New Saudi Supercomputer Can Process World’s Largest Geophysical Datasets

Dammam 7 can process and image the world’s largest geophysical datasets and is considered among the top ten most powerful in the world. (Aramco)
Dammam 7 can process and image the world’s largest geophysical datasets and is considered among the top ten most powerful in the world. (Aramco)
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New Saudi Supercomputer Can Process World’s Largest Geophysical Datasets

Dammam 7 can process and image the world’s largest geophysical datasets and is considered among the top ten most powerful in the world. (Aramco)
Dammam 7 can process and image the world’s largest geophysical datasets and is considered among the top ten most powerful in the world. (Aramco)

Top Saudi companies launched a new supercomputer, Dammam 7, which can process and image the world’s largest geophysical datasets and is considered among the top ten most powerful in the world.

Saudi Aramco and the Saudi Telecom Group (STC) announced the new high-speed computer which presents new opportunities in both exploration and development and enhances investment decisions.

Dammam 7 is the next step in Aramco’s digital transformation, including a number of advanced technologies that are reshaping major operations, increasing efficiencies, and reinforcing the company’s industry leadership in geoscience, read a statement obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat.

Dammam 7 was developed at Dhahran Techno Valley in partnership with STC’s Solutions, and CRAY, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise subsidiary. It has 55.4 petaflops of peak computing power, allowing it to process and image the world’s largest geophysical datasets.

It will push beyond the traditional boundaries of exploration and production through cutting edge technology, according to the statement.

“Sophisticated imaging and deep-learning algorithms will allow it to run very detailed 3D earth models, improving the Company’s ability to discover and recover oil and gas while reducing exploration and development risks,” it said.

In addition, the supercomputer will enhance decision-making for the exploration and development of conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources, as well as guide future investments in production and resource allocation.

Speaking on the occasion, Aramco President and CEO, Amin Nasser, explained that Dammam 7 is named after the first commercial oil well discovered in 1938.

He said it will help with breakthroughs as part of Aramco’s long term “Discovery and Recovery” strategy in its Upstream business.

“This technology that processes complex data faster will enable new discoveries and enhanced recoveries, which are crucial to both ensuring the availability of adequate supply to meet the demand for energy and to cut costs while boosting productivity,” he continued.

Nasser described Dammam 7 as “another step in our plan to invest in the right technology that drives production efficiency and resilience.”

CEO of STC Group CEO, Nasser al-Nasser, stated that the inauguration of the supercomputer data center in Aramco will open up new horizons in exploration, which will have a significant impact on data digitization and quality.

“These are in line with the digital transformation plans of the desired national outlook, and we are proud to have worked with locals to establish Dammam 7 Center,” he added.



China’s Xiaomi Q4 2023 Revenue Rises 11%, Beats Estimates 

A visitor looks at a Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 model smartphone at its store at a shopping mall in Beijing on March 19, 2024. (AFP)
A visitor looks at a Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 model smartphone at its store at a shopping mall in Beijing on March 19, 2024. (AFP)
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China’s Xiaomi Q4 2023 Revenue Rises 11%, Beats Estimates 

A visitor looks at a Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 model smartphone at its store at a shopping mall in Beijing on March 19, 2024. (AFP)
A visitor looks at a Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 model smartphone at its store at a shopping mall in Beijing on March 19, 2024. (AFP)

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi reported a 10.9% rise in fourth-quarter revenue on Tuesday, boosted by strong smartphone sales in an industry showing signs of recovery.

Revenue reached 73.24 billion yuan ($10.17 billion) in October-December, versus the 73.17 billion yuan average of 15 analyst estimates compiled by LSEG.

Adjusted net profit rose 236.1% from the same period a year earlier to 4.9 billion yuan. That compared with the 3.89 billion yuan average analyst estimate.


