The first human patient received an implant from brain chip startup Neuralink on Sunday and is recovering well, the company’s billionaire founder Elon Musk said.
“Early effects show promising detection of neural spikes,” Musk said Monday in a post on social media platform X.
Spikes are the activity of neurons, which the National Institute of Health describes as cells that use electrical and chemical signals to send them to the brain and body.
Last year, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration gave the company permission to conduct its first trial to test its implant in humans, a step in the startup’s ambitions to help patients overcome paralysis and a host of neurological problems.
In September, Neuralink won approval for recruitment for the human trial.
The study uses a robot to surgically place a brain-computer interface (BCI) implant in a region of the brain it is intended to move, Neuralink previously said, adding that its initial goal is to allow other people to access a computer’s cursor or keyboard. using only your thoughts.
The “ultra-thin” wires in the implants transmit signals to the participants’ brains, Neuralink said.
Neuralink’s first product would be Telepathy, Musk said in a separate post on X.
The startup’s PRIME is a test of its brain-computer wireless interface to compare implant and surgical robot protection.
Neuralink did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for further details.
The company has faced calls for scrutiny regarding its safety protocols. Reuters reported earlier this month that the company was fined for violating US Department of Transportation (DOT) rules regarding the movement of hazardous materials.
The company was valued at about $5 billion last June, but in late November four lawmakers asked the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether Musk misled investors about protecting his generation after veterinary records showed implant disorders in monkeys. adding paralysis. and inflammation of the brain.
Musk wrote in a social media post on Sept. 10 that “no monkey has ever died from a Neuralink implant. “He added that the company had chosen “terminal” monkeys to minimize risks to healthy monkeys.
Apple’s weak business functionality in China might have surprised investors, but consumers and analysts have noted the increasingly demanding situations facing the company in its third-largest market.
A tougher festival by domestic competitors, along with longer refresh cycles as consumers spend more cautiously amid an economic slowdown, have slowed Apple’s expansion in China, with sales falling 13% in the quarter ended December to $20. 8 billion. while they fell short of estimates of $23. 5 billion.
“Apple’s drop in sales in China is unexpected given the strong festival of local brands such as Huawei and Xiaomi,” said Toby Zhu, an analyst at research organization Canalys.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As the world’s largest smartphone market, China plays a role in Apple’s sales growth. For years, Apple has been the premium phone logo of choice in the country, but the trend is changing.
Pressure on Apple intensified in the second half of the year after Huawei returned to the high-end smartphone market with its Mate 60 series phones powered by a locally made chip.
Other big Android brands like Xiaomi have also entered the high-end territory that Apple has historically dominated. Xiaomi unveiled its premium Mi 14 style in October, touting its long battery life and camera capabilities. It sold 1 million devices within a week of its launch. launch.
Canalys’ Zhu said Chinese brands are entering Apple’s core value segment by introducing more expensive foldable products.
Chinese consumers have also complained about the lack of innovation in Apple’s iPhones, especially in terms of aesthetics, in previous versions.
“Another hurdle Apple wants to overcome is how it can bring more print points to shoppers and its symbol as a pioneering generation. This is especially important as other Android vendors are now integrating foldable products and artificial intelligence into their products,” said Will Wong, smartphone analyst at IDC.
At the same time, Chinese consumers are holding on to their phones for longer due to the economic slowdown. Consultancy Counterpoint said in June that the replacement cycle lasted more than 40 months.
For its sales in China, Apple has lowered its prices. A major sales crusade led online retailers to add Alibaba and Pinduoduo to the iPhone 15’s transparent stock in October, just a month after its launch in the country. In January, Apple introduced infrequent sales on its iPhones.
The October discounting effort seemed to only stem the decline, with Apple’s phone shipments dropping by just 2.1% in the final quarter of 2023, while Huawei’s sales increased by 36.2%, according to data from research group IDC.
Most likely, Apple will continue to face pressure from China in the future. Analysts at Jefferies expect Apple’s shipments to China to decline by double-digit percentage in 2024.
