Capacity development Archives | Page 139 of 301

Meta AI brings conversational edits to Instagram Stories

Instagram is rolling out generative AI editing for Stories, expanding June’s tools with smarter prompts and broader effects. Type what you want removed or changed, and Meta AI does it. Think conversational edits, similar to Google Photos.

New controls include an Add Yours sticker for sharing your custom look with friends. A Presets browser shows available styles at a glance. Seasonal effects launch for Halloween, Diwali, and more.

Restyle Video brings preset effects to short clips, with options to add flair or remove objects. Edits aim to be fast, fun, and reversible. Creativity first, heavy lifting handled by AI.

Text gets a glow-up: Instagram is testing AI restyle for captions. Pick built-ins like ‘chrome’ or ‘balloon,’ or prompt Meta AI for custom styles.

Meta AI hasn’t wowed Instagram users, but this could change sentiment. The pitch: fewer taps, better results, and shareable looks. If it sticks, creating Stories becomes meaningfully easier.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Sky acquisition by OpenAI signals ChatGPT’s push into native workflows

OpenAI acquired Software Applications Incorporated, the maker of Sky, to accelerate the development of interfaces that understand context, adapt to intent, and act across apps. Sky’s macOS layer sees what’s on screen and executes tasks. Its team joins OpenAI to bake these capabilities into ChatGPT.

Sky turns the Mac into a cooperative workspace for writing, planning, coding, and daily tasks. It can control native apps, invoke workflows, and ground actions in on-screen context. That tight integration now becomes a core pillar of ChatGPT’s product roadmap.

OpenAI says the goal is capability plus usability: not just answers, but actions completed in your tools. VP Nick Turley framed it as moving from prompts to productivity. Expect ChatGPT features that feel ambient, proactive, and native on desktop.

Sky’s founders say large language models finally enable intuitive, customizable computing. CEO Ari Weinstein described Sky as a layer that ‘floats’ over your desktop, helping you think and create. OpenAI plans to bring that experience to hundreds of millions of users.

A disclosure notes that a fund associated with Sam Altman held a passive stake in Software Applications Incorporated. Nick Turley and Fidji Simo led the deal. OpenAI’s independent Transaction and Audit Committees reviewed and approved the acquisition.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

At UMN, AI meets ethics, history, and craft

AI is remaking daily life, but it can’t define what makes us human. The liberal arts help us probe ethics, meaning, and power as algorithms scale. At the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, that lens anchors curiosity with responsibility.

In the College of Liberal Arts, scholars are treating AI as both a tool and a textbook. They test its limits, trace its histories, and surface trade-offs around bias, authorship, and agency. Students learn to question design choices rather than just consume outputs.

Linguist Amanda Dalola, who directs the Language Center, experiments with AI as a language partner and reflective coach. Her aim isn’t replacement but augmentation, faster feedback, broader practice, richer cultural context. The point is discernment: when to use, when to refuse.

Statistician Galin Jones underscores the scaffolding beneath the hype. You cannot do AI without statistics, he tells students, so the School of Statistics emphasises inference, uncertainty, and validation. Graduates leave fluent in models, and in the limits of what models claim.

Composer Frederick Kennedy’s opera I am Alan Turing turns theory into performance. By staging Turing’s questions about machine thought and human identity, the work fuses history, sound design, and code. Across philosophy, music, and more, CLA frames AI as a human story first.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Noetix Robotics launches a humanoid robot for everyday use at under $1,400

China’s Noetix Robotics has introduced Bumi, a compact humanoid robot that could bring robotics into everyday homes and classrooms.

Priced at around $1,370, the 94-centimetre robot marks a major step in making advanced robotics accessible to ordinary consumers.

Weighing 12 kilograms, Bumi can walk on two legs and perform coordinated movements such as dancing. Built with lightweight composite materials, it integrates Noetix’s self-developed motion control system and an open programming interface designed for both learning and creativity.

Aimed at education and domestic use, Bumi represents Noetix Robotics’ entry into the consumer robotics sector, long dominated by high-cost prototypes and research models.

The company plans to open preorders between China’s Double 11 and Double 12 shopping festivals, describing the launch as a milestone in moving humanoid robots from laboratories into everyday life.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Train your own language model for $100 with NanoChat

Andrej Karpathy has unveiled NanoChat, an open-source framework that lets users train a small-scale language model for around $100 in just a few hours. Designed for accessibility and education, the project offers a simplified path into AI model development without requiring large-scale hardware.

Running on a single GPU, NanoChat automates the full training process, from tokenisation and pretraining to fine-tuning and deployment, using a single script. The resulting model contains about 1.9 billion parameters trained on 38 billion tokens, capable of basic reasoning, text generation, and code completion.

The framework’s compact 8,000-line Python codebase is readable and modifiable, encouraging users to experiment with model design and performance benchmarks such as MMLU and ARC. Released under the MIT Licence, NanoChat provides open access to documentation and scripts on GitHub, making it an ideal resource for students, researchers, and AI enthusiasts eager to learn how language models work.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

NVIDIA AI Day Sydney showcases Australia’s growing role in global AI innovation

Australia took centre stage in the global AI landscape last week as NVIDIA AI Day Sydney gathered over a thousand participants to explore the nation’s path toward sovereign AI.

The event, held at ICC Sydney Theatre, featured discussions on agentic and physical AI, robotics and AI factories, highlighting how the next generation of computing is driving transformation across sectors.

Industry leaders, including Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Canva and emerging startups, joined NVIDIA executives to discuss how advanced computing and AI are shaping innovation.

Brendan Hopper of the Commonwealth Bank praised NVIDIA’s role in expanding Australia’s AI ecosystem through infrastructure, partnerships and education.

