Capacity development

Crypto hiring snaps back as AI cools

Tech firms led crypto’s hiring rebound, adding over 12,000 roles since late 2022, according to A16z’s State of Crypto 2025. Finance and consulting contributed 6,000, offsetting talent pulled into AI after ChatGPT’s debut. Net, crypto gained 1,000 positions as workers rotated in from tech, fintech, and education.

The recovery tracks a market turn: crypto capitalisation topping US$4T and new Bitcoin highs. A friendlier US policy stance on stablecoins and digital-asset oversight buoyed sentiment. Institutions from JPMorgan to BlackRock and Fidelity widened offerings beyond pilots.

Hiring is diversifying beyond developers toward compliance, infrastructure, and product. Firms are moving from proofs of concept to production systems with clearer revenue paths. Result: broader role mix and steadier talent pipelines.

A16z contrasts AI centralisation with crypto’s open ethos. OpenAI/Anthropic dominate AI-native revenue; big clouds hold most of the infrastructure share; NVIDIA leads GPUs. Crypto advocates pitch blockchains as a counterweight via verifiable compute and open rails.

Utility signals mature, too. Stablecoins settled around US$9T in 12 months, up 87% year over year. That’s over half of Visa’s annual volume and five times that of PayPal’s.

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Kazakhstan to achieve full Internet access for all citizens by 2027

Kazakhstan aims to provide Internet access to its entire population by 2027 as part of the national ‘Affordable Internet’ project.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of AI and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev outlined the country’s digital transformation goals during a government session, highlighting plans to eliminate digital inequality and expand broadband connectivity.

Over one trillion tenge has been invested in telecommunications in the past three years, bringing average Internet speeds to 94 Mbps. By 2027, Kazakhstan expects to achieve 100% Internet coverage, speeds above 100 Mbps, and fiber-optic access for 90% of rural settlements.

Currently, 84% of villages already have mobile Internet, and 2,606 are connected to main fibre-optic lines.

The plan includes 4G coverage for 92% of settlements, 5G deployment in 20 cities, and 4G connectivity across 40,000 km of highways. Satellite Internet will reach 504 remote villages by 2025.

Madiyev also noted Kazakhstan’s strategic role in global data transit, with projects such as the Caspian Sea undersea fibre-optic line aiming to raise its share of international traffic from 1.5% to 5% by 2027.

An initiative that supports Kazakhstan’s ambition to become a regional IT hub by 2030, with the number of IT racks set to grow from 4,000 to 20,000, and at least nine Tier III-IV data centres planned.

The country has also launched the National Supercomputer Center ‘alem.cloud’ and the ‘Al-Farabium’ tech cluster to strengthen its digital ecosystem.

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Google launches Skills platform to boost AI and digital learning

Google has launched Google Skills, a platform helping individuals and organisations build AI and digital expertise. The platform offers nearly 3,000 courses, labs, and credentials from Google Cloud, DeepMind, Grow with Google, and Google for Education in one central hub.

Learners can gain practical experience through hands-on labs, skill badges, certificates, and certifications. Google Skills covers a wide range of learning paths- from AI Essentials and large language model research to quick 10-minute AI Boost Bites.

Gamified features, such as progress streaks and achievements, encourage engagement, while Cloud customers can personalise training for their teams with leaderboards and advanced reporting.

Google Skills also connects learners to employment opportunities. A hiring consortium of over 150 companies, including Jack Henry, uses the platform to fast-track qualified candidates through skills-based hiring initiatives.

No-cost options are available for individuals, higher education institutions, government programmes, NGOs, and Google Cloud customers, helping to bridge the growing digital skills gap.

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Europa chip by Axelera targets NVIDIA’s grip on AI accelerators

Axelera AI has introduced Europa, a new processor built to run modern AI apps on everything from small edge devices to full servers. It focuses on practical speed and low power use. The aim is to offer NVIDIA-rivaling performance without data centre-level budgets.

Inside are eight AI cores that do the heavy lifting, positioned to challenge NVIDIA’s lead in real-world inference. Helper processors handle setup and cleanup so the main system isn’t slowed down. A built-in video decoder offloads common media jobs.

Europa pairs fast on-chip memory with high-bandwidth external memory to cut common AI slowdowns. Axelera says this beats NVIDIA on speed per watt and per dollar in everyday inference. The payoff is cooler, smaller, more affordable deployments.

It ships as a tiny 35×35 mm module or as PCIe accelerator cards that scale up. That’s the same slot where NVIDIA cards often sit today. A built-in secure enclave protects sensitive data.

Research and industry partners are lining up pilots, casting Europa as a real NVIDIA rival. Early names include SURF, Cineca, Ultralytics, Advantech, SECO, Multiverse Computing, and E4. Axelera targets the first half of 2026 for chips and cards.

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USB inventor and Phison CEO warns of an AI storage crunch

Datuk Pua Khein-Seng, inventor of the single-chip USB flash drive and CEO of Phison, warns that AI machines will generate 1,000 times more data than humans. He says the real bottleneck isn’t GPUs but memory, foreshadowing a global storage crunch as AI scales.

Speaking at GITEX Global, Pua outlined Phison’s focus on NAND controllers and systems that can expand effective memory. Adaptive tiering across DRAM and flash, he argues, will ease constraints and cut costs, making AI deployments more attainable beyond elite data centres.

