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How a Forthcoming Modeling Tool Could Help Developers Rapidly Assess the Potential of Any Floating Device
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Developers typically use several computer models to assess new technology designs. Now, NREL researchers are building an all-in-one tool that makes it faster and easier to evaluate their designs in one platform. Photo by Gregory Cooper, NREL
Can your technology triumph in the ocean?
Ask SEA-Stack.
True to its name, this one-of-a-kind, free, open-source tool combines (or stacks) multiple wave energy modeling capabilities into one user-friendly package.
With SEA-Stack, wave energy companies—or any developers working on water-based tech, like ships, underwater drones, or even space shuttle crew modules—will be able to quickly vet new technology designs and potentially save significant time and money. Those savings could help accelerate technology development and enable wave energy devices to fulfill their promise: to deliver reliable energy to populated coastal cities, rural and remote communities, or even offshore data centers and military bases.
“Wave energy has a lot of great prospects right now,” said Salman Husain, a mechanical engineer at NREL who is helping develop the next-generation SEA-Stack tool. “Computers are getting smaller. Advanced manufacturing has become a lot more affordable. You can do wireless communication to monitor devices that have been deployed.”
And, Husain added, “with these rapid tools, we just might crack it.” (“It” being wave energy.)
SEA-Stack is rapid—thanks to high-performance computing, it is about 10 to 100 times faster than its predecessors. The tool is also flexible, capable of running everything from simple but fast simulations (essential to quickly assess new design ideas) to complex analyses that account for tricky physics. With help from machine learning, it can also ingest the latest wave energy data—or data from nearly any floating tech.
In short, SEA-Stack will be a Swiss Army knife for wave energy developers (and beyond).
Unlike existing tools, SEA-Stack combines four traditionally separate modeling steps into one platform where developers can consider all relevant ocean physics. Illustration by Christopher Schwing, NREL
Minimal Risk, Time, and Cost
Wave energy devices—which produce electricity from the consistent, predictable energy flowing in ocean waves—could help the United States build an even more secure and resilient power system. But these early-stage energy technologies are not yet affordable or competitive enough to achieve commercial success, in large part because they come with complex engineering challenges. Devices must survive decades in a turbulent, powerful environment: the ocean.
And the ocean is not a cooperative research partner.
If developers toss an unvetted prototype into potentially destructive waves, they risk losing significant time and money (plus investors) if their device quickly fails, breaks, or does not produce as much energy as expected. Instead, companies need a virtual testing platform that can accurately replicate the ocean, so they can assess different device designs with far less risk, time, or cost. Although such tools exist, they all have major limitations.
SEA-Stack is designed to overcome those limitations.
“SEA-Stack enables researchers to design and optimize technologies while considering all relevant physics,” said Michael Lawson, who leads the NREL marine energy team. “That’s just not possible using the existing tools.”
Existing tools cannot simulate certain features, like flexible device shells, collisions, or autonomous control systems, which allow a device to react automatically to its changing environment. Developers also cannot mix and match different codes to explore broader design possibilities. The SEA-Stack team is building in both capabilities.
Plus, existing coding tools are typically siloed. A developer could use one to subject a design idea to a simplified ocean. Such low-fidelity models are handy because they are fast. But once the developer has a winning design, they often cannot use the same tool to put it through a high-fidelity model—one that is not as fast but accounts for the complex physics that affect how waves of different sizes and speeds interact with various wave energy devices.
“In reality, waves are more like poly-pyramids moving all over the place,” Husain said.
SEA-Stack has the poly-pyramids. And it has simplified waves, thanks to its predecessor and partner, WEC-Sim.
Salman Husain (far right), who worked on SEA-Stack’s predecessor, WEC-Sim, said the new modeling tool will be able to support the broad community of ocean-based technologies, including ships, marine robots, and devices used for scientific research. Photo by Taylor Mankle, NREL
A Swiss Army Knife of Wave Energy Models
“Historically, NREL has played a leading role in developing these simulation tools,” said David Ogden, a research engineer who helped develop the SEA-Stack code.
