SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son is planning to borrow $16 billion to expand the company’s investments in AI, with a possible additional $8 billion loan in early 2026.
The financing plan was discussed with banks last week, according to sources cited by The Information.
The Japanese tech conglomerate has already committed $15 billion to the Stargate venture, a partnership with Oracle and OpenAI aimed at maintaining United States dominance in AI development.
Reports suggest SoftBank may invest up to $25 billion in OpenAI, further solidifying its position in the sector.
DeepSeek’s progress is a clear sign of the growing influence of Chinese companies in the AI sector, according to a spokesperson for China’s parliament. Lou Qinjian, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, praised the achievements of DeepSeek’s young team, describing their work as ‘commendable’.
He highlighted the company’s open-source approach and its efforts to spread AI technology globally, contributing ‘Chinese wisdom’ to the world.
The AI startup has been widely celebrated in China, particularly for rolling out AI models that offer a significantly lower cost than those developed by US rivals like OpenAI.
While some countries, including South Korea and Italy, have removed DeepSeek’s chatbot from their app stores over privacy concerns, it has been embraced within China, where local governments and tech firms are integrating it into their systems.
Based in Hangzhou, DeepSeek is rapidly advancing its next-generation model, set to succeed its R1 release from January, as it continues to make waves in the global tech sector.
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Taiwan has announced its support for TSMC’s plans to invest in the US, while also ensuring that the most advanced semiconductor technology remains within the country.
The statement, made by the presidential office on Tuesday, reassured that Taiwan would assist the semiconductor giant in its future US investments.
However, the government emphasised that Taiwan would retain its cutting-edge chip technologies to secure its position as a leader in the global semiconductor industry.
TSMC, Taiwan’s largest chipmaker, revealed plans for a significant $100 billion investment in the US to expand its presence and build five new chip manufacturing facilities over the coming years.
The announcement was made during a meeting between TSMC’s CEO and US President Donald Trump on Monday.
Move like this one is part of a broader push to bolster semiconductor production in the US, particularly in response to global supply chain issues and national security concerns surrounding chip dependence on foreign markets.
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Britain’s media regulator, Ofcom, has set a 31 March deadline for social media and online platforms to submit a risk assessment on the likelihood of users encountering illegal content. This move follows new laws passed last year requiring companies such as Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, as well as ByteDance’s TikTok, to take action against criminal activities on their platforms. Under the Online Safety Act, these firms must assess and address the risks of offences like terrorism, hate crimes, child sexual exploitation, and financial fraud.
The risk assessment must evaluate how likely it is for users to come across illegal content, or how user-to-user services could facilitate criminal activities. Ofcom has warned that failure to meet the deadline could result in enforcement actions against the companies. The new regulations aim to make online platforms safer and hold them accountable for the content shared on their sites.
The deadline is part of the UK‘s broader push to regulate online content and enhance user safety. Social media giants are now facing stricter scrutiny to ensure they are addressing potential risks associated with their platforms and protecting users from harmful content.
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A group of researchers from Hao AI Lab at the University of California San Diego has suggested that Super Mario Bros. might actually be a tougher challenge for AI than Pokémon. In a recent experiment, AI models were tasked with playing the game, and while Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 performed the best, models like Google’s Gemini 1.5 Pro and OpenAI’s GPT-4o struggled. The game was not the original 1985 version but instead ran in an emulator integrated with GamingAgent, a framework that provided basic instructions and screenshots for the AI to control Mario.
The AI had to generate inputs, such as Python code, based on the given instructions to navigate Mario through the game’s challenges. The researchers found that while the game required models to plan complex manoeuvres and strategies, reasoning models like OpenAI’s o1 performed worse than non-reasoning models. This is because reasoning models typically take longer to decide on actions, and in a real-time game like Super Mario Bros., timing is critical.
While games have long been used to benchmark AI, some experts question the relevance of gaming skills as a measure of technological advancement. Andrej Karpathy, a research scientist at OpenAI, has expressed concerns over the current AI evaluation process, calling it an ‘evaluation crisis.’ Despite these concerns, watching AI take on Super Mario Bros. provides an interesting glimpse into how far AI has come, even if the benchmarks remain unclear.
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Amazon has announced plans to use AI to help reduce flood risks in Spain’s northeastern region of Aragon, where it is building new data centres.
As part of its $17.9 million investment, Amazon’s cloud computing unit AWS will modernise infrastructure and optimise agricultural water use to tackle flood concerns.
The move follows catastrophic floods that impacted large areas around Valencia and comes as AWS continues its €15.7 billion expansion in the region’s cloud infrastructure.
