AI in sports: IOC’s new Olympic AI agenda

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has unveiled the Olympic AI Agenda, the third in a series of strategic documents under President Thomas Bach, focusing on the transformative impact of AI on sports. The agenda follows the Olympic Agenda 2020, launched in December 2014, and the Olympic Agenda 2020+5, introduced in March 2021, reflecting the accelerating digital revolution and the increasing potential of AI to reshape various aspects of life, including sports.

AI presents a groundbreaking opportunity to enhance global accessibility to sports, aligning with the IOC’s mission of promoting solidarity and inclusivity. The Olympic AI Agenda aims to establish a governance and oversight framework to identify and mitigate risks while leveraging insights from a diverse panel of experts, including AI pioneers, academics, athletes, and technology company representatives. This panel, convened by the IOC in 2023, has conducted a comprehensive review of AI’s applications in sports, focusing on high-impact areas where the IOC can lead and inspire AI integration.

Recognising that the future of AI in sports is a collaborative effort, the IOC invites stakeholders across the Olympic Movement, such as athletes, International Federations, National Olympic Committees, and the International Paralympic Committee, to join this transformative journey. By working together, they aim to unlock AI’s full potential to promote solidarity, enhance digitalisation, improve sustainability and resilience, and reinforce the role of sports in society, ultimately building a better world through sports.

Google’s AlphaProof and AlphaGeometry 2 set new benchmarks in AI math-solving

Alphabet’s Google has revealed two innovative AI systems, AlphaProof and AlphaGeometry 2, which demonstrate significant advancements in solving complex mathematical problems. These systems tackled abstract math more effectively than previous AI models, showcasing enhanced reasoning capabilities.

DeepMind, Google’s AI unit, reported that these models managed to solve four out of six questions at the 2024 International Math Olympiad. AlphaProof, which integrates the Gemini language model with the AlphaZero system, solved three problems, including the most challenging one, while AlphaGeometry 2 solved another.

These achievements mark the best performance by an AI system in the competition to date, with some problems solved in minutes and others taking up to three days. Meanwhile, Microsoft-backed OpenAI is developing a similar project known as ‘Strawberry,’ raising concerns among its staff about its potential impact on humanity.

JPMorgan deploys in-house AI research analyst tool to boost firm productivity

As per the Financial Times report, JPMorgan Chase has started deploying an in-house generative AI tool, claiming that its proprietary version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT can perform the task of a research analyst. As per an internal memo accessed by Financial Times, the company has granted its asset and wealth management employees access to the language model platform, LLM Suite. The rollout represents one of Wall Street’s major LLM applications.

The memo described the LLM suite as a ‘ChatGPT-like product’ intended for general productivity, complementing its other applications handling private financial information called Connect Coach and SpectrumGPT. Earlier this year, JPMorgan began rolling out the LLM Suite to select bank areas, and currently, approximately 15% of the workforce has access to the tool.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon told shareholders that the use of AI has the potential to augment virtually every job and impact our workforce composition. It may reduce certain job categories or roles, but it may create others as well. It is worth noting that so far, the company has not disclosed the number of research analysts it employs.

SK Hynix invests $6.8B in South Korea chip plant

SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chip maker and a key Nvidia supplier, will invest 9.4 trillion won ($6.8 billion) for its inaugural chip plant in South Korea. Kim Young-sik, the company’s head of manufacturing technology, explained that this is a strategic investment for the company in response to the surge in demand for AI semiconductors. The ambitious project will involve building four state-of-the-art semiconductor plants near Seoul. The construction is expected to start in March next year, and its completion is slated for May 2027.

The site will span 4.2 million square meters and will house four cutting-edge chip plants and over 50 local firms in the semiconductor sector. The facility will also boast a ‘mini-fab’ research centre for processing 300-mm silicon wafers, offering local chip materials and equipment manufacturers a realistic environment to test their innovations.

Why does it matter?

It is worth noting that this new fab will be set in the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster near Seoul, where the government aims to build a large-scale chip operations complex. As such, SK Hynix’s investment will help supplement the South Korean government’s efforts to sustain its leadership in-memory technology, which is crucial for AI applications.

WTO Joint Initiative on e-commerce close to finalising negotiations

The co-conveners of the Joint Initiative (JI) on e-commerce – Australia, Japan and Singapore – have published a stabilised text of an “Agreement on Electronic Commerce“. The publication represents a significant milestone, and comes after almost seven years of discussions and negotiations.


