News/Global
Trexo robotic legs help disabled children in Canada walk for first time
Trexo Robotics is bringing its robotic leg devices to Kids Physio Group Victoria on September 26-27, offering children with mobility disabilities the opportunity to trial walking technology that may enable some to walk for the first time. The collaboration highlights how robotic assistive technology is expanding access to mobility therapy for children with disabilities, providing new pathways to independence and improved quality of life. What you should know: Two Trexo devices and team members will travel from Ontario to facilitate hands-on trials for children of all ages at the Victoria clinic.• The robotic legs provide postural support that enables children...
read Sep 24, 2025AI system invented by Al Gore tracks deadly soot pollution in 2,500 cities
Former Vice President Al Gore has expanded his Climate TRACE system to track deadly soot pollution using satellite technology and artificial intelligence, enabling neighborhood-level monitoring of particle pollution sources across 2,500 cities worldwide. The system can identify 137,095 pollution sources and track their emissions in real-time, potentially saving millions of lives by empowering communities with precise data about local air quality threats. How it works: Gore's coalition deploys an extensive network of 300 satellites, 30,000 ground sensors, and AI algorithms to monitor particle pollution with unprecedented precision. The system tracks 137,095 sources of particle pollution globally, with 3,937 classified as...
read Sep 24, 2025Iranian students win top spots in AI competition at Turkish TEKNOFEST 2025
Iranian students captured first and second places in the inventions and innovative technologies category at TEKNOFEST 2025, demonstrating the country's growing prowess in robotics and artificial intelligence. The achievement at Turkey's premier technology festival signals Iran's emergence as a competitive force in global tech innovation, with young engineers successfully competing against teams from 56 countries. What you should know: TEKNOFEST 2025 brought together nearly 1,000 projects from around the world in Istanbul from September 17-21, positioning itself as the world's largest aviation, space, and technology festival. The Iranian team consisted of eight members: Kian Karbalei, Mehrtash Razgordani, Artin Islampanah, Seyyed...
read Sep 24, 2025Roblox removes AI character after copyright dispute raises ownership questions
Tupac Shakur? No, Tung Tung Tung Sahur. Roblox's most popular game, Steal a Brainrot, has removed the AI-generated character Tung Tung Tung Sahur following a copyright dispute between the game's developer and the character's Indonesian creator. The controversy highlights the murky legal landscape surrounding intellectual property rights for AI-generated content, as millions of players demand answers about who can actually own characters created with artificial intelligence. What you should know: Tung Tung, a wooden log man character, disappeared from Steal a Brainrot on September 13 after France-based company Mementum Labs claimed copyright infringement on behalf of creator Noxaasht. The character...
read Sep 24, 2025TELUS launches Canada’s first sovereign AI factory in $1.5B push
Canada has positioned itself as a leader in sovereign AI development, with NVIDIA joining government officials and industry leaders at the All In Canada AI Ecosystem event in Montreal this week. The gathering highlights Canada's commitment to building domestic AI capabilities while TELUS launches the country's first fully sovereign AI factory and RBC Capital Markets develops AI agents for financial services, underscoring the nation's push for digital independence in the age of artificial intelligence. What you should know: Canada's AI Minister Evan Solomon emphasized digital sovereignty as the most pressing policy issue of our time, declaring that nations must develop...
read Sep 24, 2025200+ world leaders demand AI safety consensus by end of 2025
Over 200 world leaders, Nobel laureates, and industry experts have co-signed an open letter demanding international consensus on AI safety measures by the end of 2025. The petition, released during the UN General Assembly, calls for "clear and verifiable red lines" to prevent "universally unacceptable risks" from artificial intelligence development. What they're saying: The letter emphasizes the urgent need for binding international agreements on AI safety protocols.• "An international agreement on clear and verifiable red lines is necessary for preventing universally unacceptable risks," the letter states, adding that safeguards should build upon "existing global frameworks and voluntary corporate commitments." Who...
