Universal Music Group has released a Spanish rendition of Brenda Lee’s 1958 hit ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.’ Titled ‘Noche Buena y Navidad,’ the new version was produced using AI technology developed by SoundLabs, with approval from Lee herself and under the guidance of Latin music producer Auero Baqueiro.
The song preserves the original instrumental and background arrangements while substituting Lee’s English vocals with newly generated Spanish vocals. These vocals were created using SoundLabs’ MicDrop, an AI-powered plug-in that replicates voices. The result aims to deliver a performance that feels as though the 13-year-old Brenda Lee recorded it in Spanish from the start.
Universal Music highlighted that the project illustrates how AI can be ethically integrated into music, with full artist consent and creative control. Recent controversies over AI-generated content in entertainment have raised questions about copyright and authenticity, making authorised projects like this one particularly noteworthy.
In June, Universal partnered with SoundLabs to develop official AI-powered vocal models for artists. This approach ensures musicians retain ownership of their voice data and maintain authority over the final output, promoting responsible use of AI in music creation.
CelcomDigi and AmBank have formed a strategic partnership to revolutionise digital healthcare in Malaysia through a newly signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). That collaboration will deliver affordable digital healthcare solutions over the next three years, empowering healthcare providers with advanced tools and services that leverage AI to enhance patient care and healthcare delivery.
Under this partnership, CelcomDigi will provide essential connectivity, while AmBank will offer financial services such as specialised medical financing, loans, insurance, and payment solutions, making these innovations more accessible to healthcare institutions. The initiative will introduce various solutions, including Smart Health Kiosks for monitoring vital health metrics and Medi-Scan technology, which utilises AI for biometric assessments. The focus is particularly on improving healthcare access in underserved areas, addressing the historical limitations of quality healthcare in these regions.
The commitment to enhancing healthcare accessibility for all Malaysians aligns with the initiatives of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to elevate the country’s healthcare system to a global standard. Integrating telecommunications and digital infrastructure is deemed essential to achieve this goal. Together, the organisations aim to create a more connected and inclusive healthcare ecosystem that supports predictive, preventive, and precision treatments, ultimately improving clinical outcomes for patients.
Elon Musk’s AI venture, xAI, has just enhanced its Grok model with image-understanding capabilities. This means that paid users on the social media platform X can now upload images and engage with Grok to ask questions about them. Announcements from both Musk and the official Grok handle confirm that the feature is in its early stages, with plans to refine and expand it further over time.
Alongside image analysis, Grok’s latest abilities include explaining jokes through this new feature, showcasing an evolving grasp of visual content. Initially released in August, Grok-2 provided premium users on X with access to a multimodal chatbot, featuring image generation through the FLUX.1 model by Black Forest Labs. This is part of xAI’s broader aim to create an immersive AI experience on X, including plans for additional multimodal capabilities through the platform’s developer API.
Looking ahead, Grok is expected to soon handle documents, such as photos and PDFs. Musk hinted at rapid advancements, emphasising xAI’s accelerated timeline compared to others in the industry. To boost appeal for paying subscribers, X has also introduced “Radar,” a tool offering Premium+ users real-time insights into trending topics and ongoing conversations.
Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating the partnership between Alphabet, Google’s parent company, and AI startup Anthropic due to concerns about competition. Regulators have grown increasingly cautious about agreements between major tech firms and smaller startups, especially after Microsoft-backed OpenAI sparked an AI boom with ChatGPT’s launch.
Anthropic, founded by former OpenAI executives Dario and Daniela Amodei, received a $500 million investment from Alphabet last year, with another $1.5 billion promised. The AI startup also relies on Google Cloud services to support its operations, raising concerns over the competitive impact of their collaboration.
The CMA began assessing the partnership in July and has set 19 December as the deadline for its Phase 1 decision. The regulator will determine whether the investigation should proceed to the next stage. Anthropic has pledged full cooperation, insisting that its strategic alliances do not compromise its independence or partnerships with other firms.
Alphabet has emphasised its commitment to fostering an open AI ecosystem. A spokesperson clarified that Anthropic is not restricted to using only Google Cloud services and is free to explore partnerships with multiple providers.
Miles Brundage, a veteran policy researcher and senior adviser at OpenAI, has left the company to pursue independent work in the nonprofit sector. In a post on X and an essay, Brundage explained his decision, stating he believes he can have a greater impact on AI policy and research outside of the industry, where he will have more freedom to publish his findings.
Brundage joined OpenAI in 2018 and played a key role in the company’s policy research, particularly in the responsible deployment of AI systems like ChatGPT. His departure signals ongoing shifts within OpenAI, with the company reorganising its economic research and AGI readiness teams. While OpenAI expressed support for Brundage’s decision, it did not specify who will take over his responsibilities.
