<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Google plans to require verified election advertisers to make “clear and conspicuous” disclosures when their advertisements contain AI-generated content, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/13755910?hl=en&amp;ref_topic=29265" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog post</a>&nbsp;from the tech giant, which will institute the changes as artificial intelligence becomes more commonplace in the leadup to the 2024 presidential election.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



The update to Google’s political content policy will arrive in mid-November and will require disclosures to be placed in clear locations on images and videos.



Audio content is included in the disclosure requirements, though AI generated content “inconsequential to the claims made in the ad,” such as color corrections, image resizing and cropping, are exempt.



Videos uploaded to YouTube that aren’t paid advertising are also exempt, even if the content is uploaded by political campaigns.



Election advertisers who want to run election ads through Google are already required to go through a&nbsp;<a href="https://support.google.com/adspolicy/troubleshooter/9973345" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">verification process</a>&nbsp;requiring basic information from applicants.



A mix of human and tech tools will be used to enforce the disclosure requirements.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Google is one of several tech companies that has faced scrutiny over its handling of misinformation. YouTube, which was acquired by Google in 2006, faced backlash after announcing this year it would&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/youtube-will-stop-removing-false-claims-2020-election-fraud-rcna87503" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stop taking down content</a>&nbsp;containing false claims about the 2020 presidential election—when former President Donald Trump baselessly claimed voter fraud was rampant in an election he still considers rigged. YouTube said in a blog post it made the decision to protect its “community” and provide “a home for open discussion and debate.” The company was also criticized in 2020 for slowly removing or labeling videos with election misinformation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



X, formerly known as Twitter, does not have specific guidelines for AI-generated ad content. Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, does not have similar policies either, though it does have a ban against “<a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2020/01/enforcing-against-manipulated-media/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">manipulated media</a>” such as deepfakes—videos that typically use digital alterations to copy someone&#8217;s likeness and convey false information.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/youtube-will-stop-removing-false-claims-2020-election-fraud-rcna87503" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">YouTube will stop removing false claims about 2020 election fraud</a>&nbsp;(NBC News)



<a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/09/06/google-ai-election-ads-disclosure" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google to require disclosure for AI in election ads</a> (Axios)

In this photo illustration, a woman holds a smartphone with

Google Will Require Advertisers To Add Disclosures For AI-Generated Election Ads

On a recent working tour of the TechQuest Hub in Lagos, Nigeria, recently, Digital and Innovation Fellows from the African Union (AU) engaged with Charles Emembolu, the Founder and Director of TechQuest STEM Academy who spoke about how innovators organized as one body for the Innovation Support Network (ISN).



Emembolu, speaking in his capacity as the director of ISN, explains: “We have shifted our focus from merely complaining about lack of government support to proactively engaging with them. This shift has led to increased interactions with both federal and state governments.



“Currently, our office is located alongside the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). As a result, we actively participate in any engagement or activities organized by NITDA,” he says.



According to the organizers, the fellowship program, which started accepting applications in 2021, aims to identify and deploy skilled tech innovators within the African continent to various AU headquarters and departments as ‘resident fellows’. Their role is to understand the system within those departments, identify challenges, and propose solutions.



They note the goal is to tackle African challenges by fostering co-creation and building innovative tailor-made products and services by startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the continent.



According to a recent global startup ecosystem report by Startup Genome, Lagos became the regional leader in ecosystem values and early-stage funding in 2022.



It is home to over 400 startups, representing about 88% of the total number of startups in the country. Lagos led these regions with a total ecosystem value of $8.43 billion, while Nairobi, Johannesburg, Dakar, and Accra received $7 billion, $3 billion, $2 billion, and $1 billion, respectively.



Obi Asika, convener of The Omniverse, a technology and innovation ecosystem platform, emphasizes the need for collaboration across the board to deliver and scale.



Asika, a member of the ISN, highlights: “Digital sovereignty is a significant concern that Africa must address. Omniverse believes that technology can provide the wings needed for everyone to soar. These innovations emerge from the ecosystem, and we anticipate witnessing further developments.”



The Lagos ecosystem visit allowed for interaction with founders and the AU and AfriLabs contingent, and was an opportunity for key stakeholders with aligned interests to engage. It also offered showcasing opportunities for founders.



Founders from across Nigeria who showcased their innovations included Aminu Ibrahim Hashim (Kamel), Christiana Okere (MyStash), Hafsat Sahabi Dange (EasyComply), Dirug Samuel (NorthWave), Joseph Orjinta (EvriSale), Soji Akinlabi (Centre for Digitization of Indigenous African Languages—CDIAL), Osasumwen Asoro (Asoro Automotives), Siro Collins (Advanced Engineering Centre), Ahmed Idris (Adashi), and Michael Osumune (Moon Innovations).



Osumune, Founder of Moon Innovations, shared his experience at the Lagos ecosystem visit and expressed the need for more support from the local community to thrive in the Nigerian startup ecosystem.



He tells FORBES AFRICA: “It&#8217;s been an exciting experience showcasing at the Lagos ecosystem visit, connecting with people and sharing our mission to accelerate digital transformation in Nigeria using solar technology.



“The Nigerian startup ecosystem shows promise with its abundance of bright young minds. However, to thrive, we require more support from the local community, just like the support offered by Lagos ecosystem.”



Similarly, Orjinta, Founder of Blualpha’s EvriSale, pointed out the need for increased funding to assist tech startups in the sales and marketing of their solutions.



“More funding should be provided for most tech startups to support them in sales and marketing of their ready-to-market solutions to their target audience,” he says.



He also laments the fact that “Nigerians are not quick to adopt technologies that they can benefit from”.



Implemented through the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Commission’s Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) DataCipation program, the fellowship has already produced 13 fellows. It also supports the AU and its branches in enhancing citizens’ engagement.



In appreciation of the GIZ, the Digital Transformation Center (DTC) Nigeria, and TechQuest STEM Academy, Orjinta considers the meet-up an opportunity to gather tremendous insights from the fellows. He also believes the insights demonstrate the potential for his app to scale and be utilized in AU member countries.

Digital And Innovation Fellows From The African Union Explore Nigeria’s Startup Ecosystem

‘Wings To Soar’:Co-Creation And Collaboration From Nigeria’s Startup Ecosystem

<a href="https://www.forbes.com/"></a>Valued at $2.2 billion in 2021, African money-transfer startup Chipper Cash was slow to adapt to the funding collapse of 2022. Now, after layoffs and a deep valuation cut, it’s focusing on the basics–and profitability.



The layoffs at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2022/06/06/how-two-africans-overcame-bias-to-build-a-startup-worth-billions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chipper Cash</a>, a five-year-old fintech startup that lets African consumers send money to each other, started slowly. In July 2022, four recruiters were dismissed. Seven quality assurance engineers came next, two months later. On a Sunday night in early December at 12:01 AM, about 50 employees, or slightly more than 10% of the company, received emails in their personal accounts telling them they no longer had jobs, and access to their work computers had been terminated. Staffers were stunned by the abrupt execution of the layoff. “There was shock and disgust,” a former employee says. Then, after another two months, even deeper cuts came: Chipper slashed about 30% of its staff.



It was a dramatic turnabout for a company that included “lead with empathy” as one of its four corporate values and had been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2022/06/06/how-two-africans-overcame-bias-to-build-a-startup-worth-billions/">featured in&nbsp;Forbes</a>&nbsp;as one of the most promising startups in fintech just eight months before.



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In February 2023, Zepz, a U.K.-based international money-transfer company formerly known as WorldRemit, smelled blood and approached Chipper with a take-out offer. Zepz sent a letter of intent saying it would pay between 5% and 10% of its own stock to buy the startup, pending more due diligence. Zepz had been valued at $5 billion in an August 2021 fundraise, but market values for fintech stocks had since dropped by 50%. Even if you thought Zepz was still worth $5 billion, which was doubtful at best, the deal would have valued Chipper at between $250 million and $500 million–a brutal discount to the $2.2 billion valuation it fetched in late 2021.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“I was fully aware that we were living in a time when capital was cheap. And when capital is cheap, that&#8217;s when you want to do the capital-intensive things.&#8221;— Ham Serunjogi
</blockquote>



The talks broke down. A Zepz spokesperson says the company walked away from the deal because they couldn’t get enough financial information from Chipper, and what they did see made them question the viability of the business. Ham Serunjogi, Chipper’s now 29-year-old CEO, says that Chipper provided all information requested, Zepz refused to share its own financial metrics and Chipper was the one to walk away. “I have never had any intention to go out and look for a buyer or to be acquired,” Serunjogi told us in May, speaking from his office at his home in the San Francisco Bay Area.



In April, Chipper lowered its internal 409A valuation–the market value it uses for issuing employee stock options–by 70%, cutting its common stock share price from about $13 in late 2022 to $3.89, according to a former employee and a document viewed by&nbsp;Forbes. It also raised roughly $25 million in convertible debt, says a person familiar with the financing–debt that will convert to equity at a $450 million valuation if Chipper gets acquired or has another big fundraise.



