The UAE’s AI, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications Office, alongside the Mastercard Centre for Advanced AI and Cyber Technology in Dubai and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), have unveiled their inaugural ‘AI Challenge’. Aligned with the UAE Strategy for AI, this initiative aims to invigorate the country’s burgeoning AI sector and cultivate opportunities for AI-focused businesses and talent.
Saqr Binghalib, Executive Director of the AI Office in UAE, emphasised the government’s commitment to fostering partnerships with technology leaders and innovators. This collaboration aims to propel technological advancement, shape the future of AI, and reinforce the UAE’s global leadership in emerging fields.
J.K. Khalil, Division President, East Arabia at Mastercard, highlighted AI’s transformative potential across finance, business operations, and global interactions. The AI Challenge underscores Mastercard’s dedication to leveraging AI for positive impact and supporting the UAE’s vision to pioneer innovation in this domain.
The AI Challenge invites seed and Series A startups to propose innovative AI-driven solutions in areas such as cybersecurity, fintech, and productivity enhancement. Finalists will compete for a US$150,000 cash prize, access to Mastercard’s global resources, and enrolment in its acclaimed Start Path programme, aimed at accelerating startup growth through mentoring and global networking opportunities. Interested participants can register online by 25th August 2024 to participate in this groundbreaking initiative.
Serbia’s Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic emphasised the significance of the newly unveiled 2024-2030 AI Development Strategy as a pivotal document for the nation. Highlighting its broad impact across sectors such as education, energy, and healthcare, Brnabic underscored AI’s critical role in Serbia’s societal advancement.
Brnabic noted Serbia’s pioneering move in 2019 by adopting its first AI strategy, positioning the country at the forefront of AI development in Southeastern Europe.
She highlighted Serbia’s membership in the Global Partnership for AI, currently chaired by the nation, and announced plans to host a global AI conference in December.
Under the previous strategy, Serbia established the Institute for AI in Novi Sad in 2021 and introduced its first national AI platform. The supercomputer, available free of charge to universities, scientific institutes, and local startups, aims to foster innovation and technological growth in Serbia’s science and technology parks.
Samsung showcased its commitment to AI amidst internal challenges in South Korea, where workers are on an indefinite strike. Despite these issues, the tech giant presented AI integration across its consumer electronics at a Paris event, aiming to reinforce its global smartphone sales leadership.
At the presentation, Samsung executives focused on the deployment of AI applications, including Galaxy AI featured in their flagship S24 smartphone. They also announced plans to extend AI capabilities across all consumer products, from headphones to smartwatches and even connected rings.
TM Roh, head of Samsung’s mobile unit, highlighted their accelerated progress, aiming to bring Galaxy AI to 200 million devices by year-end, double their initial target. Samsung has invested heavily in AI, with more than a billion dollars allocated to its mobile unit alone.
Despite these advancements, analysts note AI’s current role in smartphones remains more about showcasing innovation than being a decisive factor in consumer choice. Samsung’s strategy includes focusing on premium markets with AI-driven innovations like their sixth-generation folding phones and health-related products, such as the Galaxy Ring set to launch later this month.
Slack, the pioneering workplace communication app, marks a decade of evolution with significant advancements in AI. Originally renowned for transforming business communication away from traditional emails, Slack now integrates AI tools aimed at enhancing productivity. Under new CEO Denise Dresser, who took the helm in 2023, Slack has intensified its focus on AI as a pivotal element for future workplace dynamics.
The introduction of Slack AI earlier this year represents a major shift, offering features like AI-powered search, channel recaps, and thread summaries. These tools are designed to streamline workflow efficiency and improve collaboration among users. Despite challenges such as slowing growth and stiff competition from Microsoft Teams, Slack continues to innovate by embedding AI into everyday operations.
Dresser emphasises the importance of trust and transparency in AI development, addressing concerns about data privacy and algorithmic accuracy. Slack’s approach includes providing clear citations for AI-generated summaries to enhance user confidence. The company remains committed to integrating AI deeper into its platform, aiming to position itself as a leader in workplace productivity tools.
Why does this matter?
As Slack navigates through its next chapter, integrating with Salesforce and expanding its AI capabilities remain key priorities. With ongoing enhancements and a growing emphasis on tailored solutions for various industries, Slack is poised to sustain its relevance in the evolving landscape of digital workspaces.
Amazon has announced significant updates to its AI technologies aimed at addressing hallucinations, a pervasive challenge hindering adoption across industries. Vasi Philomin, Amazon’s vice president of GenAI, highlighted enhancements including increased memory for GenAI agents. That upgrade promises more personalised and seamless user experiences, particularly for complex tasks.
The global AI market, projected to reach £909 billion by 2030, continues to attract substantial investments. GenAI revenues alone are forecasted to surge from £1.8 billion in 2022 to £33 billion by 2027, underlining its transformative impact on sectors like machine learning and computer vision.
In response to ongoing issues with misinformation and accuracy, Amazon has also refined its Bedrock service. The platform empowers businesses to integrate AI models into their applications, now bolstered with improved capabilities to detect and mitigate hallucinations effectively.
Matt Wood, vice president of AI products at Amazon Web Services, emphasised that these updates aim to significantly reduce hallucinations in specific scenarios by up to 75%. That move comes amidst recent incidents, such as Google’s AI generating inaccurate responses, underscoring the critical need for robust AI technologies capable of ensuring reliability and trustworthiness.
Amazon’s commitment to advancing AI capabilities underscores its strategic efforts to address challenges in the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, reinforcing its role as a leader in the industry.
