Blackline Safety to Make Debut at 2023 EGYPS Exhibition in Cairo

Blackline Safety to Make Debut at 2023 EGYPS Exhibition in Cairo
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Blackline Safety to Make Debut at 2023 EGYPS Exhibition in Cairo

Blackline Safety to Make Debut at 2023 EGYPS Exhibition in Cairo

Blackline Safety Corp. (TSX: BLN) , a global leader in connected safety technology, announced it will be exhibiting at the 2023 EGYPS exhibition, where it will showcase its suite of ground-breaking connected safety devices.

The event is taking place at the Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo, from February 13 to 15 and expects to attract more than 500 exhibitors and 32,000 attendees.

Blackline Regional Sales Manager Samy Karam Gerguis has also been invited to give a presentation at the adjoining EGYPS Technical Conference on February 13 at 2:30 p.m. (Room 1, Session 1), where he will provide unique insight into “How to improve health and safety in the energy industry by using connected wearable technology.”

The EGYPS 2023 Technical Conference brings together global oil, gas, and energy professionals to showcase the latest technical opportunities and challenges, breakthrough research findings, innovative technologies and industry solutions, creating an excellent learning and networking hub for the industry’s technical experts, The Associated Press reported.

At the exhibition, attendees will experience first-hand Blackline Safety’s full suite of award-winning connected solutions, including the new G6 wearable single-gas detector. Featuring cloud connectivity and data insights, the G6 wearable single-gas detector helps users quickly respond to—and prevent—safety incidents and manage compliance. The company’s flagship G7 wearable personal gas detectors will also be on display.

These devices for personal gas detection and lone worker monitoring include built-in connectivity, out-of-the-box deployment, easy integration into existing operations, and a broad gas sensor portfolio from which to choose. Rounding out the exhibit will be the G7 EXO Area Monitor, the world’s first direct-to-cloud area portable area gas monitor that offers rapid deployment, configuration flexibility and versatile mounting systems for placement anywhere.

Commenting on the benefits of Blackline’s solutions, Ahmed Fathi, Engineering Products Head of Department at Blackline’s Oman Distributor of the Year, Mohsin Haider Darwish (MHD ACERE) commented, “As a deep-rooted distributor of fire and safety solutions since the 1980s, MHD ACERE could quickly see the potential of Blackline’s unrivalled connected safety technology. Since day one of our partnership, we have demonstrated to our customers how the product can support them to widen the scope of worker and workplace protection. Customers appreciate what we offer and believe in it. They see it working anytime, anywhere, without special network limitations or configuration requirements. We are proud to represent Blackline Safety.”

Behind every Blackline Safety solution are Blackline Live & Blackline Analytics, award-winning connected safety software that enable organizations to know the moment something happens and manage it through to resolution with world-class emergency management tools. Reports are automatically compiled using data streamed directly from the field, meaning users can monitor, configure and deploy their fleet any time, anywhere.

Blackline Safety is a technology leader driving innovation in the industrial workforce through IoT (Internet of Things). With connected safety devices and predictive analytics, Blackline Safety enables companies to drive towards zero safety incidents and improved operational performance.

Blackline Safety provides wearable devices, personal and area gas monitoring, cloud-connected software and data analytics to meet demanding safety challenges and enhance overall productivity for organizations with coverage in more than 100 countries.

Armed with cellular and satellite connectivity, Blackline Safety provides a lifeline to tens of thousands of people, having reported over 185 billion data-points and initiated over five million emergency alerts. For more information, visit BlacklineSafety.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.



Nvidia, Joining Big Tech Deal Spree, to License Groq Technology, Hire Executives

The Nvidia logo is seen on a graphic card package in this illustration created on August 19, 2025. (Reuters)
The Nvidia logo is seen on a graphic card package in this illustration created on August 19, 2025. (Reuters)
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Nvidia, Joining Big Tech Deal Spree, to License Groq Technology, Hire Executives

The Nvidia logo is seen on a graphic card package in this illustration created on August 19, 2025. (Reuters)
The Nvidia logo is seen on a graphic card package in this illustration created on August 19, 2025. (Reuters)

Nvidia has agreed to license chip technology from startup Groq and hire away its CEO, a veteran of Alphabet's Google, Groq said in a blog post on Wednesday.

The deal follows a familiar pattern in recent years where the world's biggest technology firms pay large sums in deals with promising startups to take their technology and talent but stop short of formally acquiring the target.

Groq specializes in what is known as inference, where artificial intelligence models that have already been trained respond to requests from users. While Nvidia dominates the market for training AI models, it faces much more competition in inference, where traditional rivals such as Advanced Micro Devices have aimed ‌to challenge it ‌as well as startups such as Groq and Cerebras Systems.

Nvidia ‌has ⁠agreed to a "non-exclusive" ‌license to Groq's technology, Groq said. It said its founder Jonathan Ross, who helped Google start its AI chip program, as well as Groq President Sunny Madra and other members of its engineering team, will join Nvidia.

A person close to Nvidia confirmed the licensing agreement.

Groq did not disclose financial details of the deal. CNBC reported that Nvidia had agreed to acquire Groq for $20 billion in cash, but neither Nvidia nor Groq commented on the report. Groq said in its blog post that it will continue to ⁠operate as an independent company with Simon Edwards as CEO and that its cloud business will continue operating.