Chipper’s predicament is emblematic of the challenges many fintech startups face today. In 2020 and 2021, as Covid pushed more transactions online and consumers flocked to fintech apps, startups and their backers acted like the fast growth and good times would continue for years. Chipper, which offers low-cost money transfers, bill payment, stock investing and crypto trading for consumers in Africa, plus payment services for businesses there, had amassed five million registered users in seven countries, including Uganda, Ghana and Nigeria, in just the four years after its founding. It booked more than $75 million in revenue in 2021 (excluding cryptocurrency transactions), according to the company, and between $100 and $150 million in 2022, says a person familiar with its finances, compared with $18 million in 2020.



Serunjogi was pursuing a land-grab, growth-at-all-costs strategy, aiming “to capture as much market share and new geographical footprint as possible. And that&#8217;s an expensive endeavor,” he admits. Then as interest rates rose and the stock market sank, investors put away their checkbooks. Profitability suddenly became more important than growth.



Now Chipper is trying to dramatically cut costs and change its strategy while preventing employees from thinking they’re on a sinking ship. “I feel like I’ve grown up so much in the last 12 months,” Serunjogi says.



He has wrestled with the emotional toll of layoffs and a feeling that his employees weren’t taking their jobs seriously enough. In January, he decided to eliminate “lead with empathy” as one of Chipper’s four corporate values. “It was becoming a substitute for accountability,” he says. As he tries to turn the company around, he faces the tough task of still striving for rapid growth–and getting close to profitability–on a much tighter budget.



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Serunjogi grew up in&nbsp;Uganda, and while in high school he saw the problems his dad faced trying to move money through Africa’s disjointed banking system. A couple of years later, he enrolled at Grinnell, a small liberal arts college in Iowa, where he met Maijid Moujaled, a Ghanaian computer science major. The two soon began talking about developing an app that could become a Venmo for Africa.



They cofounded Chipper in 2018 and eventually raised $300 million in funding from investors including FTX, Ribbit Capital and Bezos Expeditions. Serunjogi spent aggressively to grow his customer base because of the nature of the money-transfer business: if you’re a consumer in Nigeria, you’d rather be able to send money to twenty different countries than two. “I was fully aware that we were living in a time when capital was cheap. And when capital is cheap, that&#8217;s when you want to do the capital-intensive things,” he says.



At the end of 2021, Chipper created its 2022 financial plan and intended to keep burning through large sums of cash, assuming capital would still be abundant. As tech stocks tumbled through the spring of 2022, Chipper began revising its plans. But while&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2022/07/28/in-fintech-2022-is-becoming-the-year-of-layoffs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">many fintech companies started doing layoffs that summer</a>, Serunjogi and Moujaled held out.



Serunjogi focused on driving Chipper as fast as possible–one way he tried to do that was by keeping the board small. Though he insists he has a large group of advisors, Chipper only had (and still has) just three voting board members: Serunjogi, Moujaled and Dan Kimerling, who runs fintech-focused venture capital firm Deciens. Similar-stage startups usually have five or more. “At the early stage of a business, the founders’ vision still has a premium. You&#8217;re trying to execute on something you uniquely see,” Serunjogi says.



By mid-2022, Serunjogi wanted to slow down expansion, but he concluded Chipper had already progressed so far on some projects that it would be too costly or wasteful to abandon them. One example: The company had already done much regulatory legwork to launch money transfers simultaneously in 10 new nations, each with its own set of legal requirements. So it charged ahead anyway with the big rollout over a two-week period in the fall of 2022.



When asked whether he chases too many goals at once, Serunjogi says, “If you set a goal of 10 versus a goal of 100, you will get to 9 out of 10, and you&#8217;ll get to 90 out of 100 … I strongly believe in setting stretch goals–that has been my style.”



Chipper hired about 150 employees in 2022, hitting almost 450 at its peak size. It spent aggressively on marketing, paying spokespeople like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqkjPTzP_6Y" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Burna Boy</a>, Africa’s most streamed artist, to appear in ads. Within the fintech industry and in Africa, Chipper was gaining attention. In the middle of last year,&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;published an article chronicling&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2022/06/06/how-two-africans-overcame-bias-to-build-a-startup-worth-billions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chipper’s founding story and fast growth</a>.



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When crypto exchange&nbsp;FTX collapsed suddenly last November, the mood inside Chipper grew much darker, former employees say. Sam Bankman-Fried’s company had been a major investor in Chipper’s 2021 mega funding round, and staffers found the situation deeply unsettling. It also exacerbated the bear market for the digital asset industry and dampened interest in something that had been helping Chipper attract new users: crypto investing.



With marketing efforts drastically reduced, Chipper saw its number of active users shrink in 2022, according to a former employee, and though it had more than five million registered users, only about one million of them were engaging with the app monthly, the company says. Serunjogi admits Chipper has seen a dip in usage and attributes it to Chipper’s raising prices on money transfers and other features to focus more on profitability. He says that new-user signups and “people who use multiple products” still “continue to fare quite well.”



Chipper will soon start offering U.S. dollar-denominated accounts to African customers to try to entice more users. Serunjogi says receiving international payments has been one of the most requested features, particularly for freelancers earning a living online. While crypto was once a major growth driver for Chipper, the startup seems to be going back to basics. “We’re essentially giving anyone access to one of the most trusted currencies in the world,” he says.



On top of spiking interest rates and a dormant funding market, Chipper has been facing another macroeconomic headwind: the naira, Nigeria’s currency that Chipper needs to hold to enable customers’ money transfers, has dramatically declined in value. It had been falling since early 2020, and in the second half of 2022 it lost another 8%, ultimately contributing to a negative gross profit margin for Chipper, an unusual financial profile for a company of its size. Today Serunjogi says Chipper has a positive gross margin.



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When the fintech market&nbsp;recovers from its deep downturn, entrepreneurs’ approaches to layoffs will likely turn out to have had a major impact on startups’ survival and trajectory. At Chipper, Serunjogi and Moujaled have done at least five sets of layoffs over the past 13 months. Judging by the frequency and increasing depth of the cuts compared with those of other major fintechs, Chipper waited too long to get lean.



“Layoffs were agonizing decisions. That is the stuff that kept me up at night,” Serunjogi says. “It’s like a piece of your humanity dies … Imagine having a conversation with people who you really like, who are very good, who made sacrifices for the business to be where it is today. They depend on that income. And you tell that person, ‘I have to cut you.’ And they have a family to look after.”



Why didn’t he opt for a smaller number of deeper cuts to get them over with faster? “These are human beings we’re talking about,” he says. “If I can save someone&#8217;s job, I&#8217;m going to try to find a way to save it until clearly it doesn&#8217;t make sense to be saved.” He adds that some international rules require companies to do layoffs over a period of three months, which drags out the process.



Some former Chipper employees think Serunjogi has botched the communication of bad news over the past year. For instance, after layoffs began, workers started asking questions about revenue and how much cash was left in the bank at company-wide meetings. Serunjogi often responded to the effect of, “Why do you guys keep asking this? You don’t need to know,” according to a former employee. Another staffer felt Chipper became a “very secretive environment.”



“We have various responsibilities and confidentiality we have to maintain in running a business,” Serunjogi says. “In all our all-hands meetings we used to show revenue, revenue growth by product, et cetera–until people started leaking it. We would start to see these things showing up in the press,” he says, chuckling.



He started to believe employees felt too entitled and weren’t taking their jobs seriously enough. That led him to remove the “lead with empathy” corporate value–he thought people were using it to excuse mediocre performance. Chipper replaced it with “be customer obsessed.”



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“Don’t mistake the early successes we’ve had with ‘we’ve made it.’ No, we can still die.”— Ham Serunjogi
</blockquote>



“If you make a mistake, I have to come down hard on you, because the consequences for all of us are that much greater [at a startup],” Serunjogi says. “Don’t mistake the early successes we’ve had with ‘we’ve made it.’ No, we can still die.” He admires Bill Gates for working all the time and not taking vacation during Microsoft’s early days, and he appreciated&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsegal/2022/11/17/elon-musks-ultimatum-to-twitter-employees-ramps-up-companys-crisis/">Elon Musk’s November 2022 ultimatum to Twitter employees</a>&nbsp;that staying at the company would require “extremely hardcore” work and long hours.



In the spring of 2023, some employees began saying Chipper had just ten months of cash left in the bank, with one posting it in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Chipper-Cash-RVW75333016.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a Glassdoor review</a>. People inside the startup were asking how it could have blown through the $300 million it raised, according to a former engineering manager.



Regarding Chipper’s rumored short runway, “I genuinely don&#8217;t know why and who would say something like that,” Serunjogi says, expressing frustration that anyone would discuss internal company matters publicly. “We have a tremendous amount of money on our balance sheet, so we’re fine,” he told us in late May.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Serunjogi doesn’t like talking&nbsp;much about the specifics of what he would have done differently if he could do it all again. When asked the question multiple times, he told us, “We are laying the foundation for what is going to make us successful over the next 10 or 20 years. I obsess less about what was happening in the last six months or three months or 12 months.” He concedes there are many things he’d do differently but demurs from spelling them out and says, “We are one of the most successful companies in Africa.”



