Unily has introduced its new ‘Insight Center’, a platform designed to help large enterprises integrate and manage digital assistants and language models. The solution provides a central access point for multiple AI tools, streamlining their use across business functions like HR and customer service. It also ensures efficient governance and prioritises simplicity in its user experience.
At its annual event, Unite 24, Unily also announced the launch of ‘Unily Go’, a mobile app focused on improving engagement and communication for frontline workers. The app helps connect employees who don’t have access to desktop computers, offering secure messaging and personalised features to keep teams connected.
By partnering with industry leaders such as Microsoft and Workgrid, Unily ensures its platform offers a comprehensive and secure way for organisations to interact with the digital assistants of their choice. Unily Go, in particular, addresses the need for better communication tools for mobile workers in sectors like retail and manufacturing.
Both the Insight Center and Unily Go will become part of the Unily employee experience platform in 2025. The company plans to offer these features with white-labelling options so businesses can align the tools with their corporate branding.
US Vice President Kamala Harris is strengthening her connection with the cryptocurrency community through her “Opportunity Economy” agenda. She is set to speak with Black entrepreneurs in Erie, Pennsylvania, discussing her support for small businesses, cryptocurrency regulation, and cannabis legalisation at the federal level. The initiative aims to empower Black men by providing tools for home ownership, business creation, and wealth building.
Harris’s campaign has shifted its stance on digital assets. Once seen as part of an anti-crypto regime, her current position favours regulatory frameworks that protect crypto investors, including Black men who own such assets. Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen’s $1 million donation to her campaign signals a growing belief that Harris may work on bipartisan crypto legislation.
Despite this support, not everyone in the crypto community is convinced by her campaign’s shift. However, Harris remains focused on protecting crypto ownership rather than restricting it.
CS Disco, Inc. has officially launched its AI-driven Cecilia platform in the European Union and the United Kingdom. The Cecilia AI Platform helps legal professionals review large datasets faster, allowing for quicker identification and analysis of crucial documents. The platform offers tools like Cecilia Q&A, which answers fact-based questions from a user’s document set, streamlining the review process.
The company’s generative AI capabilities are designed to boost efficiency in legal work, with features such as single document Q&A and document summaries helping attorneys quickly navigate complex or lengthy documents. The platform also supports documents in multiple languages, offering significant time savings compared to traditional methods.
Early adopters in the United States have already reported success with Cecilia’s tools, praising their speed and accuracy. CS Disco is focusing on enabling legal teams to handle large volumes of data with greater precision, as it expands its services to the European market.
The Cecilia platform is expected to grow further, with additional AI features planned for release in the EU and UK by 2025. DISCO aims to continue its role as a leader in AI-enabled legal technology, improving outcomes for clients across different markets.
Swedish telecom company Ericsson has secured a new multi-billion dollar deal to supply 5G equipment to India‘s Bharti Airtel, according to sources. This follows a $3.6 billion contract last month with Vodafone Idea, shared with Nokia and Samsung, highlighting Ericsson’s expanding presence in India’s growing 5G market.
Ericsson’s shares rose nearly 9% on Tuesday after the company reported third-quarter earnings that exceeded analyst expectations, driven by strong demand in North America. Adjusted earnings reached 7.327 billion Swedish crowns ($0.7 billion), up from 3.9 billion crowns a year earlier, while net sales fell 4% year-on-year to 61.8 billion crowns, still surpassing forecasts. The North American market showed over 50% year-on-year growth, offsetting declines in northeast and southeast Asia.
CEO Börje Ekholm noted signs of market stabilisation, attributing demand for 5G largely to growth in mobile internet consumption. He highlighted that the rapid rollout of 5G in India has inflated sales but remains optimistic about growth opportunities despite challenges in China. With improved gross margins and positive outlook comments, analysts are forecasting upgrades to Ericsson’s earnings before interest and tax for 2024 and 2025. The results signal a recovery for Ericsson, which has faced slowing demand for its 5G equipment and previously announced layoffs to cut costs.
Adobe has launched its Firefly Video Model, an AI tool that generates video from text prompts, stepping into the growing competition in generative AI for film and television production. This move positions Adobe alongside rivals like OpenAI, ByteDance, and Meta Platforms, all of whom have recently released similar video tools.
Adobe, however, distinguishes itself by training its models on data it owns the rights to, ensuring the generated content can be legally used for commercial purposes. While a general release date is not confirmed, Adobe has begun offering access to those who signed up for the waiting list.
Although no customers have been announced for the video tool, Gatorade is using Adobe’s image generation model to create custom bottle designs, and Mattel has applied the technology in designing packaging for its Barbie dolls. Adobe has geared its video tools towards creators, making them user-friendly for everyday video production.
Ely Greenfield, Adobe’s chief technology officer for digital media, highlighted that the focus is on ensuring the AI understands key video production concepts like camera angles and motion, allowing it to seamlessly blend with conventional footage.
The AI Safety Institute is launching an £8.5 million funding scheme to support research on AI system safety, while the initiative will back studies on preventing unexpected failures in AI technologies and addressing challenges linked to their rapid deployment.
The Systemic Safety Grants Programme, run in partnership with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Innovate UK, will initially fund around 20 projects. Each project can receive up to £200,000 to explore risks AI might present to society in the near future. Additional funding will follow as further phases are introduced.
