Gusto’s co-founder and head of technology, Edward Kim, believes that replacing existing teams with AI engineers is not the best approach for businesses preparing for an AI-driven future. In an interview, Kim emphasised that non-technical team members often have a deeper understanding of customer needs and challenges, making them more effective in guiding the development of AI tools.
At Gusto, non-technical customer experience team members contribute by writing “recipes” that instruct Gusto’s AI assistant, Gus, on how to interact with customers. This approach allows employees to leverage their domain expertise, even without technical skills, to create powerful AI applications. Kim highlighted the success of CoPilot, a customer support tool developed by a former support team member, Eric Rodriguez, who was later promoted to the engineering team. The tool, used by Gusto’s support team, quickly became a game-changer, enhancing efficiency by providing immediate, accurate responses based on the company’s internal knowledge base.
Kim noted that AI tools like Gus empower teams to create solutions without requiring coding knowledge, using natural language instructions. This bottom-up strategy contrasts with the trend of hiring highly specialised AI experts and reflects Gusto’s belief in leveraging domain expertise. As AI continues to evolve at the company, Kim envisions a shift in roles, with more employees focusing on writing AI recipes and fine-tuning prompts rather than direct customer interactions. This approach, he suggests, will enhance customer experiences and free up resources for Gusto to expand its services.
Togo’s transport ministry has suspended the operations of Yango, a ride-hailing app owned by Yandex, the tech giant from Russia, due to security concerns. The app had been operating in the West African nation since June, but the ministry stated Yango was functioning without proper authorisation and in violation of national regulations.
The decision to suspend Yango was driven by concerns over passenger safety, as well as the app’s failure to adhere to the country’s legal procedures. The ministry emphasised the need to ensure that transportation services in Togo operate in compliance with local laws.
Effective immediately, Yango’s services have been halted across the entire national territory. The company has not yet commented on the suspension or provided any response to requests for information.
Yango, which had only recently entered the Togolese market, now faces an indefinite pause in operations as the government prioritises safety and regulatory compliance for ride-hailing services.
ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has dismissed an intern for what it described as “maliciously interfering” with the training of one of its AI models. The Chinese tech giant clarified that while the intern, who was part of the advertising technology team, had no experience with ByteDance’s AI Lab, some reports circulating on social media and other platforms have exaggerated the incident’s impact.
ByteDance stated that the interference did not disrupt its commercial operations or its large language AI models. It also denied claims that the damage exceeded $10 million or affected an AI training system powered by thousands of graphics processing units (GPUs). The company highlighted that the intern was fired in August, and it has since notified their university and relevant industry bodies.
As one of the leading tech firms in AI development, ByteDance operates popular platforms like TikTok and Douyin. The company continues to invest heavily in AI, with applications including its Doubao chatbot and a text-to-video tool named Jimeng.
IBM unveiled its latest AI model, known as ‘Granite 3.0,’ on Monday, targeting businesses eager to adopt generative AI technology. The company aims to stand out from its competitors by offering these models as open-source, a different approach from firms like Microsoft, which charge clients for access to their AI models. IBM’s open-source strategy promotes accessibility and flexibility, allowing businesses to customise and integrate these models as needed.
Alongside the Granite 3.0 models, IBM provides a paid service called Watsonx, which assists companies in running these models within their data centres once they are customised. This service gives enterprises more control over their AI solutions, enabling them to tailor and optimise the models for their specific needs while maintaining privacy and data security within their infrastructure.
The Granite models are already available for commercial use through the Watsonx platform. In addition, select models from the Granite family will be accessible on Nvidia’s AI software stack, allowing businesses to incorporate these models using Nvidia’s advanced tools and resources. IBM collaborated closely with Nvidia, utilising its H100 GPUs, a leading technology in the AI chip market, to train these models. Dario Gil, IBM’s research director, highlighted that the partnership with Nvidia is central to delivering powerful and efficient AI solutions for enterprises looking to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.
A new report from Aspen Digital reveals that 76% of Asia’s private wealth sector has already ventured into digital assets, with an additional 18% planning future investments. Interest in digital assets has surged since 2022, when just 58% of respondents had explored the space. The survey covered 80 family offices and high-net-worth individuals and found that most manage assets ranging from $10 million to $500 million.
Among those invested, 70% have allocated less than 5% of their portfolios to digital assets, although some increased their holdings to over 10% in 2024. Interest in decentralised finance (DeFi) and blockchain applications continues to grow, with two-thirds expressing a desire to explore DeFi, while 61% are keen on AI and decentralised physical infrastructure.
The approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs, particularly in the US and Hong Kong, has driven increased demand for digital assets. The report highlighted that 53% of investors have gained exposure through funds or ETFs, with optimism remaining high as 31% predict Bitcoin could reach $100,000 by the end of 2024.
