AI Market Close to Trillion-Dollar Industry by 2027, Predicts Bain & Company

TECH BRIEF

China's Stimulus Boosts US Stocks Amid Consumer Confidence Slump (9 minutes read)

Major US indexes soared to new record highs, despite lacklustre consumer confidence, boosted by China's economic stimulus. Moves by the People's Bank of China, geared towards supporting its weak economy, stimulated Hong Kong and Shanghai markets, in turn, lending support to US materials stocks. This partially offset a disappointing US consumer confidence report, and despite this, the S&P 500 managed a slight overall gain. The Chinese stimulus also buoyed stocks of companies with substantial Chinese operations like Alibaba, Nvidia, Apple and Nike. However, Visa dropped by over 5%.

AI Market Close to Trillion-Dollar Industry by 2027, Predicts Bain & Company (21 minutes read)

The AI hardware and software market could grow between 40% to 55% annually, potentially attaining a value of $990 billion by 2027. Rising demand for AI is expected to lead to larger data centers, while demand could drive up the costs between $10 billion and $25 billion within five years. Moreover, a surge in demand for upstream components could cause the next chip shortage. The report also highlights the emergence of sovereign AI and the growth in demand for small language models due to data privacy and cost concerns.

OpenAI Expands Advanced Voice Mode, Added Features for ChatGPT Users (3 minutes read)

OpenAI has disclosed the scaling up of Advanced Voice Mode (AVM) for ChatGPT's Plus and Teams paying customers. The inclusion of features such as custom instructions and memory, five additional voices and enhanced accent comprehension in AVM comes with a new look. While Enterprise and Edu users can expect access the following week, realization of multimodal capabilities remains undated. The company asserts that AVM customer interaction has improved despite glitches in prior tests. Despite this expansion, AVM is still not available in areas such as the EU, the U.K., and Switzerland.

Reddit Expands AI-Powered Translations to Attract International Audience (2 minutes read)

In an effort to attract a larger user base and broaden its ad revenue, Reddit is introducing a machine learning-powered automatic translation service in over 35 new countries across Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The new feature automatically translates posts and comments based on user's settings, eliminating the need for manual translation. The service is already live in Brazil and Spain, while expansion to Germany, Italy, the Philippines and Latin American markets is anticipated in the coming weeks.

Northvolt Lays off 1,600 Amid Manufacturing & Financial Struggles (3 minutes read)

Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt is laying off 1,600 employees due to a difficult market environment. The layoffs will affect about 1,000 workers in Skellefteå, 400 in Västerås, and 200 in Stockholm. Despite these measures, the company remains committed to establishing its battery production base in Sweden, aiming to refocus its investments toward core operations and achieve profitability quickly. The expansion plans at Northvolt Labs will also be scaled down.

AI Bests Google CAPTCHA: Alarming Implications for Cybersecurity (5 minutes read)

Swiss researchers at ETH Zurich have successfully breached Google's reCAPTCHA v2 security system using advanced AI technology. The discovery indicates modern AI can exploit image-based captchas, historically believed to be more easily solved by humans than computers. The breakthrough hints at the potential for a fully automated process to sidestep CAPTCHA defenses, raising concerns for internet stakeholders and cybersecurity firms.

Elon Musk's X Platform Losing Users in Key Markets: US, UK, EU (6 minutes read)

Elon Musk's social media platform, X, is experiencing a significant drop in user numbers in the US, UK, and EU, according to both third-party data analyst, SimilarWeb, and X's own released data. In the last year, the platform has seen a decrease from 112.2 million to 105.9 million active users in the EU alone. X's decline is underlined by ongoing legal woes in Brazil and controversial comments from Musk himself.

Meta Rejects EU's AI Pact, Stirring Debate Over Data Regulations (2 minutes read)

Meta has chosen not to sign the EU's newly proposed AI Pact which requires tech companies to share comprehensive data used to train AI models. Although not ruling out future participation, Meta's current stance raises fresh policy debates within the EU. The full AI legislation, encompassing this pact, will be enforceable from August 2026.

Vipps Mobilepay Enters Swedish Market, Seeks Collaboration with Swish (1 minute read)

Vipps Mobilepay, the Norway-Denmark equivalent to Swish, is launching in Sweden. The payment app enables users to send funds to other Nordic countries and pay in Norwegian stores. Despite not being supported by all Swedish banks, Vipps CEO, Rune Garborg, does not see the company as a competitor to Swish, but hopes for a collaboration.