Tech Pulse Daily - November 17, 2025

Microsoft Ignite 2025 Starts Tomorrow: AI Innovation Takes Center Stage

Microsoft Ignite 2025 kicks off November 18-21 in San Francisco with keynote at 8 AM PT Tuesday, where major AI and cloud platform announcements are expected to reshape enterprise technology.

• Event Schedule: Nov 18-21 at Moscone Center (pre-day Nov 17), keynote Tuesday 8 AM PT with streaming available
• Expected Announcements: Copilot AI enhancements, Azure cloud transformation, enterprise AI deployment tools
• Developer Focus: Agentic AI capabilities, multi-cloud integrations, security and compliance updates
• Industry Participation: Hundreds of sessions from Microsoft partners and enterprise customers

Learn why developers and startups should attend Microsoft Ignite 2025 →

AWS Project Rainier Operational: 500K Trainium2 Chips Power Largest AI Cluster

AWS activated Project Rainier, one of the world's largest AI compute clusters, delivering nearly half a million Trainium2 chips for training frontier AI models at unprecedented scale.

• Chip Count: 500,000 Trainium2 chips interconnected for distributed AI model training
• Infrastructure Scale: Custom-built data centers with high-capacity networking and power systems
• OpenAI Partnership: Supports $38B AWS-OpenAI deal providing GPU and TPU capacity for GPT models
• Competitive Position: Positions AWS as leading cloud provider for large-scale AI workload training

Read AWS announcement on Project Rainier activation and capabilities →

ABB Achieves 15-18% Energy Savings with Azure OpenAI in Industrial AI Suite

ABB Schweiz AG deployed Microsoft Azure and Azure OpenAI Service to power its Genix Industrial AI Suite, achieving significant energy optimization in energy-intensive manufacturing.

• Energy Optimization: 15-18% energy reduction in cement plants and other energy-intensive industries
• Genix Copilot: Azure OpenAI-powered assistant for industrial operations and process optimization
• Data Center Efficiency: Significant efficiency gains in data center operations through AI-driven automation
• Real-World Impact: Validated results in production environments with measurable cost savings

Learn how ABB is using Azure OpenAI for industrial optimization →

Docker 29 Released with Auth TLS Certificate Updates

Docker released version 29 during the week of November 10-16, accompanied by scheduled maintenance for auth.docker.io and auth.docker.com TLS certificate rotation.

• Version Release: Docker 29 shipped with security updates and performance improvements
• Auth Maintenance: Nov 17 maintenance (05:00-11:00 PST) for TLS certificate rotation on auth endpoints
• Impact: No service interruption expected, though some users may see one-time certificate trust prompt
• Security Focus: Strengthened authentication and improved container registry security

View Docker 29 release notes and update instructions →

Netflix Engineering: Real-Time Distributed Graph for Live Events & Gaming

Netflix Engineering published technical deep dive on building a Real-Time Distributed Graph (RDG) to support new features including ad-supported plans, live programming, and mobile games.

• Use Cases: Supports live events (Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson, NFL Christmas), ad targeting, mobile gaming
• Architecture: Data processing pipeline for internet-scale real-time graph updates
• Scale: Handles massive data streams for 200M+ subscribers across multiple content types
• Innovation: Custom-built solution for Netflix's unique streaming and gaming requirements

Read Netflix's technical deep dive on Real-Time Distributed Graph architecture →

Additional Tech Updates

Microsoft AI Superfactory Live: Microsoft's Fairwater AI superfactory now operational, pushing multi-region AI infrastructure lead with dense GPU campuses connected by dedicated AI WAN.

Vend Park $17.5M Series A: Parking management technology company raised $17.5 million Series A to transform parking operations with smart infrastructure.

OnRamp $15M Series A: Intelligent customer onboarding platform completed $15 million Series A funding to scale enterprise deployments.