Author: Akin Naphtal

A Nigerian court has postponed the money laundering trial against cryptocurrency exchange Binance and two of its executives to 17th May, following a delay in serving necessary documents to the exchange’s legal representatives. The trial involves Binance executives, Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and head of financial crime compliance, and British-Kenyan Nadeem Anjarwalla, a regional manager for Africa. They face charges of laundering over $35 million and engaging in specialised financial activities without a license. All defendants have pleaded not guilty. During Thursday’s court session, Binance’s lawyer raised concerns about not receiving the required proof of evidence to adequately prepare…

Tech giants, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google parent company, Alphabet, have reported sales exceeding expectations from their cloud computing units, signalling that their investments in artificial intelligence (AI) are beginning to pay off. The cloud infrastructure market, worth $270 billion, has become a significant revenue generator for these companies, propelling their stocks to record highs and increasing optimism about the potential of AI technology. Executives and analysts note that many corporate customers, who had previously scaled back spending to cut costs, are now resuming investments in cloud computing. According to Reuters, Amazon reported a 17% growth in its cloud computing arm…

Microsoft has announced plans to open its first regional data centre in Thailand, enabling the tech giant to enhance the availability of cloud services in the country, and strengthen its foothold in the region. “The datacentre region will expand the availability of Microsoft’s hyperscale cloud services,” the company stated in a press release. This development follows Microsoft’s Chief Executive Satya Nadella’s announcement of investments totalling $1.7 billion in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud facilities in neighbouring Indonesia. Speaking at an event in Bangkok, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella highlighted the significance of the data centre’s establishment, stating, “What that means is…

Africa-focused telecommunications company, Telecel, has officially launched in Adum-Kumasi, marking Telecel Ghana’s expansion into the Ashanti Region, following the main brand unveiling in Accra back in March 2024. Telecel Ghana’s presence in the Ashanti Region reaffirms the company’s dedication to boosting the socio-economic advancement of the region’s populace. The Mayor of Kumasi, Sam Pyne, who welcomed Telecel on behalf of the Regional Minister, stated, “Telecel Ghana’s investment in our region promises to enhance our connectivity and empower our people economically and socially, and I am happy about the potential growth of local businesses.” The CEO of Telecel Ghana, Patricia Obo-Nai,…

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans has overturned a judgment requiring International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) to pay rival, BMC Software, $1.6 billion, after BMC alleged that IBM breached their contractual agreement by improperly replacing BMC’s mainframe software at AT&T with its own. The ruling overturned a 2022 decision by U.S. District Judge Gray Miller, who had ordered IBM to pay $1.6 billion in damages to BMC for breaking their agreement. Judge Miller had concluded that IBM had already secretly agreed to replace BMC’s software at AT&T when negotiating the contract in 2015. Writing for a…

A group of newspapers owned by investment firm Alden Global Capital’s MediaNews Group, have filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI in a New York federal court, accusing the tech giants of illegally using news articles to train their generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The lawsuit targets Microsoft’s Copilot and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, alleging that both companies utilised reporters’ work without permission or compensation. This legal action mirrors ongoing lawsuits against Microsoft and OpenAI, brought by renowned news outlets such as The New York Times, The Intercept, Raw Story, and AlterNet. According to Reuters, an OpenAI spokesperson responded to the allegations,…

Kenya’s Principal Secretary for ICT and Digital Economy, Eng. John Tanui, has met with stakeholders from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and Bodit Technology to discuss leveraging technology to bolster Kenya’s agricultural sector, and address pressing issues like climate change and animal welfare. The meeting, held on Tuesday, 31 April, saw Eng. Tanui, the Country Deputy Director of the KOICA, Mi Park, and Bodit Technology’s CEO, Minyony (Ryan) Shin, focusing particularly on enhancing productivity and promoting sustainable market chains in Kenya’s agriculture sector. In a LinkedIn post, Eng. John Tanui expressed he was enthusiastic about transforming livestock farming and…

The cryptocurrency known as TON has experienced a surge in value in recent months, holding $18.3 billion in circulation, and standing as the 10th largest cryptocurrency, trailing behind cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin. Telegram endorsed TON in September last year, declaring it as the platform’s “official Web3 infrastructure.” This move has paved the way for TON’s adoption within the Telegram ecosystem, which could allow TON to reach Telegram’s estimated 900 million users. Earlier this month, TON announced that Tether tokens could be issued on its blockchain, enabling Telegram users to send the stablecoin to each other directly within the app. As a…

Samsung Electronics has unveiled plans to meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips by increasing the supply of high-end chips, as it aims to capitalise on the booming global memory chip market. The South Korean tech giant, known as the world’s largest memory chip maker, reported a remarkable over 10-fold rise in first-quarter operating profit. This outlook has propelled Samsung’s shares up by 1.8% as of Tuesday, 30th April. Despite the positive momentum, Samsung’s shares have experienced a slight decline of 0.8% since the beginning of the year, trailing behind its competitor SK Hynix, which has seen a…

Artificial intelligence (AI) startup, OpenAI has partnered the Financial Times (FT), allowing the AI research organisation to licence FT’s content for the development of its AI models. The financial terms of the agreement, announced on Monday, 29th April have not been disclosed. According to Reuters, this deal follows similar agreements by OpenAI in recent months with other prominent media organisations, including the Associated Press, Axel Springer, Le Monde, and Prisa Media. Under the terms of the agreement, OpenAI will leverage archived content from the FT to enhance its ChatGPT chatbot. Additionally, the two entities will collaborate to develop new AI…