“The big bust in China is worrying because it may be just the beginning of a longer downtrend there,” said Bob O’Donnell of TECHnalysis Research.
The UAE’s Ministry of Investment and Greece’s Ministry of Digital Governance signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create a framework for virtual infrastructure investments with knowledge hub projects in Greece.
The agreement was signed through the UAE’s Minister of Investment, Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, and the Greek Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou.
The knowledge centers to be developed under this agreement will have a total capacity of 500 megawatts.
The knowledge media market in Greece has seen significant expansion in recent years, largely driven by the country’s Digital Transformation Strategy 2020-2025, which aims to facilitate the transformation of companies into virtual businesses and integrate virtual technologies into their economic sectors.
Projections suggest that the Greek knowledge center market will reach $1. 218 billion by 2028, up from $735 million in 2022, with a compound annual growth of around 9%.
With 15 knowledge centers, Greece is set to expand its knowledge infrastructure with another 139 megawatts of electrical capacity from new knowledge centers slated to grow over the next five years. This positions the country as the largest knowledge center in Southeast Europe and the second largest. in the Mediterranean until 2028.
Greece benefits from a network of more than ten submarine cables connecting the country to global markets, further bolstered through multiple national web exchange points, resulting in particularly improved connectivity and reliability and increased attractiveness for businesses seeking effective and reliable knowledge sharing.
The Memorandum of Understanding between the UAE and Greece aims to forge effective collaboration through building relationships between public and private organizations. The additional agreement proposes the implementation of incentives to applicable projects and aims to facilitate knowledge sharing.
US Apple stores on Friday will start selling the Vision Pro, the tech giant’s $3,499 headset and its first major release since the Apple Watch nine years ago.
The launch of Vision Pro through the world’s most iconic device manufacturer is a major milestone for virtual or augmented reality enthusiasts, who see this generation as the next bankruptcy of life after the smartphone.
But with a high sticker price, and the middling success of similar and cheaper releases from Facebook owner Meta, early reviews are unconvincing that the Vision Pro will be a game-changer, at least initially.
Vision Pro is an “amazing” product, writes The Verge, but it “also represents a number of trade-offs” that are “impossible to ignore. “
It’s “an impressive product, requiring many years and billions of dollars to make,” but “even afterward, I still have no idea who or what it’s intended for,” the New York Times wrote.
Reviewers recognize a certain “wow” factor, highlighting its state-of-the-art symbol and the joy of opening and ending apps floating in space with eyes and fingers.
However, the headset is heavy, damages the user’s hair, and requires a bulky battery, they add.
As part of a major promotional campaign, Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair dressed in the Vision Pro on Thursday.
He received a complaint at a convention in June when he revealed that the device had once tried.
Apple sees the Vision Pro as its first foray into “spatial computing,” rejecting the term virtual reality, associated with tech fans and gamers.
In ads, in addition to streaming movies, users are shown wearing the Vision Pro to work or chat with friends or toggle through apps.
Apple says there are six hundred apps and games designed specifically for Vision Pro, as well as a million compatible apps.
“These apps will replace the way we enjoy entertainment, music and games,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of global developer relations.
Disney has partnered with Apple and will provide 150 3D movies at launch, the companies said.
Netflix, Spotify and Google have all refused to replace their apps, particularly for headphones.
The Vision Pro can be tested by appointment at Apple retail outlets in the U. S. and Canada. U. S. That’s because the device requires fine changes and some training, as “most consumers don’t enjoy gesture controls,” Forrester Research wrote in a note.
According to analysts from Wedbush Securities, pre-orders have been strong and Apple should expect to sell about 600,000 units this year.
“For us, Apple’s purpose is for Vision Pro to work alongside the iPhone and other Apple devices for years to come,” said Wedbush’s Dan Ives.
NVIDIA Corp experienced a record-breaking surge in market value in January, the largest monthly increase ever, driven by heightened optimism around artificial intelligence (AI), positive analyst projections, and the company’s announcement of expanded AI offerings.