read Sep 23, 2025Meta expands Llama AI access to US allies in strategic move
Meta is expanding access to its Llama AI system to U.S. allies in Europe and Asia, including France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and South Korea, as well as NATO and EU institutions. This move comes just one day after the U.S. government approved Llama for use by federal agencies, marking a significant strategic deployment of American AI technology to strengthen democratic partnerships. What you should know: Meta's Llama is a large language model—an AI system trained on vast amounts of text that can understand and generate human-like responses across multiple data types including text, video, images, and audio. The expansion follows...
read Sep 23, 2025Google AI Plus expands to 40 countries with affordable features
Google has expanded its AI Plus subscription service to 40 additional countries, following its initial launch in Indonesia two weeks ago. The mid-tier subscription plan aims to make Google's AI capabilities more accessible globally by offering advanced features at a lower price point than the company's Pro and Ultra tiers. What you should know: Google AI Plus is positioned as an affordable entry point into Google's premium AI ecosystem, designed to "help more people do more with Google AI for less."• Users receive 200 GB of storage across Gmail, Google Drive, and Photos that can be shared with up to...
read Sep 23, 2025Microsoft’s $1B Kenya data center meant to thwart China stalls amid geopolitical, commercial tensions
A $1 billion geothermal-powered data center project in Kenya, announced by Microsoft and UAE's G42 in May 2024, has stalled despite its strategic importance in the US-China tech competition for African digital infrastructure. The project was designed to leverage Kenya's abundant geothermal energy and serve as a blueprint for loosening Beijing's grip on the continent's tech ecosystem, but developers have yet to break ground with the original May 2026 deadline fast approaching. The big picture: The Olkaria data center represented a geopolitically motivated partnership between three nations—the US, UAE, and Kenya—aimed at countering China's dominance in African digital infrastructure, where...
read Sep 19, 2025UAE’s e& enterprise triples Serbia’s data center capacity to 40MW
UAE technology group e& enterprise has signed a deal with Serbia to triple the Balkan country's data center capacity to 40 megawatts, marking the latest expansion in the Emirates' global AI infrastructure push. The agreement represents part of a broader strategy by UAE-backed firms to establish digital infrastructure across Europe as growth slows in their domestic markets. The big picture: The UAE is systematically building a global network of data centers and AI infrastructure through state-backed investment vehicles, with Serbia joining a growing list of European partnerships. Key details: The Serbian deal builds on a series of recent European expansions...
read Sep 17, 2025OpenAI and Anthropic data reveals Claude is huge in NY, Cali and Virginia
OpenAI and Anthropic have released detailed global usage reports revealing significant disparities in how their AI models are being adopted worldwide. The data exposes a growing economic divide, with AI usage heavily concentrated in wealthy nations and tech hubs, potentially contradicting OpenAI's assertion that AI access should be treated as a "basic right." What the data reveals: The two companies' AI models serve distinctly different purposes, reflecting varied user needs and capabilities. Computer and mathematical tasks, including coding assistance, dominate Claude's usage at 36%, while accounting for less than 8% of ChatGPT usage. OpenAI's models function primarily as a search...
read Sep 16, 2025$6.8B Cohere expands to Paris as AI firms battle for Europe
Canadian AI startup Cohere has opened a new office in Paris, marking its European expansion as it seeks to capture more market share in the region's growing AI sector. The $6.8 billion-valued company joins the competitive landscape against European players like France's Mistral AI, as both firms target enterprise clients with promises of enhanced data security and sovereignty. The big picture: Cohere's Paris office opening reflects the intensifying global competition among AI companies to establish regional footholds, particularly as smaller firms challenge U.S. giants like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Meta for enterprise market share. Why this matters: Europe represents a significant...
