UK to trial sales of blockchain-based gilts within two years: Bloomberg the UK plans to begin issuing digital gilts within the next two years, as the government latches onto technology it’s been slow to embrace.
+ Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to announce a digital issuance trial in her Mansion House speech to the City of London on Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter. Chancellors traditionally use the forum to announce policies to support the financial industry.
+ The new Labour government is striving to modernize its financial markets, in this case by using blockchain technology that underpins Bitcoin to “tokenize” its government debt. The hope is that it will make gilt trading faster and cheaper.
In Europe, Instagram ads are about to get less personal: WSJ reports Meta faces pressure to ask before using data to target ads or train artificial intelligence.
French newspapers to sue Elon Musk’s X over copyright violations: The Times reports a coalition of media outlets say the billionaire’s social media platform is using their content without paying for it.
Le Monde and several French newspapers sue X over 'neighboring rights' payments: AFP reports several news organizations accused the social media platform formerly known as Twitter of running their content without payment.
Chinese army unveils robot wolf, the new leader of the AI pack: The Times reports the Quadrupedal Unmanned Ground Vehicle Wolf is a step up from recent robodogs — it can run, obey commands … and has its own automatic rifle.
Biden admin to support controversial UN cybercrime convention: Politico reports the decision follows months of internal deliberations over whether to support the treaty, which digital rights groups have raised serious concerns over due to its potential misuse by countries like Russia and China.
Bloomberg: Biden administration to support controversial UN cyber treaty
+ Critics fear it could be misused by authoritarian countries
+ Agreement would help pursuit of cybercriminals, official says
From AI to hardware costs: Enterprise tech leaders prepare for Trump 2.0: The president-elect’s focus on tariffs and reducing regulation could affect hardware costs and AI deployments, and set off an M&A frenzy, CIOs say. WSJ
84,653: The price of bitcoin hit a record high of $84,653 on Monday afternoon on hopes that President-elect Donald Trump will offer cryptocurrency-friendly policies. A year ago, bitcoin sold for about $37,000.
Why crypto mania is reaching new heights: Are bitcoin bros right to be so thrilled by Donald Trump’s victory? Economist
Silicon Valley protested Trump in 2016. Now it wants to work with him. Donald Trump’s first White House win triggered public outcry from tech executives and employees but this week, industry leaders were friendlier. WP
Meta will offer paid subscription plans, with no ads, to Facebook and Instagram users in Europe.
AI groups rush to redesign model testing and create new benchmarks: Rapidly advancing technology is surpassing current methods of evaluating and comparing large language models. FT
+ OpenAI’s next artificial intelligence model, Orion, reportedly isn’t showing the massive leap in improvement previous versions have enjoyed.
AI-generated images threaten science — here’s how researchers hope to spot them: Generative-AI technologies can create convincing scientific data with ease — publishers and integrity specialists fear a torrent of faked science. Nature
Which workers are embracing AI? A subset said the technology could help them work faster—but many still won’t use it. CBR
Reuters: Baidu bolsters AI lineup with enhanced text-to-image tech, no-code app builder
China’s Baidu joins Meta in race to make AI-integrated smart glasses: FT reports the launch comes as Chinese internet groups jostle for dominance in hardware.
Baidu boasts strong AI user growth alongside launch of first smart glasses: SCMP reports at Baidu World 2024, where it announced the new Xiaodu AI Glasses, CEO Robin Li said the Ernie model now sees 1.5 billion API calls per day.
Apple, aiming to catch up with rivals in the smart home market, is nearing the launch of a new product category: a wall-mounted display that can control appliances, handle videoconferencing, and use AI to navigate apps.
Reuters: Shopify delivers upbeat holiday forecast as AI draws customers, shares surge
Salesforce plans to hire more than 1,000 workers to sell its new generative AI agent product.
OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman has returned to the artificial intelligence startup three months after taking a leave from his role as president, bringing a key figure back to the C-suite amid an exodus of top executives.
+ "We've started a war between technological productivity and human skill, and skill is losing." — Matt Beane, a Digital Fellow at the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, in his new book "The Skill Code: How to Save Human Ability in an Age of Intelligent Machines," looks at how technologies such as robots and AI can interfere with old ways of learning, with potentially devastating consequences.
Amazon steps up effort to build AI chips that can rival Nvidia: Big Tech group’s Annapurna Labs is spending big to build custom chips that lessen its reliance on market leader. FT
Bloomberg: Southern CEO says extending coal among options to meet AI demand
+ Utility head open to keeping coal plant online longer
+ Companies scrambling to secure power amid expected demand hike
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
