog, DOGE, claimed an $8 billion ICE contract save—turns out it was just $8 million.
Trouble in paradise? The Donald says it would be unfair to the US if Elon Musk’s Tesla builds a factory in India—to circumvent hamaare tariffs.
Newslaundry has a good read on how Adani’s fortunes in Qatar rise just as Modi rolls out the red carpet for the Emir.
New York Times is bringing AI into the newsroom, rolling out tools to help with edits, headlines, and even interview questions—but not to write the news itself, yet.
Pokémon Go maker Niantic is reportedly offloading its games division, eyeing a $3.5 million sale to Scopely, a Saudi-backed gaming firm.
Fiverr wants gig workers to train AI on their work—so they can sell AI-generated versions of themselves.

sports & entertainment

Meghan Markle hard-launched her lifestyle brand ‘As Ever’ on Instagram, rebranding from ‘American Riviera Orchard’ and teased a spring drop for fans eager to shop.
Shubman Gill dethrones Babar Azam to become the #1 ODI batsman, adding another chapter to the India-Pakistan rivalry before their Champions Trophy clash on February 23.
New Zealand thumped Pakistan by 60 runs in the Champions Trophy opener—thanks to centuries from Tom Latham and Will Young.
Indian Express has an interesting take on how the Champions Trophy could make or break the Rohit Sharma-Gautam Gambhir era.
Can you sue a cinema hall for playing too many ads before a screening? This Bangalore consumer court says yes—fining PVR-INOX Rs 1.2 lakh for disrupting a man’s schedule by 25 minutes.

health & environment

Mongabay has an insightful read on the elusive Madras hedgehog—nature’s pest control expert and an ecological alarm bell—whose dwindling numbers signal trouble for arid landscapes.
A new study calls India's African cheetah translocation neither ethical nor sustainable, with 40–50% of the relocated big cats dying—far from the expected 85% survival rate.
Deep-sea creatures aren’t just surviving in the ocean’s darkest depths—they’re building entire underground worlds, burrowing through the seafloor and reshaping life 7.5 km below the surface.
Sweden’s top court has dismissed Greta Thunberg and 300 activists’ climate lawsuit, ruling the state can’t be forced into stronger action through the courts.

as for the rest

Trump called Zelensky a “dictator without elections,” escalating their feud after Zelensky accused him of parroting Russian propaganda. As US sets itself on shaking up traditional allies though, French President Macron scrambled to rally European allies in an emergency meeting on Wednesday.
Sticking with the EU, it has approved a new package of sanctions against Russia—which include banning imports of Russian aluminium and exports of chemicals from Moscow.
According to Lokayukta police, there is no evidence against Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah or his wife Parvathi in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land scam. Our Big Story has more context.
Nearly 150 students have been injured in clashes—between the youth wing of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and an activist group—on a university campus in Khulna
As a counter to China’s growing influence on Kabul, India will accept an ambassador-level representative from the Taliban to take over the Afghan embassy in New Delhi.
A 17-year-old has been convicted and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment—in connection with a gangrape of a doctor in Vellore in 2022.
The legal age of consent matters but the law must evolve to take a more compassionate approach towards criminal cases involving consensual adolescent love, a new Delhi High Court order says.
RIP Francesco Rivella—the inventor of Nutella has passed away at the age of 97.

Four things to see

One: We finally have startling footage of the moment the Delta airline went belly up on the runway at Toronto Pearson Airport—on Monday afternoon. This CNN video report explains what happened moment-by-moment while BBC News has reasons for the flip. Happy reminder: Everyone aboard survived.

Two: Rapper A$AP Rocky—best known as RiRi’s boyfriend and father of her kids—was found “not guilty” of firearm assault. He had been arrested for allegedly shooting someone multiple times after an altercation in 2021—and was looking at 24 years in prison. You can (somewhat) see him dive into Rihanna’s arms after the verdict. No, she’s not the blonde woman. (Hollywood Reporter)

Three: Apple just unveiled the cheapest version of the iPhone in the iPhone 16 family—priced at $599. The iPhone 16e uses the same chip as iPhone 16 and includes Apple Intelligence but doesn’t have a home button or Face ID features. Reminder: Apple’s iPhone sales “missed iPhone revenue expectations for the first fiscal quarter”. The new phone is expected to drive sales—when it launches on February 28. Perhaps, that’s why the promo vid has a 12-minute hard sell—as you can see below. (Quartz)

Four: Pedro Pascal fans, rejoice! Here’s the trailer for his next flick ‘Freaky Tales’—a retro movie described as “a send-up of just about everything that shaped ’80s pop culture, from hip-hop and sci-fi blockbusters to the decade’s biggest sports stars and kung fu movies.” The movie is slated to release on April 4. (IndieWire)