What is clear: Chipper has cut nearly 175 people and scrapped plans to expand into Europe and the Middle East for now, since entering a new country takes months of work–it requires hiring lawyers and consultants and sometimes staffing at least 10 people in a new nation. It has refocused on Africa, cutting many U.S. employees who sit thousands of miles away from its customers. Serunjogi plans to hire fewer than 50 people this year. The marketing budget has been “meaningfully scaled back,” Serunjogi says, and he claims the company is “about to be profitable.”



Somehow, when asked to reflect on the past year, the young entrepreneur always comes back with a positive spin. “What we’ve achieved so far–if I went back and started the whole thing again, I would be very happy to come back to that same exact point.”

Ham Serunjogi and Maijid Moujaled by Ethan Pines for Forbes 130L-03-0027

Inside Chipper Cash’s Grueling Battle To Survive The Fintech Winter

Food waste costs grocery stores $28 billion every year. Afresh is working to slash that number.



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Albertsons&nbsp;wants to sell fresh raspberries. Not raspberries that are mushy. Or moldy. Or that will be inedible the day after you stick them in your fridge. But raspberries that are red and juicy and delicious.



It’s astonishingly difficult to pull off. In the past, store managers were essentially making their best guess when deciding how much to order. Too little, and the customer walks away empty-handed. Too much, and the raspberries end up sitting around for too long and go bad.



“Previously, produce ordering was a manual process, which meant stores were more likely to inaccurately estimate the type and amount of produce customers would buy,” said Suzanne Long, chief sustainability officer for Albertsons.



Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons, one of the nation&#8217;s largest grocers with $78 billion in annual revenue, began using artificial intelligence software across stores last year from a startup called Afresh Technologies to help it forecast demand and place orders for the type of food that tends to spoil the fastest, like bananas, bell peppers and bagged salads. Albertsons is now placing more frequent&nbsp;orders for smaller quantities.



“We’re trying to have full shelves and an empty backroom when the next truck comes in,” said Afresh CEO Matt Schwartz.



San Francisco-based Afresh, started in 2017, is still a nascent business –&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;estimates that its revenue last year was under $10 million – but it’s growing fast. With $150 million in equity funding from Spark Capital, Insight Partners and other top VCs, Afresh has rolled out its software at 3,300 stores that include Albertsons (whose stores represent the majority of its business), WinCo Foods and Save Mart. Supermarket employees wielding iPads punch in how many apples, heads of broccoli and cherry tomatoes they have left on shelves and then review automated suggestions for how much to order.



More grocery stores are adopting this type of technology in an effort to cut down on how much food they toss each year, an amount that totals $28 billion, according to estimates from ReFED, a nonprofit that tracks food waste. Since stores tend to err on the side of ordering too much, they throw away about 5% to 6% of fresh food, Schwartz said. Rates can be twice that among prepared foods. In addition to being bad for the environment, it’s bad for business because it means lost sales and crimped profits.



Afresh CEO Matt SchwartzAFRESH



Afresh says that its customers typically reduce food waste by one quarter, which can lift operating margins in the produce category by 40% and deliver tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, in profit. “We tell chief financial officers, ‘You’re going to smash your numbers,’” said Schwartz.



That’s a welcome message at a time when grocery stores, which have notoriously thin profit margins, are grappling with the rising cost of food. Albertsons, whose brands include Safeway, Vons and Jewel-Osco and which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/23/business/kroger-albertsons-merger.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">has announced plans to merge</a>&nbsp;with Kroger, rolled out the software across nearly all 2,200 of its stores last year. The company has said that its goal is to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.albertsonscompanies.com/our-impact/planet/food-waste/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eliminate food waste going to landfills</a>&nbsp;by 2030. “If you can pick up three to five points of gross margin with this thing without having to raise prices, that is huge,” said Walter Robb, the former CEO of Whole Foods, who has invested in Afresh.



To assist with orders, the startup makes sense of a jumble of data to forecast demand better than any human can. It starts with the history of how an item has sold over the past several years, folding in sales data on a daily basis. It then factors in anything that may affect demand, such as upcoming promotions, weather, holidays and the day that food stamps are doled out. Internal estimates attempt to account for the unforgiving shelf life of finicky items like avocados and peaches, which a store is always racing against the clock to sell.



This is a big improvement over an employee going product by product, using their judgment to figure out how many Gala apples to order versus Honeycrisp and Fuji and Pink Lady and Granny Smith.



It means that fruits and veggies are not sitting around for nearly as long at grocers like Cub, a Minnesota chain with 100 stores, which is moving produce in and out of its stores 7% faster than before. The retailer has also seen a nice 2.5% boost in sales from improving its in-stock levels.



“Remember that retailing is all about having the right product at the right price at the right time,” said Robb. “This is a tool to make that happen.”



The backroom of a Cub grocery store before they started working with Afresh (left) and after.AFRESH



The stakes are high in the fresh section of a grocery store, which tends to be a big traffic driver, especially for return trips. Improving the quality and selection of fresh foods has been a major priority for Albertsons, which sees it as a way to boost sales and steal market share from competitors. “The fresh portfolio really, really matters,” Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran said in a quarterly earnings call last month.



Schwartz, 33, a former Bain consultant with an MBA from Stanford, started Afresh six years ago after learning how much fresh food grocery stores were throwing away, and how little technology existed to address the problem. Schwartz has always been a health nut, who practiced intermittent fasting and designed meal and workout plans for friends. Early in his career, he’d worked at Simple Mills, which makes crackers, cookies and other snacks with alt-ingredients like almond flour and coconut sugar.



Afresh charges each store department hundreds of dollars per month to use its software. It says it has prevented 43 million pounds of food from being thrown away since inception.



“This technology is one of a small handful we’re seeing really take off,” said Dana Gunders, executive director of ReFED.



As AI-powered ordering gains wider adoption, it&nbsp;<a href="http://pacificcoastcollaborative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/PCFWC-Case-Study_AI_Final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">could help cut food waste at the store level in half by 2030</a>, according to the Pacific Coast Collaborative, a multi-state governmental initiative to reduce greenhouse gas. Similar technology is sold by companies like Shelf Engine, which signed up Kroger as a customer but subsequently laid off a significant portion of its staff.



Afresh is now signing up more stores and expanding beyond produce with existing customers. This year, it expects to go into another 7,500 departments, which includes new forays into the meat and seafood counters, the deli and the prepared foods section. It is also introducing more tools for grocery stores, like one that helps employees complete monthly inventory checks.



The company now assists with ordering a tenth of all produce sold in America, said Schwartz. “We plan to be preventing over 100 million pounds of food waste per year very shortly,” he said.

E-commerce augmented reality marketing in supermarket mobile phone app AI artificial intelligence

This AI Startup Has Saved Grocers From Tossing Millions Of Pounds Of Food

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Google and Universal Music Group are discussing whether to license artists’ melodies and vocals for AI-generated music, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/6f022306-2f83-4da7-8066-51386e8fe63b?list=intlhomepage" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a> to the Financial Times, following a recent trend of music produced by artificial intelligence that has faced backlash—and support—from music labels and artists.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



Universal Music—which represents artists like Drake, Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift—and Google are working to develop a tool for users to create AI-generated music using an artist’s voice, lyrics or sounds, the&nbsp;Financial Times&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/6f022306-2f83-4da7-8066-51386e8fe63b?list=intlhomepage" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>.



A deal would pay copyright holders for the right to create the music, while artists would have the choice to opt in.



Warner Music Group is also discussing a similar product with Google, according to the&nbsp;Times.



Neither Google nor Universal Music immediately responded to requests for comment from&nbsp;Forbes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



Warner Music CEO Robert Kyncl&nbsp;<a href="https://investors.wmg.com/events/event-details/q3-2023-warner-music-group-earnings-conference-call" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;during the company’s earnings call Tuesday that “with the right framework in place” artificial intelligence would be able to “enable fans to pay their heroes the ultimate compliment through a new level of user-driven content.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chief-critic">CHIEF CRITIC</h2>



Drake voiced his opposition to AI-produced music earlier this year after he was featured in several deepfakes,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/drake-reacts-ice-spice-munch-ai-1235303454/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">suggesting</a>&nbsp;after one song was released: “This is the last straw.” Sting said there was “going to be a battle” between “human capital” and AI, which he said “doesn’t impress me at all,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65627089" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to the BBC.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-contra">CONTRA</h2>