That was true with WEC-Sim, the Wave Energy Converter SIMulator, another wave simulation tool, which won a prestigious R&D 100 Award in 2022. Researchers at NASA and Lockheed Martin depended on WEC-Sim to help a spaceflight crew land their module safely in the ocean.
Husain, who specializes in numerical modeling, is learning from WEC-Sim’s successes and limitations to build SEA-Stack. WEC-Sim “has a lot of tools inside of it, but the moment you step outside of that ecosystem, you’re out in the open on your own,” Husain said.
WEC-Sim also mostly operates in a two-dimensional space, which cannot fully replicate all wave dynamics.
SEA-Stack does not jettison WEC-Sim’s bounty; instead, it simply expands its reach, stacking WEC-Sim with three additional code layers:
Python—a user-friendly, open-source software—is like the can opener in SEA-Stack’s Swiss Army knife: reliable and practical but slow.
C++, like a pair of scissors, is both sharp and quick, adding more complexity and enabling the tool to run 10–100 times faster than WEC-Sim.
Chrono is SEA-Stack’s core, its ultraprecise, versatile blade. This large code base can represent a plethora of physics, including complex—even entirely novel—wave energy machines and their underlying subsystems. Chrono can, for example, emulate thousands or even millions of fluid particles as tiny ping-pong balls drumming against a device’s exterior. And, because Chrono is open-source and can easily chat with other codes, both high- and low-fidelity, users can quickly explore a variety of concepts and identify the one that performs best.
“We want to have as much data as possible before ‘getting the metal wet,’ as they say,” Ogden said. That includes data on numerous design iterations and fluid simulation methods, which help “build up that confidence that the thing is going to perform well and survive or ‘survive and thrive.’”
With SEA-Stack, a developer can rapidly test their initial design ideas and then easily transition to more rigorous testing. As a bonus, the higher-fidelity models double-check the lower-fidelity results. If the low-fidelity model erred, it can learn and refine itself. With help from machine learning, the entire SEA-Stack package can learn from broader ocean-based industries and their expertise.
“We’re part of the larger community of marine systems, such as floating platforms, ships, and marine robots, like autonomous underwater vehicles, or AUVs,” Husain said. “This would help us innovate and design novel applications, like wave-powered AUVs.”
That means wave energy developers benefit and so do companies that build any kind of floating technology.
With SEA-Stack, Ogden said, “we’ll be able to do much more innovative design exploration and make sure the devices that are being built have the best possible chance of performing well.”
Learn more about NREL’s research in marine energy and SEA-Stack. Then subscribe to The Current, NREL’s water power newsletter, to stay up to date on the latest research.
Tietoevry Corporation (Tieto1)) has received an announcement pursuant to the Securities Market Act regarding a change in its shareholding. Silchester International Investors LLP has announced that its holding has decreased to 17 754841 shares, representing 14,97% of the total number of shares.
Silchester acts as investment manager for certain commingled funds (“Clients”). In acting for its Clients, Silchester is given full discretion over their investments and is empowered to vote on their behalf. One of the Clients, the Silchester International Investors International Value Equity Trust, holds 6.3% of the shares.
Target company: Tietoevry Corporation, Business Identity Code: 0101138-5
Date on which threshold was crossed or reached: 24 November 2025
The registered number of shares of the company is 118 640 150, which entitle to a total of 118 640 150 votes.
1) Tietoevry has adopted the new brand name Tieto as from November 2025. The change of the Parent company’s name, Tietoevry Corporation, is subject to the decision of the Annual General meeting.
