Author: Akin Naphtal

Be My Eyes, a digital visual assistant app that connects blind and visually-impaired people with sighted volunteers, has launched a new Virtual Volunteer feature powered by OpenAI’s latest language model, GPT-4. This tool will allow sighted volunteers to assist blind and visually impaired users with tasks that don’t require physical presence, such as online shopping, reading labels and identifying objects in photos. The Virtual Volunteer feature is an expansion of Be My Eyes’ existing platform, which allows users to connect with sighted volunteers via a video call for assistance in real-time. READ ALSO:Middle East Cybersecurity Market Projected to Reach $31…

The cybersecurity market in the Middle East is set to be worth $31 billion by 2030, according to data from US consultancy Frost & Sullivan. The market, currently valued at $7.5 billion, is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 20% over the next seven years. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Israel are predicted to lead the sector due to their cybersecurity industries and government policies, which have made them preferred destinations for industry academics, businesses, research and innovation. The global cybersecurity market is set to exceed $500 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth…

Lesotho’s Revenue Service (RSL) has launched an online platform that enables clients to pay taxes and file tax returns electronically. This initiative aims to encourage the use of technology and simplify the tax payment process across the country. The Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Dr Retšelisitsoe Matlanyane, praised the move, stating that it is essential for Lesotho to embrace the fourth industrial revolution for economic growth. According to Dr Matlanyane, the revenue from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) has been decreasing, which means that there are fewer resources available for financing the national budget. Therefore, the country needs…

Wedding planning platform Joy has launched an AI-powered tool to help write vows and wedding toasts. The tool, called “Wedding Writer’s Block”, generates a draft for speeches and other wedding-related wordage, like love stories for wedding websites and thank-you notes. The AI assistant offers different tones, such as William Shakespeare or a pirate and can even write in the style of a therapist, TikToker, astrologist or pessimistic ex. The tool is intended to help reduce the overwhelming feeling that 89% of users in a recent survey reported when beginning to write wedding materials. READ ALSO:Indian fintech PhonePe raises $200 million…

PhonePe, the Indian fintech giant, has raised an additional $200 million as part of an ongoing financing round, bringing the total raised to $650 million in recent weeks, despite market instability. The round has been led by Walmart, which owns the majority of PhonePe and values the company at $12 billion pre-money. PhonePe plans to raise up to $1 billion as part of the financing round, which it will use to expand its offerings and provide financial services for Indians at scale. PhonePe competes with Google Pay and Paytm and dominates transactions on UPI, a network built by a coalition…

Digital Dubai has become the first city to issue secured digital certificates using Soulbound Token technology, the most advanced generation of non-fungible tokens. The technology ensures that certificates are permanently linked to a person’s account in their digital wallet and ownership cannot be transferred, sold or disposed of. Digital Dubai’s director general, Hamad Al Mansoori, said that the certificates allow individuals and institutions to showcase their achievements in a sovereign and trusted way without relying on third parties. The move is part of Dubai’s drive to become a global leader in the digital economy. READ ALSO:Biden Administration Threatens to Ban…

The Biden administration is intensifying its pressure campaign against TikTok, warning of a potential U.S. ban on the app if the company doesn’t sever ties with its Chinese ownership. The U.S. government is once again seeking to separate the app from its Chinese owners, demanding the sale through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS). However, TikTok has pushed back against the new White House demand, claiming that the proposed solution wouldn’t resolve the U.S. government’s concerns. TikTok’s proposed solution involves undergoing an audit by U.S.-based tech giant Oracle, among other measures and ensuring transparent, U.S.-based protection of…

China’s search engine giant Baidu has introduced its own chatbot called Ernie Bot, following the announcement of Microsoft 365’s AI makeover and the debut of GPT-4. Baidu has been widely considered the closest Chinese candidate to build an equivalent to the OpenAI chatbot. Ernie’s launch was much anticipated and Baidu CEO Robin Li gave a one-hour presentation on Ernie that only offered a small glimpse into the chatbot. Ernie is currently only available for testing through invitation and others need to get on a waitlist. The public was clearly underwhelmed by the presentation. Industry observers inside and outside China pointed…

Africa Data Centres, a Cassava Technologies business, has teamed up with TechAccess to deploy a Data Centre Infrastructure Management (DCIM) solution. DCIM software is used to measure, monitor and manage all of the IT equipment and supporting infrastructure housed within data centres. TechAccess is responsible for the software, hardware, integrations, project management, professional services and other project deliverables that make up the DCIM platform. The DCIM solution includes data centre optimisation software from EkkoSense and an asset management platform from Assetspire. It will be deployed in Africa Data Centres’ two sites in Johannesburg, as well as its facilities in Cape…

Abu Dhabi has announced the development of Falcon LLM, a large language model designed to compete with existing models from OpenAI, DeepMind and Google. The model is still in development for a range of applications including language translation, chatbots, content generation and sentiment analysis. The team at the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), a government-backed research hub, has its sights set on OpenAI’s platform and aims to offer the Falcon LLM to government entities, start-ups and the private sector as an alternative to the models from the major tech players. READ ALSO:Samsung Gulf Electronics and etisalat by e& Partner to Enhance…