Several artists have supported the development of AI-generated music, including Grimes, who&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/grimes-drake-the-weeknd-ai-music-1234726521/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;anyone could create songs using her voice “without penalty” as long as she receives a 50% split on royalties. Paul McCartney&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/06/13/ai-you-need-is-love-artificial-intelligence-helps-create-final-beatles-song-paul-mccartney-says/?sh=4c263c571275">announced</a>&nbsp;in June a new Beatles song would be released later this year, after McCartney said AI was used to “extricate” John Lennon’s voice from an old demo tape to create “the final Beatles record.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Regulations and restrictions for music generated by artificial intelligence have increased in recent months. Universal Music sent a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/aec1679b-5a34-4dad-9fc9-f4d8cdd124b9" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">letter</a>&nbsp;to streaming services in April requesting they prevent AI programs from accessing its platforms to train on copyrighted lyrics and melodies. Universal Music general counsel Jeffrey Harleston&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoCJun7gkbA&amp;ab_channel=CNBCTelevision" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;during a Senate hearing last month that “an artist’s voice is often the most valuable part of their livelihood and public persona.” The U.S. Copyright Office noted it will only offer copyright to works “created by a human being” and not “register works produced by a machine.” Google&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.google/technology/ai/musiclm-google-ai-test-kitchen/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">released</a>&nbsp;an experimental AI tool for created music in May, which develops a song based on a text prompt. Meta&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/irenebenedicto/2023/08/02/meta-launches-tool-to-create-music-using-ai-heres-what-to-know/?sh=41419a9e444d">released</a>&nbsp;its own AI tool for creating music earlier this month, which is trained on 20,000 hours of licensed music owned by Meta.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/6f022306-2f83-4da7-8066-51386e8fe63b?list=intlhomepage" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google And Universal Music Negotiate Deal Over AI ‘Deepfakes’</a>&nbsp;(Financial Times)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/irenebenedicto/2023/08/02/meta-launches-tool-to-create-music-using-ai-heres-what-to-know/?sh=41419a9e444d">Meta Launches Tool To Create Music Using AI—Here’s What To Know</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/05/03/ai-generated-music-is-here-sung-by-stars-like-drake-and-ariana-grande-but-it-may-be-very-illegal/?sh=612b5343aa32">AI-Generated Music Is Here—‘Sung’ By Stars Like Drake And Ariana Grande—But It May Be Very Illegal</a> (Forbes)

Headphones, Amplifying Equipment, Studio Audio Mixer Knobs And Faders. Sound Engineering Equipment. Selective Focus. The photo is covered with sand and noise. Wireless and electronic technologies. Equipment in a nightclub, on television, radio studio.

Google And Universal Music Group Negotiating AI-Generated Music Tool, Report Says

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Bot accounts and tweets from Twitter owner Elon Musk amplified the prices of FTX-listed cryptocurrencies, according to a Network Contagion Research Institute&nbsp;<a href="https://networkcontagion.us/wp-content/uploads/NCRI_FTXReport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study published Wednesday</a>, which took a close look at the sort of spam accounts that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musks-twitter-vs-bad-bots-the-battle-goes-on-d25ce0ab" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Musk recently claimed</a>&nbsp;have been mostly tamed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



Researchers examined more than 3 million tweets about 18 cryptocurrencies from January 1, 2019 to January 27, 2023, a time range that includes Twitter activity before, during and slightly after Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the platform.



Using Botometer, a service that checks the activity of Twitter accounts and gives them a score based on how likely they are to be bots, researchers found that out of a total of 182,105 unique accounts that tweeted about FTX-listed coins, 172,451 accounts were given “bot” scores.



Researchers said the bots aided in pumping the price of crypto coins traded by insiders of defunct Alameda Research, a hedge fund and sister firm of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX platform—a cryptocurrency exchange that went bankrupt in November.



Following promotional tweets by FTX’s official Twitter account, researchers found “activity for the coins grew increasingly inauthentic over time,” with bot-like comments growing and accounting for about half of the total chatter about the 18 coins.



The study also concluded that tweets by Musk mentioning altcoins, such as PEPE and PSYOP, created considerable price spikes for the cryptocurrencies.



Researchers cited a May 13&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1657318313532313600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1657318313532313600%7Ctwgr%5E5eb9c00b8a13cb78a726136639f2a12d3adb3131%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fco" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweet from Musk</a>&nbsp;that featured a Pepe the Frog meme that contributed to a more than 50% increase in the price of PEPE within 24 hours, with price action being fueled by “a combination of both authentic and inauthentic bot-driven activity.”



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



The study did not directly link FTX or Alameda as being responsible for the bot accounts, but did note that FTX’s promotional tweets may have boosted bot engagement on coin chatter.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musks-twitter-vs-bad-bots-the-battle-goes-on-d25ce0ab" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">90%</a>. That is the percentage of scams on Twitter that Musk said in June had been eliminated from the platform, which has since been rebranded to X. However, the billionaire business owner has yet to provide data backing the claim.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



“Since Musk’s team took over Twitter last year, API changes were made to deter bot creation, possibly reducing crypto promotion and scams,” Alex Goldenberg, lead intelligence analyst for NCRI, said in an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/02/elon-musk-tweets-twitter-bots-boosted-ftx-listed-crypto-researchers.html?__source=sharebar%7Ctwitter&amp;par=sharebar" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">interview with CNBC</a>, which first reported the study. “However, these changes come with trade-offs as they also hinder independent audits by third-party researchers.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forbes-valuation">FORBES VALUATION</h2>



We estimate Musk’s net worth at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/?sh=58ff69fc7999">$232.7 billion</a>&nbsp;as of Wednesday, making him the world’s wealthiest person.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Prior to his acquisition of Twitter,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1517215066550116354" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Musk claimed</a>&nbsp;he would “defeat the spam bots or die trying!” Since then, bots on the social media platform&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-linda-yaccarino-elon-musk-exterminate-bots-2023-6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">have persisted</a>, though it is unclear how many bots are on the site as of today. Before Musk’s acquisition of Twitter,&nbsp;<a href="https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/is-elon-musk-right-about-the-bot-problem-on-twitter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yale researchers</a>&nbsp;found the prevalence of active bots on the site varied from 1% to 14%. “In a study of the first impeachment of Donald Trump, we found that bots were 1% of the active users, but posted 31% of the tweets,” a Yale associate professor wrote in&nbsp;<a href="https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/is-elon-musk-right-about-the-bot-problem-on-twitter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">an article</a>&nbsp;about Twitter bots. Musk&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musks-twitter-vs-bad-bots-the-battle-goes-on-d25ce0ab" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">claimed in June</a>&nbsp;at least 90% of the fake accounts littered throughout Twitter were eliminated. However, researchers found bots were still easy to find on the app, with an assistant professor of computer science at Princeton University telling the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musks-twitter-vs-bad-bots-the-battle-goes-on-d25ce0ab" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wall Street Journal</a>&nbsp;that “bad bots remain pervasive on Twitter.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahemerson/2023/03/29/sam-bankman-fried-legal-fees-funded-by-alameda-money-gifted-to-father-joe-bankman/?sh=69a1063f5757">Sam Bankman-Fried’s Legal Defense Is Being Funded With Alameda Money He Gifted His Father</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/darreonnadavis/2023/06/02/what-happened-to-ftx-the-crypto-exchange-funds-collapse-explained/?sh=235bce7b3cb7">What Happened To FTX? The Crypto Exchange Fund’s Collapse Explained</a> (Forbes)

Elon Musk Makes Twitter Account Private

Elon Musk Tweets And Bots Boosted Price Of Altcoins Listed On FTX, Study Suggests

New MoU signed between Central Bank of Nigeria and Central Bank of Egypt to boost fintech innovations.



The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) are enhancing fintech innovation and collaboration between their African powerhouse economies, Nigeria and Egypt.



At the Seamless North Africa 2023 conference this month in Egypt’s capital Cairo, the apex banks signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a Nigeria-Egypt fintech bridge.



Aishah Ahmad, Deputy Governor of the CBN, said at the signing that months of engagement on payments, fintech, and financial inclusion paved the way for the collaboration.



“We look forward to cultivating an innovative space for fintech startups and entrepreneurs in Egypt and Nigeria to accelerate financial inclusion, deepen our payment systems and drive economic growth across the African continent,&#8221; she said.



The growth of fintech in both Nigeria and Egypt is part of a larger trend of its development in Africa.



According to a 2022 McKinsey report, each of the two countries is expected to show a growth rate of 12% per annum, until 2025, forming part of the 11 key markets.



A research paper, An Overview of Fintech Evolution in Nigeria, highlights that Nigeria&#8217;s fintech landscape has over 200 startups, with key stakeholders such as banks, telecom companies, and the government.



According to the CBE, the number of technology companies that offered fintech services in Egypt grew five-fold to 177 in 2022 from 32 in 2017.



Industry experts view the collaboration as a game-changer for the global remittance space and cross-border trade in Africa, encompassing a wide array of initiatives, including joint regulatory innovation projects, coordinated licensing and supervisory frameworks, information sharing, fintech cross referrals, and talent development.



Tomisin Salam, the CEO of FiatMatch Inc, tells FORBES AFRICA: &#8220;The partnership will unlock new opportunities for businesses, attract fresh investment, and streamline the efficiency of fintech companies in Africa.



&#8220;With China and Saudi Arabia already transacting in their local currencies, this move sets a commendable precedent for other African states to follow suit, and potentially increase the demand for local currencies in the continent,&#8221; says Salam.

Image supplied by Central Bank of Nigeria

Fintech Bridge To Unlock New Opportunities Between Two Powerhouse African Economies

Chatbots are increasingly being used by companies to interview and screen job applicants, often for blue collar jobs. But like other algorithmic hiring tools before them, experts and job applicants worry these tools could be biased.



In early June, Amanda Claypool was looking for a job at a fast-food restaurant in Asheville, North Carolina. But she faced an unexpected and annoying hurdle: glitchy chatbot recruiters.