For further information, please contact
Tommi Järvenpää, Head of Investor Relations, tel. +358 40576 0288, tommi.jarvenpaa (at) tietoevry.com
TIETOEVRY CORPORATION
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Tietois a leading software and digital engineering services company with global market reach and capabilities. We provide customers across different industries with mission-critical solutions through our specialized software businesses Tieto Caretech, Tieto Banktech and Tieto Indtech as well as TietoTech Consulting business. Our around 15 000 talented vertical software, design, cloud and AI experts are dedicated to empowering our customers to succeed and innovate with latest technology.
Tieto’s annual revenue is approximately EUR 2 billion. The company’s shares are listed on the NASDAQ exchange in Helsinki and Stockholm, as well as on Oslo Børs.www.tietoevry.com
The Marshall Islands’ recent decision to use a US dollar-backed stablecoin as one of the mechanisms for delivering a universal basic income (UBI) reflects the practical challenges of providing financial services across one of the world’s most geographically dispersed nations, where many households lack reliable access to banks.
The new Lomalo digital wallet will distribute welfare payments in USDM1, a tokenised instrument issued on behalf of the Marshall Islands government and fully collateralised by short-term US Treasuries under a New York law indenture. Whether it qualifies as a “stablecoin” – the shorthand used in public reporting – is disputable because stablecoins are, by definition, privately issued instruments, whereas USDM1 is a sovereign obligation issued through a government-mandated structure. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has characterised its structure as that of a “digital sovereign bond”, aligning more closely with sovereign debt, even if it operates like a stablecoin in practice.
Services taken for granted elsewhere, such as bank branches, ATMs, foreign-exchange dealers and even the ability to open an account, remain inaccessible for large parts of the population.
This is an unusual development, but not an isolated one. Palau, Solomon Islands and other Pacific states have also begun experimenting with digital payment systems as traditional banking networks recede. What is emerging in the region is not a story of crypto hype but a response to the erosion of banking infrastructure that has left Pacific states searching for viable mechanisms to deliver core financial services.
Within this context of financial fragility, the IMF notes that the Marshall Islands’ newly established UBI initiative is intended to cushion households from rising cost-of-living pressures and provide predictable support in an economy marked by limited formal employment and financial access. The scheme is also framed as a way to help stem heavy out-migration by offering a more stable social safety net in a setting of structural fragility and demographic loss.
While the broad objectives are clear, the precise funding architecture remains only partially specified. Current plans rely on annual drawdowns from the Compact Trust Fund (backed primarily by US contributions) and, to a lesser extent, revenue associated with USDM1.
Pacific financial systems have been under pressure for some time. Commercial banks have steadily withdrawn correspondent relationships across the region, citing low profitability and the cost of meeting global anti-money-laundering standards. Those withdrawals have weakened the ability of states to clear international payments, maintain remittance channels and distribute government funds to remote areas. Banking is expensive and inefficient for many small island states because it is geographically sparse, capacity-constrained and increasingly unreliable. Services taken for granted elsewhere, such as bank branches, ATMs, foreign-exchange dealers and even the ability to open an account, remain inaccessible for large parts of the population.
The Marshall Islands has recently decided to use a US dollar-backed stablecoin as one of the mechanisms for delivering a universal basic income (Neill Cowles/Flickr)
This is the context in which digital wallets and stablecoins have become attractive. Majuro’s interest in USDM1 reflects logistical realities rather than crypto enthusiasm as it enables direct transfers to citizens without bank accounts, reduces the burden of moving physical cash across dispersed atolls, and provides a payment channel that is not dependent on increasingly fragile correspondent-banking links through the Lomalo wallet.
USDM1 does not resemble the speculative tokens that dominate cryptocurrency markets. The government emphasises that it is issued under New York law, backed by short-term US Treasuries, held in a bankruptcy-remote structure by a US-based custodian, and designed with redemption mechanics that mirror sovereign-debt obligations. In functional terms, it is closer to a tokenised Treasury bill than to a conventional crypto asset.
Stablecoins may appear unnecessary from the vantage point of mature banking systems, but that assumption breaks down in the Pacific.
