Microsoft’s UK boss has warned that many companies are ‘stuck in neutral’ when it comes to AI, with a significant number of private and public sector organisations lacking any formal AI strategy. According to a Microsoft survey of nearly 1,500 senior leaders and 1,440 employees in the UK, more than half of executives report that their organisations have no official AI plan. Additionally, many recognise a growing productivity gap between employees using AI and those who are not.
Darren Hardman, Microsoft’s UK chief executive, stated that some companies are caught in the experimentation phase rather than fully deploying AI. Microsoft, a major backer of OpenAI, has been promoting AI deployment in workplaces through autonomous AI agents designed to perform tasks without human intervention. Early adopters, like consulting giant McKinsey, are already using AI agents for tasks such as scheduling meetings.
Hardman also discussed AI’s potential impact on jobs, with the Tony Blair Institute estimating that AI could displace up to 3 million UK jobs, though the net job loss will likely be much lower as new roles are created. He compared AI’s transformative impact on the workplace to how the internet revolutionised retail, creating roles like data analysts and social media managers. Hardman also backed proposed UK copyright law reforms, which would allow tech companies to use copyright-protected work for training AI models, arguing that the changes could drive economic growth and support AI development.
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South Korea has announced the creation of a $34 billion policy fund to support companies in key industries such as semiconductors, automotive, and advanced technologies, in response to growing global competition and protectionist policies.
The state-run Korea Development Bank will manage the fund by providing low-interest loans and other financial support over the next five years to businesses involved in national strategic industries.
The government stressed that maintaining competitiveness in these strategic sectors has become crucial to the country’s economic security, particularly amid the uncertainties caused by the new US administration.
South Korea has identified 12 industries, including semiconductors, AI, and biopharmaceuticals, as critical for its future economic stability and will offer targeted financial support to strengthen these sectors.
In addition to the fund, South Korea also unveiled new policies to attract skilled global talent in cutting-edge fields. These measures include offering top-tier visas and permanent residency to professionals with experience at major international firms, aiming to enhance the country’s workforce in strategic industries.
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US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Musk did not meet the high standards required to block the move. However, the judge indicated that she would expedite a trial on the matter, which is expected to take place later this year.
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but left before its major success, argued that OpenAI had initially sought his charitable funding to create AI for the public good, but has since shifted its focus towards making profits.
His lawyer, Marc Toberoff, expressed satisfaction that the judge had agreed to a swift trial, claiming that the case involves urgent public interest concerns.
OpenAI, which is seeking to become a for-profit entity to attract the necessary capital for its AI projects, welcomed the court’s decision.
The company emphasised that its goal is to develop advanced AI models to benefit society. Musk’s legal action, which also includes antitrust claims, stems from his frustration with OpenAI’s shift in direction since he departed from the organisation.
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CoreWeave, backed by Nvidia, announced on Tuesday that it is acquiring AI developer platform Weights & Biases as part of its efforts to expand its cloud platform ahead of its upcoming IPO. The deal will merge CoreWeave’s infrastructure and managed cloud services with Weights & Biases’ AI model training and monitoring tools, which are used by major tech companies such as OpenAI and Meta.
While the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, technology news site The Information reported that it could be valued at approximately $1.7 billion. CoreWeave, based in Roseland, New Jersey, has seen significant growth, with an eight-fold increase in revenue forecast for 2024.
CoreWeave, whose customers include companies like Meta, Microsoft, and hedge fund Jane Street, is aiming for a valuation exceeding $35 billion in its IPO later this year. The acquisition is seen as a move to strengthen CoreWeave’s position in the competitive AI market ahead of its New York listing.
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General Motors has appointed Barak Turovsky as its first chief AI officer, signalling a stronger focus on AI integration across its business.
Turovsky, a former AI leader at Cisco and Google, will report to Dave Richardson, GM’s senior vice president of software and services engineering. His team will work on expanding AI capabilities within GM’s vehicle lineup and broader operations.
GM has already implemented AI for tasks such as selecting locations for EV chargers, streamlining vehicle order processes, and optimising manufacturing.
Richardson stated that AI is central to the company’s strategy for electric, internal combustion, and autonomous vehicles, with Turovsky’s expertise expected to accelerate these efforts.
The hiring comes as GM continues to build its software-focused leadership team, having recently promoted former Apple executives to key positions. AI is set to play a crucial role in enhancing customer experience, improving operations, and driving innovation in the automaker’s future technologies.
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China is set to release new guidance aimed at promoting the use of open-source RISC-V chips nationwide, a move that signals the country’s growing efforts to reduce its reliance on Western technology. The policy, which could be unveiled as early as this month, is being developed by several government bodies, including the Cyberspace Administration of China and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The final release date remains uncertain as discussions continue.