read Sep 16, 2025YouTube launches AI dubbing in Spanish, Japanese, Hindi and Korean
YouTube has launched multilingual dubbing for creators after nearly two years of testing, offering both manual upload options and AI-generated dubs powered by Google Gemini in languages including Spanish, Japanese, Hindi, and Korean. The rollout addresses the growing demand for global content accessibility while positioning YouTube to compete with similar features from Meta, Microsoft, and other platforms introducing AI dubbing capabilities. What you should know: Creators can now choose between uploading their own professionally created dubs or using YouTube's automated AI dubbing system. YouTube warns that AI-generated dubs may struggle with tone and local idioms, making human-created versions preferable for...
read Sep 12, 2025Canada education report addressing AI safety ironically includes 15+ fake AI citations
A major education reform report for Newfoundland and Labrador, a Canadian province, contains at least 15 fabricated citations that experts suspect were generated by artificial intelligence, despite the document explicitly calling for ethical AI use in schools. The irony is particularly striking given that the 418-page report, which took 18 months to complete and serves as a 10-year roadmap for modernizing the province's education system, includes recommendations for teaching students about AI ethics and responsible technology use. What you should know: The fake citations include references to non-existent sources that bear hallmarks of AI-generated content. One citation references a 2008...
read Sep 9, 2025Google launches $4.56 AI Plus tier targeting Indonesia and emerging markets
Google has launched AI Plus, a new subscription tier priced at approximately $4.56 per month in Indonesia, positioned between its free Gemini offering and the $19.99 AI Pro plan. Designed specifically for emerging markets, the service provides expanded access to Gemini 2.5 Pro, additional AI tools, and 200 GB of Google One storage at a fraction of the cost of premium tiers. What you should know: AI Plus offers significantly more functionality than Google's free tier while remaining affordable for users in developing economies. Free users currently receive only five Gemini 2.5 Pro prompts daily, while AI Plus subscribers get...
read Sep 9, 2025AI reveals African Great Migration has only 533K wildebeest, not 1.3M
A new AI-powered analysis of satellite imagery has revealed that East Africa's Great Migration involves far fewer wildebeest than previously estimated, with researchers counting only 324,000-533,000 animals instead of the widely cited 1.3 million. This finding challenges decades-old population estimates and demonstrates how artificial intelligence can provide more accurate wildlife census data crucial for conservation efforts. What you should know: Princeton University researchers used deep-learning models to analyze thousands of square kilometers of satellite imagery, producing the first comprehensive AI-based count of wildebeest in the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. Two AI models—U-Net and YOLOv8—were trained on a dataset containing 70,417 manually labeled...
read Sep 5, 2025Whoa, Timekettle’s $349 W4 AI earbuds translate 42 languages with “bone conduction” tech
Timekettle has launched the W4 AI Interpreter Earbuds, real-time translation earbuds priced at $349 that use bone conduction technology to improve voice recognition accuracy in noisy environments. The earbuds represent a more affordable and casual-friendly alternative to the company's $449 over-ear W4 Pro, featuring a modern wireless earbud design optimized for everyday translation needs across 42 languages and 95 accents. Key features: The W4 AI earbuds combine traditional microphones with bone conduction sensors to achieve up to 98 percent translation accuracy, even in loud environments. The bone conduction technology detects voice vibrations through head bones, allowing for more accurate speech...
read Sep 5, 2025Germany puts “Jupiter,” Europe’s first exascale supercomputer, in orbit. So to speak.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz inaugurated the Jupiter supercomputer at the Juelich research centre, marking Europe's first Exascale-class supercomputer and the world's fourth-fastest computing system. The milestone represents a strategic push by Germany and Europe to compete with the United States and China in AI development and high-performance computing capabilities. What you should know: Jupiter represents a major technological achievement for European computing infrastructure and research capabilities. The supercomputer can perform one billion times one billion calculations per second, equivalent to the power of about 10 million standard notebook computers. It was assembled through a collaboration between Nvidia (the chip manufacturer),...
