Digital cooperation Archives | Page 168 of 217

EX90 will be first to feature Gemini AI

Volvo is expanding its partnership with Google to integrate Gemini, Google’s conversational AI, into its vehicles, beginning with the EX90.

Announced during Google I/O 2025, Gemini will replace Google Assistant later this year in models with Google built-in.

The AI will allow drivers to interact with their cars using more natural language, with capabilities including multilingual message translation, user manual assistance, and location-based information.

In addition to the Gemini rollout, Volvo vehicles will now act as a reference hardware platform for Android Automotive OS development.

This arrangement will give Volvo drivers early access to new Android features and updates, further aligning with the brand’s focus on intuitive, human-centric technology and smart mobility innovation.

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Meta aims to boost Llama adoption among startups

Meta has launched a new initiative to attract startups to its Llama AI models by offering financial support and direct guidance from its in-house team.

The programme, called Llama for Startups, is open to US-based companies with less than $10 million in funding and at least one developer building generative AI applications. Eligible firms can apply by 30 May.

Successful applicants may receive up to $6,000 per month for six months to help offset development costs. Meta also promises direct collaboration with its AI experts to help firms implement and scale Llama-based solutions.

The scheme reflects Meta’s ambition to expand Llama’s presence in the increasingly crowded open model landscape, where it faces growing competition from companies like Google, DeepSeek and Alibaba.

Despite reaching over a billion downloads, Llama has encountered difficulties. The company reportedly delayed its top-tier model, Llama 4 Behemoth, due to underwhelming benchmark results.

Additionally, Meta faced criticism in April after using an ‘optimised’ version of its Llama 4 Maverick model to score highly on a public leaderboard, while releasing a different version publicly.

Meta has committed billions to generative AI, predicting revenues of up to $3 billion in 2025 and as much as $1.4 trillion by 2035.

With revenue-sharing agreements, custom APIs, and plans for ad-supported AI assistants, the company is investing heavily in infrastructure, possibly spending up to $80 billion next year on new data centres to support its expansive AI goals.

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OpenAI buys Jony Ive’s AI hardware firm

OpenAI has acquired hardware startup io Products, founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive, in a $6.5 billion equity deal. Ive will now join the company as creative head, aiming to craft cutting-edge hardware for the era of generative AI.

The move signals OpenAI’s intention to build its own hardware platform instead of relying on existing ecosystems like Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android. By doing so, the firm plans to fuse its AI technology, including ChatGPT, with original physical products designed entirely in-house.

Jony Ive, the designer behind iconic Apple devices such as the iPhone and iMac, had already been collaborating with OpenAI through his firm LoveFrom for the past two years. Their shared ambition is to create hardware that redefines how people interact with AI.

While exact details remain under wraps, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ive have teased that a prototype is in development, described as potentially ‘the coolest piece of technology the world has ever seen’.

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Quantum computing partnership launches in Doha

Quantinuum and Al Rabban Capital have announced a new venture aimed at advancing quantum computing in Qatar and the region.

The partnership seeks to provide access to Quantinuum’s technologies, co-develop relevant quantum applications and train a new generation of developers.

This move aligns with Qatar’s ambition to become a hub for advanced technologies. Applications will focus on energy, medicine, genomics, and finance, with additional potential in emerging fields like Generative Quantum AI.

The venture builds on existing collaborations with Hamad Bin Khalifa University and the Qatar Center for Quantum Computing. Quantinuum’s expansion into Qatar follows growth across the US, UK, Europe, and Indo-Pacific.

Leaders from both organisations see this as a strategic milestone, strengthening technological ties between Qatar and the West. The joint venture not only supports national goals but also reflects rising global demand for quantum technologies.

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Ransomware threat evolves with deceptive PDFs

Ransomware attacks fell by 31% in April 2025 compared to the previous month. Despite the overall decline, the retail sector remained a top target, with incidents at Marks & Spencer, Co-op, Harrods and Peter Green Chilled drawing national attention.

Retail remains vulnerable due to its public profile and potential for large-scale disruption. Experts warn the drop in figures does not reflect a weaker threat, as many attacks go unreported or are deliberately concealed.

Tactics are shifting, with some groups, like Babuk 2.0, faking claims to gain notoriety or extort victims. A rising threat in the ransomware landscape is the use of malicious PDF files, which now make up over a fifth of email-based malware.