Nvidia Supplier SK Hynix Begins Mass Production of Next Generation Memory Chip 

The logo of SK Hynix is seen at its headquarters in Seongnam, South Korea, April 25, 2016. (Reuters)
The logo of SK Hynix is seen at its headquarters in Seongnam, South Korea, April 25, 2016. (Reuters)
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Nvidia Supplier SK Hynix Begins Mass Production of Next Generation Memory Chip 

The logo of SK Hynix is seen at its headquarters in Seongnam, South Korea, April 25, 2016. (Reuters)
The logo of SK Hynix is seen at its headquarters in Seongnam, South Korea, April 25, 2016. (Reuters)

SK Hynix Inc said on Tuesday it has begun mass production of next-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in artificial intelligence chipsets, with sources saying initial shipments will go to Nvidia this month.

The new type of chip - called the HBM3E - is a focal point of intense competition. Last month, Micron Technology said it had started mass production of the chips while Samsung Electronics said it had developed the industry's first 12-stack HBM3E chips.

SK Hynix has, however, led the HBM chip market by virtue of being the sole supplier of the version currently used - the HBM3 - to Nvidia which has 80% of the market for AI chips.

"The company expects successful mass production of HBM3E and with our experience... as the industry's first provider of HBM3, we expect to cement our leadership in the AI memory space," SK Hynix said in a statement.

The new HBM3E chip by the world's second-largest memory chipmaker offers 10% improvement in heat dissipation and processes up to 1.18 terabytes of data per second.

SK Hynix's HBM capacity is fully booked for 2024, analysts said, as explosive demand for AI chipsets drives up demand for high-end memory chips used in them.

"SK Hynix has secured an absolute market position... and its volume increase in high-end memory chips is also expected to be the most aggressive among chipmakers," said Kim Un-ho, analyst at IBK Investment & Securities.

Nvidia unveiled on Monday its latest flagship AI chip, the B200, said to be 30 times speedier at some tasks than its predecessor as it seeks to maintain its dominant position in the artificial-intelligence industry.

Shares in SK Hynix have doubled in value over the past 12 months on its leading position in HBM chips.


The Youths Have Spoken: Wallets Are Uncool. Go Digital.

Derek Abella
Derek Abella
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The Youths Have Spoken: Wallets Are Uncool. Go Digital.

Derek Abella
Derek Abella

By Brian X. Chen and Yiwen Lu

To a growing number of youths, a wallet stuffed with cash and cards is as unfashionable as the millennial tuck, no-show socks and skinny jeans. Carrying only a smartphone is the way. Iykyk — that’s “if you know, you know,” for those who don’t know.

I, Brian Chen, a graying 39-year-old tech columnist, am not one of those in the know. It’s unfathomable to me to part with my wallet, which holds crucial items like my driver’s license. So in an effort to be hip again, I recruited my 23-year-old colleague Yiwen Lu to ask the young ones how they live like this, and then I took the jump myself.

In ditching my physical wallet, I am joining youths like Ruby Hegab, a 19-year-old student in Fremont, Calif. As soon as she got her first credit card last year, she said, she went all-in on using her iPhone to pay for groceries, parking meters and restaurant meals, and for carrying insurance cards.

“If a store doesn’t accept Tap to Pay, I won’t give them business,” Ms. Hegab said. But that rarely happens, because the overwhelming majority of merchants she visits, including big box retailers and mom-and-pop shops, now accept some form of mobile payment from services like Apple Pay and Venmo.

In a survey asking just over 2,500 Americans about digital payments, some 80 percent of Gen Z respondents said they were using mobile wallets, and among them, half were eager to use their phones for much more than paying for things, according to recent data from Pymnts Intelligence, a research firm that studies commerce.

Younger people are increasingly using their phones for purposes that older adults would use a traditional wallet for, like carrying documents such as a driver’s license, boarding passes and event tickets. Some of these digital items can be added into the Apple and Google wallet apps, while others, like insurance cards, can be downloaded through third-party apps.

