Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced plans to invest 10.1 billion reais ($1.8 billion) in Brazil by 2034 to expand its data centre operations. The investment will focus on building, connecting, operating, and maintaining data centres across the country.
AWS’s new investment comes after a previous plan, which saw the company invest 19.2 billion reais between 2011 and 2023. The company aims to bolster its cloud infrastructure in Latin America’s largest economy, supporting local businesses and institutions.
The expansion is expected to improve AWS’s cloud services across Brazil, making it easier for companies to scale their operations with improved data storage, connectivity, and digital solutions. It reflects AWS’s long-term commitment to Brazil and the growing demand for cloud services in the region.
Brazil has become an increasingly important market for cloud services, and AWS’s continued investment highlights the growing significance of digital infrastructure in Latin America.
Global telecom leaders have united to launch a groundbreaking venture to transform network Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) globally. The new initiative brings together major telecom operators—including América Móvil, AT&T, Bharti Airtel, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Reliance Jio, Singtel, Telefónica, Telstra, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Vodafone—alongside Ericsson.
The following venture will consolidate and offer network APIs, providing developers seamless access to advanced network capabilities. This integration will simplify leveraging these capabilities across various telecom networks, fostering innovation and the development of new applications and services.
Additionally, global telecom leaders are creating a broad ecosystem to support this initiative, which will involve hyperscalers, Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) providers, System Integrators (SIs), and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). Built on the GSMA’s CAMARA APIs project, the platform will be open and inclusive, encouraging further participation from other telecom operators such as Three Sweden. That collaborative effort aims to drive industry-wide participation and innovation by offering a unified platform for network API access, thereby expanding the initiative’s reach and impact.
Global telecom leaders expect the new venture to significantly boost monetisation and industry growth. The initiative aims to generate new revenue streams and improve monetisation strategies by integrating network APIs globally. The transaction is set to close in early 2025, with Ericsson holding 50% equity and telecom providers the remaining 50%.
T-Mobile US is leveraging its recent successful emergency alert test to strengthen its position as a leader in satellite communications. By demonstrating its satellite-to-smartphone technology through a simulated evacuation notice, T-Mobile has showcased its capability to reach remote areas beyond traditional cell tower coverage.
That strategic move highlights the company’s commitment to enhancing connectivity and emergency response capabilities and underscores its role as a pioneer in low-earth orbit (LEO) communications. Although the test involved Starlink, T-Mobile has used the occasion to emphasise its innovations and technological advancements, aiming to draw attention to its lead in the evolving field of satellite communications.
Building on this technological edge, T-Mobile US is also addressing gaps in emergency communication, particularly in areas with limited mobile coverage. Consequently, the ability to deliver critical alerts where traditional networks are unavailable represents a significant advancement that could improve responses during emergencies, such as natural disasters.
The emphasis on enhancing emergency alert systems reflects T-Mobile’s dedication to public safety and reinforces its commitment to effective crisis management. Therefore, the company’s efforts to bring its satellite-to-smartphone services to market demonstrate its ongoing focus on improving connectivity and ensuring timely emergency responses.
China Telecom Global has recently inaugurated two significant centres in Hong Kong: the Artificial Intelligence Innovation Center and the Security Business Innovation Center. That development marks a crucial step in China Telecom’s strategy to enhance its high-quality development, cloud capabilities, and digital transformation initiatives.
By establishing these centres, the company aims to leverage China’s high-level opening-up policy to strengthen its international presence and drive global business growth through advanced technology and innovation. Furthermore, these centres are designed to optimise the business structure, integrate internal and external resources, and accelerate the global deployment of China Telecom’s capabilities in AI and security, thereby reinforcing its position as a leading global telecom player.
Additionally, China Telecom Global is placing a strong emphasis on research and collaboration. The focus is advancing cutting-edge technology and fostering partnerships between industry, academia, and research institutions. As a result, these centres are poised to become central hubs for developing AI and security talent, which will support Hong Kong’s evolution into an international centre of innovation and technology.
OpenAI’s latest version of ChatGPT, GPT o1, a nomenclature indicative of resetting the counter clock to 1, and its less costly mini version, represents a watershed moment in the company’s LLM stockpile. Designed to replicate superhuman-level intelligence, the models can already answer questions a lot faster than humans. This series of models will be unlike previous ones. In responding to queries, they utilise a human-like ‘chain of thought’ processing combined with reinforcement learning on specialised datasets and optimisation algorithms.
The model outperforms older models by a significant margin. For example, when tested against GPT-4o at the International Mathematics Olympiad, it scored 83 percent to GPT-4o’s 13 percent. What’s unique about the model is its ability to not only provide step-by-step reasoning for outputs but to show human-like patterns of hesitation during the process, ‘I’m curious about…’ and ‘Ok, let me see’ or ‘Oh, I’m running out of time, let me get to an answer quickly’. The new design has also resulted in a reduced occurrence of hallucinations. Yet, despite their many pros, the models have limitations. For instance, they cannot browse the internet, lack world knowledge, and cannot process files and images.
