Matein Khalid The past decade dramatically illustrates the peril of trusting paper money as a store of value in a political system designed to pivot recklessly towards deficit financing and deliberate debasement of the world’s reserve currency. The US national debt is now $37 trillion and the annual budget deficit is now $2 trillion or 125% of GDP. Add political gridlock in Washington, violent migrant riots in […]
LAGOS — Rack Centre’s Lagos campus has entered a strategic collocation deal with TelCables Nigeria, a subsidiary of Angola Cables, marking a significant enhancement of West Africa’s digital infrastructure. The agreement brings high-capacity network infrastructure and four major subsea cable systems—SACS, MONET, SEBRAS and EllaLink—directly into Rack Centre’s campus, securing faster, lower-latency routes to Europe, the Americas and Latin America. Fernando Fernandes, chief executive of TelCables Nigeria […]
Aflac detected a cyberattack on its U.S. network on 12 June and contained the intrusion within hours. The company has confirmed that the attack may have compromised sensitive personal data, including Social Security numbers, claims and health information belonging to customers, beneficiaries, employees and agents. Operations remain fully functional as experts investigate the full extent of the breach. The insurer’s SEC filing and subsequent statement referred to […]
ByteDance has unveiled “Dolphin”, an OCR model released under an MIT licence designed to revolutionise document processing by combining layout analysis and parsing in a unified workflow. This new tool is poised to enhance accuracy and adaptability across complex document types, marking a major advancement in optical character recognition. Dolphin operates by first analysing the document layout—identifying paragraphs, tables, figures and formulas—and then parsing each section in […]
Startup founders drained by endless pitch decks, venture capital ghostings, or hallucinating LLMs may still be better off than those feeling stuck in joyless desk jobs. According to a wave of AI entrepreneurs and mental health observers, the strange cocktail of risk, creativity, and irrational optimism that drives many toward launching doomed startups could actually be a viable—if unconventional—antidote to existential malaise. Rather than seeing the creation […]
By Nantoo Banerjee It may be wrong to believe that Israel and the United States of America are the only two countries strongly against Iran’s bid to become a nuclear-armed country. The entire world is concerned about nuclear proliferation and nuclear smuggling and its falling into the wrong hands. The nature of the Iranian regime […]
Cloud computing giants AWS, Google, Microsoft, Meta and OpenAI are accelerating in-house development of custom application‑specific integrated circuits, aiming to erode NVIDIA’s dominance in high‑performance AI datacentres. Industry reports highlight a projected annual growth rate of around 50% for ASIC purchases by hyperscalers, marking a strategic pivot in the AI hardware landscape.
NVIDIA’s premium-priced solutions—including Blackwell GPUs—have placed pressure on hyperscalers to secure more cost‑efficient, scalable systems. With single GPUs ranging from $70,000 to $80,000 and fully configured servers tallying up to $3 million, these companies are betting on internal design to manage costs and supply risks.
Amazon Web Services has notably moved ahead with its in‑house chips—Trainium for training and Inferentia for inference—reporting 30 – 40% greater cost efficiency compared with NVIDIA hardware. AWS is also collaborating with Marvell and Taiwan’s Alchip on next‑generation Trainium versions. Internal indications suggest AWS may deploy as many as half‑a‑million ASIC units in its data centres, an expansive scale‑up that could rival NVIDIA’s installed base.
Google, meanwhile, has scaled its TPU v6 Trillium chips, transitioning from single‑supplier to dual‑supplier design by partnering with MediaTek. With deployments reportedly hitting 100,000‑unit clusters to support Gemini 2.0 workloads, Google claims competitive cost-performance metrics relative to NVIDIA GPUs. Microsoft’s forthcoming Maia 200 chip, co‑designed with GUC using TSMC’s 3 nm process, is scheduled for commercial release in 2026.
Meta’s Meta Training and Inference Accelerator, developed alongside Broadcom, Socionext and GUC, is expected in early 2026 on TSMC’s 3 nm node, featuring HBM3e memory—another step towards self‑sufficiency in AI compute. OpenAI has also announced a proprietary training processor, with mass production anticipated at TSMC by 2026.
