This week's roundup looked at the top news stories from the Global B2B tech & telecoms industry.
The stories cover Elon Musk, Google Cloud, Johannesburg, AI, Snapchat, Facebook, Tourism, YouTube, Start-ups, Healthcare, Microsoft, and the UK.
Here are our highlights:
monday_____________________________
Elon Musk's brain chip technology heralds the age of the cyborg.
The chips "read" electrical signals from neurons that determine movement and then reroute the instructions around a spinal injury to control the muscles or a robotic arm. Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3SLUL8T
Google Cloud launches new region in Johannesburg
Google has unveiled its Johannesburg cloud region in South Africa and confirms that it is ready for customer use.“We were initially drawn to Google Cloud's AI-focused services model because it aligned with our mission of revolutionising healthcare in South Africa. But the support we've received from Google Cloud has superseded this scope,”. Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3SIdwKa
TUEsday___________________________
UK pledges £100m for AI research hubs and upskilling regulators
The government has earmarked more than £100m to establish responsible artificial intelligence research hubs and make regulators AI-ready.
Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/4bv7rbl
Snap to lay off 'approximately' 10% of its staff
The firm said in November 2023 it had 5,000 employees, suggesting around 500 people are facing redundancy. It comes a day before Snap reports its fourth-quarter results.
Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3uejV6J
WEDNESday___________________________
Facebook and Instagram to label all fake AI images
Meta says it will introduce technology that can detect and label images generated by other companies' artificial intelligence (AI) tools. It will be deployed on its platforms Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Meta already labels AI images generated by its own systems. It hopes the new tech will create "momentum" for the industry to tackle AI fakery. Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/49rTwB2
Finnish traveltech Reveel secures $650K to digitise tourism with AI
There were many challenges associated with outdated on-site experiences at historical destinations. Travellers rely on paper maps (in the local language or limited to English), physical displays, and audio devices. Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/4bvoABE
Thursday____________________________
YouTube TV is the US’s 4th-biggest cable TV provider, with 8 million subs
YouTube is still slowly dripping out stats about its subscriber base. After the announcement last week, the company now says YouTube TV, its cable subscription plan, has 8 million subscribers. Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3OzxzIp
AI video training startup Colossyan raises £17.4m
Founded in 2020, Colossyan turns text prompts into training videos hosted by AI avatars. The service can generate multiple videos simultaneously, cutting down the cost of producing traditional videos. The company has been used to produce videos by Porsche, Vodafone and Paramount.
Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/42Bjksf
Friday____________________________
AI cannot be used to deny health care coverage, feds clarify to insurers
Health insurance companies cannot use algorithms or artificial intelligence to determine care or deny coverage to members on Medicare Advantage plans.
Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3SW58XS
Tata Communications, Microsoft Partner To Empower Voice Calling
Tata Communications has partnered with Microsoft to provide flexibility in collaboration and connectivity on Microsoft Teams for enterprises in India.
Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3UGYG82