A few examples: McDonald’s chatbot recruiter “Olivia” cleared Claypool for an in-person interview, but then failed to schedule it because of technical issues. A Wendy’s bot managed to schedule her for an in-person interview but it was for a job she couldn&#8217;t do. Then a Hardees chatbot sent her to interview with a store manager who was on leave — hardly a seamless recruiting strategy.



“I showed up at Hardees and they were kind of surprised. The crew operating the restaurant had no idea what to do with me or how to help me,” Claypool, who ultimately took a job elsewhere, told&nbsp;Forbes.&nbsp;“It seemed like a more complicated thing than it had to be,” she said. (McDonald’s and Hardees didn’t respond to a comment request. A Wendy’s spokesperson told Forbes the bot creates “hiring efficiencies,” adding “innovation is our DNA.”)



HR chatbots like the ones Claypool encountered are increasingly being used in industries like healthcare, retail and restaurants to filter out unqualified applicants and schedule interviews with the ones who might be right for the job. McDonalds, Wendy’s, CVS Health and Lowes use&nbsp;<a href="https://www.paradox.ai/solutions/restaurant" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Olivia</a>, a chatbot developed by Arizona-based $1.5 billion AI startup Paradox. Other companies like L’Oreal rely on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/29/tech/ai-recruitment-loreal/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mya</a>, an AI chatbot developed in San Francisco by a startup of the same name. (Paradox didn’t respond to a comment request about Claypool’s experience.)



Most hiring chatbots are not as advanced or elaborate as contemporary conversational chatbots like ChatGPT. They’ve primarily been used to screen for jobs that have a high-volume of applicants — cashiers, warehouse associates and customer service assistants. They are rudimentary and ask fairly straightforward questions: “Do you know how to use a forklift?” or “Are you able to work weekends?” But as Claypool found, these bots can be buggy — and there isn’t always a human to turn to when something goes wrong. And the clear-cut answers many of the bots require could mean automatic rejection for some qualified candidates who might not answer questions like a large language model wants them to.



That could be a problem for people with disabilities, people who are not proficient in English and older job applicants, experts say. Aaron Konopasky, senior attorney advisor at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), fears chatbots like Olivia and Mya may not provide people with disabilities or medical conditions with alternative options for availability or job roles. “If it&#8217;s a human being that you&#8217;re talking to, there&#8217;s a natural opportunity to talk about reasonable accommodations,” he told Forbes. “If the chatbot is too rigid, and the person needs to be able to request some kind of exemption, then the chatbot might not give them the opportunity to do that.”



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“It&#8217;s sort of like how Netflix recommends movies based on other movies you like.”Jeremy Schiff, CEO and founder of RecruitBot
</blockquote>



Discrimination is another concern. Underlying prejudice in data used to train AI can bake bias and discrimination into the tools in which it&#8217;s deployed. “If the chatbot is looking at things like how long it takes you to respond, or whether you’re using correct grammar and complex sentences, that&#8217;s where you start worrying about bias coming in,” said Pauline Kim, a employment and labor law professor at Washington University, whose research focuses on the use of AI in hiring tools. But such bias can be tough to detect when companies aren&#8217;t transparent about why a potential candidate was rejected.



Recently, government authorities have introduced legislation to monitor and regulate the use of automation in hiring tools. In early July,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-starts-to-regulate-ai-used-in-hiring-tools-79a2260f?mod=djemalertNEWS" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York City</a>&nbsp;enacted a new law requiring employers who use automated tools like resume scanners and chatbot interviews to audit their tools for gender and racial bias. In 2020,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bakersterchi.com/new-illinois-statute-among-the-first-to-address-aiaided-job-recruiting" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Illinois</a>&nbsp;passed a law requiring employers who apply AI to analyze video interviews to notify applicants and obtain consent.



Still, for companies looking to trim recruiting costs, AI screening agents seem an obvious option. HR departments are often one of the first places to see staff reductions, said Matthew Scherer, a senior policy counsel for workers’ rights and technology at the Center for Democracy and Technology. “Human resources has always been a cost center for a company, it&#8217;s never been a revenue generating thing,” he explained. “Chatbots are a very logical first step to try and take some of the load off of recruiters.”



That’s part of the rationale behind Sense HQ, which provides companies like Sears, Dell and Sony with text messaging-based AI chatbots that help their recruiters wade through thousands of applicants. The company claims it’s already been used by some 10 million job applicants, and co-founder Alex Rosen told&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;such numbers mean a much bigger pool of viable candidates.



“The reason that we built a chatbot in the first place was to help recruiters talk to a wider swath of candidates than they might be able to do on their own,” he said, adding the obligatory caveat: “We don&#8217;t think that the AI should be making the hiring decision on its own. That’s where it gets dangerous. We just don&#8217;t think that it&#8217;s there yet.”



RecruitBot is bringing AI to bear on hiring by using machine learning to sift through a database of 600 million job applicants scraped from LinkedIn and other job marketplaces — all with the goal of helping companies find job candidates similar to their current employees. &#8220;It&#8217;s sort of like how Netflix recommends movies based on other movies you like,” CEO and founder Jeremy Schiff told&nbsp;Forbes.&nbsp;But here too bias is an obvious concern; hiring more of the same has its pitfalls. In 2018,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-jobs-automation-insight-idUSKCN1MK08G" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amazon</a>&nbsp;removed its machine learning-based resume tracking system that discriminated against women because its training data was mostly composed of resumes of men.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“Chatbots are a very logical first step to try and take some of the load off of recruiters.”Matthew Scherer, senior policy counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology
</blockquote>



Urmila Janardan, a policy analyst at Upturn, a nonprofit which researches how technologies impact opportunities for people, noted that some companies have also turned to personality tests to weed out candidates — and the questions to screen candidates may not be related to the job at all. “You might even be potentially rejected from the job because of questions about gratitude and personality,” she said.



For Rick Gned, a part-time painter and writer, a personality quiz was part of a chatbot interview he did for an hourly-wage shelf-stacking job at Australian supermarket, Woolworths. The chatbot, made by AI recruitment firm Sapia AI (formerly known as PredictiveHire), asked him to provide 50- to 150-word answers for five questions and then analyzed his responses, looking for&nbsp;<a href="https://sapia.ai/products/interview/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">traits</a>&nbsp;and skills that match the recruiters’ preferences. Concluding that Gned “deals well with change,” and is “more focused on the big picture that causes him to look over details,” it advanced him to the next round interview. While Sapia AI does not require applicants to respond to questions under a time limit, the system measures sentence structure, readability and complexity of words used in the text responses, Sapia AI CEO and cofounder Barb Hyman said in an email.



Gned found the whole thing dehumanizing and worrisome, he told Forbes. “I’m in a demographic where it doesn’t affect me, but I’m worried for people who are minorities, who predominantly make up the lower-income labor market.”



For one job applicant, who requested anonymity to speak freely, chatting with a bot had at least one positive. When filling hundreds of job applications, he often never hears back, but the bot at least assured him that his application was received. “It did feel like a morale boost in so many ways,” he said. “But if I had to do this (text with a chatbot) with every job I applied to, it would be a pain in the ass.”

Teamwork in metaverse with Cyber City skyline

AI Chatbots Are The New Job Interviewers

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Elon Musk has replaced Twitter’s iconic blue bird logo with an “X” on Monday, part of a major rebrand teased over the weekend that takes the platform another step closer to the billionaire’s dream of creating an “everything app.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



The change appeared Monday morning on the web version of the platform.



The new logo, a white stylized “X” on a black background, has also replaced the bird as a badge signifying an account linked to a company employee.



Twitter’s official&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Twitter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">account</a>—@Twitter—has also been changed in the rebrand and is now named “X,” showing just the new logo as a profile picture and a bio reading “What&#8217;s happening?!”



Other Twitter accounts appear to be in the process of being changed, with accounts for creators (@TwitterCreators) and verification (@verified) having been changed while others, notably the main support account (@TwitterSupport) still showing the blue bird at the time of writing.



