Sam Altman sparked interest among Indian users on X after praising the country’s rapid AI adoption and sharing an AI-generated image of himself playing cricket. In his 2 April post, the OpenAI CEO called India’s AI creativity an ‘explosion,’ claiming the country was outpacing the world in adoption rates.
Users questioned why Altman singled out India, with some turning to AI chatbots like Perplexity and Grok for verification. His comments followed a February visit to India, where he met IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and highlighted India as OpenAI’s second-largest market.
Altman’s remarks also came shortly after OpenAI’s GPT-4o update, which enhanced AI-generated images and illustrations. To showcase this, he shared an anime-style image of himself as a cricket player, sporting a Team India jersey.
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Qualcomm has acquired MovianAI, the generative AI division of Vietnam’s VinAI, in a move aimed at enhancing its capabilities across smartphones, PCs, and automotive technologies.
The US chipmaker described the acquisition as a strategic step to fuel future innovation in AI, with particular emphasis on customised models and advanced engineering.
MovianAI brings expertise in machine learning, computer vision, and natural language processing. Qualcomm highlighted the value of adding ‘high-calibre talent’ to its engineering team, with MovianAI’s founder and CEO Hung Bui, who previously worked at Google DeepMind, set to join the company.
Bui stated that his team is eager to contribute to Qualcomm’s mission of scaling foundational AI breakthroughs across industries.
Qualcomm has a two-decade history of working with Vietnamese companies, particularly in 5G, IoT, and AI development. While the financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed, Vietnamese outlet VNExpress International reported that Qualcomm has acquired a 65 per cent stake in MovianAI.
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Joelle Pineau, the Vice President of AI research at Meta, announced she will be leaving the company by the end of May, after nearly eight years with the organisation.
Pineau, who joined Meta in 2017, has overseen key AI initiatives, including the FAIR research unit, PyTorch, and the Llama AI models.
In a LinkedIn post, Pineau reflected on her time at Meta, mentioning the creation of groundbreaking AI projects such as PyTorch, FAISS, and Roberta.
She expressed gratitude for the opportunity to work alongside top AI researchers, with the aim of accelerating innovation through open-source contributions.
Pineau, also a professor at McGill University, stated that after her departure, she plans to take some time to reflect before pursuing new ventures. Her departure comes as Meta intensifies its focus on AI, including the recent launch of its Meta AI chatbot in Europe.
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Nokia has signed a multi-year deal with Bharti Airtel to expand their core network collaboration instead of maintaining a limited partnership, aiming to enhance 5G service delivery.
The move will integrate 5G and 4G technologies into a unified server setup instead of running them separately, while also helping Airtel grow its 4G/5G customer base.
Nokia’s Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) will provide additional solutions for home broadband and enterprise-critical applications instead of relying solely on traditional infrastructure.
The rollout will cover network automation across most Airtel service regions in India, helping the telecom giant optimise its hardware footprint and reduce costs per bit by using appliance-based Packet Core gateways.
Airtel CTO Randeep Sekhon highlighted that Nokia’s Packet Core deployment will improve network quality and reliability instead of allowing congestion to impact customers.
Nokia’s president of cloud and network services, Raghav Sahgal, emphasised that this collaboration strengthens Airtel’s 5G standalone (SA) readiness, reinforcing Nokia’s leadership in core network solutions in India and globally.
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Arm Holdings, owned by SoftBank, recently considered acquiring UK-based semiconductor IP supplier Alphawave to bolster its artificial intelligence processor technology.
The focus was on Alphawave’s ‘serdes’ technology, essential for rapid data transfer in AI applications requiring interconnected chips.
Despite initial discussions, Arm decided against pursuing the acquisition. Alphawave had been exploring a sale after attracting interest from Arm and other potential buyers.
Alphawave’s joint venture in China, WiseWave, added complexity to the potential deal due to national security concerns raised by US officials.
