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Morocco’s Managem to Supply Renault with Cobalt for EV Batteries

A board with the logo of Renault is on display near a car showroom in Saint Petersburg, Russia March 24, 2022. (Reuters)
A board with the logo of Renault is on display near a car showroom in Saint Petersburg, Russia March 24, 2022. (Reuters)
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Morocco’s Managem to Supply Renault with Cobalt for EV Batteries

A board with the logo of Renault is on display near a car showroom in Saint Petersburg, Russia March 24, 2022. (Reuters)
A board with the logo of Renault is on display near a car showroom in Saint Petersburg, Russia March 24, 2022. (Reuters)

Moroccan mining company Managem SA said on Wednesday it signed a deal to supply French carmaker Renault Group with low carbon cobalt sulphate, a key component for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

Under this seven-year supply deal, Managem will supply Renault with 5,000 tons of cobalt sulfate annually starting from 2025.

Moroccan officials said the country, with the 11th largest reserves, was pushing to increase its cobalt output given higher demand from rechargeable batteries makers.

In January, Managem said it had agreed a deal with Glencore Plc for a proposed refining project at the Bou Azzer mine near Marrakech.

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First Artwork by Humanoid Robot Sells for $1.3m

Ultra-realistic AI robot Ai-Da is designed to resemble a human woman with a face, large eyes and a brown wig. Ben Stansall / AFP/File
Ultra-realistic AI robot Ai-Da is designed to resemble a human woman with a face, large eyes and a brown wig. Ben Stansall / AFP/File
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First Artwork by Humanoid Robot Sells for $1.3m

Ultra-realistic AI robot Ai-Da is designed to resemble a human woman with a face, large eyes and a brown wig. Ben Stansall / AFP/File
Ultra-realistic AI robot Ai-Da is designed to resemble a human woman with a face, large eyes and a brown wig. Ben Stansall / AFP/File

A portrait of English mathematician Alan Turing became the first artwork by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction, fetching $1,320,000 on Thursday.
The 2.2 meter (7.5 feet) portrait by "Ai-Da", the world's first ultra-realistic robot artist, smashed pre-sale expectations of $180,000 when it went under the hammer at London auction house Sotheby's Digital Art Sale, said AFP.
"Today's record-breaking sale price for the first artwork by a humanoid robot artist to go up for auction marks a moment in the history of modern and contemporary art and reflects the growing intersection between A.I. technology and the global art market," said the auction house.
The ultra-realistic robot, one of the most advanced in the world, is designed to resemble a human woman with a face, large eyes and a brown wig.
Ai-Da is named after Ada Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer and was devised by Aidan Meller, a specialist in modern and contemporary art.
"The greatest artists in history grappled with their period of time, and both celebrated and questioned society's shifts," said Meller.
“Ai-Da Robot as technology, is the perfect artist today to discuss the current developments with technology and its unfolding legacy," he added.
Ai-Da generates ideas through conversations with members of the studio, and suggests creating an image of Turing during a discussion about "A.I. for good".
The robot was then asked what style, color, content, tone and texture to use, before using cameras in its eyes to look at a picture of Turing and create the painting.
Meller led the team that created Ai-Da with artificial intelligence specialists at the universities of Oxford and Birmingham in England.
Meller said Turing, who made his name as a World War II codebreaker, mathematician and early computer scientist, had raised concerns about the use of AI in the 1950s.
The artwork's "muted tones and broken facial planes" seemingly suggested "the struggles Turing warned we will face when it comes to managing AI", he said.
Ai-Da's works were "ethereal and haunting" and "continue to question where the power of AI will take us, and the global race to harness its power", he added.