These files, increasingly crafted using generative AI, are trusted more by users and harder to detect. Cybersecurity experts are urging firms to update defences and strengthen organisational security cultures to remain resilient.

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Google brings sign language translation to AI

Google has introduced Gemma 3n, an advanced AI model that can operate directly on mobile devices, laptops, and tablets without relying on the cloud. The company also revealed MedGemma, its most powerful open AI model for analysing medical images and text.

The model supports processing audio, text, images, and video, and is built to perform well even on devices with less than 2GB of RAM. It shares its architecture with Gemini Nano and is now available in preview.

MedGemma is part of Google’s Health AI Developer Foundations programme and is designed to help developers create custom health-focused applications. It promises wide-ranging usability in multimodal healthcare tasks.

Another model, SignGemma, was announced to aid in translating sign language into spoken text. Despite concerns over Gemma’s licensing, the models continue to see widespread adoption.

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Microsoft and GitHub back Anthropic’s MCP

Microsoft and GitHub are officially joining the steering committee for MCP, a growing standard developed by Anthropic that connects AI models with data systems.

The announcement came during Microsoft’s Build 2025 event, highlighting a new phase of industry-wide backing for the protocol, which already has support from OpenAI and Google.

MCP allows developers to link AI systems with apps, business tools, and software environments using MCP servers and clients. Instead of AI models working in isolation, they can interact directly with sources like content repositories or app features to complete tasks and power tools like chatbots.

Micro soft plans to integrate MCP into its core platforms, including Azure and Windows 11. Soon, developers will be able to expose app functionalities, such as file access or Linux subsystems, as MCP servers, enabling AI models to use them securely.

GitHub and Microsoft are also contributing updates to the MCP standard itself, including a registry for server discovery and a new authorisation system to manage secure connections.

The broader goal is to let developers build smarter AI-powered applications by making it easier to plug into real-world data and tools, while maintaining strong control over access and privacy.

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Met Office and Microsoft debut AI-ready forecasting system

The UK’s Met Office has launched a new supercomputer designed to significantly improve weather and climate forecasting accuracy. Operated via Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, it is the world’s first cloud-based supercomputer dedicated solely to weather and climate science.

Capable of performing 60 quadrillion calculations per second—more than four times faster than its predecessor—the system is expected to enhance 14-day forecasts, improve rainfall predictions, and offer better data for sectors like aviation and energy.

The infrastructure, split across two data centres in southern England, runs entirely on renewable energy. Originally announced in 2020 with a £1.2 billion UK government investment, the project faced delays due to COVID-19 and global supply chain disruptions.

Despite recent cyberattacks on UK institutions, Met Office officials say the new system has robust security and represents a major technological upgrade.

The Met Office also says the new system will support AI integration and provide better insights into climate change-related events, such as floods and wildfires.

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Taiwan boosts AI power with Nvidia supercomputer

Nvidia and Foxconn have announced plans to build a major AI factory supercomputer in Taiwan, backed by the Taiwanese government.

The facility, powered by 10,000 of Nvidia’s Blackwell GPUs, will be delivered through Foxconn’s Big Innovation Company and will support researchers, start-ups, and industry.

Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council will use the platform to provide real-time AI cloud computing resources across its tech ecosystem. TSMC researchers also plan to utilise the infrastructure to drive innovation in semiconductor development.

The announcement highlights Nvidia’s growing ties with Taiwanese companies and reflects the strategic importance of AI to Taiwan’s technological ambitions. Leaders from Nvidia, Foxconn, and TSMC described the project as a step towards creating a smarter, AI-enabled island economy.

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UAE to host world’s biggest AI site outside the US

The United Arab Emirates will build the largest artificial intelligence infrastructure outside the United States, following a high-level meeting between UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and President Trump in Abu Dhabi.

It will be constructed by G42 and involve US firms under the newly established US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership. Spanning 10 square miles in Abu Dhabi, the AI campus will run on a mix of nuclear, solar and gas energy to limit emissions and will feature a dedicated science park to drive innovation.

A 5GW capacity will enable it to serve half the global population, offering US cloud providers a vital regional hub. As part of the agreement, the UAE has pledged to align its national security rules with US standards, including strict technology safeguards and tighter access controls for computing power.

The UAE may also be permitted to purchase up to 500,000 Nvidia AI chips annually starting this year.

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