Round-up of the latest industry news – September 2023

Most NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are now worthless, according to a report from crypto gambling company dappGambl. NFTs are a crypto asset that certifies digital ownership. They were envisaged as a key component of the future metaverse and the subject of a buying frenzy in 2021. But a review of data from NFT Scan and CoinMarketCap showed that, two years later, 95 per cent of collections have a market capitalisation of zero ether, leaving 23 million people with valueless investments.

Microsoft is expanding its plans to integrate small modular reactors (SMRs) into the energy mix for its datacentres. The company is recruiting a program manager for nuclear technology who will be tasked with making technical assessment of how SMRs and microreactors could be used. As well as being deployed at traditional power plants, the technology could also result in reactors being sited adjacent to the datacentres themselves. Datacentres around the world are struggling to source clean, reliable power, resulting in delays to many projects.

The Gambia will connect to a second fibre optic submarine cable by 2025, the government has announced. The new cable is expected to cost between 30 and 35 million USD, and will be financed by the world bank. The country has relied on the ACE (Africa Coast to Europe) for high-speed internet services since 2012. The Gambian government is also planning to strengthen connectivity using satellites, and will approve ‘all necessary licences’ to Starlink by the end of September.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced that it has provisionally approved the latest proposal for Microsoft’s takeover of Activision. The CMA noted that the deal was ‘substantially different’ to the one it had previously rejected, with cloud distribution now in the hands of Ubisoft rather that Microsoft. ‘Limited residual concerns’ are thought to have been resolved by Microsoft saying that the CMA can enforce the terms of the sale of rights. The CMA’s review is continuing and is due be completed by 18 October.

Amazon has invested $1.25 billion in AI start-up Anthropic in an agreement that allows investment to be increased to $4 billion in the future. As part of the deal, Anthropic will use Amazon’s cloud platform and AI chips to create its models. The deal is seen as the latest move in Amazon’s efforts to compete in generative AI against Microsoft and Google. Amazon is aiming to position its AI chips as credible alternatives to Nvidia’s processors.

Getty images is the latest company to offer uncapped indemnification as it launches its AI image-generating tool. The photo agency has more than 135 million copyrighted images in its archive and the new tool will enable the creation of images based on user prompts. There is a payment plan for those whose images were used to train the AI model. Similar to Microsoft’s CoPilot and Adobe Firefly, Getty will take full legal and financial responsibility for any copyright claims. Getty says that artists who have helped train the system will be remunerated ‘on a recurring basis’ although the amounts involved initially are thought to be small.

Iran plans to be a leader in ‘clerical AI’ as the country’s religious establishment looks at ways to harness the technology. The head of the Qom seminary has suggested that AI could accelerate the studies of senior clergy and was a necessary step ‘to promote Islamic civilisation’. The head of a state-linked organisation that encourages the growth of technology businesses, Mohammad Ghotbi, said that ‘robots can’t replace senior clerics’ but they can help them to ‘issue a fatwa in five hours instead of 50 days’.

Sources: The Financial Times, Wired, Euronews, Forbes, CNN, TechCrunch, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, Bloomberg, Economic Times, Ars Technica, Reuters, BBC, Politico, telecom.com, datacenterdynamics.com, telecommpaper.