RISC-V, an open-source chip design technology, has gained popularity in China, particularly among state entities and research institutes, due to its lower cost and geopolitical neutrality. It is seen as a viable alternative to more established, proprietary chip architectures, such as those from Intel and AMD, and is gaining traction in various industries, including AI and mobile technology. This shift has raised concerns in the United States, where lawmakers are wary that China may be leveraging RISC-V’s open-source nature to boost its semiconductor sector.
The growing adoption of RISC-V has sparked a positive movement in the Chinese stock market, with shares of local chip design firms such as VeriSilicon and ASR Microelectronics experiencing significant gains. Industry leaders point out that RISC-V’s potential to reduce costs for smaller companies looking to implement AI, particularly with the rise of technologies like DeepSeek, could further drive its adoption.
As tensions between the US and China over technology intensify, the development of China’s semiconductor industry using RISC-V may become a critical aspect of its strategy to become less dependent on foreign chipmakers, while also advancing its own technological ambitions.
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SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son is planning to borrow $16 billion to expand the company’s investments in AI, with a possible additional $8 billion loan in early 2026.
The financing plan was discussed with banks last week, according to sources cited by The Information.
The Japanese tech conglomerate has already committed $15 billion to the Stargate venture, a partnership with Oracle and OpenAI aimed at maintaining United States dominance in AI development.
Reports suggest SoftBank may invest up to $25 billion in OpenAI, further solidifying its position in the sector.
DeepSeek’s progress is a clear sign of the growing influence of Chinese companies in the AI sector, according to a spokesperson for China’s parliament. Lou Qinjian, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, praised the achievements of DeepSeek’s young team, describing their work as ‘commendable’.
He highlighted the company’s open-source approach and its efforts to spread AI technology globally, contributing ‘Chinese wisdom’ to the world.
The AI startup has been widely celebrated in China, particularly for rolling out AI models that offer a significantly lower cost than those developed by US rivals like OpenAI.
While some countries, including South Korea and Italy, have removed DeepSeek’s chatbot from their app stores over privacy concerns, it has been embraced within China, where local governments and tech firms are integrating it into their systems.
Based in Hangzhou, DeepSeek is rapidly advancing its next-generation model, set to succeed its R1 release from January, as it continues to make waves in the global tech sector.
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A group of researchers from Hao AI Lab at the University of California San Diego has suggested that Super Mario Bros. might actually be a tougher challenge for AI than Pokémon. In a recent experiment, AI models were tasked with playing the game, and while Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 performed the best, models like Google’s Gemini 1.5 Pro and OpenAI’s GPT-4o struggled. The game was not the original 1985 version but instead ran in an emulator integrated with GamingAgent, a framework that provided basic instructions and screenshots for the AI to control Mario.
The AI had to generate inputs, such as Python code, based on the given instructions to navigate Mario through the game’s challenges. The researchers found that while the game required models to plan complex manoeuvres and strategies, reasoning models like OpenAI’s o1 performed worse than non-reasoning models. This is because reasoning models typically take longer to decide on actions, and in a real-time game like Super Mario Bros., timing is critical.
While games have long been used to benchmark AI, some experts question the relevance of gaming skills as a measure of technological advancement. Andrej Karpathy, a research scientist at OpenAI, has expressed concerns over the current AI evaluation process, calling it an ‘evaluation crisis.’ Despite these concerns, watching AI take on Super Mario Bros. provides an interesting glimpse into how far AI has come, even if the benchmarks remain unclear.
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Amazon has announced plans to use AI to help reduce flood risks in Spain’s northeastern region of Aragon, where it is building new data centres.
As part of its $17.9 million investment, Amazon’s cloud computing unit AWS will modernise infrastructure and optimise agricultural water use to tackle flood concerns.
The move follows catastrophic floods that impacted large areas around Valencia and comes as AWS continues its €15.7 billion expansion in the region’s cloud infrastructure.
The region is prone to flooding, especially along the Ebro River, highest-flow river in Spain, which crosses through Aragon on its way to the Mediterranean.
Amazon will deploy advanced cloud computing technologies to create an early warning system combining real-time data collection, sensor networks, and AI-powered analysis.
However, this system will help Zaragoza, the capital of Aragon, monitor flood risks more effectively and provide timely warnings to emergency services.
In addition to its technological investment, local authorities in Zaragoza are building flood defences at the Barranco de la Muerte, or Death Ravine, to mitigate future flood damage.
With these combined efforts, Amazon aims to contribute to reducing the region’s vulnerability to floods while supporting its own expanding data infrastructure.
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