{
  "id": 15510112,
  "title": "Time Lords kill leap seconds, before they become the new Y2K bug",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/time-lords-kill-leap-seconds-before-they-become-the-new-y2k-bug",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-18T23:01:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Register",
    "slug": "the-register",
    "url": "https://www.theregister.com/networks/2026/10/19/time-lords-kill-leap-seconds-before-they-become-the-new-y2k-bug/5303711"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The General Conference on Weights and Measures (GCPM) has decided to stop introducing leap seconds, citing concerns over the potential for disruption to IoT devices and the risk of a Y2K-scale remediation effort. As leap seconds are added to synchronize Universal Time with Earth's variable rotation, they have become increasingly difficult to implement due to the widespread reliance on synchronized timing data. The GCPM's vote to end the use of leap seconds follows a discussion on the topic at their recent meeting, with a particular concern raised about the potential risks of negative leap seconds. The Time Lords argue that the financial investment required to mitigate potential disruptions would be comparable to the remediation efforts spent on the Y2K bug, which cost an estimated $300-$600 billion in the late 1990s. Additionally, the growing influence of IoT technologies and the lack of standardized protocols for device behavior further exacerbate the risks associated with introducing leap seconds.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Register Science",
        "title": "Time Lords kill leap seconds, before they become the new Y2K bug",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/time-lords-kill-leap-seconds-before-they-become-the-new-y2k-bug-15514330",
        "published": "2026-10-18T23:01:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}