Author: Akin Naphtal

Consumer-focused startup, Inflection AI, has announced that its chatbot, Pi, has surpassed a million daily active users, while also unveiling an upgrade to the artificial intelligence (AI) powering the tool to enhance its capabilities and competitiveness in the market. Pi, introduced in May 2023, leverages generative AI technology to engage users in conversations, enabling them to ask questions and share interests. With its intuitive interface and advanced AI capabilities, Pi has rapidly gained popularity among consumers, evident in its milestone achievement of surpassing 1 million daily active users. Inflection AI’s latest offering, Inflection-2.5, is positioned to rival existing models such…

LinkedIn the premier social network targeting business professionals, has revealed the sales figures for its premium subscription business for the first time, reporting revenue of $1.7 billion in 2023. LinkedIn had not previously provided a breakdown of its financial performance since its acquisition by Microsoft in 2016. The company’s overall fiscal performance for 2023 was previously disclosed at $15 billion, with $7 billion attributed to its hiring software sold to corporate recruiters. However, in recent years, LinkedIn has been expanding its premium subscription business, catering to job seekers and individual users, with subscription plans starting at $39.99 per month. A…

RS South Africa, a trading brand under renowned global provider of industrial product and service solutions, RS Group plc, has announced the expansion of its RS PRO electronics engineering range. This expansion introduces 1,900 new products spanning across 20 technologies, offering a diverse array of high-quality electronics components, from industrial connectors to cutting-edge test and measurement equipment. Designed specifically for professionals engaged in research and development, PCB development, equipment and machinery design, and production line engineering, the expanded electronics engineering range is proof of RS PRO’s dedication to delivering top-tier components and precision measuring instruments. RS PRO has earned a…

South Africa’s Department of Justice has convened a special meeting at MultiChoice South Africa’s offices under the sponsorships of Partners Against Piracy (PAP), in a concentrated effort to combat content piracy, At the meeting, PAP and the South African Government unveiled a new cooperation agreement through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU aims to foster collaboration in capacity building, benchmarking, intellectual property rights protection, and training within the legal framework. Advocate Doctor Mashabane, Director General of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJ&CD), stressed the government’s commitment to protecting the creative industry from piracy, which drains billions of…

Cassava Technologies’s Liquid C2, has collaborated with global tech giant, Google Cloud, and artificial intelligence (AI) firm, Anthropic, to deliver cloud solutions, cybersecurity measures, and generative AI capabilities to businesses across Africa. After signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Google Cloud in November 2023, Liquid C2 is poised to enhance cybersecurity and cloud services throughout the continent by integrating Google Cloud’s latest AI, data, collaboration, and security solutions. Through this, Liquid C2 seeks to provide heightened security measures and access to advanced cloud technologies for its customers. As one of Google Cloud’s largest Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) in…

Energy company, GE Vernova, which has been driving Nigeria’s energy sector for over a century, has reaffirmed its commitment to continue bolstering the nation’s sustainable energy transition. GE Vernova recently hosted the “Nigeria Energy Dialogue,” aiming to address issues on Nigeria’s energy transition, especially spanning generation, transmission, distribution, and consumption. Participants, which included governmental officials, financiers, and industry leaders, explored policy frameworks, technological innovations, and potential collaborations to foster a sustainable energy ecosystem. Managing Director of Services – SSA at GE Vernova’s Gas Power, Kenneth Oyakhire mentioned the company’s long-term relationship with Nigeria, adding that GE Vernova is “committed to…

Meta-owned social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, have been facing widespread issues which reportedly began on Tuesday morning, leaving millions of users globally unable to access their accounts or refresh their feeds. Many users have reported being logged out of their Facebook accounts and encountering difficulty logging back in. Instagram users have also experienced issues refreshing their feeds. Users of Threads, Meta’s messaging app, have encountered complete downtime, with the app displaying an error message upon opening. Meta has acknowledged the issue on its status page, with a statement timestamped 10:17AM ET, stating, “We are aware of an issue…

The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund has greenlit an $11.96 million grant to accelerate the establishment of the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation, headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda, to bolster the pharmaceutical sector across Africa. Supported by the African Development Bank Group’s Regional Public Good window, alongside a $1.93 million contribution from the Rwandan government, the funding is reserved for the implementation of the Regional Pharmaceutical Sector Support Project in Rwanda. Head of the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Rwanda country office, Aissa Touré Sarr, believes the project will benefits Africa’s health industy. “The cutting-edge research and technological innovations of…

The Technology Consultancy Centre (TCC) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has unveiled plans to establish an innovation centre aimed at fostering digital creativity and problem-solving among the youth. Dubbed the ‘maker space,’ this innovation hub will serve as an active platform for students to explore, experiment, and collaborate on digital solutions. The Director-General, Prof. Francis Davis made this announcement during the celebration of World Engineering Day at the KNUST College of Engineering. The initiative seeks to create an encouraging environment for nurturing the next generation of engineers and innovators. Prof. Davis stressed the importance of…

Apple has announced that it has launched new versions of its 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air laptops, equipped with the latest M3 chip as part of the tech giant’s aim to bolster its sales in the Mac segment. The M3 chip, previously launched in October for iMac desktops and MacBook Pro laptops, promises improved performance and efficiency. Despite reporting modest growth in Mac revenue during its fiscal first-quarter earnings report, Apple anticipates that the new MacBook Air models will help drive sales further. The latest MacBook Air laptops boast features such as sharper 1080p webcams, support for faster Wi-Fi networks,…