TokenPocket, a global crypto wallet, has partnered with Swiss-regulated Web3 banking platform Fiat24 to simplify the use of digital currencies in everyday transactions. While over 600 million people worldwide own crypto, spending it on daily purchases remains complicated due to conversion processes and fees. The collaboration aims to bridge this gap by making crypto spending easier.
TokenPocket supports various blockchain networks, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, allowing users to securely manage their assets. Fiat24 brings decentralised banking to the table, using blockchain technology to manage operations via smart contracts. The integration enables users to seamlessly convert and spend their crypto.
The TP Card, born from this collaboration, allows users to spend their crypto just like traditional currency. Available across 32 European countries, it can be linked with Apple Pay and Google Pay, making crypto transactions as easy as regular card payments. The partnership is poised to reshape global finance by merging digital assets with everyday spending.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump revealed that he spoke with Apple CEO Tim Cook about the financial penalties imposed on the tech giant by the European Union. Trump claimed that Cook informed him about a recent $15 billion fine from the EU, along with an additional $2 billion penalty, although Apple has not confirmed the details of the call.
The EU is investigating major tech companies to limit their influence and promote fair competition for smaller businesses. Recently, Apple encountered major challenges, including a court ruling that required the company to pay about $14 billion in back taxes to Ireland. Additionally, Apple was hit with a $2 billion antitrust fine for allegedly restricting competition in the music streaming sector via its App Store.
During the podcast with Patrick Bet-David, Trump expressed his commitment to protect American companies from what he described as unfair treatment. He stated, ‘Tim, I got to get elected first. But I’m not going to let them take advantage of our companies.’ Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris are currently in a tight race for the 5 November presidential election.
The Central Bank of the UAE has given preliminary approval to AED Stablecoin, positioning it to be the first regulated stablecoin pegged to the dirham in the country. The move follows the bank’s recent licensing framework, which restricts crypto payments to licensed dirham-pegged tokens, easing previous concerns over potential restrictions on crypto use.
If fully licensed, AED Stablecoin’s AE Coin could become a local trading pair for cryptocurrencies and be used by merchants for payments. Issuers of the stablecoin must back it with cash reserves held in UAE banks or a combination of cash and government bonds.
The UAE’s favourable regulatory environment has been attracting major players in the crypto space. While AED Stablecoin faces competition from Tether, OKX has launched a new trading platform, and M2 has introduced a system allowing direct dirham conversions to Bitcoin and Ether.
Meta has joined forces with Blumhouse, the Hollywood studio renowned for horror films, to test its new AI-driven video tool called Movie Gen that creates custom 1080p videos with sound using text-based inputs, offering filmmakers innovative ways to visualise their ideas.
The pilot project engaged prominent filmmakers, including Aneesh Chaganty, Casey Affleck, and The Spurlock Sisters, who integrated AI-generated clips into their films. Chaganty’s work is already featured on the Movie Gen website, with other contributions set to appear soon. The collaboration demonstrates how AI can become a creative partner, expanding artistic possibilities through responses to text prompts and advanced sound effects.
Blumhouse CEO Jason Blum praised the initiative, stating that these tools could empower artists to tell better stories and stressed the importance of involving creators early in the development phase. Meta aims to continue refining the tool by extending the pilot programme through 2025, encouraging user feedback to enhance its capabilities.
Alongside this initiative, Meta has expanded its AI chatbot, Meta AI, to 21 markets, including the UK and Brazil. Seen as a competitor to ChatGPT, Meta AI supports multiple languages, targeting 500 million monthly active users globally.
Schneider Electric has announced an $850 million deal to acquire a 75% controlling stake in Motivair Corp, a US company specialising in liquid cooling solutions for high-performance computing. The French firm expects to complete the all-cash deal in the coming quarters, with plans to acquire the remaining stake by 2028. The acquisition is part of Schneider’s strategy to expand its offerings for the rapidly growing data centre market, which increasingly demands efficient cooling solutions for technologies like generative AI.
Motivair, located in Buffalo, New York, manufactures advanced cooling systems that pump coolant directly near chips, efficiently managing the heat produced by high-performance computing—something traditional air cooling struggles to do. Schneider CEO Peter Herweck emphasised the expansion of the data centre and networks sector, which accounted for 21% of the company’s 2023 orders, approximately 8 billion euros. He also noted strong global demand for these technologies.
Herweck stated that Schneider is not actively pursuing further acquisitions in the data centre sector but remains open to opportunities as they emerge. The company’s shares have climbed 31% this year, driven by its strong market presence and the growing demand for advanced cooling solutions in data centres.
