Economic Archives | Page 304 of 685 | Digital Watch Observatory

Youth unrest set to drive Bitcoin’s rise

Market analyst Jordi Visser predicts that rising dissatisfaction among young people aged 25 and under with the current financial system will drive Bitcoin adoption. He believes this trend will push its price higher over time.

On Anthony Pompliano’s podcast, Visser highlighted growing frustration due to economic uncertainty and AI-driven job losses. These factors are leading to calls for increased social spending and a move away from capitalism.

Visser said younger generations no longer believe the system will improve and expect governments to print more money amid social unrest. He argued that this trend will help Bitcoin steadily replace traditional fiat assets.

The analyst also warned that advanced AI and robotics could disrupt capitalism by concentrating wealth and reducing the need for human labour, forcing societal change. Emerging technologies like humanoid robots and self-driving cars, expected within five years, may speed up this transformation.

Visser noted that autonomous vehicles arriving in cities like Manhattan could face protests similar to those against ride-sharing, signalling broader technological disruption.

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Text-to-image and beyond: Alibaba launches Qwen VLo AI model

Alibaba Group has launched a new AI model called Qwen VLo, designed to generate and edit images based on text prompts and visual inputs. The model is an upgrade of the earlier Qwen2.5-VL and forms part of Alibaba’s expanding suite of AI services.

Qwen VLo introduces the ‘progressive generation’ feature, which allows users to watch as the image develops in real-time. Users can request creations with simple prompts such as ‘generate a picture of a dog’, or upload existing photos for editing.

According to a company blog post on GitHub, Qwen VLo is a unified multimodal understanding and generation model. It not only interprets visual and textual data, but also produces high-quality, context-aware image outputs.

Previous models had difficulty with semantic consistency, often misidentifying objects or altering key features like the shape or colour of a car. The new Qwen VLo corrects these issues, offering improved object recognition and detail retention.

Users can issue complex editing commands, such as ‘add a sun to the sky’ or ‘make this photo look like it’s from the 19th century’. The model supports traditional vision tasks like depth estimation, edge detection, and segmentation.

Multiple image tasks can be performed simultaneously, making Qwen VLo suitable for more advanced use cases. Thanks to the model’s multilingual capabilities, instructions can be given in several languages, including English and Chinese.

Alibaba, best known for its e-commerce services, has been steadily advancing its AI research and development. In February, CEO Eddie Wu said the company’s primary focus is now on artificial general intelligence—AI systems that match or exceed human-level cognition.

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Kazakhstan to create crypto reserve backed by mining and seized funds

Kazakhstan will create a state crypto reserve funded by confiscated criminal assets and government-backed mining operations. National Bank Chairman Timur Suleimenov said the reserve will follow global sovereign fund standards, prioritising transparency and sustainability.

The country’s rise as a crypto mining hub began in 2021, but stricter regulations and power shortages reduced its global mining share to 4% by 2023.

Authorities now use the ’70/30 model’, where foreign investment modernises power plants, with 30% of energy output reserved for regulated mining to generate crypto for the reserve.

Legal crypto activity is limited to the Astana International Financial Centre, hosting major exchanges like Binance and Bybit. Non-compliant platforms remain blocked, while reforms aim to license unbacked crypto assets and define their legal status.

Kazakhstan is also pushing forward with broader crypto innovation, including a Solana-backed Web3 zone and the proposed CryptoCity. Despite enforcement progress, most crypto activity still occurs outside regulation. The digital tenge is expected to launch later this year.

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Europol backs Spain in dismantling crypto crime ring

Spanish law enforcement, supported by Europol and agencies from Estonia, France, and the United States, arrested five individuals on 25 June 2025 linked to a global cryptocurrency investment scam. The operation uncovered a vast fraud network responsible for laundering around €460 million taken from over 5,000 victims worldwide.

The suspects were detained following coordinated raids in Madrid and the Canary Islands. Authorities conducted five property searches in total.

Europol has been assisting with the case since 2023, providing technical expertise, financial crime analysis, and on-site support during the final phase of the investigation.

The group allegedly operated through a vast web of international sales agents facilitating fund collection via cash, wire transfers, and cryptocurrencies.

The criminal operation reportedly maintained a corporate and banking structure based in Hong Kong, using shell companies and various digital accounts under false identities to move illicit funds.

Online fraud remains a critical threat to EU security, and Europol warns that it is rapidly growing in scale and complexity. According to Europol’s latest threat report, the rise of AI-powered deception tools is expected to fuel the spread of cyber-enabled fraud further.