The text proposes rules on a range of substantive issues, including:

  • Openness and electronic commerce, which includes commitments on customs duties on electronic transmissions; open government data; and access to and use of the internet for electronic commerce.
  • Trust and electronic commerce, which covers online consumer protection;
    unsolicited commercial electronic messages (spam); personal data protection; and cybersecurity.
  • Telecommunications, which presents a revised version of the Telecommunications Reference Paper
  • Cross-cutting topics related to transparency, cooperation, and development.
  • Exceptions, including for security, prudential reasons, data protection, and preferences for indigenous peoples.

The current draft text has been published by the co-conveners on behalf of 82 out of 91 JI members. Some countries, notably Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Paraguay, Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, Türkiye and United States are still undertaking domestic consultations on the text.  

Why this is important

The regulation of e-commerce and digital trade has taken place so far within preferential trade agreements (PTAs), celebrated bilaterally or plurilateraly among countries. Nevertheless, there is no specific agreeemnt on this issue in the context of the WTO.

An e-commerce agreement would be an important step towards promoting global harmonisation of norms. Although the participation of LDCs and of some regions, such as the Caribbean, is still limited, the JI counts on the participation of a significant number of WTO members, which account for approximately 90% of global trade. While topics under ‘enabling electronic commerce’ carry special importance to development, consumer protection and privacy help to put individuals at the center of the digital economy.

In addition, the text of the “Agreement on Electronic Commerce” enshrines a commitment not to impose customs duties on electronic transmissions (to be reassessed after five years). Currently, a moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions is in place among all WTO members, exempting  digital products, such as online films, music, and software from tariffs (customs duties) as they cross borders. Nevertheless, this WTO-wide moratorium is likely to expire at the next WTO Ministerial Meeting. The inclusion of a moratorium in the e-commerce agreement means that the status quo – the non-application of custom duties – would continue to be the rule among most WTO members, regarless of the expiration of the wider moratorium.

Finally, the agreement also presents extensive provisions aiming to cater to the specific needs of developing countries and LDCs. Nevertheless, there are doubts with regards to whether these provisions would be fit for purpose, since most of them are formulated in a ‘best effort’ language, and they do not follow the model of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which links implementation with the existing capacity, and with “mandatory” technical assistance.  

What is missing

The JI officially began negotiations with an ambitious agenda, which included enabling issues, customs duties and market access, as well as a wide range of digital policy issues, such as data flows, localisation, access to the source code, and cybersecurity.  

Negotiations on some of the most ‘digital’ issues, such as data flows and source code, halted when the United States decided to withdraw its support for these areas in order to preserve domestic policy space. Although data flows are the lifeblood of the digital economy, it seems unlikely that rules on this issue will be harmonised on a multilateral basis anytime soon. The co-conveners simply state that “participants recognise that some issues of importance to digital trade have not been addressed in this text. Participants will discuss the inclusion of these issues in future negotiations”.

The mechanism to include a future agreement on e-commerce in the WTO legal architecture is also an open issue.  The members of another Joint Initiative on Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) have not managed to secure the inclusion of the agreed text under Article 4 of the Marrakesh Agreement, which deal with WTO Plurilateral Agreements. Such an inclusion requires a hard-to-achieve consensus among WTO Members, given the explicit opposition by some countries. This raises questions on the path forward towards the incorporation of the outcomes of other JIs, including on e-commerce. 

The negotiations at WTO JI will continue pending endorsement by several countries. According to the United States, “the current text falls short and more work is needed, including with respect to the essential security exception”.

OpenAI challenges Google with SearchGPT

The introduction of SearchGPT by OpenAI, an AI-powered search engine with real-time internet access, challenges Google’s dominance in the search market. Announced on Thursday, the launch places OpenAI in competition not only with Google but also with its major backer, Microsoft, and emerging AI search tools like Perplexity. The announcement caused Alphabet’s shares to drop by 3%.

SearchGPT is currently in its prototype stage, with a limited number of users and publishers testing it. The tool aims to provide summarised search results with source links, allowing users to ask follow-up questions for more contextual responses. OpenAI plans to integrate SearchGPT’s best features into ChatGPT in the future. Publishers will have access to tools for managing their content’s appearance in search results.

Google, which holds a 91.1% market share in search engines, may feel the pressure to innovate as competitors like OpenAI and Perplexity enter the arena. Perplexity is already facing legal challenges from publishers, highlighting the difficulties newer AI-powered search providers might encounter.