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Physicists at CERN believe they’ve found evidence of quantum entanglement in sheep, potentially explaining the near-instantaneous coordination seen in flocks.
The study, by HERD collaboration, used tracking devices and quantum modelling to suggest that sheep may be mentally linked across distances.
Researchers discovered what they call ‘moutons’, fluffy leptons in the brain that may be behind this bizarre quantum connection.
Though the statistical result reached 4 sigma, it falls short of full scientific confirmation and further testing is required.
The team stresses the findings are serious science, despite the sheep-related puns. If verified, the results could open an entirely new frontier at the intersection of quantum physics and biology and perhaps even explain why some researchers feel inexplicably sleepy near the flock.
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Following the US’s first-ever Enterprise Artificial Intelligence Strategy in October 2024, leading robotics companies are urging the government to develop a national robotics strategy and establish a federal office to support the industry.
The push comes as China accelerates its robotics investments, raising concerns about US competitiveness in the global market.
Executives from Tesla, Boston Dynamics, and Agility Robotics showcased their latest innovations on Capitol Hill this week, advocating for policies that bolster domestic production and adoption of robots.
Jeff Cardenas, CEO of Apptronik, highlighted how the United States once led the field but lost ground to Japan and Europe. Tesla’s Jonathan Chen added that manufacturing at scale remains a key challenge.
The Association for Advanced Automation warned that without strong federal leadership, the US risks falling behind in both robotics and AI. Meanwhile, China continues expanding its robotics sector, with a state-backed fund aiming to attract $138 billion over two decades.
According to the International Federation of Robotics, China now leads in industrial robot usage, with 1.8 million in operation as of 2023.
With global investment in robotics projected to exceed $13 billion by 2025, US industry leaders stress that a national strategy is essential to maintaining a competitive edge.
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The Coimisiún na Meán has warned that differing interpretations of the Digital Services Act (DSA) by EU regulators are hindering a unified approach to online platform regulation.
Maria Donde, Director of International Affairs at Coimisiún na Meán, highlighted the challenges of aligning various regulators’ approaches to the DSA, which has left room for interpretation.
She emphasised the importance of finding common ground, especially as the DSA, which came into effect last February, imposes transparency and election integrity requirements on platforms.
The DSA requires each EU member state to appoint a Digital Services Coordinator as a point of contact for platforms. Ireland, home to major platforms like TikTok and X, is at the forefront of enforcement.
Donde stressed the need for a consistent voice within the EU, particularly as the law faces criticism globally. The US government has condemned the EU’s regulatory approach, calling it a threat to free speech and accusing Europe of sidelining US tech companies.
The European Commission has already initiated several investigations under the DSA, targeting platforms such as X, TikTok, and Temu. These probes are ongoing, with potential fines for non-compliance reaching up to 6% of a company’s global turnover.
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EU Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen has voiced support for using a Regulation, rather than a Directive, in the upcoming Digital Networks Act.
She says this would ensure consistent implementation across all member states, avoiding the patchwork seen under current telecom rules.
Virkkunen also hinted at easing merger rules and reducing ex-ante regulation within the existing framework, the European Electronic Communications Code.
These changes, she noted, could encourage investment and help the EU meet its goal of full 5G and fibre coverage by 2030.
She criticised slow national efforts to phase out high-risk Chinese components from 5G networks, calling for stronger action.
Her stance follows pressure from MEPs concerned about ongoing cybersecurity risks and lack of enforcement.
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Korean authorities say no decision has been made on when China’s DeepSeek AI app can resume operations in the country. The app was suspended last month due to concerns over its data handling practices.
Talks are ongoing between the Personal Information Protection Commission in Korea and DeepSeek, which recently appointed a local representative and pledged to comply with Korean privacy law.
DeepSeek is considered a key player in the Korean market, but officials stress that any resumption will depend on satisfactory privacy safeguards. No timeline has been set for lifting the suspension.
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