Tech News Roundup: IBM's AI Leap, Kubernetes 1.35 Features, and Quantum Computing's 2026 Surge

UAlbany and IBM Launch $20M Center for AI Systems Research The University at Albany and IBM have established a $20 million research partnership, the Center for Emerging Artificial Intelligence Systems, to accelerate scientific research across various academic disciplines. This collaboration provides university researchers with access to IBM’s cutting-edge AI hardware, including a cluster of IBM Spyre Accelerator chips. The center has already funded seven new research projects that leverage this technology to integrate AI into their respective fields. The partnership is uniquely positioned, with the university located near IBM’s Research AI Hardware Center where next-generation AI chips are developed. ...

January 12, 2026 · 4 min · 740 words · Omer