Meta released its latest Muse model on Monday, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company had reached the “frontier” of AI capabilities. “Getting to this point both required a large amount of compute and investment,” Zuckerberg told the Financial Times, vowing to spend more. The tech giant last year invested ...
Category: Semafor
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Saudi minister says kingdom is fearless after deadly Houthi strikesSaudi minister says kingdom is fearless after deadly Houthi strikes
“The word fear in the Saudi dictionary does not exist,” Saudi’s energy minister said Monday at a conference skipped by top oil executives, as back-to-back Houthi strikes on Riyadh’s airport threaten the kingdom’s economic ambitions. “Efforts to project a business-as-usual calm look strained,” Semafor’s Saudi bureau chief wrote. Saudi’s push ...
New report shows US chip industry’s reliance on ChinaNew report shows US chip industry’s reliance on China
More than 5% of equipment and materials supplied to US chipmakers originate in China, which also possesses some 90% of the rare earths required to manufacture semiconductors, a new report showed. The figures highlight the structural reliance of US tech on China, and the difficulties of erecting a materials and ...
Mubadala doubles down on Asia investmentsMubadala doubles down on Asia investments
Mubadala Investment Company is turning to Asia’s growing consumer markets and technological advances as it looks to keep up the prolific dealmaking of recent years. The $385 billion Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund is looking to boost investments in China, India, Japan, and South Korea, with plans to deploy about ...
Saudi plans to expand oil export routes to cut Hormuz relianceSaudi plans to expand oil export routes to cut Hormuz reliance
Saudi Arabia plans to expand its oil pipeline network to cut its reliance on the Strait of Hormuz. Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said today that a gas pipeline is being converted to carry crude as well and could move around 1 million barrels a day within eight weeks, ...
Mercenaries suffer losses in DR CongoMercenaries suffer losses in DR Congo
The forces of US private security contractor Erik Prince suffered major battlefield losses in DR Congo last month, a new report found, calling into question his controversial firm’s actions in the country. Prince, employees of whose previous company Blackwater carried out a civilian massacre in Iraq in 2007, has focused ...
Ecobank agrees to join Chinese payment platformEcobank agrees to join Chinese payment platform
Ecobank agreed a partnership with China’s payment system to enable transaction settlements in the yuan currency. The Togo-based bank, which operates in 34 African countries — more than any other continental lender — will sign an agreement this month to join the China Interbank Payments System (CIPS). South Africa’s Standard ...
A charming and ‘instructive’ dispatch from RomeA charming and ‘instructive’ dispatch from Rome
by Jason Horowitz. When he moved to Italy, Horowitz, an American who grew up in Queens, was sure that the country’s best days were behind it. But by covering neofascism, financial crises, immigration, and other topics for 25 years — a portion of which he spent as The New York ...
Saudi Arabia’s resolve, and fears of a ‘forever war’Saudi Arabia’s resolve, and fears of a ‘forever war’
The Scene Riyadh Season — the Saudi capital’s biggest suite of events that had been key to its tourism push — opens next week with concerts, UFC, the Epcot-esque Boulevard World, and the world’s top ranked tennis players set to compete at the Six Kings Slam. Since 2019, it has ...
Israel mints tech unicorns. Can it keep them from leaving for New York?Israel mints tech unicorns. Can it keep them from leaving for New York?
The Scene Israel has produced more tech unicorns per citizen than any country in the world, twice as many as the US. Ittai Ben-Zeev’s job is getting them to stay there. The CEO of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange is tasked with convincing the next Wiz, Monday.com, and Fiverr, which ...