In similar recent deals, Microsoft's ‌top AI executive came through a $650 million deal with a startup ‍that was billed as a licensing fee, and ‍Meta spent $15 billion to hire Scale AI's CEO without acquiring the entire firm. Amazon hired ‍away founders from Adept AI, and Nvidia did a similar deal this year. The deals have faced scrutiny by regulators, though none has yet been unwound.

"Antitrust would seem to be the primary risk here, though structuring the deal as a non-exclusive license may keep the fiction of competition alive (even as Groq’s leadership and, we would presume, technical talent move over to Nvidia)," Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday after Groq's announcement. And Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's "relationship with ⁠the Trump administration appears among the strongest of the key US tech companies."

Groq more than doubled its valuation to $6.9 billion from $2.8 billion in August last year, following a $750 million funding round in September.

Groq is one of a number of upstarts that do not use external high-bandwidth memory chips, freeing them from the memory crunch affecting the global chip industry. The approach, which uses a form of on-chip memory called SRAM, helps speed up interactions with chatbots and other AI models but also limits the size of the model that can be served.

Groq's primary rival in the approach is Cerebras Systems, which Reuters this month reported plans to go public as soon as next year. Groq and Cerebras have signed large deals in the Middle East.

Nvidia's Huang spent much of his biggest keynote speech of 2025 arguing that ‌Nvidia would be able to maintain its lead as AI markets shift from training to inference.


Italy Watchdog Orders Meta to Halt WhatsApp Terms Barring Rival AI Chatbots

The logo of Meta is seen at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. (Reuters)
The logo of Meta is seen at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. (Reuters)
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Italy Watchdog Orders Meta to Halt WhatsApp Terms Barring Rival AI Chatbots

The logo of Meta is seen at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. (Reuters)
The logo of Meta is seen at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. (Reuters)

Italy's antitrust authority (AGCM) on Wednesday ordered Meta Platforms to suspend contractual terms ​that could shut rival AI chatbots out of WhatsApp, as it investigates the US tech group for suspected abuse of a dominant position.

A spokesperson for Meta called the decision "fundamentally flawed," and said the emergence of AI chatbots "put a strain on our systems that ‌they were ‌not designed to support".

"We ‌will ⁠appeal," ​the ‌spokesperson added.

The move is the latest in a string by European regulators against Big Tech firms, as the EU seeks to balance support for the sector with efforts to curb its expanding influence.

Meta's conduct appeared capable of restricting "output, market ⁠access or technical development in the AI chatbot services market", ‌potentially harming consumers, AGCM ‍said.

In July, the ‍Italian regulator opened the investigation into Meta over ‍the suspected abuse of a dominant position related to WhatsApp. It widened the probe in November to cover updated terms for the messaging app's business ​platform.

"These contractual conditions completely exclude Meta AI's competitors in the AI chatbot services ⁠market from the WhatsApp platform," the watchdog said.

EU antitrust regulators launched a parallel investigation into Meta last month over the same allegations.

Europe's tough stance - a marked contrast to more lenient US regulation - has sparked industry pushback, particularly by US tech titans, and led to criticism from the administration of US President Donald Trump.

The Italian watchdog said it was coordinating with the European ‌Commission to ensure Meta's conduct was addressed "in the most effective manner".


Amazon Says Blocked 1,800 North Koreans from Applying for Jobs

Amazon logo (Reuters)
Amazon logo (Reuters)
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Amazon Says Blocked 1,800 North Koreans from Applying for Jobs

Amazon logo (Reuters)
Amazon logo (Reuters)

US tech giant Amazon said it has blocked over 1,800 North Koreans from joining the company, as Pyongyang sends large numbers of IT workers overseas to earn and launder funds.

In a post on LinkedIn, Amazon's Chief Security Officer Stephen Schmidt said last week that North Korean workers had been "attempting to secure remote IT jobs with companies worldwide, particularly in the US".

He said the firm had seen nearly a one-third rise in applications by North Koreans in the past year, reported AFP.

The North Koreans typically use "laptop farms" -- a computer in the United States operated remotely from outside the country, he said.

He warned the problem wasn't specific to Amazon and "is likely happening at scale across the industry".

Tell-tale signs of North Korean workers, Schmidt said, included wrongly formatted phone numbers and dodgy academic credentials.

In July, a woman in Arizona was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for running a laptop farm helping North Korean IT workers secure remote jobs at more than 300 US companies.

The scheme generated more than $17 million in revenue for her and North Korea, officials said.

Last year, Seoul's intelligence agency warned that North Korean operatives had used LinkedIn to pose as recruiters and approach South Koreans working at defense firms to obtain information on their technologies.

"North Korea is actively training cyber personnel and infiltrating key locations worldwide," Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.

"Given Amazon's business nature, the motive seems largely economic, with a high likelihood that the operation was planned to steal financial assets," he added.

North Korea's cyber-warfare program dates back to at least the mid-1990s.

It has since grown into a 6,000-strong cyber unit known as Bureau 121, which operates from several countries, according to a 2020 US military report.

In November, Washington announced sanctions on eight individuals accused of being "state-sponsored hackers", whose illicit operations were conducted "to fund the regime's nuclear weapons program" by stealing and laundering money.

The US Department of the Treasury has accused North Korea-affiliated cybercriminals of stealing over $3 billion over the past three years, primarily in cryptocurrency.