The shift in behavior is a reflection of how far mobile wallets have come. About a decade ago, when I covered emerging mobile payment apps, most people shrugged at the technology because tapping a phone on a scanner was no more convenient than swiping a credit card. In recent years, amid a global pandemic that drove people toward contact-free payments, Apple and Google expanded their software to support digitized driver’s licenses and transit cards, a perfect storm that made mobile wallets more useful.

Braving it without a wallet for a week, I used only my phone to do my shopping; go to bars, out for dinner and to the movies; and even buy crab from a fisherman’s boat. The phone sufficed in almost all those situations, though paying for dinner was more complicated and using a digital driver’s license to buy wine at a grocery store was a nonstarter.

If you’re hoping to ditch your wallet or simply want to cut down on some bulk in your pocket, here’s what you need to know.

Payments

In many stores, Android and iPhone users can use Google Pay and Apple Pay by tapping their phones on readers next to the cash register. Many small businesses such as food trucks accept payments through third-party apps like Venmo, which let you scan a bar code to send money.

Yet there is inherent risk when you rely fully on a mobile wallet. Abi Hoyer, 21, in Punta Gorda, Fla., said she didn’t carry a wallet for safety reasons: In the event of a mugging, a thief would get only her phone. Still, thieves could potentially make payments and drain money from your account if they coerced you into sharing your passcode.

That’s why it’s important for iPhone users to activate a new safety feature in settings called Stolen Device Protection, which prevents passcode access to data such as passwords and stored credit cards when the device is in an unfamiliar location. And Android users should be aware of the steps to lock and purge data from the device in the event of theft.

In addition, not all businesses take mobile payments. Ms. Hoyer learned this the hard way at Walmart when she discovered she was unable to pay for her items and didn’t have her full credit card number to sign up for the store’s wallet, Walmart Pay. One workaround: Password manager apps like 1Password and Bitwarden can safely store sensitive data including credit card numbers in case you need to look them up.

Jillian Gillespie, 27, in Chicago, switched to Apple Pay after losing her wallet over a year ago, she said. This works out fine for fast-casual restaurants where you pay at the counter, but at sit-down restaurants where waiters drop off a bill and expect to run a credit card, she occasionally has to rely on friends to pay. In those cases, she typically uses Venmo to reimburse her friends.

“I don’t really carry my wallet around with me, which sometimes can bite me in the butt,” Ms. Gillespie said.

I ran into similar snags. Out of three restaurants, only one brought a reader for me to tap my phone to pay, while the others asked for a credit card, which required my wife to pay.

Insurance cards and other documents

Digital scans or photos of important documents like health insurance and car insurance cards are now broadly accepted as substitutes for the real thing. Some insurance providers, like State Farm, Aetna and Anthem, make their digital cards available through their apps, which can be added to your mobile wallet. Not all insurance cards work this way, though, and it can be a hassle to find those cards at a moment’s notice — you don’t want to be stuck sifting through photos or finding the right app to load your insurance card after a car crash, for instance.

I found that the simplest method to make insurance cards easy to look up is to attach images of all of them to one digital note stored on your phone. On iPhones, you open your photo of the insurance card, tap the button in the lower left corner and select the Notes app to save the image to a new note. Then rename the note “Insurance Cards.”

Similarly, Android users can use the Google Keep note-taking app. In Keep, at the bottom tap “add image.” Then pick the photo of your insurance card and label the note.

Other types of cards and documents, like my Clipper card for public transit, movie tickets and gift cards, were all simple enough to digitize: Tapping the Add to Apple Wallet button loaded them inside my Apple wallet app.

Identification

Digitized versions of driver’s licenses are still relatively new and being tested in various states, including California, Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland and Utah. This is where the mobile wallet falls short.

Here in California, for example, you sign up for the digital driver’s license through the California Department of Motor Vehicles app. The app generates a temporary bar code that can be scanned to verify your age and identity. Airports in some states now display signs stating that they will accept the digital ID from those who have signed up for the Transportation Security Agency’s PreCheck program — but many states have yet to participate in this experiment, which makes it impractical to leave your driver’s license at home.

