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Cypriot Robotics Teams Shine At International Competition In The Netherlands

Three robotics teams from Cyprus achieved remarkable success at the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Benelux Tournament, held on January 19 at the American School in The Hague, Netherlands.

Representing the Epiteugma Robotics Lab, the teams stood out among international competitors, earning the following awards:

  • 13906 Epiteugma RevvedUp: Finalist Alliance Award (2nd place) and the Motivate Award.
  • 28378 Epiteugma MouflonBots: Connect Award.
  • 28380 Epiteugma Gladiators: Design Award.

The non-profit Achievement Foundation for Talented & Gifted Youth commended the teams for their dedication and innovation, emphasizing their role as ambassadors of Cyprus’ burgeoning robotics talent.

Cypriot Ambassador to the Netherlands, Spyros Attas, attended the event and personally congratulated the students on their outstanding achievements, further highlighting the significance of their success on an international stage.

SpaceX Signs Compute Agreement With Google Ahead Of Planned IPO

SpaceX And Google Forge A Major Compute Partnership

SpaceX has announced a compute agreement with Google ahead of its planned initial public offering. According to a regulatory filing, Google will pay SpaceX $920 million per month from October 2026 through June 2029 in exchange for access to approximately 110,000 NVIDIA GPUs, CPUs, memory and related computing infrastructure.

Drawing Comparisons With Anthropic’s Agreement

The agreement follows a similar deal announced in May with Anthropic, which committed to paying $1.25 billion per month through 2029 for access to compute capacity at SpaceX’s Colossus 1 data centre near Memphis, Tennessee.

Based on the disclosed figures, Google’s allocation appears to be smaller than the capacity assigned to Anthropic. SpaceX has not identified which facility will support Google’s workloads, although CEO Elon Musk previously stated that Colossus 2 would be reserved for xAI.

Meeting Surging Demand In AI Innovation

Google’s move comes at a time when the company is experiencing unexpected demand for its cutting-edge AI products. A Google representative emphasized that, citing the strong performance of the newly launched Gemini Enterprise platform, this strategic, short-term agreement is designed to bridge capacity gaps. With Google frequently recognized as one of the largest single owners of AI compute resources, the robust design of this deal underlines the intensifying competition in the technology sector.

Financial Implications And Future Prospects

The announcement comes as SpaceX prepares for its expected Nasdaq debut. According to preliminary SEC filings, the company plans to raise approximately $75 billion at a valuation of around $1.75 trillion. At the same time, Alphabet has continued to expand its investment programme, authorising more than $180 billion in capital expenditures and announcing plans for an $80 billion equity offering.

Terms And Conditions Of The Agreement

The contract includes a termination clause allowing either party to cancel the agreement with 90 days’ notice after December 31, 2026. Google’s access to the designated computing infrastructure is expected to increase gradually through September at a reduced rate. If SpaceX fails to provide the agreed number of GPUs by September 30, 2026, Google may terminate the contract after a one-month grace period or accept a reduced allocation at a lower monthly cost.

A Strategic Partnership With Longstanding Ties

The agreement builds on an existing relationship between the two companies. Google is already an investor in SpaceX and, according to Bloomberg, its stake could be worth more than $100 billion following the IPO. Reports also indicate that discussions between the companies are continuing around potential orbital data centre projects, which form part of SpaceX’s broader long-term strategy.

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