Systemic AI safety focuses on the broader infrastructure supporting AI across sectors, including healthcare and energy. Ian Hogarth, chair of the institute, emphasised the importance of addressing risks in critical industries. He highlighted that diverse research teams will contribute to building essential knowledge about AI-related threats, such as deepfakes and system malfunctions.
Applications are open until 26 November, with successful projects to be announced by January 2025. Grants will be awarded the following month, supporting efforts to ensure AI systems remain safe, reliable, and trustworthy as their use expands across the economy.
Orro is enhancing its operational technology (OT) capabilities with the launch of its new division, Orro Critical Infrastructure, aimed at serving Australia and New Zealand. That initiative represents a significant advancement in Orro’s commitment to providing innovative solutions tailored to meet the growing demands of the industrial sector.
The division will offer a comprehensive suite of specialised services, including network infrastructure, cybersecurity, distributed cloud systems, and private LTE wireless networks. A key component of this initiative is establishing a new Security Operations Centre (SOC) designed explicitly for OT customers, providing real-time protection against potential cyberattacks and ensuring robust cybersecurity measures.
Additionally, Orro will focus on operational excellence by integrating best practices from IT and OT disciplines to effectively manage the complexities of OT production environments. The company will assess and stabilise existing critical infrastructure assets, working closely with industry regulators and clients to implement key transformations.
These expanded capabilities are expected to benefit customers across various sectors, including energy, transport and logistics, healthcare, retail, and state government entities, fostering innovation and resilience in critical infrastructure management.
The UK government prioritises adopting innovative technologies through its draft industrial strategy, ‘Invest 2035.’ The comprehensive plan aims to accelerate the integration and scaling of new technologies across eight key growth sectors, including cybersecurity solutions and ensuring that all emerging technologies are secure by design.
To support this technological advancement, the strategy focuses on strengthening cyber resilience by enhancing supply chain resilience to mitigate vulnerabilities that could impede long-term growth. Implementing strengthened cyber resilience measures is essential for safeguarding growth-driving sectors against potential digital threats, thereby reinforcing the overall security of the economy.
Additionally, a crucial element of the strategy is the investment in skills and workforce development, as the UK government acknowledges the need to prepare the workforce for future challenges through substantial investments in skills and training. Promoting cybersecurity education is vital, empowering individuals and organisations to protect themselves better and leverage technological advancements.
Furthermore, the draft strategy emphasises public consultation and stakeholder engagement, inviting input from businesses, experts, unions, and other stakeholders to refine the plan before its final publication in spring 2025. The government also highlights the importance of collaboration between itself and the cyber industry, as these partnerships are essential for addressing existing challenges, such as the skills gap and outdated cyber laws. Ultimately, this strategy aims to support the growth of a secure and resilient economy, fostering an environment where organisations can thrive safely in an increasingly digital world.
The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) has launched its Guidelines and Companion Guide on Securing AI Systems at the Singapore International Cyber Week (SICW) 2024, highlighting the critical need for AI systems to be secure by design and by default. These guidelines aim to assist organisations in implementing AI securely by identifying potential threats such as adversarial attacks and data breaches.
Furthermore, they provide essential security controls and best practices principles, referencing established international standards to ensure alignment with global best practices. To effectively mitigate risks throughout the system’s lifespan, CSA advocates for a holistic approach across five key stages of the AI life cycle – Planning and Design, Development, Deployment, Operations and Maintenance, and End of Life.
In addition, the Companion Guide serves as a community-driven resource that offers practical measures for system owners, thereby reinforcing the importance of collaboration in addressing AI security challenges. Moreover, the development of the Guidelines was enriched by a public consultation conducted from 31 July to 15 September 2024, which received valuable feedback from various stakeholders, including AI and tech companies, cybersecurity firms, and professional associations.
That input was instrumental in refining the guidelines, improving clarity, and ensuring alignment with international standards. Consequently, CSA encourages organisational leaders, business owners, and AI and cybersecurity practitioners to adopt these Guidelines as a strategic imperative to enhance the overall cybersecurity posture of AI systems. By doing so, organisations can foster user confidence in their AI implementations, ultimately promoting innovative, safe, and effective outcomes.
Nokia, Windstream Wholesale, and Colt Technology Services have completed the world’s first 800 Gigabit Ethernet (800GbE) service trial, which connects London and Chicago across an impressive 8,500 km subsea and terrestrial route. This groundbreaking collaboration showcased advanced power-saving networking technologies and enhanced capacity, speed, and latency while reducing power consumption on this critical Europe-US route.
By leveraging Colt’s powerful transatlantic subsea cables alongside Windstream’s Intelligent Converged Optical Network (ICON), the trial effectively demonstrated the ability of 800GbE technology to double bandwidth capacity. Consequently, this advancement supports essential applications such as AI data centre networking, content delivery networks, and financial data hub connections.
Moreover, key executives from Colt, Windstream, and Nokia emphasised the trial’s significance in enhancing global connectivity. Buddy Bayer, Chief Operating Officer of Colt, highlighted the commitment to innovation, while Joe Scattareggia, President of Windstream, called it a game-changer for AI-powered applications.
Federico Guillén, President of Network Infrastructure at Nokia, noted the ambitious nature of the project and its potential to set high standards for network reliability. Following the successful trial, the organisations are now exploring options to bring 800GbE connectivity services to market, signalling a proactive approach to meet the evolving demands of the digital landscape.