Market projections reflect this tectonic shift. ASICs are poised to claim between $100 billion and $130 billion of custom AI accelerator spend by 2030, with Broadcom estimating a market of $60 billion to $90 billion by 2027. Traditional ASIC powerhouses—Broadcom, Marvell, MediaTek, Alchip and GUC—are experiencing surging demand as they support hyperscaler transitions.
Despite these developments, hyperscalers continue to reserve capacity for NVIDIA chips, recognising the GPU giant’s entrenched ecosystem—especially its CUDA software stack—and the steep technical barriers to immediate elimination of GPU dependencies.
The trend resembles historical transitions in specialised compute. Just as cryptocurrency mining moved from GPUs to ASICs for lower costs and greater efficiency, hyperscalers now aim to fragment the AI compute supply chain and diversify their hardware portfolios.
TSMC stands to benefit significantly, serving as the foundry for both NVIDIA’s mass‑market GPUs and hyperscaler ASICs. Its chairman emphasises that the competition between NVIDIA and cloud‑designed chips is ultimately beneficial to TSMC, ensuring a broad customer base.
Broadcom has emerged as a frontrunner, with its ASIC and networking chipset revenues soaring 220% to $12.2 billion in 2024. Hyperscalers are investing in clusters featuring up to one million custom XPUs over open‑Ethernet networks—an architecture that places Broadcom and Marvell in strategic positions. Networking ASICs are expected to account for 15–20% of AI data‑centre silicon budgets, rising from the 5–10% range.
Revenue trends reflect these structural shifts. Marvell has secured a multi‑year AI chip deal with AWS and anticipates its AI silicon revenue jumping from $550 million in 2024 to over $2.5 billion in 2026. Broadcom, similarly, is redirecting significant investment toward hyperscaler ASIC demand.
Nevertheless, NVIDIA retains a commanding lead in AI training and general‑purpose GPU compute. Its end‑to‑end platform—from hardware to software—remains deeply embedded in the AI ecosystem. Custom ASICs, by contrast, offer task‑specific gains but lack the breadth of software compatibility that NVIDIA enables.
Analysts caution that the AI compute landscape is evolving toward a more fragmented, mixed‑architecture model combining GPUs and ASICs. Hyperscalers’ shift signals strategic recognition of rising costs, supply constraints, and performance demands. Yet, they also underscore persistent obstacles: software ecosystem maturity, long development cycles, and the complexity of large‑scale deployment.
Questions remain regarding the timeframe in which hyperscalers can meaningfully shift workloads away from NVIDIA GPUs. Industry roadmaps project new ASIC deployments through 2026–27. Analysts expect GPU market share erosion may begin toward the end of the decade, provided in-house ASICs deliver consistent performance and efficiency.
The stage is set for a multi‑year contest in datacentre compute. NVIDIA faces increasing pressure from hyperscalers building bespoke chips to optimise workloads and control supply. The next evolution of AI infrastructure may look less like a GPU‑centric world and more like a diverse ecosystem of specialised, interlocking processors.
Reddit is exploring integration of Worldcoin’s iris‑scanning Orb technology to verify that account holders are genuine, unique individuals while preserving user anonymity. The move aims to curb bot activity and AI‑generated content, and to comply with emerging age‑verification regulations. In discussions with Tools for Humanity, the Orb would capture an encrypted representation of a user’s iris—known as an IrisCode—to assign a secure, anonymous World ID. That identifier confirms […]
By K Raveendran Last week shattered any lingering illusions about the supposedly robust camaraderie between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former U.S. President Donald Trump—a relationship that had been paraded for years as emblematic of India’s rise on the global stage. The myth of a strategic friendship, carefully choreographed across Howdy Modi rallies and effusive […]Question.AI has launched a significantly enhanced AI-driven educational platform designed to provide immediate, accurate assistance across diverse subjects. Now boasting over 20 million monthly users, the platform offers image-based problem solving, writing enhancements, multilingual translation, and real-time AI chat—all accessible around the clock. At the heart of the offering is a “snap‑and‑solve” feature that allows users to upload photos of homework problems and receive detailed, step‑by‑step solutions […]
Google’s array of AI‑powered services—Search, Ads, Play, Maps, YouTube and Gemini—delivered a Dhs21.8 billion uplift to the UAE’s economy in 2024, fueling digital transformation, consumer value and job creation.
