Amazon has resumed its drone delivery programme, bringing its Prime Air service to select customers in the Phoenix, Arizona area. After recently ending the service in California, Amazon is now offering drone deliveries for products weighing five pounds or less, covering around 50,000 items. Customers in the West Valley Phoenix Metro Area can choose their delivery spot at checkout, with most items arriving within an hour from a nearby take-off site.
Using the advanced MK30 drone, Amazon has ensured improved delivery capabilities, with the Federal Aviation Administration recently allowing it to fly beyond the operator’s visual line of sight. The MK30 is quieter, can fly further, and operates in light rain, although it is limited to daylight and favourable weather conditions. The MK30 is also being used in College Station, Texas, where Amazon has piloted prescription medicine deliveries since 2023.
Amazon, aiming for efficient and cost-effective operations, has integrated drone deliveries into its same-day delivery network. While the company previously announced plans to expand drone delivery to the UK and Italy by the end of the year, no new updates were provided on these international expansions.
Google has announced plans to open a new AI-focused data centre in Saudi Arabia, aligning with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to expand research in Arabic language AI models and ‘Saudi-specific AI applications.’ The project arrives as Google continues to face scrutiny over meeting its own climate goals, including its commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 2030.
The tech giant’s choice of location, a region highly dependent on fossil fuels, has raised eyebrows, given Google’s 2020 pledge to avoid developing AI algorithms for oil and gas. Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned petroleum company, currently uses AI to enhance production, with one oil field reportedly seeing a 15% boost through AI integration. While Google has stated the partnership ‘comports’ with its climate pledges, the data centre may contribute to advancing AI within the oil and gas sector.
The exact nature of ‘Saudi-specific AI applications’ remains unclear, though the centre could have implications for energy production as AI’s role in Saudi industry expands.
In a groundbreaking test for sustainable space exploration, Japan has launched the world’s first wooden satellite, LignoSat, aboard a SpaceX mission. Developed by Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry, LignoSat will orbit approximately 400 kilometers above Earth to test whether timber can endure the harsh conditions of space, marking an early step toward using wood in lunar and Mars habitats.
LignoSat, crafted from Japanese honoki wood, will remain in orbit for six months, with onboard sensors monitoring the wood’s resilience to extreme space temperatures and radiation. Researchers believe that, unlike metals, wood can burn up cleanly upon reentry, potentially reducing space debris and environmental impact compared to traditional satellites.
Kyoto University astronaut and project leader Takao Doi sees LignoSat as a first step toward a future where timber could be used to build sustainable housing on the moon and Mars. Doi’s team is exploring honoki wood’s effectiveness as a protective material in space, highlighting its role in possibly reinvigorating Japan’s timber industry while opening new paths for green technology in space missions.
A group of financial tech firms, including Robinhood, Kraken and Galaxy Digital, has launched a new stablecoin, USDG, through a joint initiative called the Global Dollar Network. The stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, is designed to drive stablecoin adoption worldwide while benefiting its network partners financially. The move signals a growing interest in digital assets as the industry anticipates friendlier US regulations towards cryptocurrency.
Stablecoins like USDG offer a stable alternative to volatile cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, providing a fixed value by linking to traditional currencies such as the US dollar or euro. Issued from Singapore by the crypto platform Paxos, USDG will be managed by a governing committee of network partners. The consortium aims to establish USDG as a global stablecoin, challenging established market leaders Tether and USD Coin, which currently dominate the sector.
Despite the competition, the Global Dollar Network promises participants nearly all the rewards generated from the stablecoin, encouraging wide participation. Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla highlighted the initiative’s goal of spurring global adoption, viewing stablecoins as essential to integrating cryptocurrency into everyday financial systems.
Palantir Technologies raised its 2024 revenue forecast for a third time, attributing the surge to rising adoption of AI by government and corporate clients. The data analytics company now expects annual revenue between $2.805 billion and $2.809 billion, exceeding its previous outlook. Investor confidence has grown alongside the company’s strong performance in the AI sector, pushing shares up 13% in extended trading.
Government clients have continued to drive a substantial portion of Palantir’s revenue, with US government contracts alone increasing by 40% in the third quarter. These public sector contracts accounted for over 44% of the company’s third-quarter revenue, totalling $725.5 million and surpassing analyst expectations of $701.1 million. Palantir’s addition to the S&P 500 index and its stock’s 140% increase this year further highlight its impressive growth.
Despite its reliance on government contracts, Palantir’s commercial business is quickly gaining momentum. Industry analysts predict that its corporate sales, bolstered by the company’s AI solutions, may soon surpass government revenue. Palantir’s platform, used to test and debug code and evaluate AI scenarios, is attracting clients who appreciate the flexibility and quick turnaround for software decisions in the commercial sector.
Palantir’s revised forecast also included a rise in its adjusted income from operations to between $1.05 billion and $1.06 billion. Company executives highlighted that revenue growth is now feeding into bottom-line performance, reflecting the increasing demand for AI solutions across sectors. The company’s outlook for the fourth quarter remains strong, with revenue expected to exceed analysts’ projections.
NTT DATA and Google Cloud have partnered to accelerate the adoption of cloud-based data analytics and generative AI solutions across the Asia Pacific region. By combining NTT DATA’s industry expertise and client base with Google Cloud’s cutting-edge technologies, the partnership aims to drive innovation, improve operational efficiency, and enhance agility for enterprises.