The world’s most valuable chipmaker saw its market value expand by an unprecedented $296.52 billion to about $1.52 trillion, surpassing its previous high of $248.23 billion in gains seen in May 2023.
Last month, Nvidia’s stock climbed to new heights following the announcement of new desktop graphics processors and advancements in AI-related components and software.
Meanwhile, Microsoft, the world’s most valuable company, also enjoyed a robust increase in market value, adding $159.36 billion, largely attributed to the rising demand for its Azure cloud service.
The tech giant on Tuesday reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, even as investors were wary of emerging costs, which are expected to “increase significantly” sequentially.
As of Wednesday, Microsoft’s market value stood at $2.95 trillion, outstripping Apple Inc’s $2.85 trillion in market capital.
Meanwhile, Meta Platforms saw its market price last month, surpassing the $1 trillion mark for the first time since September 2021.
Meta’s inventory jumped more than 14% to a record high of $451 after Thursday’s bell, lifting its market capitalization from $148 billion to $1. 16 trillion after the Facebook owner posted a 25% gain to $40. 1 billion for the December quarter and declared its first quarter. dividend.
On the other end of the spectrum, Tesla Inc has become the worst-performing company among the world’s 20 best-performing corporations in terms of market capitalization, squandering about 24. 5% of its cost over the past month due to concerns about slowing growth. CEO Elon Musk has warned that sales expansion will be “significantly smaller” this year despite recent price cuts.
Samsung Electronics on Wednesday reported a 34% year-on-year drop in operating profit for the latest quarter, as weak demand for its TVs and other consumer electronics offset hard-won gains in the slowly recovering PC chip market.
The South Korean tech giant said it expects its business to improve around 2024, predicting increased demand for semiconductors that will power artificial intelligence features increasingly used in smartphones, private computers and other products. However, macroeconomic uncertainties could continue to impact your business. in the short term.
Samsung’s operating profit was measured at 2. 8 trillion won ($2. 1 billion) for the three months to December, compared with $4. 3 trillion ($3. 2 billion) at the same time last year. Its operating profit for the full year 2023 was 6. 5 trillion won ($4. 8 billion). , down 85% from 2022 and the company’s lowest since 2008, when global markets were going through a currency crisis.
While the company’s semiconductor division posted a loss of 14.9 trillion won ($11 billion) in 2023, the losses narrowed during the fourth quarter, with the DRAM business returning to profit. The company said in October that it plans to more than double its production capacity of advanced high-bandwidth memory chips in 2024 to respond to demands created by AI.
“In 2024, the memory business expects the market to continue to recover despite various potential obstacles, including interest rate policies and geopolitical issues,” Samsung said in a statement.
The company is also striving to increase sales of its newest smartphone, the Galaxy S24, which comes with a variety of new AI-enabled features, adding phone calls with live translation in thirteen languages and 17 dialects.
Pony Ma, chief executive and co-founder of Tencent Holdings, has said that the company’s video games business faces great challenges from competitors but is catching up in artificial intelligence (AI) development.
Ma, speaking at Tencent’s annual assembly at a stadium in Shenzhen on Monday, said the company is resting on its gaming laurels as its rivals achieve new successes. Video games make up more than 30% of Tencent’s revenue.
Chinese media outlet Jiemian published parts of Ma’s speech online. A user with direct knowledge of the matter, who declined to be identified because he has the right to speak to the media, showed the content.
Ma’s speech underscores considerations about whether Tencent, the world’s largest gaming company and operator of China’s largest social network, WeChat, can protect its prestige as China’s most sensible tech company in an era of greater festival and disruptive new technologies.
Tencent did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
“Gaming is our core business. . . But over the past year, we have faced significant challenges,” Ma said. “We find ourselves lost, while our competition continues to produce new products, which gives us the feeling that we have not completed anything. »
Ma added that the new games released through Tencent had performed as well as the company had hoped.
