Vietnam’s semiconductor industry is gaining momentum as foreign companies invest in chip testing and packaging facilities, shifting some production away from China. Amid trade tensions between the US and China, several global players, including South Korea’s Hana Micron and US-based Amkor Technology, are expanding operations in Vietnam to diversify their production bases. Hana Micron has committed over $930 million to boost its packaging capacity, while Amkor is investing $1.6 billion to establish its largest packaging plant, transferring some machinery from its Chinese facilities.
The rise in investment is set to increase Vietnam’s global share in chip assembling, testing, and packaging, with estimates suggesting a rise from 1% in 2022 to around 8-9% by 2032. Domestic companies are also stepping up. Vietnamese tech firm FPT plans to start a testing facility near Hanoi next year, investing up to $30 million, while Sovico Group is seeking partnerships for a chip plant in Danang.
Vietnam’s strategic push into the semiconductor sector has been encouraged by the US, viewing the country as a potential alternative to China for supply chains. The Biden administration’s support, especially as trade tensions grow, has bolstered Vietnam’s role in this industry. With domestic and foreign investments combined, Vietnam is poised to strengthen its position as a key player in the global semiconductor back-end market.
Looking forward, Vietnam is ambitiously aiming to develop its front-end chipmaking capabilities, planning to have its first foundry operational by 2030. Viettel, a state-owned firm, is set to lead this initiative, indicating Vietnam’s broader goal of advancing its semiconductor industry and reducing reliance on foreign production bases.
Amazon has resumed its drone delivery programme, bringing its Prime Air service to select customers in the Phoenix, Arizona area. After recently ending the service in California, Amazon is now offering drone deliveries for products weighing five pounds or less, covering around 50,000 items. Customers in the West Valley Phoenix Metro Area can choose their delivery spot at checkout, with most items arriving within an hour from a nearby take-off site.
Using the advanced MK30 drone, Amazon has ensured improved delivery capabilities, with the Federal Aviation Administration recently allowing it to fly beyond the operator’s visual line of sight. The MK30 is quieter, can fly further, and operates in light rain, although it is limited to daylight and favourable weather conditions. The MK30 is also being used in College Station, Texas, where Amazon has piloted prescription medicine deliveries since 2023.
Amazon, aiming for efficient and cost-effective operations, has integrated drone deliveries into its same-day delivery network. While the company previously announced plans to expand drone delivery to the UK and Italy by the end of the year, no new updates were provided on these international expansions.
Anthropic has unveiled Claude 3.5 Haiku, its latest AI model, which claims to outperform its previous flagship model, Claude 3 Opus. Designed for tasks such as coding support, data extraction, and content moderation, Claude 3.5 Haiku is now available on Anthropic’s API and several third-party platforms, including AWS Bedrock. Despite improvements, the new model lacks image analysis features, which its predecessor Claude 3 Haiku offers.
A price hike for Claude 3.5 Haiku has surprised many, as Anthropic previously suggested pricing would remain consistent with its older model. However, after outperforming Claude 3 Opus in final tests, Anthropic increased the model’s price to match its enhanced performance. The revised cost is now $1 per million input tokens and $5 per million output tokens — a fourfold increase from Claude 3 Haiku’s pricing.
Claude 3.5 Haiku provides advantages in text output length and an updated knowledge cutoff, enabling it to handle more recent information than Claude 3 Haiku. Despite this, the absence of image analysis functionality may lead some users to stick with the earlier, more affordable Claude 3 Haiku.
The unexpected price increase raises questions about Anthropic’s pricing approach as competition intensifies in the AI industry. As new models are developed, balancing enhanced features with accessibility is expected to remain a challenge for AI companies.
Aravind Srinivas, CEO of AI search company Perplexity, offered to step in and support New York Times operations amid a looming strike by the newspaper’s tech workers. The NYT Tech Guild announced the planned strike for November 4 after months of seeking better pay and working conditions. Representing workers involved in software support and data analysis on the business side, the guild has requested a 2.5% annual wage increase and to secure a two-day in-office work policy.
As tensions escalated, New York Times publisher AG Sulzberger called the timing of the strike ‘troubling’, noting that the paper’s election coverage is a public service at a crucial time. Responding publicly, Srinivas offered to help ensure uninterrupted access to the Times’s election news, sparking controversy as critics accused him of ‘scabbing’, a term for working in place of striking employees.
Srinivas clarified that his intent was to provide infrastructure support, not replace journalists, as his company has recently launched its own election information platform. However, the New York Times and Perplexity have been at odds recently, with the Times issuing a cease-and-desist letter last month over Perplexity’s alleged scraping of its content for AI use.
Disney is establishing a new division, the Office of Technology Enablement, dedicated to advancing the company’s use of AI and mixed reality (XR). Led by Jamie Voris, Disney’s former chief technology officer for its film studio, the unit will oversee projects across Disney’s film, television, and theme park segments to leverage these rapidly evolving technologies. This group will focus on coordinating various initiatives without centralising them, ensuring each project aligns with Disney’s broader technological strategy.
The new office, which will ultimately expand to about 100 employees, comes as Disney looks to tap into cutting-edge AI and augmented reality (AR) applications. Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman emphasised the importance of exploring AI’s potential while mitigating risks, signaling Disney’s intention to create next-generation experiences for theme parks and home entertainment. Voris’s leadership will be succeeded by Eddie Drake as Disney’s new film studio CTO.