These innovations come with risks. The IMF has repeatedly warned that digital-asset projects in the Pacific could generate macro-financial vulnerabilities, particularly where supervisory capacity is limited. Concerns include fiscal pressures from expanded liabilities, financial integrity risks arising from weak anti-money-laundering/know your customer frameworks, shocks from redemption flows, and operational vulnerabilities in digital systems. The IMF has also advised that the Marshall Islands’ UBI scheme be more narrowly targeted to maintain fiscal sustainability.
Stablecoins may appear unnecessary from the vantage point of mature banking systems, but that assumption breaks down in the Pacific, where infrastructure is thin, uneven and deteriorating. With limited access to banks, weakening correspondent links and high cash-distribution costs, digital payment systems fill a real gap. They are emerging not as a technological novelty but as a substitute for banking infrastructure that can no longer meet basic needs.
For Australia, the significance lies not in the Marshall Islands itself, which sits within the US compact system, but in the precedent it sets. Other Pacific governments facing similar banking constraints may turn to digital payment rails as traditional banking deteriorates. Canberra has already invested in maintaining regional banking access, working with the United States and the World Bank through the Pacific Banking Forum to address de-risking and correspondent-bank withdrawals.
The forthcoming Australian digital assets framework, expected to introduce licensing requirements, reserve standards and governance rules, could become a useful tool for regional engagement. Rather than treating stablecoins solely as a domestic regulatory matter, Australia could share elements of its framework with Pacific partners, support supervisory capacity-building and work with central banks to test digital payment systems. The aim would not be to promote stablecoins but to ensure that their adoption does not outpace regulatory oversight or undermine financial stability.
The Marshall Islands’ UBI program signals a shift that could accelerate across the region. As banking networks continue to contract, digital payment systems will become increasingly attractive to Pacific governments confronted with shrinking banking access and the need for workable alternatives. Key for Australia is to approach this change not through the lens of cryptocurrency optimism or scepticism but as a potential structural transformation in the region’s financial architecture.
The fight between Nvidia and one of its loudest naysayers, investor Michael Burry, is escalating.
Following the “Big Short” investor’s series of social media posts arguing that the artificial intelligence investment boom is replaying the dotcom bubble from the 1990s, with Nvidia at the center of it, the chipmaker quietly circulated a private memo to analysts that explicitly namechecked Burry to push back on many of his claims.
“Nvidia emailed a memo to Wall Street sell side analysts to push back on my arguments on SBC and Depreciation. I stand by my analysis,” Burry said in a post on Substack, referring to stock-based compensation. “I am not claiming Nvidia is Enron. It is clearly Cisco.”
Burry has repeatedly warned that today’s AI infrastructure frenzy mirrors the late-1990s telecom buildout far more than the dot-com wipeouts investors remember. He pointed to massive capex plans, extended depreciation schedules and soaring valuations as evidence that markets are again mistaking a supply boom for durable demand.
The Nvidia memo, first reported by Barron’s, disputed Burry’s claims around depreciation life.
To Burry’s charge that customers are overstating the useful lives of Nvidia’s Graphics Processing Units in order to justify runaway capex, Nvidia counters that its customers depreciate GPUs over four to six years based on real-world longevity and utilization patterns.
Nvidia added that older GPUs such as A100s (released in 2020) continue to run at high utilization rates and retain meaningful economic value well beyond the two to three years claimed by critics.
The memo also rejects Burry’s suggestion of “circular financing,” saying Nvidia’s strategic investments represent a small fraction of revenue and that AI start-ups raise capital predominantly from outside investors.
Today’s Cisco
Burry believes Nvidia now occupies the exact same position as Cisco, the key hardware supplier that powered a massive capital investment cycle, held in 1999–2000.
Just as telecommunication companies spent tens of billions of dollars laying fiber optic cable and buying Cisco gear based on forecasts that “internet traffic doubles every 100 days,” today’s hyperscalers are promising nearly $3 trillion in AI infrastructure spending over the next three years, Burry said in a Substack newsletter.