Specifically, the collaboration focuses on co-developing industry-specific solutions for sectors such as healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, retail, and the public sector. A new NTT DATA Google Cloud Business Unit will also be created to focus on joint solutions in data analytics, GenAI, applications, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and SAP on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
The expansion also involves enhancing internal expertise, as NTT DATA plans to certify at least 1,000 more engineers in the APAC region and provide advanced training to its teams to ensure successful solution delivery. With global public cloud spending projected to grow significantly, the partnership aims to capture the increasing demand for cloud services and AI-driven solutions.
The goal is to grow NTT DATA’s cloud business in APAC by more than 10 times over the next three years. By combining NTT DATA’s digital transformation portfolio with Google Cloud’s advanced technologies, the collaboration is set to drive modernisation in AI, cloud infrastructure, and cybersecurity, offering businesses secure and efficient solutions to accelerate their digital transformation.
The French Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) and WSC Sports have partnered to revolutionise the league’s digital content strategy through AI-powered automation. WSC Sports’ platform will enable LFP to rapidly create and distribute tailored, data-driven content across various formats and platforms, including websites, apps, social media, and global broadcasts.
That will enhance fan engagement by delivering personalised content while maximising LFP’s digital assets, improving international visibility, and opening new revenue streams. The partnership also involves digitising 20 years of archived footage from Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, transforming historic moments into formats suited for modern platforms like vertical video, which will engage younger fans.
By automating content creation and distribution, LFP can scale its production efforts, expand its fanbase, and unlock new monetisation opportunities, driving financial growth. The collaboration is a significant step in LFP’s broader strategic transformation, focusing on providing a more dynamic and engaging experience for its fans.
By embracing AI and automation, LFP aims to meet the increasing demand for digital content and stay culturally relevant in a rapidly evolving media landscape. The partnership aims to strengthen fan loyalty, deliver content that exceeds expectations, and ensure that LFP’s competitions remain prominent in the global sports ecosystem.
Anthropic has unveiled Claude 3.5 Haiku, its latest AI model, which claims to outperform its previous flagship model, Claude 3 Opus. Designed for tasks such as coding support, data extraction, and content moderation, Claude 3.5 Haiku is now available on Anthropic’s API and several third-party platforms, including AWS Bedrock. Despite improvements, the new model lacks image analysis features, which its predecessor Claude 3 Haiku offers.
A price hike for Claude 3.5 Haiku has surprised many, as Anthropic previously suggested pricing would remain consistent with its older model. However, after outperforming Claude 3 Opus in final tests, Anthropic increased the model’s price to match its enhanced performance. The revised cost is now $1 per million input tokens and $5 per million output tokens — a fourfold increase from Claude 3 Haiku’s pricing.
Claude 3.5 Haiku provides advantages in text output length and an updated knowledge cutoff, enabling it to handle more recent information than Claude 3 Haiku. Despite this, the absence of image analysis functionality may lead some users to stick with the earlier, more affordable Claude 3 Haiku.
The unexpected price increase raises questions about Anthropic’s pricing approach as competition intensifies in the AI industry. As new models are developed, balancing enhanced features with accessibility is expected to remain a challenge for AI companies.
Physical Intelligence, a robot AI startup, has raised $400 million in early funding, attracting high-profile investors like Jeff Bezos, OpenAI, Thrive Capital, and Lux Capital. This latest investment values the startup at $2 billion, underscoring strong interest in AI-driven robotics solutions. Physical Intelligence aims to develop foundational software adaptable across different types of robots, eliminating the need for custom software per specific robotic task.
Global technology giants like Microsoft, Google, Meta, Amazon, and Nvidia are already funnelling billions into AI. Industry estimates from venture capital firm Accel project that AI and cloud tech funding across the US, Europe, and Israel will hit $79.2 billion by the end of 2024. With several startups joining the robotic AI sector, including Vicarious, Universal Robots, and Covariant, competition in this space is intensifying.
Elon Musk recently predicted that at least 10 billion humanoid robots will be available by 2040, with prices ranging from $20,000 to $25,000. His Tesla company showcased the latest Optimus humanoid robot, adding to the anticipation around robotics advancements and automation technologies. Musk’s vision is part of the broader trend pushing the potential for AI-powered robots in everyday life.
Physical Intelligence recently demonstrated its innovative software, named π0, or pi-zero, showing its flexibility by enabling robots to carry out complex household tasks like folding laundry, bagging groceries, and retrieving toast from a toaster. This achievement highlights the startup’s strides toward building a universal robot software platform, with potential impacts on industries from home automation to logistics.
Australia has scrapped plans for a large defense satellite project, opting instead for a network of smaller micro-satellites due to emerging anti-satellite threats. Defense Minister Richard Marles explained that advancements in technology now enable adversaries to target and destroy satellites, making Australia’s initial plan for a few large satellites outdated. Originally developed in collaboration with Lockheed Martin, the high-cost Geostationary Earth Orbit system was designed to enhance communications over the Indo-Pacific region.
Marles pointed to distributed micro-satellite networks, like Starlink’s use in the Ukraine conflict, as a more resilient and cost-effective alternative. A “mesh-type” network of satellites could provide more reliable defense communications with increased survivability against attacks. This shift reflects a strategic pivot to distributed technology that reduces vulnerability while enhancing adaptability.
The shift underscores Australia’s commitment to bolstering defense communications against emerging threats. The government is exploring a system of micro-satellites that not only strengthens operational resilience but also demonstrates Australia’s alignment with global shifts toward decentralised space technology.