Flash becomes the expansion valve: DRAM stays scarce and expensive, while high-end GPUs are over-credited for AI cost overruns. By intelligently offloading and caching to NAND, cheaper accelerators can still drive useful workloads, widening access to AI capacity.

Cloud centralisation intensifies the risk. With the US and China dominating the AI cloud market, many countries lack the capital and talent to build sovereign stacks. Pua calls for ‘AI blue-collar’ skills to localise open source and tailor systems to real-world applications.

Storage leadership is consolidating in the US, Japan, Korea, and China, with Taiwan rising as a fifth pillar. Hardware strength alone won’t suffice, Pua says; Taiwan must close the AI software gap to capture more value in the data era.

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Suzanne Somers lives on in an AI twin

Alan Hamel says he’s moving ahead with a ‘Suzanne AI Twin’ to honor Suzanne Somers’ legacy. The project mirrors plans the couple discussed for decades. He shared an early demo at a recent conference.

Hamel describes the prototype as startlingly lifelike. He says side-by-side, he can’t tell real from AI. The goal is to preserve Suzanne’s voice, look, and mannerisms.

Planned uses include archival storytelling, fan Q&As, and curated appearances. The team is training the model on interviews, performances, and writings. Rights and guardrails are being built in.

Supporters see a new form of remembrance. Critics warn of deepfake risks and consent boundaries. Hamel says fidelity and respect are non-negotiable.

Next steps include wider testing and a controlled public debut. Proceeds could fund causes Suzanne championed. ‘It felt like talking to her,’ Hamel says.

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OpenAI launches ChatGPT Atlas web browser

OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Atlas, a web browser built around ChatGPT to help users work and explore online more efficiently. The browser lets ChatGPT operate directly on webpages, using past conversations and browsing context to assist with tasks without copying and pasting.

Early testers say it streamlines research, study, and productivity by providing instant AI support alongside the content they are viewing.

Atlas introduces browser memories, letting ChatGPT recall context from visited sites to improve responses and automate tasks. Users stay in control, with the ability to view, archive, or delete memories. 

Agent mode allows ChatGPT to perform tasks such as researching, summarising, or planning events while browsing. Safety is a priority, with safeguards to prevent unauthorised actions and options to operate in logged-out mode.

The browser is available worldwide on macOS for Free, Plus, Pro, and Go users, with Windows, iOS, and Android support coming soon. OpenAI plans to add multi-profile support, better developer tools, and improved app discoverability, advancing an agent-driven web experience with seamless AI integration.

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MIT unveils SEAL, a self-improving AI model

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have unveiled SEAL, a new AI model capable of improving its own performance without human intervention. The framework allows the model to generate its own training data and fine-tuning instructions, enabling it to learn new tasks autonomously.

The model employs reinforcement learning, a method in which it tests different strategies, evaluates their effectiveness, and adjusts its internal processes accordingly. This allows SEAL to refine its capabilities and increase accuracy over time.

In trials, SEAL outperformed GPT-4.1 by learning from the data it generated independently. The results demonstrate the potential of self-improving AI systems to reduce reliance on manually curated datasets and human-led fine-tuning.

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Scouts can now earn AI and cybersecurity badges

In the United States, Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts, has introduced two new merit badges in AI and cybersecurity. The badges give scouts the opportunity to explore modern technology and understand its applications, while the organisation continues to adapt its programs to a digital era. Scouting America has around a million members and offers hundreds of merit badges across a wide range of skills.

The AI badge challenges scouts to examine AI’s effects on daily life, study deepfakes, and complete projects that demonstrate AI concepts. The cybersecurity badge teaches practical tools to stay safe online, emphasises ethical behaviour, and introduces scouts to a career field with thousands of unfilled positions.

Earlier this year, Scouting America launched Scoutly, an AI-powered chatbot designed to answer questions about the organisation and its merit badges. The initiative is part of Scouting America’s broader effort to modernise its programs and prepare young people for opportunities in an increasingly digital world.

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Kenya leads the way in AI skilling across Africa

Kenya’s AI Skilling Initiative (AINSI) is offering valuable insights for African countries aiming to build digital capabilities. With AI projected to create 230 million digital jobs across Africa by 2030, coordinated investment in skills development is vital to unlock this potential.

Despite growing ambition, fragmented efforts and uneven progress continue to limit impact.

Government leadership plays a central role in building national AI capacity. Kenya’s Regional Centre of Competence for Digital and AI Skilling has trained thousands of public servants through structured bootcamps and online programmes.

Standardising credentials and aligning training with industry needs are crucial to ensure skilling efforts translate into meaningful employment.

Industry and the informal economy are key to scaling transformation. Partnerships with KEPSA and MESH are training entrepreneurs and SMEs in AI and cybersecurity while tackling affordability, connectivity, and data access challenges.

Education initiatives, from K–12 to universities and technical institutions, are embedding AI training into curricula to prepare future generations.

Civil society collaboration further broadens access, with community-based programmes reaching gig workers and underserved groups. Kenya’s approach shows how inclusive, cross-sector frameworks can scale digital skills and support Africa’s AI-driven growth.

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