read Sep 4, 2025African researchers release 9,000-hour speech dataset for AI in 18 languages
African researchers have released what's believed to be the largest known dataset of African languages for AI development, capturing 9,000 hours of speech across 18 languages from Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. This $2.2 million Gates Foundation-funded initiative addresses a critical gap in AI accessibility, as most current AI tools like ChatGPT are trained primarily on English and other European languages, leaving millions of Africans excluded from the AI revolution. Why this matters: With Africa home to over a quarter of the world's languages—more than 2,000 in total—the lack of African language representation in AI creates barriers to essential services...
read Sep 3, 2025Ad agencies invest $250M+ in AI as core business strategy
Marketing and advertising firms reported a unified strategic pivot during second-quarter earnings, with industry leaders converging on three critical priorities: embedding artificial intelligence throughout their operations, deepening client partnerships amid economic uncertainty, and investing heavily in talent transformation. The synchronized approach across major agencies like Publicis Groupe, Interpublic Group, WPP, and Dentsu signals a sector-wide recognition that traditional advertising models must evolve to survive increasingly complex market dynamics. The big picture: Artificial intelligence has moved from experimental tool to core business infrastructure for marketing agencies, with companies viewing AI integration as fundamental to their competitive positioning. Arthur Sadoun, CEO of...
read Sep 2, 2025OpenAI plans 1 gigawatt data center in India as part of $500B Stargate expansion
OpenAI is planning to construct a massive data center in India with at least 1 gigawatt of capacity, according to local press reports citing people familiar with the matter. The facility would rank among India's largest data centers and represents part of OpenAI's ambitious $500 billion Stargate infrastructure expansion, which already includes major projects in the United States, Norway, and Abu Dhabi. What you should know: OpenAI is actively seeking local partnerships to establish the gigawatt-scale facility in the world's most populous nation. The company is in discussions with potential Indian partners, though the specific location and construction timeline remain...
read Sep 2, 2025Indigenous youth use AI to preserve languages disappearing every 2 weeks
Young Indigenous technologists are developing AI-powered tools to help preserve and revitalize endangered languages in their communities, addressing a crisis where the UN estimates an Indigenous language dies every two weeks. These projects, led by individuals like Danielle Boyer with her SkoBot language-learning robot and Jared Coleman's AI-powered Paiute translator, represent a growing movement to reverse generational language loss while maintaining ethical control over cultural resources. The big picture: Indigenous communities worldwide are racing against time to preserve languages that colonization systematically suppressed, with half of all global languages projected to disappear by 2100. How the technology works: Boyer's SkoBot...
read Sep 1, 2025Chile develops Latam-GPT, a 50B-parameter AI model for Latin America
The Chilean National Center for Artificial Intelligence is developing Latam-GPT, an open-source large language model specifically designed for Latin America and trained on regional languages and contexts. The project aims to help the region achieve technological independence by creating AI that understands local dialects, cultural nuances, and historical contexts that global models often overlook. What you should know: Latam-GPT represents a collaborative effort across Latin America to build regionally-focused AI capabilities. The model contains 50 billion parameters, making it comparable to GPT-3.5 in scale and complexity. It's trained on over 8 terabytes of text data from 20 Latin American countries...
read Sep 1, 2025Gatineau, Canada transit deploys $1M AI system to predict bus breakdowns by 2026
The Société de transport de l'Outaouais (STO), Gatineau's public transit authority, plans to deploy AI-powered sensors across its entire bus fleet by 2026 to monitor engine conditions and predict maintenance needs. The initiative, backed by a three-year, $1 million contract with Memphis-based Preteckt, aims to improve service reliability as the transit authority grapples with an aging fleet and operational challenges. What you should know: STO's predictive maintenance system will use real-time data collection and AI analysis to detect potential engine failures before they occur. Sensors will continuously monitor engine conditions and alert maintenance teams when vehicles are at risk of...
read