According to the lead researcher on the project, Jerry Tworek, the next level is for the models to perform similarly to PhD students on challenging benchmark tasks in areas such as physics, chemistry and biology. He assures that the intention here is not to equate AI with human thinking but rather to illustrate the model’s ability to dive cognitively deep. For the company, reasoning is a step up from pattern recognition, which is the design model used with previous versions. Ultimately, OpenAI aims to develop a product that can make decisions and take action on behalf of humans, a venture estimated to cost a further $USD 150 billion. Removing the current kinks in the system will mean that the models can work on complex global problems we face today in areas such as engineering and medicine.
More breakthroughs will also mean reduced access costs for developers and users. According to Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew, developer access to o1-preview is currently $15 per 1 million input tokens (chunks of text parsed by the model) and $60 per 1 million output tokens. GPT -o4 costs $5 per 1 million input tokens and $15 per 1 million output tokens.
WhatsApp is set to enhance its AI features with a two-way voice chat option. Users will soon interact with the Meta AI chatbot using voices of public figures, including well-known celebrities. The update will allow for more personalised and engaging communication experiences.
A recent beta update revealed that the voice feature will offer a range of options, including different accents and pitches. Users can select from various voices, possibly from both UK and US accents, though exact details remain unclear. The feature is designed to add a custom touch to AI interactions.
Meta previously introduced AI personalities on Messenger that mirrored celebrities and influencers. The new voice chat feature on WhatsApp builds on those efforts, bringing further AI-driven experiences to its user base.
Upon launch, the feature will display a simple interface with a prominent ‘Meta AI’ label, providing easy access to the voice options. Lastly, this marks another step forward for WhatsApp in delivering innovative AI solutions for users.
O’Reilly has launched its AI Academy, designed to help businesses upskill their workforce in generative AI technology. The Academy offers hundreds of learning materials, including books, live events, and on-demand courses, to enhance productivity through GenAI tools.
The demand for GenAI skills has surged, with global executives planning to invest more in AI technologies. Despite this, a vast number of workers remain untrained in the tools required to implement GenAI. Only 10% of workers have gained these skills, and confidence in executives’ understanding of AI remains limited, highlighting a clear need for upskilling.
O’Reilly’s AI Academy addresses this gap, providing tailored learning tracks to meet specific industry needs. Courses focus on essential skills such as productivity enhancement and AI integration, covering roles from HR to project management. Additional role-specific tracks will be introduced, enabling even greater personalisation.
Completing these learning tracks earns participants badges and certificates, which can be shared on platforms like LinkedIn. This helps employees showcase their expertise in GenAI, empowering them to adapt and drive business outcomes in an AI-driven world.
Jabil, a US-based electronics components manufacturer and supplier to Apple, will establish a new manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu, India, with an investment of approximately 20 billion rupees ($238.2 million). The plant, located near the city of Trichy, will create around 5,000 jobs, according to Tamil Nadu’s Industries Minister T R B Rajaa, who announced the deal on social media following its signing in Chicago.
Matt Crowley, Jabil’s executive vice president, emphasised India‘s growing importance as a manufacturing hub, stating that the expansion would enable the company to better serve its customers. This new facility will complement Jabil’s existing operations in Pune, located in western India.
The government of Tamil Nadu has also signed an agreement with Rockwell Automation worth 6.66 billion rupees to expand manufacturing in the state. Another agreement, with Autodesk, has been signed, though its value has not been disclosed, according to Chief Minister M K Stalin.
Tamil Nadu is rapidly becoming a preferred destination for global manufacturing, with significant investments boosting the state’s role in India’s growing industrial sector.
Huawei is significantly contributing to Malawi’s digital transformation through its comprehensive Smart Village Program, which aims to bridge the digital divide in rural areas. This program integrates smart agriculture technologies, expands access to financial services, and enhances education and healthcare through digital solutions.
As part of this initiative, Huawei will establish technical training centres in rural regions to equip young people with crucial digital skills in AI, cybersecurity, and smart agriculture. That effort is a key component of Huawei’s larger $430 million investment plan for Africa, which includes funding for cloud development, talent development, and long-term technological progress.
The initiative supports Malawi’s MW2063 agenda, which envisions transforming the country into an industrialised upper-middle-income nation by 2063. It also builds on previous collaborations, such as the launch of Malawi’s National Data Centre in 2022, marking a significant advancement in the nation’s digital infrastructure.
In addition to Malawi, Huawei’s regional impact extends to other African countries, including Zambia and Uganda, where it is involved in smart village projects, and Kenya, where it contributes to smart city initiatives. These efforts aim to enhance connectivity and drive technological innovation across the continent.
Apple’s upcoming iPhone, featuring the A18 chip, has been developed using Arm’s latest V9 chip design, according to a report from the Financial Times. The device is expected to be unveiled at Apple’s event in Cupertino, California, on Sept. 9, where updates to other products and apps will also likely be revealed.
Apple and Arm have a longstanding partnership, with the two companies recently signing a deal that extends beyond 2040. Arm’s V9 chip technology has played a crucial role in powering Apple’s custom chip designs for iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
Arm, owned by SoftBank, controls the intellectual property behind much of the world’s smartphone chip architecture. The company’s V9 design accounts for half of global smartphone revenue, making it an industry leader in chip innovation.
Apple’s history with Arm dates back to the early 1990s when it helped found the firm. Despite the failure of the Newton handheld computer, which used an Arm-based processor, the collaboration evolved into the development of highly successful mobile devices.
