🖥️ Tech Futures #5

Happy Monday 👋

In recent Tech developments, Turkcell successfully trialed Ericsson’s 5G Cloud RAN technology, advancing its Open RAN and network virtualization in Turkey. Liquid Intelligent Technologies partnered with Globalstar to offer private 5G networks in Africa and the Middle East, enhancing industries like mining. ICASA is consulting on a new satellite services licensing framework in South Africa. Microsoft launched new Phi 3.5 AI models, while OpenAI's GPT-4o fine-tuning allows developers to customize responses, and Condé Nast's deal grants OpenAI media content access. FPT invested $200M in Japan for AI data centers. Nvidia launched StormCast and Earth-2 to offer advanced weather simulations. Xmems Labs introduced innovative cooling chips, Mitsubishi Electric announced mass-produced optical chips, and the European Commission approved $5.56B for TSMC’s Dresden chip plant. Grafana Labs raised $270M, Onebrief $53M, Encord $30M, Agilysys acquired Book4Time for $149M, and Bitfarms acquired Stronghold for $125M.

🌐 5G Network Advancements

📡 Turkcell successfully trialed Ericsson 5G Cloud RAN technology. Turkcell, in collaboration with Ericsson, conducted a trial of 5G Cloud Radio Access Network (RAN) technology, advancing its cloud-native network strategy. This trial supports Turkcell’s transition to Open RAN and network virtualization, enhancing connectivity in Turkey.

📶 Liquid Intelligent Technologies partners with Globalstar for exclusive 5G solutions in Africa and the Middle East. The partnership provides private 5G networks using Globalstar's XCOM RAN system, aiming to revolutionize industries like mining with advanced connectivity and AI-driven applications.

📚 ICASA initiated consultation for a new satellite services licensing framework in South Africa. The proposed framework aims to modernize regulations, clarify guidelines, review spectrum fees, and enhance international coordination.

🖥️ AI Model Innovations

🤖 Microsoft expands AI capabilities with new Phi 3.5 models. The Phi-3.5-mini-instruct, Phi-3.5-MoE-instruct, and Phi-3.5-vision-instruct models, available on Hugging Face, provide advanced reasoning, vision tasks, and competitive performance against Google and Meta.

🎟️ OpenAI's GPT-4o fine-tuning launched with free tokens, while Condé Nast's deal allows content use in AI.  GPT-4o will enable developers to tailor responses for specific tasks, and the deal with Conde Nast will allow OpenAI to use its media content in ChatGPT.

💻 FPT is expanding its AI business in Japan with $200M investment and Nvidia chips. The company will build data centers and grow its Japanese staff from 3,500 to 5,000, targeting Japan's financial sector and launching services early next year.

🌪️ Nvidia launched StormCast, a Generative AI model for high-resolution weather simulations, and Earth-2, a digital twin platform for global climate predictions. StormCast provides medium-scale weather forecasts, while CorrDiff, another Generative AI coming in June, promises 1,000x speed and 3,000x energy efficiency improvements for disaster prediction.

💾 Next-Gen Semiconductors

🌬️ Xmems Labs introduces a revolutionary "fan-on-a-chip" cooling solution for mobile devices. The all-silicon XMC-2400 µCooling chip, just 1mm thick, enables active cooling in smartphones and tablets, supporting high-performance AI applications with advanced thermal management.

🔬 Mitsubishi Electric announced to start of mass-producing next-gen optical chips. The company will begin sample shipments in October and plans to boost production capacity for data center chips by 50% next year to meet global demand.

🌱 The European Commission approved $5.56B in state aid for TSMC's first European chip plant in Dresden. The factory, a joint venture with NXP, Bosch, and Infineon, aims to boost the EU's chip production capacity and meet the Chips Act goals by 2030.

💰 Deals of the Week

🖥️ Grafana Labs, an IT infrastructure monitoring startup, raised $270M in a Series B funding round to pursue potential M&A opportunities while expediting its product development.

🛡️ Onebrief, a software platform supplier for military personnel processes and cooperation with headquarters in Hawaii raised $53M in a Series B funding round to increase staff size and quicken product development.

🌟 Encord, a platform for developing AI data for multimodal teams and advanced vision, raised $30M in a Series B funding round to support the integration of AI into their enterprise and model development process.

☁️ Agilysys acquired Book4Time, a multinational supplier of an all-in-one cloud-based management solution for spa and wellness companies, for $149M to allow Agilysys to improve the services Book4Time provides to its customers.

💰 Bitfarms acquired Stronghold, a crypto asset mining company, for $125M to increase Bitfarms' mining capability by using Stronghold's energy production resources.

Thank you for reading. Have a great week ahead!
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