The digital ID is also not yet an acceptable substitute for a physical driver’s license. The California D.M.V. says law enforcement officers cannot accept the mobile driver’s license if you are pulled over, and Arizona’s Motor Vehicle Division says people are still required to carry a physical ID.

In the event of an emergency, a person may also have trouble identifying you. Apple’s Medical ID and Google’s Personal Safety features can be set up to show people your name, age and emergency contacts by pressing a shortcut on the phone — but emergency medical workers would have to know how to use the feature.

So it’s best to continue carrying a physical ID. To do that without carrying a wallet, you could do what some younger people do and sandwich the ID between your phone and phone case. I found that to be an imperfect solution because the card elevates the phone closer to the edges of the case, which makes the screen more susceptible to damage when it’s dropped.

After a week, I settled on what I felt was the best solution: a magnetic wallet that attaches to the back of my phone and carries only two cards — my ID and one credit card.

That felt like cheating. But Ms. Hegab, the 19-year-old, admits that she uses a similar card holder for carrying only her driver’s license.

As soon as digital driver’s licenses work everywhere, she said, she’ll be getting rid of it.

The New York Times


Saudi National Cybersecurity Authority to Hold 4th Global Cybersecurity Forum in October

A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
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Saudi National Cybersecurity Authority to Hold 4th Global Cybersecurity Forum in October

A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)

Under the patronage of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) will hold here the fourth edition of the Global Cybersecurity Forum (GCF) on October 2-3.

The event, held under the theme “Advancing Collective Action in Cyberspace”, will endeavor to boost international cooperation by bringing together thought leaders, decision makers, and prominent international entities in the field to address the most pressing issues in cyberspace.

This edition will build on the foundation and objectives set by previous editions, helping to bolster international cooperation in cybersecurity.

The event will feature a series of dialogue sessions focused on five key sub-themes: “Beyond Cyber Discord”, on building trust to advance international cyber cooperation; “Cyber Psychology”, on understanding human behavior in cyberspace; “Cyber Social Fabric”, on strengthening development of and inclusion in cyberspace, to bridge the gap between communities, organizations, and countries; “Thriving Cyber Economy”, on the contribution of the cyber economy to development through strong markets and resilient cyber ecosystems; and “New Cyber Frontier”, on how emerging technologies converge to push forward progress and innovation in cyberspace.

GCF is a global platform that brings together decision makers, government and private sector representatives, cybersecurity leaders, academics, and non-governmental organizations to work to improve cybersecurity, achieve economic and social development, and complement global cybersecurity efforts.


Türkiye Moves against Meta over Threads-Instagram Data Sharing

FILE PHOTO: Meta and Facebook logos are seen in this illustration taken February 15, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Meta and Facebook logos are seen in this illustration taken February 15, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Türkiye Moves against Meta over Threads-Instagram Data Sharing

FILE PHOTO: Meta and Facebook logos are seen in this illustration taken February 15, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Meta and Facebook logos are seen in this illustration taken February 15, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Türkiye's competition authority imposed on Monday an interim measure on Meta Platforms Inc meant to hinder data sharing between the Instagram and Threads platforms as it investigates possible abuse of the company's dominant market position.
In December, the authority launched an investigation into Facebook parent Meta over a possible violation of competition law by linking its social media platforms Instagram and the newer Threads.
The authority said the interim measure would remain in place until a final decision is made, since the data obtained and merged through these two apps could "violate competition law and cause irreparable damage" in the market.
Separately, the Turkish authority fined Meta 4.8 million lira ($148,000) daily as part of a
separate investigation over a notification message that the company sends users about the sharing of data.
The notification about data sharing between the company's Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp services did not provide sufficient information and was not transparent enough, it said.
The user notification was also designed to guide users to approve data sharing which was not deemed sufficient to address anti-competition concerns, it added.
A Meta spokesperson did not immediately comment on the decisions.