BNP Paribas has signed a multi-year agreement with Mistral AI, granting the bank access to the French company’s current and future AI models for its business lines. The partnership builds on their collaboration since September 2023, when BNP Paribas’s global markets division began testing Mistral AI’s large language models (LLMs).
Following successful trials, BNP Paribas is now integrating the AI models into various divisions, focusing on customer support, sales, and IT. Sophie Heller, COO of BNP Paribas commercial, personal banking & services, emphasised the bank’s commitment to security and the development of hyper-personalised digital services. Generative AI will enable the bank to launch virtual assistants that provide 24/7 customer support and streamline processes, enhancing client service.
The agreement with Mistral AI follows BBVA’s announcement in May to incorporate OpenAI’s ChatGPT, making BBVA the first European bank to partner with the generative AI company. BBVA aims to use GenAI to improve processes, boost productivity, and drive innovation.
Hedge funds are increasingly investing in South Korean chipmakers, betting on a surge in demand for high-end memory chips driven by AI advancements and government support. Notable funds, including Britain’s Man Group and Singapore’s FengHe Fund Management, target giants like SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, which have lagged behind the broader AI sector rally.
FengHe and other investors see SK Hynix as a key player in the AI market, given its significant supply of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips to Nvidia. Despite Hynix’s crucial role, its stock trades at a lower multiple than Taiwan’s TSMC, presenting a perceived value opportunity. Additionally, the South Korean government’s 26 trillion won support package for the chip industry and initiatives to enhance shareholder returns add to the appeal of these stocks.
The influx of hedge fund investment has bolstered the stock market in South Korea, with the KOSPI index achieving its best performance in seven months in June. South Korean stocks have attracted the highest inflows among Asian emerging markets this year, with Samsung and Hynix accounting for a significant portion of KOSPI’s market capitalisation. Despite Hynix’s substantial gains, Samsung is expected to catch up in the latter half of the year.
Beyond chipmakers, the AI boom is benefiting other South Korean industries. For instance, HD Hyundai Electric has seen a significant rise in share price, driven by increased power consumption from AI developments. The ongoing US-China technology conflict further ensures demand for South Korean advanced memory chips as Chinese manufacturers struggle under US export restrictions.
South Korean cosmetics giant AmorePacific has seen immense interest in its new AI beauty lab, where robots custom mix face products and advanced technology recommends the most suitable lipstick colours. Customers like Kwon You-jin appreciate the personalised service, which uses AI-generated reports to analyse skin conditions and match products precisely to individual skin tones.
AI technology is becoming increasingly prevalent in the cosmetics industry, with global brands like L’Oréal and Sephora also adopting it to tailor products to customer needs. In 2023, global beauty industry sales, including cosmetics, reached $625.6 billion, showing steady growth since a dip during the COVID-19 pandemic.
AmorePacific employs deep learning and machine learning techniques to recommend the best product choices. The use of AI speeds up product development and reduces human error and variability in consultations. Analysts believe that AI integration will continue accelerating product launches and lowering industry hurdles.
The market for AI in the beauty and cosmetics sector is projected to more than double from $3.27 billion in 2023 to $8.1 billion by 2028. According to Business Research Company, services such as personalised beauty recommendations, skin analysis, diagnostics, and virtual makeup artists are expected to drive this growth.
Vimeo has joined TikTok, YouTube, and Meta in requiring creators to label AI-generated content. Announced on Wednesday, this new policy mandates that creators disclose when realistic content is produced using AI. The updated terms of service aim to prevent confusion between genuine and AI-created videos, addressing the challenge of distinguishing real from fake content due to advanced generative AI tools.
Not all AI usage requires labelling; animated content, videos with obvious visual effects, or minor AI production assistance are exempt. However, videos that feature altered depictions of celebrities or events must include an AI content label. Vimeo’s AI tools, such as those that edit out long pauses, will also prompt labelling.
Creators can manually indicate AI usage when uploading or editing videos, specifying whether AI was used for audio, visuals, or both. Vimeo plans to develop automated systems to detect and label AI-generated content to enhance transparency and reduce the burden on creators. CEO Philip Moyer emphasised the importance of protecting user-generated content from AI training models, aligning Vimeo with similar policies at YouTube.
Goldman Sachs has cast doubt on the economic viability of AI investments, despite substantial spending on AI infrastructure. The firm estimates around $1 trillion will be spent on AI-related infrastructure, including data centres, semiconductors, and grid upgrades. However, Goldman Sachs raises a crucial question: what problem will this massive AI investment actually solve?
According to Jim Covello, head of global equity research at Goldman Sachs, the current scenario contrasts sharply with past technological transitions. He argues that while the internet revolutionised commerce by offering low-cost solutions, AI today is exceedingly expensive and lacks clear applications capable of justifying its high costs. Covello highlights concerns that investor enthusiasm may wane if substantial AI use-cases fail to materialise within the next 12 to 18 months.
Despite these reservations, Kash Rangan of Goldman Sachs acknowledges that the AI cycle is still in its early stages, primarily focused on building infrastructure rather than discovering groundbreaking applications. He remains optimistic that as the AI ecosystem matures, a transformative ‘killer application’ will eventually emerge.
Looking forward, Goldman Sachs anticipates that the ongoing AI build-out will exert considerable pressure on national grids and electricity consumption. The report forecasts a 2.4% compound annual growth rate in UK electricity demand and projects that data centres will double their electricity consumption by 2030, underscoring the immediate impacts of AI infrastructure development on energy resources.
While AI holds potential for revolutionary advancements, Goldman Sachs suggests that its current trajectory raises fundamental questions about economic feasibility and the pace of transformative breakthroughs needed to justify its substantial investments.
