At a glance…
Google invested $1 billion into data centre regions in Thailand
Data centre and cloud investments continued to surge in the last quarter of the year, as Alphabet’s Google announced a $1 billion investment towards building data centre regions in Thailand.
The goal was to support AI adoption in Southeast Asia — as Deloitte forecasted, the investment would create an average of 14,000 jobs annually by 2029.
Accenture and Nvidia expanded their partnership to scale agentic AI adoption
In terms of Gen AI, there’s a new kid on the block. Agentic AI has seen a steady rise in search results, particularly in the last quarter of this year.
This may be linked to companies such as Accenture and Nvidia announcing joint plans to accelerate agentic AI adoption (as well as Honeywell and Google Cloud).
Unlike traditional AI that merely responds to prompts, agentic AI autonomously creates workflows and acts based on user intent.
See worldwide search results for ‘agentic AI’ below.
OpenAI closed a $6.6 billion investment round
OpenAI secured a groundbreaking $6.6bn in its latest funding round, hailed as the “largest venture capital deal of all time.”
The fundraising valued the creator of ChatGPT at $157bn following its announcement of plans to transition to a for-profit structure within the next two years.
Notable investors included Microsoft, Nvidia, SoftBank, Fidelity, Altimeter Capital, Khosla Ventures, MGX, and Thrive Capital.
Microsoft accused Google of a campaign to mislead the public and cloud regulators
In a Big Tech spat, Microsoft claimed Google initiated a covert campaign to “discredit” Microsoft and “tilt the regulatory landscape in favour of its cloud services.”
In a blog by Microsoft’s deputy general counsel, Rima Alaily, he stated that Google was about to launch a lobby group with a handful of smaller European cloud providers.
Alaily claimed that Google planned to remain a “backseat member” and allow the other cloud providers to be the group’s face. Still, one firm that chose not to join told Microsoft that the group’s purpose was to criticise Microsoft’s practices in Europe.
UK tech provided mixed reactions to the new government’s first budget
The UK’s new Labour government released its first budget statement, which included increased taxes for employers, an uptick in public spending, and a renewed commitment to focus on growth.
Moments that Mattered: Interview with The LEGO Group’s CTO
As the world’s leading toy manufacturer with 1,000 stores and $9bn in revenue in 2023 — up 2% despite a declining toy market — LEGO Group’s CTO, Atul Bhardwaj, described how the company is leveraging digital technologies to enhance operational efficiency and sustainability.
TI met with Bhardwaj at the Web Summit in Lisbon, where he discussed tripling the technology team to transform the company digitally.
This has automated supply chain and factory operations, integrated circular business models for sustainability, and explained its reasoning for taking the traditional physical toy company to the screens with online gaming.
“Physical play is crucial, but we also know that we can augment this with a digital play experience, where physical and digital converge,” he said.
Trump vs Harris: key tech policies in the US presidential election
As the US presidential election approached, TI covered the key tech policies proposed by the Republican and Democratic parties.
These included AI and automation plans, such as Trump’s push to minimise AI regulation and Harris’s focus on promoting ethical AI use.
Both parties emphasised strengthening cybersecurity and taking antitrust actions against monopolistic companies.
However, they differed on cryptocurrency: Trump advocated for limited regulation to position the US as a crypto hub, while Harris supported stronger regulation to secure crypto markets and protect consumers.
What does Big Tech stand to gain or lose under a second Trump presidency?
Trump won the US presidential election, and TI analysed the pros and cons of a Republican party for Big Tech.
For instance, Trump threatened to impose 60-100% tariffs on goods from China, which could heavily affect companies such as Apple and Tesla. These companies depend heavily on continued access to the Chinese market and supply chains.
On the other hand, lighter regulation may benefit sectors such as crypto.
Air fryers may be secretly sizzling data
When you threw those sweet potato fries into the air fryer drawer, did you consider that your data may have been stolen in the process?
Consumer rights watchdog Which? warned shoppers that air fryers and other electronic products made in China may collect unnecessary data and share it with third parties.
According to Which? the Xiamoi app, which comes with smart air fryers like Xiaomoi, Cosori, and Aigostar, was linked to ad trackers on platforms such as Facebook and Tencent.
It also requested gender and date of birth when users set up an account, which it reportedly shared with servers in China.
Coca-Cola’s AI-generated ‘Holidays are coming’ ad sparked debate
Coca-Cola’s annual fleet of trucks appeared on our screens — except this time, the entire ad was AI-generated.
The ad sparked controversy online, with one X user calling it “soulless garbage.” It was produced by three AI studios, using generative AI models Leonardo, Luma, Runway, and Kling.
Two subsea cables were severed in the Baltic Sea
Two subsea cables connecting Germany with Finland and Lithuania with Sweden were severed over the course of one weekend.
While the cause remained unknown, Finnish state-controlled cybersecurity and telecoms company Cinia stated such an event does not happen “without an outside impact.”
Neither of the incidents affected internet traffic, as other subsea cable routes were available.
A US judge rejected Elon Musk’s Tesla pay package
Elon Musk’s four-year-old child (X Æ A-12) may not get so many presents this Christmas, as a Delaware judge upheld her decision to void his $56bn Tesla pay package.
The judge ruled that the car manufacturer’s board of directors failed to act in the best interests of shareholders when devising Musk’s 2018 compensation deal. She cited conflicts of interest and material misstatements made to investors.
ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus warned of AI in the music industry
A study by the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) found that human creators are “set to lose billions” due to GenAI.
Abba’s co-founder and president of CISAC, Björn Ulvaeus, responded to the report by warning that poorly regulated AI has “the power to cause great damage to human creators, to their careers and livelihoods.”
Nicole’s Top Story of 2024: Have Self-Driving Cars Became Public Enemy Number One?
Over the past year, autonomous vehicles (AVs) have consistently been presented negatively.
In the Netflix sci-fi series 3 Body Problem, three hacked autonomous vehicles attack a main character. Meanwhile, in real life, San Francisco residents set several AVs on fire in protest over safety concerns. Then, Apple’s decision to pause its self-driving car project further shook up market confidence.
We spoke to industry experts eager to defend autonomous vehicles, assure the public of their rigorous safety testing, and address the question of whether they could really be hacked.
The CMA approved the £16.5bn Vodafone and Three deal and set terms for UK telecom’s future
The British telecoms sector saw a significant milestone as the UK Competition and Markets Authority approved the merger of Vodafone and Three, paving the way for a £16.5bn ($21bn) alliance.
The deal required several legal obligations, including a commitment to spend £11bn ($14bn) improving 5G connectivity services nationwide. (London is rated one of the worst capital cities in Europe for 5G connectivity). The deal brings together the UK’s fourth and third biggest operators.
A federal court upheld a ruling on TikTok forcing it to sell or face a US ban by 2025
A federal appeals court supported its decision requiring TikTok’s Chinese partner company, ByteDance, to sell its US operations or face a nationwide ban. It has until 19 January 2025 to comply with the ruling. If it fails, the app could be disabled for 170 million American users.
However, TikTok has vowed to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, arguing that the law infringes on free speech rights and unfairly singles out the platform.
Google unveiled a quantum chip
Finally, as a holiday gift, Google unveiled its quantum chip, Willow. It said that the chip could perform a standard computation in under five minutes, which would take today’s fastest supercomputer an inconceivable amount of time (ten septillion years).
Google Quantum AI’s founder and lead, Hartmut Neven, added that the new chip moves the firm “significantly” toward commercially relevant applications.
Missed the rest of the year? Read our roundups of Q1, Q2, and Q3 to catch up.