Apple in Talks to Let Google's Gemini Power iPhone AI Features

FILED - 16 September 2023, US, New York: The Apple logo, taken in Manhattan. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa
FILED - 16 September 2023, US, New York: The Apple logo, taken in Manhattan. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa
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Apple in Talks to Let Google's Gemini Power iPhone AI Features

FILED - 16 September 2023, US, New York: The Apple logo, taken in Manhattan. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa
FILED - 16 September 2023, US, New York: The Apple logo, taken in Manhattan. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa

Apple is in talks to build Google's Gemini artificial intelligence (AI) engine into the iPhone, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the situation.
Apple also recently held discussions with the Microsoft -backed OpenAI and has considered using its model, the report added.
Apple and Google are in active negotiations to let the iPhone maker license Gemini to power some new features coming to the phone's software this year, Bloomberg said.
Apple is preparing new capabilities as part of its upcoming iPhone iOS 18 based on its own homegrown AI models, but it is seeking a partner to power generative AI features, including functions for creating images and writing essays based on simple prompts, the report said.
The two parties have not decided the terms or branding of an AI agreement or finalized how it would be implemented, Bloomberg said, adding it was unlikely that any deal would be announced until June, when Apple plans to hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.
Both companies have an existing deal for Google to be the default search engine on Apple's Safari web browser, Reuters reported.
Apple, Google and OpenAI did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside business hours.
Apple has been slower in rolling out generative AI, which can generate human-like responses to written prompts, than rivals Microsoft and Google, which are weaving them into products.
Last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company plans to disclose later this year more about its plans to put generative AI to use, adding that the company is investing "significantly" in the area.


Huawei Says Chery's Luxeed S7 Delays Will be Resolved in April

FILE PHOTO: People visit the Huawei stand at the 2024 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Albert Gea/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People visit the Huawei stand at the 2024 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Albert Gea/File Photo
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Huawei Says Chery's Luxeed S7 Delays Will be Resolved in April

FILE PHOTO: People visit the Huawei stand at the 2024 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Albert Gea/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People visit the Huawei stand at the 2024 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Albert Gea/File Photo

Huawei said that a shortage of semiconductors and factory relocation issues that had delayed production and deliveries of its Luxeed S7 sedan should be resolved from next month, local media outlet Cailianshe reported on Saturday.
It quoted Huawei managing director and chairman of its smart car solutions, Richard Yu, who was speaking about the issues surrounding Chery's Luxeed S7 sedan at an annual forum organized by the EV100 think tank.
Reuters reported in January that Chinese automaker Chery and another Huawei partner, Changan Auto, had lodged complaints with Huawei over how production issues with a computing unit the tech giant manufactured had caused delays to deliveries of their flagship model.
The Luxeed S7 sedan - the first model for Chery's Luxeed EV brand - had orders of about 20,000 as of Nov. 28. Luxeed said in January that buyers could be reimbursed by up to 10,000 yuan if they were unable to pick up the car as promised. The S7 is priced from 249,800 yuan ($34,716.62).
The brand was only launched in November and had been much hyped by Huawei with Yu previously claiming the S7 would beat Tesla's luxury Model S in performance and at a price lower than the Model 3.
Yu also told the EV100 forum that its autos business unit would likely turn a profit from April after losing billions of yuan in the past year, due to strong sales of mid to high-end models built by its partners.
Huawei launched its smart car unit in 2019 with the aim that it could become the equivalent of German automotive supplier Bosch of the intelligent electric vehicle (EV) era and supply software and components to partners.
But it is the only money-losing unit among Huawei's main six and brought in only one billion yuan revenue in the first half of 2023, a fraction of the company's 310.9 billion yuan total.
Last year, Huawei announced that it would spin the unit off into a new company which will receive the unit's core technologies and resources and take investment from partners such as automaker Changan.