Brundage’s exit is part of a broader trend of high-profile departures from OpenAI, with several key figures, including CTO Mira Murati and chief research officer Bob McGrew, having recently resigned. The departures reflect internal disagreements about the company’s direction, especially as it faces criticism over balancing commercial ambitions with AI safety.
European scientists have developed an AI algorithm that can interpret pig sounds to help farmers monitor their animals’ emotions, potentially improving pig welfare. The tool, created by researchers from universities across several European countries, analyses grunts, oinks, and squeals to identify whether pigs are experiencing positive or negative emotions. This could give farmers new insights beyond just monitoring physical health, as emotions are key to animal welfare but are often overlooked on farms.
The study found that pigs on free-range or organic farms produce fewer stress-related calls compared to conventionally raised pigs, suggesting a link between environment and emotional well-being. The AI algorithm could eventually be used in an app to alert farmers when pigs are stressed or uncomfortable, allowing for better management. Short grunts are associated with positive feelings, while longer grunts and high-pitched squeals often indicate stress or discomfort.
Researchers believe that once fully developed, this technology could not only benefit animal welfare but also help consumers make more informed choices about the farms they support.
The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and global partners Bayer, Microsoft, and GSMA published a study on rural digital connectivity in rural Latin America and the Caribbean. The report, titled ‘Breaking down barriers, narrowing gaps,’ focuses on rural women and youth’s significant roles in adopting new technologies, drawing on data from prior studies and 31 interviews across 14 countries.
The report identifies three models of technology adoption – intensive adoption linked to higher education levels, value chain support utilisation common among the youth, and non-use due to geographic or environmental constraints. Policymakers, including Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Honduras’ Agriculture Secretary Laura Suazo, highlighted digital solutions’ crucial role in transforming rural agriculture.
Why does it matter?
The report calls for joint private and public sector initiatives to close the digital divide, ensuring rural communities actively participate in a digitally inclusive agricultural future. It also stressed the development of public policies that address agricultural challenges, focusing on technology access for women and youth and highlighting digital technologies as essential tools for reducing poverty and enhancing food security in rural areas.
A Londoner who had his phone stolen while walking near the Science Museum believes Google’s new AI security update would have made a big difference. Tyler, whose phone was snatched by a thief on a bike, struggled to lock it remotely as he couldn’t remember his password. The update, which uses AI and sensors to detect when a phone is stolen, would automatically lock the screen to prevent thieves from accessing data.
Google’s new feature allows users to remotely lock a stolen device using just their phone number, a measure welcomed by Tyler as he believes it would have helped him secure his device in moments of panic. The initiative is part of a broader effort to combat phone theft, with mobile phones now accounting for 69% of all thefts in London. Last year, over 11,800 robberies involved phone thefts.
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, also supports the update, having previously lobbied phone companies to make their devices less attractive to criminals. Tech experts say the update’s AI-driven security, combined with the Offline Device Lock feature, will make it harder for thieves to access stolen phones.
Tyler hopes the new technology will deter criminals from stealing phones altogether, as the devices would become worthless once locked. Without resale value, he believes phone thefts will be a waste of time for criminals.
Zoom has announced a partnership with Suki, a leading AI medical scribe provider, to offer doctors on its platform an AI-powered tool that automates note-taking during telehealth visits. With Zoom accounting for over a third of telehealth appointments in the US, this move aims to help clinicians reduce time spent on paperwork, improving efficiency during virtual consultations.
The partnership marks Zoom’s shift from solely being a video-conferencing company to integrating AI tools designed for workplace efficiency, a vision supported by its CEO, Eric Yuan. Suki was selected after Zoom evaluated other AI medical scribe startups, further boosting Suki’s presence after raising $70M in funding earlier this month.
This development highlights a broader trend in healthcare, with companies like Amazon’s One Medical and Microsoft’s Nuance also leveraging AI for medical note-taking, helping providers manage documentation more effectively. Despite growing competition, investors believe there is still room for specialised AI solutions in both large healthcare systems and smaller medical practices.
Anthropic, the AI startup backed by Alphabet and Amazon, has launched updated AI models with a new feature designed to automate computer tasks, reducing the need for human interaction. The company’s latest innovation allows AI to perform actions like moving the mouse, clicking, and typing, simplifying complex tasks for software developers. This capability brings Anthropic closer to creating AI agents that can handle multi-step processes, a significant advancement beyond traditional chatbots.
The new feature, included in Anthropic’s mid-tier Claude 3.5 Sonnet model, is tailored to help developers with tasks like coding and even navigating programs like Google Search or Apple Maps. While it shows promise, the company has implemented safeguards to prevent misuse, such as spam or election interference. Anthropic continues to seek feedback from businesses to refine the tool and is exploring how to make it available to consumers in the future.
Anthropic’s Chief Science Officer, Jared Kaplan, demonstrated the potential of this AI to automate workflows, while Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger, now Anthropic’s chief product officer, expressed excitement about further advancing the technology to fully automate tasks like booking flights.