Mobile apps still appear to feature the blue bird, though it is likely this will change once they are updated.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-news-peg">NEWS PEG</h2>



Musk’s decision to replace Twitter’s iconic bird is both shocking and inevitable. On the one hand, he is jettisoning one of the company&#8217;s most recognizable assets—<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66284304" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Larry</a>, as it’s known, has represented Twitter for more than a decade—and whose features, including color and “tweets,” permeate the entire platform. On the other hand, Musk has been open about his ambition to transform Twitter into an “everything app” called ‘X, in the vein of Chinese tech behemoth WeChat. Concrete steps had already been taken toward this goal, such as changing the business name to X Corp, but these were largely back end changes that didn’t have too much of an impact on users. Musk <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/07/23/elon-musk-directs-xcom-to-twitter-plans-to-ditch-twitter-bird/">escalated</a> the transition over the weekend, when he said the site “X.com” would now redirect to Twitter and <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1682964919325724673" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">forecast</a> “soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.” In a departure from the considered, glacial and often subtle rebrands of many companies, Musk elected to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-24/musk-declares-fan-submitted-x-new-twitter-logo-in-abrupt-shift" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">crowdsource</a> Twitter, or X’s, new logo from his followers. He later shared an image of the new logo <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1683378289031761920?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">projected</a> onto the company’s headquarters.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



“X is here! Let’s do this,” tweeted freshly minted CEO Linda Yaccarino. It is “exceptionally rare” to have a second chance to make another big impression, Yaccarino <a href="https://twitter.com/lindayacc/status/1683213798386147329?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>, but X is Twitter’s chance to do just that. She said there is “no limit to this transformation” and that the team is “just getting started.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forbes-valuation">FORBES VALUATION</h2>



$236.5 billion. That’s how much&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/?sh=5c26ba107999">estimates</a>&nbsp;Musk is worth, according to our real time tracker. His fortune places him at the very top of&nbsp;Forbes’&nbsp;list of the world’s richest people. Musk’s wealth largely comes from his stake in electric carmaker Tesla and the cadre of valuable companies he cofounded, including rocket firm SpaceX, brain implant company Neuralink and tunneling enterprise Boring Company. He controversially purchased Twitter for $44 billion in 2022 and started on a series of drastic overhauls, including its content moderation and verification policies and slashing headcount.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/07/23/elon-musk-directs-xcom-to-twitter-plans-to-ditch-twitter-bird/">Elon Musk Directs X.com To Twitter, Plans To Ditch Twitter Bird</a> (Forbes)

Twitter logo

Elon Musk Kills Twitter Bird Logo In ‘X’ Rebrand

Robots that harvest grapes, 3D-printed drones for crops and burgers grown from a single cell? Here’s how innovative new technology is making farming more efficient, sustainable and at the same time, revolutionizing agriculture across the continent.



In Africa, innovation in agritech is not only exciting, it’s essential. With a quarter of the economy of sub-Saharan Africa driven by agriculture – and more than 60% of the population made up of smallholder farms – technological innovation is the key to producing food that will not only meet the needs of a burgeoning population, but do it in a way that ensures the sustainability of the planet’s natural resources.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Cell-to-fork</h3>



In Cape Town, there’s a foodtech company looking at agritech and sustainability through a different lens – reverse engineering. While traditional agriculture involves growing grain that can be fed to livestock until it’s time for the slaughterhouse, Mzanzi Meat are changing an age-old process by identifying the best parts of livestock and using cellular agriculture grow meat in bioreactors. These large-scale brewing vats mean that a single cell, cultivated from a cow, sheep or pig, can produce meat en masse. According to research out of Maastricht University in the Netherlands, cells from a single cow can produce 175 million hamburgers.



When you compare this to the 440,000 cows traditional farming would require for the same output, what Mzansi Meat is doing suddenly makes a lot of sense. Not only does lab-grown meat mimic the exact texture of what can be found in the shops, it is ‘farmed’ without harmful antibiotics or growth hormones. Lab-grown meat could also be the solution to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, land use and other environmental concerns.



For Brett Thompson, the founder and CEO of Mzansi Meat, innovation will happen if more companies look into agritech from a biotech angle. “While more efficient irrigation systems and the use of drones have a role to play, it’s not enough,” he says.



In a landlocked country with few natural resources, farmers in Rwanda no longer need to choose between aquaculture or agriculture. NjordFrey Flagship Farm in Kayonza has created advanced, aquaponic equipment so that fish and vegetables can be farmed at the same time. The focus is hardware, but also sustainability, and the company’s starter kit includes excavating to accommodate rearing fish, establishing soil-less beds for agriculture, piping, plumbing, establishing pumps and filtration. This is all centered around increasing fish and crop production while using 95% less water.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/NIRS-1024x768.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-58869" width="543" height="407" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/NIRS-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/NIRS-300x225.jpeg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/NIRS-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/NIRS-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/NIRS-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 543px) 100vw, 543px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">NIRS device</figcaption></figure></div>


In Ghana, Fredrick Kpamber and Kingsley Safo are the founders of an ‘eco-aquaponics’ enterprise called Big Green Agro. The off-grid farm is solar-powered and contains 194,500-liter pools, one 7,000-liter pool and four of 12,000 liters. Not only do they farm a high-quality local strain of tilapia, they cultivate nutrient-rich algae which is turned into a concentrate and used as a chemical-free fertilizer. One of the things that make Big Green Agro stand out is that the plants grown aquaponically are not for human consumption, but to feed the fish, and that makes the entire operation self-sustaining.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Soil science</h3>



According to the World Bank, Africa produces 30 million metric tons of fertilizer each year – twice as much as it consumes – yet 90% of fertilizer consumed in sub-Saharan Africa is imported from outside the continent. In order to make fertilizer more accessible and affordable, technology has a role to play. 



In West Africa, smallholder farmers have started to microdose fertilizer. Headquartered in India with regional hubs in Nairobi, Kenya and Mali, microdosing fertilizer is an innovation out of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).



It works by applying small doses of fertilizer (one-tenth of the amount of fertilizer typically used on wheat, and one-twentieth of that used on maize) in the right place and at the right time. The process – which can be done by hand, with a drip irrigation system or via GPS-guided machinery – can effectively double crop yields and the results in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Zimbabwe have garnered worldwide attention.&nbsp;



Understanding the micronutrients that make up soil – and by doing so, being able to create a better, biofertilizer – is an increasingly popular part of agritech research. Preferred by agronomists and soil scientists, biofertilizers (or bio-organic fertilizers) are cost-effective, eco-friendly and guarantee sustainable agricultural production. Unlike their chemical counterparts whose use can lead to adverse effects on the environment, biofertilizers contain living microorganisms that help soil, converting atmospheric nitrogen into a form that plants can use, for example.



While the biofertilizer industry is still largely underdeveloped in Africa, Zimbabwe now boasts one of the largest biofertilizer production facilities in sub-Saharan Africa. Scientists from the Research Council of Zimbabwe and the National Commission of Science and Technology in Malawi are working together, doing innovative research to identify indigenous microbial strains with a potential of enhancing soil fertility, reverse nutrient depletion human-induced stress to soil.



In Tanzania, an agritech company named Ng’wala Inventions has developed an automated, solar-powered bio-pesticide and biofertilizer delivery machines that give smallholder farmers access with a pay-as-you-farm system. To date, Ng’wala Inventions has delivered biofertilizer to thousands of rural farmers – 70% being women and youth.



Another country focussed on its soil quality is Ethiopia and the technology they’re turning to is near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy, or NIRS. South Ethiopia, alongside its neighbors Kenya and Somalia, is experiencing the worst drought in decades and this is severely impacting soil health and as a result, the country’s agriculture sector. NIRS works by analysing the amount of light that a material absorbs, which indicates how much of a substance is within it. By using this method, soil can be judged based on the nutrients it contains without the use of environmentally harmful chemicals.



Using a NIRS device is a quick, inexpensive and (surprisingly) easy way to understand the makeup of soil and ultimately, grow better quality crops. Ethiopian lab scientists are also using NIRS to analyse fodder – both foraged and formulated – as a way to improve livestock nutrition and productivity.



Other breakthrough studies have shown that NIRS can successfully predict the oil and major fatty acid content of sesame seeds, an economically important crop in the country (next to coffee). Often referred to as Ethiopia’s white gold, sesame seeds are draught-tolerant so producing a better crop can lead to increased income and food security for smallholder farmers, improved export revenue and preservation of the country&#8217;s cultural and culinary heritage.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Rise of the machines</h3>



It&#8217;s reported that the global agricultural robots market will hit $17.8 billion by 2027. While the agricultural robot segment includes devices like drones, there are also robots that work in the fields. In South Africa’s Western Cape province, Stellenbosch is known for its rolling vineyards and wine farms and more recently, Robot X, a robot developed in South Africa by the Department of Viticulture and Oenology at Stellenbosch University and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Robot X, or Dassie, is a unique vineyard robot built with input from local farmers with the aim of making grape production easier thanks to more accurate, real-time data.



Farms are full of data. From weather information to field statistics, seed yield and more, as technology evolves, more data points come up and this only adds to the complexity of what it takes to manage a modern farm operation. This is where precision agriculture comes in – taking big (farm) data and analysing it to maximize output. One of the most accessible ways a farmer can gather large amounts of data today is by using a drone but these eye-in-the-sky tools come at a price.



In Blantyre, South Malawi, MicroMek is a startup that is building low-cost, fixed-wing autonomous drones from 3D-printed parts and recycled materials. The drones, which were originally designed to deliver medicine and medical test kits for diagnosis to remote areas of Malawi, are now also being used by local farmers to monitor land and plant health. In a country that has to deal with climate issues like cyclones and flooding, MicroMek’s innovative Ecosoar drones are built with the environment in mind, even going so far as setting flight records in the new drone corridor in Kisungu.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-farming-the-future">Farming the future </h3>



Home to 60% of the planet&#8217;s arable land, Africa holds immense potential to not only feed its own population but also the rest of the world. In order to optimize its ecosystem and mitigate a rapidly changing climate, new techniques and technologies must come into play because despite its challenges, agriculture remains an important sector that’s ripe for disruption and digital innovation is what will help deliver the future of farming.

