🖥️ Tech Futures #26

Happy Monday 👋

This week in Tech, the US Government’s $500B Stargate AI project, partnering with OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, propels the sector for exponential growth though concerns over funding and data privacy remain an issue. The Dutch government excludes most of ASML's $7.63B sales to China from 'dual use' export disclosures, citing commercial sensitivity. Conduent, a US government contractor, confirmed a recent service outage was due to a cybersecurity incident, disrupting support payments. e& and DE-CIX have partnered to enhance the Middle East's digital connectivity by expanding the SmartHub IX ecosystem. Swiss startup ZuriQ raised $4.2M to develop a scalable trapped-ion quantum computer, enabling thousands of qubits.

What's new?

HolonIQ’s new Green Skills Map and Workforce section reveals industry-wide sustainability skills and jobs, as well as workforce development initiatives, supporting upskilling for a sustainable economy.

HolonIQ's new skills newsletter is here! Get updates on emerging skills, workforce shifts, and industry insights across impact sectors. Subscribe now to stay ahead.

⚙️ Artificial Intelligence

🤖 US Government Unveils Massive $500 Billion AI Initiative Amid Risks. The US government announced a $500B project called Stargate to accelerate AI development in the US, aiming to make the country a global leader. However, experts warn of risks like misuse, ethical concerns, and questionable priorities.

📱 Google Releases Free AI Model Challenging OpenAI. Google released a free AI model called Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking, which challenges OpenAI's premium strategy by offering advanced capabilities like million-token processing, native code execution, and breakthrough performance in math and science benchmarks.

☎️ e& and IBM Launch AI Governance Solution. e& partners with IBM to implement an advanced AI governance solution that promotes compliance, ethical practices, and transparency in e&'s AI ecosystem.

💾 Semiconductors

💽 Netherlands Conceals Billions in ASML Chip Sales to China. The Dutch government is not disclosing the value of billions of dollars in sales by ASML, a major semiconductor equipment maker, to China, potentially shielding the company from escalating US-China tensions over chip technology access. ASML's CEO expected 2023 sales to Chinese customers of around $2.18B.

🔌 India to roll out its first locally made chip. The government of India stated that India will roll out its first locally manufactured chip this year, marking a significant milestone for the country's technology sector.

⚠️ Export Restrictions on NVIDIA and AMD Impacting Semiconductor Industry. The US government imposed export restrictions on NVIDIA and AMD, two major semiconductor companies, impacting their ability to sell advanced chips to China.

🚨 Cybersecurity

🚫 Conduent Suffers Cybersecurity Incident. Conduent, a US government contractor providing technology for services like child support and food assistance, confirmed that a recent outage was caused by a cybersecurity incident.

🛡️ Cisco Launches AI Defense to Strengthen AI Application Security. Cisco launched AI Defense, an integrated solution designed to protect the full cycle of development and use of AI applications.

🖲️ Egregious raises $1M Pre-Seed to defend humans from AI misuse. Egregious aims to protect organizations in critical sectors from AI-driven deception, disinformation, and harmful content.

📞 Communication and Networking

🌐 e& and DE-CIX Expand Digital Connectivity in the Middle East. e& and DE-CIX, two major internet exchange operators, are strengthening the UAE's role as a digital hub by enhancing interconnectivity in the Middle East through the SmartHub IX and global IX expansion.

🖥️ Vivo deploys an autonomous 5G network in Brazil. Vivo, a telecommunications company, rolled out a level 4 autonomous network for the backhaul and transport elements of its 5G network in Brazil, becoming one of the few companies to achieve this level of network automation.

💻 Quantum Computing

🚀 ZuriQ Revolutionizes Quantum Computing with Flying Qubits. The Swiss startup ZuriQ developed a new approach to quantum computing that allows qubits to move freely in all directions, unlike traditional methods where qubits are confined to specific paths.

🔬 Xanadu unveils a new photonic quantum computer. Xanadu, a quantum computing company, announced a breakthrough with their new photonic quantum computer called Aurora, which they claim is a pivotal milestone towards developing useful quantum computers.

🛠️ Skills and Workforce

With reskilling and upskilling playing a key role in closing workforce gaps, HolonIQ is now tracking these impactful initiatives shaping the tech industry. Read on for this week’s insights, and discover more in HolonIQ's latest Skills newsletter.

💡 OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and UAE's MGX are investing $500B in AI infrastructure in the US through a new venture, The Stargate Project. The project has $100B in immediate funding, with the rest coming over four years. The first data center is under construction in Texas, with more planned nationwide, aiming to create 100,000 jobs.

🌐 The AI Skills Coalition, an initiative by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), aims to bridge the global AI skills gap with support from over 25 organizations, including AWS, Microsoft, and the East Africa Community. Announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the union will provide open AI training online, promoting inclusive participation. It aligns with the UN’s Pact for the Future and Global Digital Compact to ensure worldwide equitable access to AI opportunities.

💻 Merit Network has been recommended for an $11M NTIA Digital Equity Competitive Grant to expand digital upskilling in Michigan communities through the IMPACT program. IMPACT focuses on digital adoption, education, and capacity building, leveraging AI-powered tools to enhance digital navigator support, community planning, workforce training, and resource management. A key initiative involves developing a large language model to improve digital skills in underserved communities. The project aims to empower residents and close the digital divide across Michigan.

HolonIQ has also launched the Green Skills Map, an open-source framework initiated for cataloging, evaluating, and contextualizing the different components of the rapidly expanding field of green jobs. This comprehensive taxonomy will serve as a resource for understanding the full spectrum and complexity of green skills required across various sectors, thereby enabling a cohesive approach toward achieving net zero and decarbonizing the global economy. Green Skills Map spans 11 areas, 54 sub-areas, and 243 green skills clusters. A snippet of the map covering four areas has been included above. Explore the full map on greenskills.org.

💰 Tech Deals

💵 Rokt Acquires mParticle for $300M. E-commerce marketing company Rokt acquired customer data platform mParticle for $300M in a 100% stake deal.

💴 AI Company Raises $250M in Series A Funding. An AI company announced that it raised $250M in a Series A funding round led by AMD Ventures to scale its general-purpose AI capabilities.

💶 Chinese tech firm Inventchip raises $137M Series C. Chinese silicon carbide device maker Inventchip raised over $137M in a Series C funding round. The Shanghai-based company previously raised a Series B round in December 2024 led by Shanghai Growth FOF.

💷 Instabase Raises $100M for Unstructured Data Processing. Instabase, a technology company that develops software to extract and process unstructured data from various document types, raised $100M in funding.

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Thank you for reading. Have a great week ahead!
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