Speakers such as Giuseppe Barca of QDX Technologies emphasised how AI, high-performance computing and quantum research are redefining scientific progress.

With over 600 NVIDIA Inception startups and more than 20 universities using NVIDIA technologies, Australia’s AI ecosystem is expanding rapidly. Partners like Firmus Technologies, ResetData and SHARON AI underscored how AI Day Sydney demonstrated the nation’s readiness to become a regional AI hub.

The event also hosted Australia’s first ‘Startup, VC and Partner Connect’, linking entrepreneurs, investors and government officials to accelerate collaboration.

Presentations from quantum and healthcare innovators, alongside hands-on NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute sessions, showcased real-world AI applications from generative design to medical transcription.

NVIDIA’s Sudarshan Ramachandran said Australia’s combination of high-performance computing heritage, visual effects expertise and emerging robotics sector positions it to lead in the AI era.

Through collaboration and infrastructure investment, he said, the country is building a thriving ecosystem that supports discovery, sustainability and economic growth.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Amazon launches Help Me Decide to simplify shopping

Amazon has introduced Help Me Decide, a new AI-powered feature designed to make shopping faster and more personalised. The tool analyses browsing history and preferences to recommend the best product with one tap, offering clear explanations.

The feature appears after viewing several similar items, allowing shoppers to quickly narrow choices. It also offers options for an upgrade or a budget-friendly alternative.

Help Me Decide works alongside Amazon’s existing AI tools, including Interests, Shopping Guides, and the assistant Rufus, which provide notifications, expert guidance, and real-time answers.

Using large language models and AWS services, the tool cross-references your shopping data with product details and customer reviews. A family browsing camping gear might get a tent recommendation based on prior searches for sleeping bags, stoves, and hiking boots.

Available on the Amazon app and mobile browser, Help Me Decide helps users save time, reduce guesswork, and shop with confidence. Amazon says the feature reflects its ongoing commitment to AI-driven, user-focused shopping experiences.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Microsoft unveils major Copilot update focused on personal and human-centred AI

Microsoft has launched its Copilot Fall Release, introducing twelve new features designed to make AI more personal, social, and human-centred. The update makes Copilot a flexible AI companion that boosts creativity and productivity while ensuring trust and user control.

A key addition is Groups, which transforms Copilot into a shared workspace for real-time collaboration. Users can brainstorm, plan, and co-write with up to 32 participants as the AI keeps discussions summarised and tasks aligned.

New creative tools such as Imagine encourage remixing and sharing of AI-generated ideas, promoting collaboration over isolation.

The update also introduces Memory & Personalisation, allowing Copilot to remember important information and recall it later, while connectors link services like OneDrive, Gmail, and Google Calendar for seamless data access. Privacy remains central, with explicit consent required for all connections.

Meanwhile, the new animated character Mico brings warmth and expression to voice-based interactions.

Beyond productivity, Microsoft is positioning Copilot as a tool for wellbeing and learning. The AI now supports health queries through trusted medical sources, helps users find doctors, and serves as a Socratic tutor in Learn Live.

Integration across Edge and Windows enhances browsing and multitasking, while the ‘Hey Copilot’ voice command enables hands-free interaction. Microsoft says the update represents a milestone in building AI that truly serves people, not the other way around.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Airbus, Leonardo and Thales merge space units for 2027 launch

Three of Europe’s leading aerospace firms, Airbus, Leonardo and Thales, have agreed to merge their space businesses into a single joint venture to strengthen Europe’s global competitiveness.

A new company that will combine satellite and space service operations from the three groups, bringing together about 25,000 employees and generating around €6.5 billion in annual revenue.

The joint venture, expected to start operating in 2027 following regulatory approval, will integrate Airbus’s Space Systems and Space Digital units, Leonardo’s Space Division, and Thales’s stakes in Thales Alenia Space, Telespazio and optics company Thales SESO.

Airbus will hold a 35 per cent stake, while Leonardo and Thales will each own 32.5 per cent.

The companies said the partnership aims to accelerate innovation, unify Europe’s fragmented space sector, and enhance its autonomy in critical technologies.

Executives described the move as a milestone for Europe’s space ambitions, combining resources and research capacity to boost exports and technological leadership.

Project Bromo, as it was internally known, had been in development for more than a year. After months of valuation and governance talks, the agreement now paves the way for a new European space powerhouse capable of challenging US rivals and shaping the future of global space operations.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

South Korea moves to lead the AI era with OpenAI’s economic blueprint

Poised to become a global AI powerhouse, South Korea has the right foundations in place: advanced semiconductor production, robust digital infrastructure, and a highly skilled workforce.

OpenAI’s new Economic Blueprint for Korea sets out how the nation can turn those strengths into broad, inclusive growth through scaled and trusted AI adoption.

The blueprint builds on South Korea’s growing momentum in frontier technology.

Following OpenAI’s first Asia–Pacific country partnership, initiatives such as Stargate with Samsung and SK aim to expand advanced memory supply and explore next-generation AI data centres alongside the Ministry of Science and ICT.

A new OpenAI office in Seoul, along with collaboration with Seoul National University, further signals the country’s commitment to becoming an AI hub.

A strategy that rests on two complementary paths: building sovereign AI capabilities in infrastructure, data governance, and GPU supply, while also deepening cooperation with frontier developers like OpenAI.

The aim is to enhance operational maturity and cost efficiency across key industries, including semiconductors, shipbuilding, healthcare, and education.

By combining domestic expertise with global partnerships, South Korea could boost productivity, improve welfare services, and foster regional growth beyond Seoul. With decisive action, the nation stands ready to transform from a fast adopter into a global standard-setter for safe, scalable AI systems.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!