SearchGPT marks a closer collaboration between OpenAI and publishers, with News Corp and The Atlantic as initial partners. This follows OpenAI’s content licensing agreements with major media organisations. Google did not comment on the potential impact of SearchGPT on its business.

Sustainable Metal Cloud plans global expansion amid rising demand

Singapore-headquartered AI cloud provider Sustainable Metal Cloud (SMC) is set to expand globally, driven by fast-growing demand for its energy-saving technology. CEO and co-founder Tim Rosenfield announced plans to extend operations to EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) and North America in response to client demand. Currently, SMC operates “sustainable AI factories” in Australia and Singapore, with new launches planned in India and Thailand.

Partnering with AI chip giant Nvidia, SMC uses over 1,200 of Nvidia’s high-end H100 AI chips in Singapore to run open-source models like Meta’s Llama 2. Unlike most data centres that rely on air cooling technology, SMC employs immersion cooling, submerging Dell servers fitted with Nvidia GPUs in a synthetic oil called polyalphaolefin. The following method reduces energy consumption by up to 50% compared to traditional air cooling.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) anticipates a tenfold increase in AI demand compared to 2023, with global data centre electricity consumption expected to exceed 1,000 terawatt-hours by 2026. Sustainable Metal Cloud is currently raising $400 million in equity and $550 million in debt to support its expansion, according to sources. That move aligns with the increasing environmental concerns impacting Singapore’s data centre growth and highlights the importance of sustainable technology in meeting future energy demands.

Apple Maps launches web beta, more features soon

Apple Maps is now accessible via web browsers through a beta version launched on Wednesday. Users can get driving and walking directions, view ratings and reviews, and use many of the same features available in the iOS app. The beta site, beta.maps.apple.com, allows users to explore cities, order food, and get business information. Apple plans to add more features, including Look Around, soon.

Currently, the web version supports English and works on Safari and Chrome for Mac and iPad, as well as Chrome and Edge on Windows PCs. Apple intends to expand support to other languages, browsers, and platforms. Developers using MapKit JS can link to the web version.

Since its 2012 iPhone debut, Apple Maps has gradually added features like detailed city maps, multi-stop routing, cycling directions, EV routing, and offline navigation. The web version represents a significant expansion and aims to compete with Google Maps, which has long been available on the web.

Meanwhile, the Overture Maps Foundation, supported by Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft, released its first mapping dataset on Wednesday. This dataset is available for developers to use in their apps, adding more competition to the digital mapping space.

EU and Singapore finalise digital trade deal

The European Union and Singapore have finalised a digital trade agreement to facilitate cross-border data flows and establish global rules for digital trade. This new deal, which enhances the existing EU-Singapore free trade agreement from 2019, includes provisions for e-signatures, consumer protection, and limits on spam. It also addresses data access and transfer concerns, particularly regarding technology mandates from countries like China.

The agreement is expected to reduce business costs and boost services trade, benefiting both parties. Singapore, a major player in the EU’s services trade, saw its digital services trade reach 43 billion euros ($47 billion) in 2022. For the EU, this deal aligns with its goal to set global standards for digital trade, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. The EU already has similar agreements with Britain, Chile, New Zealand, and Japan and is negotiating with South Korea.

The agreement, which must be ratified by Singapore, the EU’s national governments, and the European Parliament, reflects the growing importance of digitally delivered services, which have been rising at an average annual rate of 8.1% globally.

China’s new video-generating AI faces limitations due to political censorship

A new AI video-generating model, Kling, developed by Beijing-based Kuaishou, is now widely available but with significant limitations. Initially launched in a waitlisted access for users with Chinese phone numbers, Kling can now be accessed by anyone providing their email. The model generates five-second videos based on user prompts, simulating physics like rustling leaves and flowing water with a resolution of 720p.

However, Kling censors politically sensitive topics. Prompts related to ‘Democracy in China,’ ‘Chinese President Xi Jinping,’ and ‘Tiananmen Square protests’ result in error messages. The censorship occurs at the prompt level, allowing for the generation of videos related to these topics as long as they are not explicitly mentioned.

That behaviour likely stems from intense political pressure from the Chinese government. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) is actively testing AI models to ensure they align with core socialist values and has proposed a blacklist of sources for training AI models. Companies must prepare models that produce ‘safe’ answers to thousands of questions, which may slow China’s AI development and create two classes of models: those heavily filtered and those less so.

The dichotomy raises questions about the broader implications for the AI ecosystem, as restrictive policies may hinder technological advancement and innovation.