Russia publishes rare footage of largest drone factory
Moscow, Russia -- Russia has showcased what it calls the biggest drone factory in the world, broadcasting rare footage from...
Geostrategy
Microsoft laying off several thousand employees
San Francisco, United States -- Microsoft on Wednesday said it was slashing a little less than four percent of its...
Business
Business
Meta to start using Europeans’ data for AI training May 27
Paris, France -- Meta will start using public posts and comments by its European users to train generative artificial intelligence...
- Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and Threads, said earlier it would develop its AI models with European users' public content and conversations with the Meta AI chatbot.
- That means anything from Instagram photo captions to Facebook comments could soon be fair game for Meta AI, though private conversations via WhatsApp will be excluded.
Business
Denmark’s Royal Unibrew adds AI colleagues into workforce
Fakse, Denmark -- They have names, faces and email addresses, but the five new colleagues at Denmark's Royal Unibrew only...
- Royal Unibrew in Denmark has introduced five virtual AI colleagues with names and backstories to assist human employees with routine tasks and information retrieval.
- The company reports increased engagement since adding photos to the AI agents, and employees interact with them through chats and emails for enhanced efficiency.
Business
US exempts several consumer electronics from Trump’s import tariffs
Washington, United States -- The Trump administration has exempted a raft of consumer electronics from its punishing import tariffs --...
- US Customs and Border Protection office said smartphones, laptops, memory chips and other products would be excluded from the global levies President Donald Trump rolled out a week
- The exemptions will benefit US tech companies like Nvidia and Dell, as well as Apple, which makes iPhones and other premium products in China.
Geostrategy
After Instagram restrictions, Meta to introduce teen accounts for Facebook
Paris, France -- Meta on Tuesday announced that it was extending its teen accounts to its social network Facebook, after...
- The accounts were brought in for 13- to 15-year-old Instagram users last September as part of moves to shield underage internet users from online harms.
- Teens are immediately placed in such accounts, with those under 16 unable to change settings without parental permission.
Interview
UAE’s steady economic rise fertile ground for growth of facilities management
A steady stream of development projects and year-round tourism in the country propel demand for tech-enabled facilities management, says Adnan...
- In a market like the UAE, or the GCC in general, where things evolve daily, adaptation is essential, said Jabri.
- Our industry is increasingly focused on sustainability, and technology plays a pivotal role in enabling environmentally friendly practices, he added.
Geostrategy
First orbital rocket launched from Europe crashes seconds after blast-off
Oslo, Norway -- The first orbital rocket launched from continental Europe crashed seconds after blast-off Sunday, in a closely watched...
- Isar Aerospace, which had said it did not expect to reach orbit with the launch, said the two-stage rocket fell into the sea, adding that "the launch pad seems to be intact".
- The 28-metre (92-foot) tall, two-meter diameter rocket has a one-ton carrying capacity, but was unloaded for the test flight.
Business
‘Something is rotten’: Apple’s AI strategy faces doubts
New York, United States - Has Apple, the biggest company in the world, bungled its generative artificial intelligence strategy? Doubts...
- Doubts arose when tech analyst John Gruber criticized Apple in a blog titled "Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino."
- The analyst admitted frustration for not questioning Apple's Siri genAI upgrade announced last June
Science
Firms and researchers at odds over superhuman AI
The belief that human-or-better intelligence -- often called "artificial general intelligence" (AGI) -- will emerge from current machine-learning techniques fuels...
- "Systems that start to point to AGI are coming into view," OpenAI chief Sam Altman wrote in a blog post last month.
- Such predictions help justify the hundreds of billions of dollars being poured into computing hardware and the energy supplies to run it.
Business
Does ‘vibe coding’ make everyone a programmer?
New York, United States -- Can a complete tech novice create a website using everyday language on ChatGPT? That's the...
- The ChatGPT and Claude interfaces can write an entire program line by line on demand, as can Gemini, which launched its dedicated version, Gemini Canvas.
- Other generative AI platforms specifically dedicated to coding have also made their mark in recent months, from Cursor to Loveable, or Bolt, Replit and Windsurf.
Arts & Culture
Italian paper prints fully-AI edition, but not to ‘kill’ journalism
Rome, Italy -- In a world first, an Italian newspaper is printing a fully AI-generated edition for a month in...
- Il Foglio, a daily broadsheet with an irreverent touch and a circulation of about 29,000, says it is the first newspaper in the world to print entire editions created through AI.
- The newspaper's 20-odd journalists ask a version of ChatGPT to write a story on a specific subject in a specific tone, and it produces a text using information scraped off internet
Russia publishes rare footage of largest drone factory
Moscow, Russia -- Russia has showcased what it calls the biggest drone factory in the world, broadcasting rare footage from...
Geostrategy
Company News
Latest News
IBM claims ‘real world’ edge in quantum computing race
San Francisco, United States -- Technology veteran IBM on Tuesday laid out a plan to have a "practical" quantum computer...
Science
Gamers get hold of Nintendo’s hotly awaited Switch 2
Tokyo, Japan -- Gamers finally got their hands on Nintendo's new Switch 2 on Thursday, the console that could score...
Business
New WEF report reveals how tech convergence will reshape industries
Geneva, Switzerland – The World Economic Forum today released a new report examining how emerging technology combinations are reshaping industries...
Geostrategy
Most Read
Geostrategy
Hey chatbot, is this true? AI ‘factchecks’ sow misinformation
Washington, United States -- As misinformation exploded during India's four-day conflict with Pakistan, social media users turned to an AI chatbot...
- NewsGuard's research found that 10 leading chatbots were prone to repeating falsehoods, including Russian disinformation narratives.
- The quality and accuracy of AI chatbots can vary, depending on how they are trained and programmed, prompting concerns that their output may be subject to political influence.
Business
The five biggest-selling gaming consoles
From the first video game consoles of the 1970s to the Nintendo Switch 2 due out on Thursday, hundreds of...
- Japanese tech and entertainment giant Sony sparked a global frenzy with the release of PlayStation 2 in 2000.
- The Nintendo Switch, released in 2017, had a tablet format allowing users to play on a large screen at home or on public transport, helping to turn it into a sensation.
Business
Silicon Valley VCs navigate uncertain AI future
The generative AI frenzy unleashed by ChatGPT in 2022 has propelled a handful of venture-backed companies to eye-watering valuations.
- Leading the pack is OpenAI, which raised $40 billion in its latest funding round at a $300 billion valuation -- unprecedented largesse in Silicon Valley's history.
- Other AI giants are following suit. Anthropic now commands a $61.5 billion valuation, while Elon Musk's xAI is reportedly in talks to raise $20 billion at a $120 billion price tag.