TikTok Advertisers Will Look to Rivals if US Senate Moves ahead on Ban

(FILES) This photograph taken on March 7, 2024 in Nantes, shows the logo of Chinese social media platform TikTok. (Photo by LOIC VENANCE / AFP)
(FILES) This photograph taken on March 7, 2024 in Nantes, shows the logo of Chinese social media platform TikTok. (Photo by LOIC VENANCE / AFP)
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TikTok Advertisers Will Look to Rivals if US Senate Moves ahead on Ban

(FILES) This photograph taken on March 7, 2024 in Nantes, shows the logo of Chinese social media platform TikTok. (Photo by LOIC VENANCE / AFP)
(FILES) This photograph taken on March 7, 2024 in Nantes, shows the logo of Chinese social media platform TikTok. (Photo by LOIC VENANCE / AFP)

Advertisers who turn to TikTok to market to young consumers are preparing contingency plans with social media rivals in the event the short-form video app is sold or banned in the US, but they are waiting for signs of Senate action before shifting marketing budgets.
House Republicans voted Wednesday to force Chinese tech company ByteDance to sell TikTok in roughly six months, or face a ban, one of the most significant challenges to the company that has long faced questions about national security concerns.
The White House has urged the Senate to pass the bill and US President Joe Biden has pledged to sign it.
Meta's Reels and YouTube's Shorts, TikTok's biggest competitors, are set to be the beneficiaries of advertising budgets if the app is banned, ad experts said.
TikTok did not respond to a request for comment. The company has said it will exercise its legal rights to prevent a ban, which it says would "take billions of dollars out of the pockets of creators and small businesses."
"The momentum around this legislation is greater than in previous national efforts to curtail or sell off TikTok, and advertisers are keeping a sharp eye on developments," said Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst at research firm Insider Intelligence.
If the bill progresses, "it would put us more on alert," said Jack Johnston, senior social innovation director at Tinuiti, a digital marketing firm that has worked with brands like Revlon and Elf cosmetics.
Still three digital marketing firms, including Tinuiti, told Reuters they are advising clients to keep a "business as usual" approach to TikTok, noting the viral app has survived multiple previous attempts to restrict its availability in the US, including an executive order from then-President Donald Trump in 2020 to ban it.
While advertising budgets are planned months in advance, brands can quickly place or pull ads on social media to respond to events.
Videos on TikTok can quickly set off new trends in music, fashion and beauty, and brands have flocked to the app in hopes of becoming part of major cultural moments. Insider Intelligence estimates TikTok will generate $8.66 billion in US ad revenue this year.
The high stakes involved with banning a major app like TikTok make an outright ban unlikely, one digital ad firm told clients on Wednesday, declining to be named to discuss the conversations.
A sale of the app is more likely, and the roughly six-month timeline would help brands prepare, Johnston said.
If the app is sold during the holiday season, a critical sales period for many companies, "then there is a little more urgency for brands that rely on this time of year for a bulk of their revenue," Johnston added.
Even if marketing budgets are redirected to Reels and Shorts, there's no guarantee the competing features could perform the same as TikTok.
"While a good portion (of TikTok users) are also active on other platforms, there is a healthy chunk that use TikTok as their primary media consumption channel. Reels and Shorts are the two logical offerings out there that most closely match TikTok's content format, but it doesn't mean that this is where users will flock to necessarily," Johnston said.


No Smartphone or Internet? No Problem; AI-Backed Phone Has the Answers 

Visually-impaired Kehinde Olubotusun, who struggled to find information because he has no smartphone, and who is using an Artificial-Intelligence-powered mobile phone that works offline, sits in his house in Alimosho local government district in Lagos, Nigeria February 23, 2024. (Reuters)
Visually-impaired Kehinde Olubotusun, who struggled to find information because he has no smartphone, and who is using an Artificial-Intelligence-powered mobile phone that works offline, sits in his house in Alimosho local government district in Lagos, Nigeria February 23, 2024. (Reuters)
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No Smartphone or Internet? No Problem; AI-Backed Phone Has the Answers 