The heart of his Cisco analogy is overbuilt supply meeting far less demand than expected. In the early 2000s, less than 5% of U.S. fiber capacity was operational, Burry said. Today, he believes the industry’s belief in boundless AI demand rests on similarly optimistic assumptions about data center power and GPU longevity.
“And once again there is a Cisco at the center of it all, with the picks and shovels for all and the expansive vision to go with it. Its name is Nvidia,” Burry wrote.
Industry Minister Chris McDonald said the critical minerals industry to offer a lot of value to the South West
Minerals from the South West could play a big part in a strategy to reduce the UK’s reliance on using foreign material, the government says.
Industry Minister Chris McDonald visited Cornwall to launch the Critical Minerals Strategy, which aims to produce 10% of the UK’s mineral needs domestically, along with a further 20% through recycling products by 2035.
Sites such as a repurposed quarry near St Austell being used by Cornish Lithium to produce lithium hydroxide monohydrate for lithium-ion batteries have been earmarked as being important to the strategy.
McDonald said both Devon and Cornwall had a “huge amount” to offer the industry and hoped it would provide a boost to the region’s economy.
The government, which has set aside about £200m funding for the strategy, said China currently dominated global critical mineral production.
It said the strategy aimed to prevent the UK becoming “vulnerable from overreliance” on exporters for its supplies.
Demand for critical minerals such as lithium, copper and tungsten is set to increase over the coming years due to their use in items including mobile phones, laptops and cars.
‘Cornish Celtic tiger’
McDonald, a minister for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, said it was not a good idea to “only buy things from one shop” and the government wanted to increase the nation’s options.
“Both Cornwall, Devon and the whole South West region have a huge amount to offer for critical minerals,” he added.
“From the resources alone, we’ve got Europe’s biggest lithium deposit in Cornwall and one of the world’s largest tungsten deposits in Devon, along with great expertise and skills.
“It’s an industry I know will add a lot of value to the local economy, but also provide really great opportunities for young people as well.”
Perran Moon, Labour MP for Camborne and Redruth, said the strategy could help “unlock the Cornish Celtic tiger”.
Camborne and Redruth MP Perran Moon said the strategy could “unleash the Cornish Celtic tiger”
He said: “We do sit on a unique geology here that could drive jobs and security for decades to come.”
Jamie Airnes, chief executive of Cornish Lithium, said securing a domestic supply of minerals such as lithium would help create “high-quality jobs”.
“The strategy highlights the need to accelerate domestic capability, unlock investment, and build strategic partnerships – all of which are essential to delivering lithium production at scale,” he said.
Elon Musk attends the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 19, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI is expected to close a $15 billion round at a $230 billion pre-money valuation next month, sources familiar with the matter told CNBC’s David Faber.
The deadline for allocation is the end of day on Tuesday, with the round expected to close on Dec. 19, the sources said.
This confirms earlier CNBC reporting that the company was raising $15 billion. The Tesla CEO later called the report on the round “False” in a post on the social media platform X.
At the time, sources told CNBC that xAI would use a large portion of the money for funding graphics processing units responsible for powering large language models.
CNBC had previously reported in September that the startup was looking to raise $10 billion at a $200 billion valuation.
The funding round is yet another sign of the insatiable demand for AI tools. Companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, have raised billions and reached sky-high valuations as investors pour more money into companies building foundational AI models.
Sam Altman’s OpenAI finalized a $6.6 billion-share sale at a $500 billion valuation last month, and Reuters recently reported that the ChatGPT maker was eying a $1 trillion initial public offering.
Anthropic closed a $13 billion funding round in September that roughly tripled its valuation from March.
Musk’s xAI is responsible for creating the Grok chatbot that has come under fire for disseminating hate speech, including antisemitic content. The company recently debuted Grokipedia, an AI-powered competitor to Wikipedia.
In March, Musk announced the merger of xAI with X in a deal valuing the social media platform at $33 billion.