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Grok gets a boost: xAI secures $10 billion for AI expansion

xAI, founded by Elon Musk, has secured $10 billion in fresh funding to strengthen its position in the competitive AI landscape. The investment consists of $5 billion in secured loans arranged by Morgan Stanley and a further $5 billion in strategic equity investment.

Morgan Stanley announced the deal on Monday, noting that global investors oversubscribed the debt offering. The firm described the transaction as a strong show of confidence in xAI’s long-term mission to accelerate scientific discovery and deepen humanity’s understanding of the universe.

The newly raised capital will support xAI’s development of a large-scale data centre and continued improvements to its flagship Grok platform. Grok is a conversational AI assistant integrated into Musk’s social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), and is designed to rival systems from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.

Morgan Stanley highlighted that the funding structure—blending debt and equity—lowers xAI’s cost of capital and provides access to a broader pool of long-term funding. The firm also said the financing gives xAI greater flexibility as it scales its infrastructure and operations.

xAI has grown rapidly since its launch, raising $6 billion in a Series B round last year, which valued the company at approximately $24 billion. The additional $10 billion signals growing ambition as it prepares to compete with the most prominent players in AI development.

The Grok platform differentiates itself through its real-time access to social media content and a more informal tone, positioning it as a potentially unique alternative in the generative AI space. With expanded funding, xAI is expected to further invest in data training, hardware, and software refinement.

The funding boost comes as rivals also raise capital to stay ahead in the AI race. In March, OpenAI announced a record-setting $40 billion round led by SoftBank, with Microsoft, Altimeter, and Thrive also participating. The round valued OpenAI at $300 billion post-money.

OpenAI said the funds would allow it to enhance research, expand computing power, and improve products like ChatGPT, now used by over 500 million people weekly. Other firms, including Google and Meta, are also increasing investments in pursuit of artificial general intelligence (AGI).

As the battle to dominate AI intensifies, xAI’s latest funding round may mark a turning point, with the firm now better equipped to compete for market share, talent, and technological breakthroughs in an increasingly crowded field.

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AI rock band’s Spotify rise fuels calls for transparency

A mysterious indie rock band called The Velvet Sundown has shot to popularity on Spotify, and may be powered by AI. Their debut track, Dust on the Wind, has racked up over 380,000 plays since 20 June and helped attract more than 470,000 monthly listeners.

The song bears a resemblance to the 1977 Kansas hit Dust in the Wind, prompting suspicion from Reddit users. The band’s profile picture and Instagram photos appear AI-generated, while the band members listed — such as ‘Milo Rains’ and ‘Rio Del Mar’ — have no online trace.

Despite the clues, Spotify does not label the group as AI-generated. Their songs are appearing in curated playlists like Discover Weekly. Only Deezer, a French streaming service, has identified The Velvet Sundown as likely created by generative AI models like Suno or Udio.

Deezer began tagging AI music in June and now detects over 20,000 entirely artificial tracks each day. Another AI band, The Devil Inside, has also gained traction. Their song Bones in the River has over 1.6 million plays on Spotify, but lacks credited creators.

On Deezer, the same track is labelled as AI-generated and linked to Hungarian musician László Tamási — a rare human credit for bot-made music. While Deezer takes a transparent approach, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music have not announced detection systems or labelling plans.

Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier said AI is ‘not inherently good or bad,’ but called for transparency to protect artist rights and user trust. Legal battles are already underway. US record labels have sued Suno and Udio for mass copyright infringement, though the companies argue it falls under fair use.

As AI-generated music continues to rise, platforms face increasing pressure to inform users and draw more precise lines between human and machine-made art.

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Apple may use ChatGPT or Claude to power Siri

Apple is reportedly in talks with OpenAI and Anthropic as it considers outsourcing AI technology for its voice assistant, Siri.

The discussions are said to include the possibility of training versions of ChatGPT or Claude to run on Apple’s cloud infrastructure. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is currently leaning towards Anthropic’s Claude as a better fit for Siri, although no final decision has been made.

While Apple already allows users to access ChatGPT through its Apple Intelligence platform, the integration is currently optional and user-driven.

What is now under consideration would mark a significant shift, such as choosing a third-party model to power Siri directly. The initiative comes as the company struggles to keep pace in a rapidly advancing AI market dominated by Google, OpenAI, and others.

Apple is still developing its large language models under a project codenamed LLM Siri. However, these in-house systems are reportedly lagging behind leading models already available.

Should Apple proceed with a third-party integration, it would signal a rare admission that its internal AI efforts are not enough to compete at the highest level.