Disney has been actively building expertise in AR and virtual reality (VR) as technology companies like Meta and Apple compete in the emerging AR/VR market. The company also rehired Kyle Laughlin, a specialist in these technologies, as Senior VP of Research and Development for Disney Imagineering, its theme park innovation branch. By assembling a team with expertise in advanced tech, Disney aims to create immersive, engaging experiences for its global audience.
OpenAI has introduced new search functions to its popular ChatGPT, making it a direct competitor with Google, Microsoft’s Bing, and other emerging AI-driven search tools. Instead of launching a separate search engine, OpenAI chose to integrate search capabilities directly into ChatGPT, which will pull information from the web and relevant sources based on user questions.
Initially, ChatGPT’s search feature will be available to Plus and Team users, with plans to expand access to enterprise and educational users, as well as free users, in the coming months. OpenAI’s partnerships with major publishers like Condé Nast, Time, and the Financial Times aim to provide a rich pool of content for ChatGPT’s search.
This launch follows OpenAI’s selective testing of SearchGPT, an AI-based search prototype, earlier in the year. With its recent funding round boosting its valuation to an estimated $157 billion, OpenAI continues to strengthen its standing as a leading private AI company.
Google is bringing AI to its mapping apps, integrating its Gemini chatbot to enhance user experiences in Google Maps, Waze, and Google Earth. With over two billion active users each month, Google Maps is a core service where the tech giant aims to apply recent advancements in AI to offer more accurate, personalised suggestions. Users can expect responses that better account for specific preferences, such as ‘fun things to do with friends at night’, creating results tailored to time and context.
Previously, Google Maps would deliver generic results that might include attractions not relevant for the time or situation. Now, powered by Gemini, Google Maps can answer more nuanced questions, refining its suggestions for local spots, like late-night music venues or seasonal activities. AI-driven summaries will also be introduced, adding insights on locations based on user reviews and presented alongside existing listings for an enhanced search experience.
Google has faced criticism for the inaccuracies in some AI-generated responses, including one instance of a recipe error. To minimise similar issues with the Maps updates, responses from Gemini will be checked against Google’s verified data sources, offering users more reliable information while making suggestions for their specific needs.
Beyond Google Maps, the company is implementing AI across other mapping tools, such as Google Earth and Waze. In Waze, new voice-activated capabilities will help drivers report incidents hands-free, and in Google Earth, developers and urban planners will be able to use AI chatbots for data analysis. Google’s AI-powered enhancements aim to provide a more streamlined, intuitive experience across its platforms, making travel and navigation easier.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk envisions a future where 10B humanoid robots populate the world by 2040, priced between $20,000 and $25,000 each. Musk shared his ambitious outlook virtually at Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative, a key gathering for global industry leaders held in Riyadh. This prediction underscores Musk’s vision of an advanced AI-driven future where humanoid robots may become nearly as common as today’s smartphones.
This projection aligns with Musk’s belief that AI and robotics will revolutionise labor and everyday life, taking over tasks across industries and possibly reshaping global economies. By pricing these robots within reach of individual consumers and businesses alike, Musk foresees a rapid expansion of robotics in daily use, from personal assistance to industrial applications.
Musk’s forecast also raises questions about the societal and economic impacts of such widespread AI-driven automation, sparking discussions on regulation and ethics. As technology accelerates, industry leaders and policymakers are exploring the potential opportunities and risks of a robotic future on this scale.
LinkedIn has introduced its first AI agent, Hiring Assistant, designed to automate many of the time-intensive tasks recruiters face, such as drafting job descriptions, identifying candidate matches, and handling initial outreach. Initially available to a select group of large enterprises, including AMD, Siemens, and Zurich Insurance, Hiring Assistant is expected to expand to more users in the coming months. By automating repetitive tasks, LinkedIn aims to free up recruiters to focus on higher-impact aspects of their jobs.
Built using LinkedIn’s data from over 1 billion users and backed by Microsoft’s OpenAI partnership, Hiring Assistant can refine job requirements based on existing listings, generate candidate pools, and filter applicants by skills rather than traditional markers like location or education. This AI assistant is part of LinkedIn’s broader push to integrate AI into its platform, following similar tools for resume and profile optimisation, career coaching, and job search support.
In its current iteration, Hiring Assistant is already making strides in streamlining recruiting, with plans for future updates to handle interview scheduling, candidate follow-ups, and more. LinkedIn, which has seen AI-driven growth in its premium subscription base, views Hiring Assistant as a key product in its business offerings for recruitment professionals, aiming to enhance LinkedIn’s impact in the hiring sector.
Kenya partners with Google to enhance its digital infrastructure and empower its citizens in the evolving digital economy. The collaboration aims to create a robust digital ecosystem that meets current technological needs while anticipating future demands.
Kenya seeks to empower decision-makers with real-time insights by utilising AI and data-driven technologies, enhancing operational efficiency and facilitating effective governance. A key focus of the partnership is revitalising the tourism sector through Google’s technology, attracting more international visitors and showcasing the country’s unique landscapes, wildlife, and cultural heritage.
Additionally, prioritising cybersecurity measures is critical to building trust among citizens and ensuring a secure digital environment. The initiative will also promote skills training to equip Kenyans with essential digital competencies, fostering innovation and creativity while contributing to the overall growth of the nation’s economy.
Through this partnership, Kenya addresses immediate technological needs and lays a foundation for sustainable development in the digital space. By enhancing digital literacy and integrating advanced technologies, the collaboration positions Kenya as a leader in the region’s technological landscape.
Why does it matter?
The comprehensive approach ensures that as the digital economy expands, citizens are well-prepared to navigate the challenges and opportunities that arise, ultimately driving growth and resilience in the face of rapid technological advancements.
