Author: Akin Naphtal

Baidu and Pony.ai have announced that they have secured permits to provide fully driverless ride-hailing services in Beijing, China. The move marks a significant step forward for the companies, which are now authorized to operate their services without a human driver or safety operator in the Chinese capital. Baidu’s Apollo service will deploy 10 fully autonomous vehicles in a technology park developed by the government of Beijing. The Chinese ride-hailing giant has been focused on self-driving technologies for the past five years as it seeks to diversify its revenue beyond its internet search engine. In December, Baidu had been granted…

The UAE Central Bank (CBUAE) has approved the launch of the country’s first paperless direct debit marketplace, offering an all-in-one solution for payers and merchants to make monthly payments. The marketplace has received the green light to go live and will act as a ‘special’ sponsoring entity and will be included as a direct participant in UAEDDS, according to a communication to banks and financial institutions in the UAE. READ ALSO:Salesforce Ventures Launches $250M Generative AI Fund to Support Responsible AI Development Saudi fintech Tamara secures $150m debt facility from Goldman Sachs to finance growth UN warns that developing countries…

Salesforce Ventures, the investment arm of the cloud-based software company, has launched a $250 million fund to support the development of responsible generative AI. The fund is intended to bolster the startup ecosystem by investing in companies that have the ability to transform application software and impact end users’ workflows using trusted and responsible development processes. The announcement was made during the TrailblazerDX event and the fund will initially invest in four companies: Anthropic, Cohere, Hearth.AI and You.com. These companies have demonstrated their ability to develop responsible generative AI, which is a key focus for Salesforce Ventures. READ ALSO:Saudi fintech…

Saudi Arabian fintech firm, Tamara, has secured a debt facility of up to $150 million from US investment bank, Goldman Sachs, despite current challenging global macroeconomic conditions. This latest funding round takes Tamara’s total funding in equity and debt to $366 million since its launch in September 2020, according to a statement from the startup. The facility, which is the first of its kind in the region, will help finance the rising demand for Tamara’s flagship buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) product and drive growth across new verticals. Since its launch, Tamara has onboarded six million customers in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and…

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) has warned that developing countries may miss out on economic opportunities stemming from green technologies unless decisive action is taken by governments and international bodies. The UN body believes that green technologies such as artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and the Internet of Things could create a market worth more than $9.5 trillion by 2030, three times the size of the Indian economy. Unctad’s Technology and Innovation report warns of increasing economic inequalities if developed countries gain the most from these technologies. Rebeca Grynspan, Unctad’s secretary general, said that developing countries must…

SEACOM, a leading African telecommunications and managed services provider, has launched the Equiano subsea cable, which offers fast connectivity from Cape Town, South Africa to Lisbon, Portugal. The cable has been equipped by SEACOM’s technology partner, Infinera and offers Private Line services with latency speeds of +/-110ms between South Africa and Europe, making it the fastest direct route between the continents. SEACOM’s subsea cable ecosystem surrounding Africa is supported by a continent-wide IP-MPLS network. The Equiano subsea cable is one of the highest-capacity cables serving Africa, stretching 15,000 kilometres from Portugal to South Africa, with a design capacity of 144…

The UAE is calling for the implementation of flexible work options to enhance productivity across economic sectors. The country’s technological advancements provide a solid infrastructure to support workers in the digital era, said Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for Digital Economy, AI and Remote Working System, during the Remote Forum event in Dubai. The UAE aims to leverage artificial intelligence and automation to enhance its economic capacity-building process and workforce capabilities. Remote work has now become the norm rather than an option, with 46% of workers in the UAE working remotely, according to a report by UK research company…

OpenAI’s paid subscription service, ChatGPT Plus, featuring the latest AI model GPT-4 is now available in India. This service offers early access to new features, faster responses, priority access to new improvements and GPT-4 during peak-usage hours, for a monthly subscription price of $20. However, OpenAI also provides a free version of ChatGPT on its website with some restrictions. Users who don’t want to pay for access can still use ChatGPT on Bing search engine. READ ALSO:Safaricom and Huawei Launch 5G Experience Centers in Nairobi to Showcase Superfast Connectivity and Cutting-Edge Devices UK Chancellor announces £2.5bn quantum computing investment and…

Safaricom, a Kenyan telecommunications company, has partnered with Huawei to launch three 5G experience centers in Nairobi. The centers will be located in Safaricom’s Village Market, The Hub and Buruburu Shops and will showcase the benefits of 5G connectivity, including superfast speeds and cutting-edge devices. Customers will be able to experience virtual reality gaming zones, smart home and enterprise capabilities and speed-testing booths. Safaricom launched its 5G network in October 2022, the first in the region. Since then, the company has commissioned over 200 5G sites across 11 counties, including Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu. Customers in 5G zones can enjoy…

UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced a series of measures to support the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing in the country. The initiatives include an “AI sandbox” that will provide support for AI companies, enabling them to trial new and faster approaches to bring products to market. The Chancellor has also pledged approximately £900 million of funding to implement the recommendations of the independent Future of Compute Review for an Exascale supercomputer, which is a measure of supercomputer performance. READ ALSO:New App Uses GPT-4 to Connect Blind and Visually-Impaired People with Sighted Volunteers for Remote Assistance Middle…