Once celebrated for breakthrough innovations like the iPhone, Apple has faced growing criticism for a lack of fresh ideas. With rivals embedding generative AI into everyday tools, the pressure is mounting.

If Siri remains limited — still unable to answer basic questions — Apple risks alienating even its most loyal users. Whether through partnership or internal progress, the company now faces a narrowing window to prove it still leads, instead of follows.

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Meta’s Facebook uses phone photos for AI if users allow it

Meta has introduced a new feature that allows Facebook to access and analyse users’ photos stored on their phones, provided they give explicit permission.

The move is part of a broader push to improve the company’s AI tools, especially after the underwhelming reception of its Llama 4 model. Users who opt in will be agreeing to Meta’s AI Terms of Service, which grants the platform the right to retain and use personal media for content suggestions.

The new feature, currently being tested in the US and Canada, is designed to offer Facebook users creative ideas for Stories by processing their photos and videos through cloud infrastructure.

When enabled, users may receive suggestions such as collages or travel highlights based on when and where images were captured, as well as who or what appears in them. However, participation is strictly optional and can be turned off at any time.

Facebook clarifies that the media analysed under the feature is not used to train AI models in the current test. Still, the system does upload selected media to Meta’s servers on an ongoing basis, raising privacy concerns.

The option to activate these suggestions can be found in the Facebook app’s settings, where users are asked whether they want camera roll data to inform sharing ideas.

Meta has been actively promoting its AI ambitions, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushing for the development of ‘superintelligence’. The company recently launched Meta Superintelligence Labs to lead these efforts.

Despite facing stiff competition from OpenAI, DeepSeek and Google, Meta appears determined to deepen its use of personal data to boost its AI capabilities.

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Africa risks being left behind in global AI development

Africa is falling far behind in the global race to develop AI, according to a new report by Oxford University.

The study mapped the location of advanced AI infrastructure and revealed that only 32 countries — just 16% of the world — currently operate major AI data centres.

These facilities are essential for training and developing modern AI systems. In contrast, most African nations remain dependent on foreign technology providers, limiting their control over digital development.

Rather than building local capacity, Africa has essentially been treated as a market for AI products developed elsewhere. Regional leaders have often focused on distributing global tech tools instead of investing in infrastructure for homegrown innovation.

One notable exception is Strive Masiyiwa’s Cassava Technologies, which recently partnered with Nvidia to launch the continent’s first AI factory, which is located in South Africa. The project aims to expand across Egypt, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria.

Unlike typical data centres, an AI factory is explicitly built to support the full AI lifecycle, from raw data to trained models. Nvidia’s GPUs will power the facility, enabling ‘AI as a service’ to be used by governments, businesses, and researchers across the continent.

Cassava’s model offers a more sustainable vision, where African data is used to create local solutions, instead of exporting value abroad.

Experts argue that Africa needs more such initiatives to reduce dependence and participate meaningfully in the AI economy. An AI Fund supported by leading African nations could help finance new factories and infrastructure.

With time running out, leaders must move beyond surface-level engagement and begin coordinated action to address the continent’s growing digital divide.

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OpenInfra Summit Europe brings focus on AI and VMware alternatives

The OpenInfra Foundation and its global community will gather at the OpenInfra Summit Europe from 17 to 19 October in Paris-Saclay to explore how open source is reshaping digital infrastructure.

It will be the first summit since the Foundation joined the Linux Foundation, uniting major projects such as Linux, Kubernetes and OpenStack under the OpenInfra Blueprint. The agenda includes a strong focus on digital sovereignty, VMware migration strategies and infrastructure support for AI workloads.

Taking place at École Polytechnique in Palaiseau, the summit arrives at a time when open source software is powering nearly $9 trillion of economic activity.

With over 38% of the global OpenInfra community based in Europe, the event will focus on regional priorities like data control, security, and compliance with new EU regulations such as the Cyber Resilience Act.

Developers, IT leaders and business strategists will explore how projects like Kata Containers, Ceph and RISC-V integrate to support cost-effective, scalable infrastructure.

The summit will also mark OpenStack’s 15th anniversary, with use cases shared by the UN, BMW and nonprofit Restos du Coeur.

Attendees will witness a live VMware migration demo featuring companies like Canonical and Rackspace, highlighting real-world approaches to transitioning away from proprietary platforms. Sessions will dive into topics like CI pipelines, AI-powered infrastructure, and cloud-native operations.

As a community-led event, OpenInfra Summit Europe remains focused on collaboration.

With sponsors including Canonical, Mirantis, Red Hat and others, the gathering offers developers and organisations an opportunity to share best practices, shape open source development, and strengthen the global infrastructure ecosystem.

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