Brett-Mzanzi

Ripe For Disruption: Africa’s Big Leap In Agritech

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



EA Sports dropped its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vL01jbgENE&amp;t=84s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announcement trailer</a>&nbsp;Monday for FC 24, the first soccer video game from the publisher after it did not reach a new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/05/10/ea-sports-loses-rights-to-fifa-brand-for-soccer-video-games-after-talks-fail-with-soccers-governing-body/?sh=615ba986449e">licensing agreement</a>&nbsp;with FIFA, the world soccer governing body, last year—ending the extremely popular FIFA-branded soccer video game series.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



The rebrand to EA Sports FC was announced last May when FIFA and EA Sports did not reach a licensing agreement, which marked the end of the entities’ nearly 30-year partnership.



In a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ea.com/news/ea-sports-fc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a>&nbsp;to fans last year, EA Sports said its soccer video game would remain the same following the rebrand—a claim backed by the brand’s more than 300 licensing agreements with clubs and leagues internationally.



During contentious negotiations, FIFA asked for at least double the annual $150 million it would receive from EA Sports, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/10/sports/soccer/fifa-ea-sports.html?smid=tw-nytimes&amp;smtyp=cur" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York Times</a>.



<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vL01jbgENE&amp;t=84s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The trailer</a>, narrated by British actor Daniel Kaluuya, featured pre-rendered footage of men’s and women’s soccer stars of past and present interacting with each other in locker rooms and a tunnel.



The trailer concluded with a note that a full gameplay trailer will be released Thursday.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



At least two years of negotiations transpired over renewing the contract that allowed EA Sports to use FIFA’s name for its yearly soccer video game. EA Sports was FIFA’s largest commercial partner before the breakup. EA spokesman Eric Escaravage told&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;last year the decision to split from FIFA was an “amicable” one, and the gamemaker was thankful to FIFA for its years of partnership. The final installment of the franchise, FIFA 23, is one of the series’ top-selling games. From the start of the year to the end of May, FIFA 23 was the eighth-best-selling game in the world, beating other sports video games such as Madden NFL 23 and NBA 2K23,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/MatPiscatella/status/1673681359842480134/photo/1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to Circana</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



More than&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/13/sports/soccer/ea-sports-fifa.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$20 billion</a>. That’s the amount FIFA video games generated in sales during the last 20 years, according to the&nbsp;Times.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



It remains to be seen if and how the rebrand from FIFA to FC will impact sales for EA Sports. If things remain largely unchanged, FC will likely continue to keep up EA’s streak of publishing and developing one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/05/10/ea-sports-loses-rights-to-fifa-brand-for-soccer-video-games-after-talks-fail-with-soccers-governing-body/?sh=615ba986449e">EA Sports Loses Rights To ‘FIFA’ Brand For Soccer Video Games After Talks Fail With Soccer’s Governing Body</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/10/sports/soccer/fifa-ea-sports.html?smid=tw-nytimes&amp;smtyp=cur" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FIFA and EA Sports End Decades-Long Video Game Partnership</a> (New York Times)

FIFA 23 Photo Illustrations

EA Sports Unveils Rebranded Soccer Video Game FC 24—Its First Without ‘FIFA’ Branding

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Instagram lead Adam Mosseri said in two&nbsp;<a href="https://www.threads.net/t/CuZ6opKtHva/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Threads posts</a>&nbsp;Friday that the new app would not encourage “politics and hard news” on its platform, a far cry from the promoted political content found on its rival platform Twitter.



The announcement of the social media app Threads is displayed in Apple&#8217;s US App Store. (Photo by&nbsp;&#8230; [+]DPA/PICTURE ALLIANCE VIA GETTY IMAGES



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



Mosseri said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.threads.net/t/CuZ6opKtHva/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Threads conversation</a>&nbsp;that the new platform will inevitably contain politics and hard news, but that Threads is “not going to do anything to encourage those verticals,”—an approach adopted by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/10/technology/facebook-reduces-politics-feeds.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Facebook in 2021</a>.



Mosseri noted that the engagement or revenue such content might drive is not worth the scrutiny, negativity or integrity risks they present to the platform.



“The goal isn’t to replace Twitter,” Mosseri added, referencing the rival platform that has greatly encouraged political content and hosted live audio conversations featuring former Twitter CEO Elon Musk and GOP&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/05/23/desantis-launching-presidential-run-wednesday-in-event-with-elon-musk-report-says/?sh=75de68619294">presidential</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-hosts-twitter-event-anti-vaxx-democratic-candidate-rfk-jr-2023-06-05/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">candidates</a>.



Both Meta and Twitter allow users to pay to be verified on their respective platforms.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



“The goal isn&#8217;t to replace Twitter,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.threads.net/t/CuZ3LjhNl0m/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mosseri said</a>. “The goal is to create a public square for communities on Instagram that never really embraced Twitter and for communities on Twitter (and other platforms) that are interested in a less angry place for conversations, but not all of Twitter.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2023/07/07/70-million-sign-ups-8-reasons-why-threads-is-blowing-up/?sh=216fd4ea412b">70 million</a>. That’s how many sign-ups Threads hit Friday morning.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



The choice for Threads to steer clear of news and politics on its platform is likely informed by troubles Facebook had before it reduced such content in 2021. A study found that in 2020, during the lead-up to the presidential election, Facebook&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/traversmark/2020/03/21/facebook-spreads-fake-news-faster-than-any-other-social-website-according-to-new-research/?sh=7e2281d76e1a">spread fake news faster</a>&nbsp;than any other social websites. A separate&nbsp;<a href="https://time.com/5949210/facebook-misinformation-2020-election-report/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2021 study</a>&nbsp;concluded the website could have prevented more than 10 billion views on popular pages that posted misinformation on Facebook prior to the election. By early 2021, the social media site&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/10/technology/facebook-reduces-politics-feeds.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">changed its algorithm</a>&nbsp;to lessen the amount of political content in users’ feeds. The platform has since maintained a stark contrast to Twitter, which after its $44 billion purchase at the hands of Musk, has encouraged political content. Musk, who stays active on the app, has encouraged politicians to engage with him on Twitter Spaces—allowing Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fl) to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/05/23/desantis-launching-presidential-run-wednesday-in-event-with-elon-musk-report-says/?sh=75de68619294">launch his presidential campaign</a>&nbsp;using the live audio feature. Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson also uses Twitter as his platform to upload episodes of his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/06/06/tucker-carlson-launches-new-twitter-show-weeks-after-fox-news-ouster-and-talks-ukraine-and-ufos/?sh=4c11cf002883">independent commentary show</a>. On Carlson’s first episode of the show, he said he and his team were “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/06/06/tucker-carlson-launches-new-twitter-show-weeks-after-fox-news-ouster-and-talks-ukraine-and-ufos/?sh=4c11cf002883">grateful</a>” to be on Twitter and were told there were no “gatekeepers” on the platform.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/7/23787334/instagram-threads-news-politics-adam-mosseri-meta-facebook" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Threads isn’t for news and politics, says Instagram’s boss</a>&nbsp;(The Verge)



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/07/threads-doesnt-need-negativity-of-hard-news-politics-meta-exec.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Meta Threads doesn’t need the ‘negativity’ of hard news and politics, exec says</a> (CNBC)

In this photo illustration, a user sees in his download

Threads Won’t Promote Political Or Hard News Content — A Contrast From Twitter

Decoding types, machine learning, ethics, and the thrilling future of AI.



Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative technology with the potential to revolutionize various domains. This article delves into insights provided by Professor Ritesh Ajoodha from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and Reinard Mortlock, Founder and CEO of LIVEX, on the main types of AI, the role of machine learning, ethical considerations, job displacement, current limitations, and promising future advancements.



Types of AI and their strengths and limitations



According to Ajoodha, two prominent approaches in AI are deep learning and probabilistic approaches. Deep learning, although highly effective, is often considered a black-box method due to its enigmatic decision-making processes. It poses ethical concerns in fields like medicine, where explainability and transparency are crucial. On the other hand, probabilistic approaches, based on probability theory, offer transparency and allow for a clear understanding of the decision-making process. They are particularly suitable for applications with optimization problems and simpler business scenarios.



Machine learning&#8217;s contribution to AI development



Machine learning plays a vital role encompassing data analytics, leveraging big data for various analyses. Machine learning algorithms enable relevant product recommendations based on user preferences and search history. Additionally, machine learning aids in extrapolating data for AI models, detecting anomalies for fraud prevention, and holds significant potential for numerous other applications.



Ethical considerations in AI implementation



Both Ajoodha and Mortlock highlight the importance of ethical considerations in AI implementation. As AI technology evolves, regulations and constraints become necessary to ensure transparency, fairness, and accountability. Without proper regulation, AI systems, especially black-box models, can pose challenges regarding decision-making processes, data sanitization, and maintenance. Establishing regulations that promote disclosure and transparency is crucial for addressing ethical concerns.



Potential risks and benefits of AI in job displacement



Mortlock emphasizes that AI, particularly generative AI, is still in its early stages and cannot replace human input and evaluation. While content generation and automation may increase, complex tasks requiring human judgement and creativity remain unaffected. Rather than causing job losses, AI models have the potential to create new job opportunities, especially in fields that facilitate AI development.