Ma’s comments come at a time when Chinese game developers miHoYo and NetEase have outperformed Tencent with blockbuster titles like “Genshin Impact” and “Eggy Party. “While hits beyond Tencent like “Honor of Kings” and “PUBG Mobile” continue to generate strong revenue, the products fall short of expectations.
When it comes to AI, Ma said Tencent has caught up. “We can finally follow the pace of the first-tier companies. We don’t count ourselves as the most leading but at least we are not too behind,” he said.
Ma said Tencent’s focus now should be on integrating its “Hunyuan” AI model into different business scenarios as a way to boost efficiency rather than to quickly turn AI into products.
“In the short term, in the next one or two years, I think there probably still won’t be a big application of local AI,” he said.
Ma’s speech also focused on e-commerce. In recent years, Tencent has tried to make WeChat more like ByteDance’s Douyin short video platform, which has generated huge profits through streaming e-commerce.
“WeChat is our most robust platform regarding daily user amount and its ecosystem. But it is 12 years of age… Now how we can find new sprouts from the old tree that is WeChat is the big question for us,” Ma said.
Bahrain will host the General Assembly of the Organization for Digital Cooperation (DCO) on Wednesday.
Chaired by Bahrain’s Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications and DCO Chair of the Council Mohammed bin Thamer Al Kaabi, the event will discuss the organization’s plans and initiatives aimed at promoting digital prosperity.
In a statement, DCO said ministers and officials representing the 15 DCO Member States and DCO’s Secretary-General Deemah AlYahya, high-level delegations from partners and observers, representatives from guest countries and international organizations will attend the event.
They are expected to discuss strategic projects to foster global virtual cooperation, shed light on the state of the virtual economy, and tactics to overcome the demanding situations faced to achieve inclusive and sustainable expansion in this important sector.
Minister Bharani, Mohammed Al Kaabi, said: “We are honoured to host DCO’s 3rd General Assembly, bringing together Member States and prominent visitors to talk about achievements and launch new projects to achieve virtual prosperity and growth. “
Through joint external action and fruitful cooperation, the General Assembly will seek to promote an inclusive and sustainable expansion of virtual transformation and maximize gains for all countries through opportunities and projects to expand the virtual economy, he added.
As a founding member of the DCO, Bahrain is committed to sharing its wisdom and experience that have helped its economic growth, he said.
During Bahrain’s presidency in 2023, Qatar and Bangladesh joined the OECD as new member states. Manama presented the Digital Prosperity Awards to inspire cooperation and facilitate innovation and virtual transformation among member states.
Secretary-General AlYahya stressed the importance of holding the General Assembly in Manama, saying: “Digital cooperation is key to reaping the benefits that arise from the opportunities presented through the virtual economy. “
“The Third General Assembly will serve as a strategic platform for the engagement of Member State governments, the personal sector and civil society in progressing a roadmap for the current year. This will address the development of demanding situations and seize opportunities to facilitate virtual prosperity for all. ,” she said.
She added that she was looking forward to meeting with all representatives from DCO members observers, partners, and guests in Manama to review 2023 DCO achievements and to discuss 2024 initiatives, serving to propel the organization toward accomplishing the goals outlined in its 2030 Strategic Roadmap.
The General Assembly will explore the expansion of markets and their impact on the virtual economy; the price of knowledge as a strategic resource in the virtual age and how to use it well to achieve its expansion; and tactics to achieve a sustainable virtual economy that contributes to improving the quality of life and emphasizes the central role of the human being as an essential detail of the progression process.
The General Assembly will discuss the DCO’s plan for 2024 and the new projects it will launch as a component of its 2030 strategic roadmap to advance global virtual cooperation towards an inclusive and sustainable virtual economy. He will also talk about the monetary and administrative reports submitted through the General Secretariat of the organization.
The last DCO General Assembly was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in February 2023. The DCO brings together the ministries of communications and data generation of 15 countries: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cyprus, Djibouti, Gambia, Ghana, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Nigeria. , Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Rwanda.
Together, DCO Member States represent more than $3.3 trillion in GDP and a market of nearly 800 million people, more than 70% of whom are under the age of 35.