Visually-impaired Kehinde Olubotusun, who struggled to find information because he has no smartphone, and who is using an Artificial-Intelligence-powered mobile phone that works offline, sits in his house in Alimosho local government district in Lagos, Nigeria February 23, 2024. (Reuters)
Visually-impaired Kehinde Olubotusun, who struggled to find information because he has no smartphone, and who is using an Artificial-Intelligence-powered mobile phone that works offline, sits in his house in Alimosho local government district in Lagos, Nigeria February 23, 2024. (Reuters)

Visually-impaired Nigerian Kehinde Olutubosun is a geography and animal enthusiast who struggled to find information because he has no smartphone. But that is changing, thanks to an Artificial Intelligence-powered mobile phone that works offline.

The service, launched by Canada-based Viamo in Nigeria last month, allows anyone – even in the middle of nowhere without the internet - to access AI technology.

Viamo uses a traditional handset to tap into local mobile phone networks to send commands or requests for information through SMS or voice calls.

It works like other AI chatbots and can be used by illiterate persons since it can be prompted by voice. It is also cheaper.

"For people who are not that financially buoyant, they still have this opportunity to use even as little as 10 naira to ask lots of questions that will actually benefit them, I am so happy," said Olutubosun.

Viamo said the device was targeted at the world's poorest and remotest communities and is being expanded to Pakistan, India and Tanzania after being first launched in Zambia.

Viamo is supported by development agencies in the United States and the United Kingdom, among others. UNICEF has partnered with Viamo to provide information on HIV, tropical diseases, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene.


Microsoft Singles Out Google's Competitive Edge in Generative AI

FILE PHOTO: Microsoft logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Microsoft logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Microsoft Singles Out Google's Competitive Edge in Generative AI

FILE PHOTO: Microsoft logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Microsoft logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Alphabet unit Google enjoys a competitive edge in generative artificial intelligence due to its trove of data and AI-optimized chips, Microsoft has told EU antitrust regulators, underscoring the rivalry between the two tech giants.
The comments by Microsoft were in response to a consultation launched by the European Commission in January on the level of competition in generative AI, Reuters reported.
The growing popularity of generative AI, which can generate human-like responses to written prompts and is exemplified by Microsoft-backed OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's chatbot Gemini, has triggered concerns about misinformation and fake news.
"Today, only one company - Google - is vertically integrated in a manner that provides it with strength and independence at every AI layer from chips to a thriving mobile app store. Everyone else must rely on partnerships to innovate and compete," Microsoft said in its report to the Commission.
It said Google's self-supply AI semiconductors would give it a competitive advantage for the years to come, while its large sets of proprietary data from Google Search Index and YouTube enabled it to train its large language model Gemini.
"YouTube provides an unparalleled set of video content; it hosts an estimated 14 billion videos. Google has access to such content; but other AI developers do not," Microsoft said.
It said AI-powered voice assistants such as Google's Google Assistant and Apple's Siri give both companies an advantage.
"They are well-positioned to evolve and leverage their respective existing voice assistants into leadership positions in generative AI. New entrants and competitors of Google and Apple will not enjoy the same advantages," Microsoft said.
Google hit back at Microsoft.
"We hope the Commission's study will shine a light on companies that don't offer the openness of Google Cloud or have a long history of locking-in customers - and who are bringing that same approach to AI services," a Google spokesperson said.
Microsoft, whose more than $10 billion investment in OpenAI is now in EU antitrust regulators' crosshairs, also sought to fend off regulatory worries about such partnerships between Big Tech and start-ups.
"All of these start-ups relied on different forms of investments and partnerships that enabled them to enter and expand in the space," it said.
It pointed to Anthropic which has Google and Amazon as investors, France's Mistral in which Microsoft has invested 15 million euros and Canada's Cohere which has Salesforce and Nvidia as investors.
"Encouraging pro-competitive partnerships in the AI space is an effective way to prevent companies from becoming vertically integrated in a manner that would result in an anticompetitive advantage," Microsoft said.