The region is prone to flooding, especially along the Ebro River, highest-flow river in Spain, which crosses through Aragon on its way to the Mediterranean.
Amazon will deploy advanced cloud computing technologies to create an early warning system combining real-time data collection, sensor networks, and AI-powered analysis.
However, this system will help Zaragoza, the capital of Aragon, monitor flood risks more effectively and provide timely warnings to emergency services.
In addition to its technological investment, local authorities in Zaragoza are building flood defences at the Barranco de la Muerte, or Death Ravine, to mitigate future flood damage.
With these combined efforts, Amazon aims to contribute to reducing the region’s vulnerability to floods while supporting its own expanding data infrastructure.
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A court in India has ordered an Amazon unit to pay $39 million in damages for trademark infringement after unauthorised ‘Beverly Hills Polo Club’ garments were sold on its platform.
The ruling marks one of the highest damages awarded against a US company in an Indian trademark case. Lifestyle Equities, the owner of the Beverly Hills Polo Club brand, filed the lawsuit in 2020, alleging that Amazon’s Indian website was selling apparel with nearly identical branding at lower prices.
The Delhi High Court found that the infringing brand was owned by Amazon Technologies and sold directly on the platform. Judges noted that the logos were ‘hardly distinguishable’ and stated that Amazon was aware of the brand’s exclusive rights, citing previous legal disputes in the United Kingdom.
The ruling includes a permanent injunction, barring Amazon from selling counterfeit products with the Beverly Hills Polo Club branding. The company has denied wrongdoing, and its representatives have not commented on the decision.
Amazon has faced similar legal battles before, including a trademark dispute in London, where it lost an appeal last year. Critics have long accused the e-commerce giant of engaging in predatory practices, with a 2021 Reuters investigation alleging that Amazon manipulated search results to promote its own private brands in India.
The recent court decision has reignited calls for stricter enforcement of trademark laws and fair business practices in the country.
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The University of Cambridge is set to open a new department, The Bennett School of Public Policy, later this year, dedicated to exploring how AI can improve both business and public sector operations.
However, this marks the university’s first major new academic department in the 21st century, with research priorities focused on harnessing AI to address pressing policy challenges.
Professors from a wide range of disciplines, including economics, social sciences, and medical fields, will collaborate to investigate the potential benefits and risks of AI adoption across sectors.
The school’s leadership aims to foster a generation of ‘tech-savvy’ policymakers who can effectively manage AI’s role in society while promoting sustainable and inclusive growth.
In addition to investigating AI’s economic impact, researchers will work closely with the Civil Service to develop AI workflows and help local government leaders address geographical inequality.
With a focus on cross-disciplinary expertise, the Bennett School plans to train policymakers who can tackle the complex issues of today’s world.
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Lenovo has won an appeal in a UK court that will allow it to secure a temporary licence for Ericsson’s patents, marking a significant development in the ongoing patent dispute between the two companies.
The case, which revolves around fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing terms for 4G and 5G wireless technology, has seen both companies take legal action in various countries, including the UK, Brazil, and the US.
In his ruling, Judge Richard Arnold determined that Ericsson had failed to act in good faith by pursuing legal claims in foreign courts despite Lenovo’s willingness to accept the FRAND terms set by the English courts.
He stated that, as a willing licensor, Ericsson should have agreed to an interim licence, with Lenovo being required to pay a substantial sum to Ericsson. Lenovo’s Chief Legal Officer hailed the decision as a victory for transparency and fairness in global patent licensing.
The ruling follows Lenovo’s 2023 lawsuit against Ericsson in the UK, a part of the broader dispute between the two over the terms for the use of each other’s patents. Ericsson has yet to comment on the decision.
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Twenty-three industry groups across Europe have urged EU officials to approve a draft cybersecurity certification for cloud services.
The certification scheme, which was introduced in 2020 by the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), aims to provide governments and businesses with reliable, secure cloud service providers.
It has been under revision since last year, with changes that favour major tech firms such as Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.
The groups, including the American Chamber of Commerce and various EU trade associations, argue that the updated draft, which will be finalised in March 2024, strikes a balance between robust security standards and an open market.
These revisions removed political provisions, such as requirements for US tech companies to partner with EU firms for data storage, focusing instead on technical security criteria.
Despite this, concerns linger about the European Commission potentially delaying or even scrapping the certification scheme altogether. The groups have strongly urged the EU to push forward with its adoption, believing it will support Europe’s digital economy while promoting secure cloud computing solutions.
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