Current limitations and future advancements in AI research



Globally, AI research has received substantial support and funding, leading to advancements in hardware capabilities and computational power. However, bottlenecks persist, particularly in regions with limited AI backing, such as some African countries. Nonetheless, promising advancements are anticipated, particularly in healthcare, finance, and risk management. AI&#8217;s potential in cancer detection, early diagnosis, fraud detection, and enhanced number-crunching holds great promise for future advancements.



AI continues to evolve and reshape various industries, presenting both opportunities and challenges. While generative AI and machine learning algorithms offer valuable capabilities, ethical considerations must be addressed to ensure transparency and fairness. The ongoing advancements in AI research, coupled with proper regulation and ethical frameworks, can pave the way for a future where AI positively impacts society while minimizing risks.

AI, Machine learning, robot hand ai artificial intelligence assistance human touching on big data network connection background, Science artificial intelligence technology, innovation and futuristic.

AI Unleashed: Five Facts From African Experts

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



More than 10 million people signed up to join Meta’s new “Threads” app within the first seven hours of its launch on Wednesday, the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced, an early sign that the Instagram offshoot may pose a serious threat to Twitter, which has recently been marred by technical glitches and unpopular changes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



Sign-ups on Meta’s Twitter rival crossed 2 million within in the first two hours of its launch, growing to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.threads.net/t/CuVxMmvLNsG" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">5 million</a>&nbsp;in the next two hours and doubling again to 10 million at the seven hour mark, Zuckerberg wrote on Threads.



To put that&nbsp;<a href="https://thenextweb.com/news/google-reached-10m-users-in-16-days-want-to-know-how-long-it-took-facebook-and-twitter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">into perspective</a>&nbsp;it took Facebook 852 days to reach 10 million users while Twitter reached that mark in 780 days.



Unlike other Twitter rivals like Mastodon—which has a complex sign-up process—or Bluesky—which requires invites—Threads allows users to sign up for the app and populate their profile and follow lists using their Instagram account.



Twitter CEO Elon Musk—who has recently been critical of Meta and Zuckerberg—reacted to Threads’ launch by&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1676783253766676483" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">implying</a>&nbsp;that the app was nothing but a copy-paste of Twitter’s design.



Musk also&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1676770522200252417" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>&nbsp;that it was “infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram.”



The rollout of Threads has not been entirely glitch-free, however, as Zuckerberg’s timeline failed to load.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



Responding to a question about the potential of Threads becoming bigger that Twitter, Zuckerberg&nbsp;<a href="https://www.threads.net/t/CuVafQTvquB/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wrote</a>: “It&#8217;ll take some time, but I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn&#8217;t nailed it. Hopefully we will.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-news-peg">NEWS PEG</h2>



The launch of Threads comes at a time when Twitter has faced criticism for enacting&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/07/01/elon-musk-announces-temporary-reading-limit-for-unverified-twitter-accounts-amid-outage/?sh=53c522c475fa">unpopular changes</a>&nbsp;to its user experience, while the platform continues to deal with significant&nbsp;<a href="https://waxy.org/2023/07/twitter-bug-causes-self-ddos-possibly-causing-elon-musks-emergency-blocks-and-rate-limits-its-amateur-hour/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">technical issues</a>. Facebook isn’t a stranger to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/08/05/as-facebook-launches-tiktok-clone-a-look-back-at-6-other-rival-products-it-copied/?sh=5ef7245a5c5a">copying products and features</a>&nbsp;from rival platforms and has done so with varying success. The popular “Instagram Stories” launched in 2016 and was pretty much a&nbsp;<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/02/silicon-copy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">direct copy</a>&nbsp;of a Snapchat feature that allowed users to post video clips and photos that disappeared from their timeline in 24 hours. In 2020, Meta&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/03/09/instagrams-tiktok-clone-reels-is-coming-to-facebook-with-trial-starting-in-india/?sh=3606ec9647df">launched</a>&nbsp;its TikTok clone “Instagram Reels,” which has found&nbsp;<a href="https://dazeinfo.com/2023/06/20/youtube-shorts-instagram-reels-india-growth-short-form-video/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">popularity in places like India,</a>&nbsp;where the ByteDance-owned video-sharing app has been banned. Facebook Marketplace, an online classifieds platform similar to Craigslist, has also seen&nbsp;<a href="https://restofworld.org/2020/bangladesh-economy-runs-on-facebook/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">strong adoption</a>&nbsp;in parts of South Asia. Aside from its history of building successful copycats, Meta’s significantly larger global user base is also a key advantage it has over Twitter. Threads is an offshoot of Instagram, which has an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-26/meta-s-instagram-users-reach-2-billion-closing-in-on-facebook#xj4y7vzkg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">active user count of 2 billion</a>—roughly eight times the size of Twitter.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/07/05/meta-officially-launches-threads-challenging-elon-musk-and-twitter/?sh=434928413db7">Meta Officially Launches Threads—Challenging Elon Musk And Twitter</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/07/05/leaving-elon-musks-twitter-here-are-some-alternatives-from-meta-threads-to-mastodon-to-bluesky/?sh=498993ec1224">Leaving Elon Musk&#8217;s Twitter? Here Are Some Alternatives, From Meta Threads To Mastodon To Bluesky.</a> (Forbes)

Meta Announces Threads App

Zuckerberg Says Threads Crossed 10 Million Signups In First Seven Hours As Musk Rails Against Instagram

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Facebook and WhatsApp parent Meta will launch the firm’s long awaited competitor to Twitter, Instagram Threads, on Thursday, escalating the personal rivalry between feuding billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk and firmly throwing down the gauntlet after another chaotic weekend had the platform’s users searching for alternatives.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



Meta’s app, Threads, is listed as “coming soon” on Apple’s App Store and is available for pre-order.



The listing said Threads is “expected July 6” and Meta’s countdown&nbsp;<a href="https://www.threads.net/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">website</a>&nbsp;for the launch indicates the app will go live at 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. PT), though it’s unclear whether Meta plans to stagger the rollout in some way.



Details on the full nature of Threads are scarce but the listing describes the platform as a “text-based conversation app” and screenshots show a dashboard that appears very similar to Twitter’s app, with the ability to like, share, post and repost content.



Threads will be directly linked to Meta’s popular photo sharing platform Instagram and screenshots suggest users can keep their usernames and easily follow the same accounts they do on Instagram on the new platform.



From the listing, Threads looks likely to be a free service in exchange for personal data, a model in line with many of Meta’s other popular apps and other free online services.



Instagram Threads users will need to be at least 12 years old, according to the App Store listing.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-we-don-t-know">WHAT WE DON’T KNOW</h2>



It’s not clear when Threads will be launched on Android systems or whether the network will be accessible without the app. A similar listing of Threads&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/1/23781271/instagram-threads-twitter-leak-android-google-play" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reportedly appeared</a>&nbsp;on the Google Play store—which serves Android devices—on Saturday showing similar features, images and descriptions. The post, which did not list a release date, was seemingly in error and was swiftly removed from the store.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-news-peg">NEWS PEG</h2>



Meta’s release of a product to rival Twitter is both timely and expected. Meta, formerly Facebook, has a well documented history of lifting features from competitors—its short-form video feature Reels draws from TikTok,&nbsp;<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/13/meta-announces-discord-like-community-chats-on-messenger/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">community chats</a>&nbsp;from Discord and disappearing video and photo feature Stories from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-developer-mark-zuckerberg-invented-instagram-stories-copied-snapchat-2020-4?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Snapchat</a>—to varying degrees of success. Twitter is an obvious target, with many users keen to jump ship given the parade of controversy and service issues that has followed Elon Musk’s takeover last year, including drastic revisions to longstanding verification and content moderation policies, cutting company headcount to the bone, changes to who can access platform data and numerous system outages. Most recently, Musk limited the number of posts users—even paying users—could see on Twitter and required users to have registered for accounts to view tweets. With each new development, rivals like Bluesky, Trump’s Truth Social and Mastodon have&nbsp;<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/03/twitter-competitors-soar-after-yet-another-bad-musk-move/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">benefited handsomely</a>, though none have yet managed to gain the kind of traction needed to fully take on an established social media giant like Twitter. With its vast resources and established social networks, Threads’ arrival could pose a serious threat to Twitter.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forbes-valuation">FORBES VALUATION</h2>



$101.5 billion. That’s how much&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/mark-zuckerberg/?list=rtb/&amp;sh=470e77f63e06">estimates</a>&nbsp;Mark Zuckerberg is worth, according to our live tracker. Zuckerberg’s fortune is largely derived from his stake in Meta and it makes him the 10th richest person in the world. Musk is worth an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/?sh=595dbf9d7999">estimated</a>&nbsp;$249.4 billion and currently holds the top position in&nbsp;Forbes’&nbsp;list of the world’s wealthiest people. The two billionaires have reportedly been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-mark-zuckerberg-cage-fight-b71fa4ff" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">feuding</a>&nbsp;for years, though this recently spilled out into the public domain and the pair are apparently primed to settle things with a literal fight. It is unclear whether the agreed upon “cage match” will ever happen.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-mark-zuckerberg-cage-fight-b71fa4ff" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Behind the Musk-Zuckerberg ‘Cage Match’ Is a Yearslong Billionaire Feud</a> (WSJ)

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