Search and Ads alone generated Dhs20.2 billion by enabling thousands of local companies to reach new customers and expand operations. Gemini, Google’s AI assistant, has seen 63 per cent of UAE adults using it, with nine in ten users reporting gains in productivity and 71 per cent praising its Arabic‑language ease of use. Other tools, including Maps, Waze and mobile wallets, further enhanced daily routines.
The Google Maharat Min Google skilling initiative has equipped more than 430,000 people in the UAE with digital and AI competencies since 2018. Meanwhile, the Android and Google Play ecosystem supported around 30,000 jobs and generated approximately Dhs455 million in revenue for UAE‑based app developers in 2024.
Survey data from March 2025, with responses from over 1,100 consumers and nearly 400 business leaders, indicates that Google’s services offer an estimated average monthly benefit of Dhs683 per user. Half of adults describe Search as essential to their routine, 89 per cent rely on Maps or Waze for navigation, and 90 per cent use mobile payment platforms like GPay or GWallet to streamline transactions.
Adoption of AI tools among UAE businesses is nearing ubiquity, with 91 per cent reporting use of at least one AI product in workflows, while 97 per cent of public‑sector respondents confirm boosted productivity from Google’s AI solutions. Consumer engagement is likewise robust: 94 per cent use Search monthly to compare prices, 86 per cent check reviews before visiting venues, 80 per cent use mapping apps to locate businesses, and 73 per cent of 18–24‑year‑olds browse or shop via Search weekly.
Google’s platforms have also strengthened the creative and developer landscape: over 600 UAE‑based YouTube channels surpassed one million subscribers—a 15 per cent annual rise—and the Google News Initiative has trained more than 20,000 journalists and journalism students across the MENA region, including the UAE.
Anthony Nakache, Google’s Managing Director for the Middle East and North Africa, emphasised that the firm’s “investment in accelerating the country’s ambitious journey towards a diversified, AI‑powered economy” is reflected in the findings. He highlighted how local partnerships, AI‑driven tools and continuous skilling programmes contribute to “substantial economic value” and empower individuals, enterprises and communities within the UAE.
Public First’s Economic Impact Report, published mid‑June, is based on econometric modelling, consumer and business polling, case studies and secondary data. Survey responses were weighted to reflect the UAE’s national demographics.
Security researchers have uncovered an enormous password cache comprising 16 billion unique login credentials spanning major platforms such as Apple, Facebook, Google, Telegram, GitHub, VPN services and even government portals—making it the largest credential leak known to date. These credentials were harvested via at least 30 substantial datasets, some containing up to 3.5 billion records, indicating multiple infostealer malware operations operating at a large scale during 2025. Researchers found […]
Damac Chelsea Residences is more than just a real estate project — it’s a long-term investment in lifestyle, brand equity, and high-growth potential. Situated in the prime seafront district of Dubai Maritime City, this development by DAMAC Properties brings the prestige of Chelsea Football Club to Dubai’s property scene. As branded residences become one of the most in-demand asset classes worldwide, investors are turning their eyes toward Chelsea Residences by […]
OpenAI and Microsoft are locked in critical negotiations over the former’s plan to transform its for-profit entity into a public-benefit corporation, a move that hinges on Microsoft’s approval and hinges on its desire for greater equity. With tensions mounting, OpenAI has even contemplated accusing Microsoft of anti-competitive conduct as leverage in talks, signalling a shift from collaboration to confrontation. The dispute centres on Microsoft’s demand for a […]
By K Raveendran With the likelihood of a diplomatic solution appearing increasingly distant, West Asia is now clearly veering toward a longer and more intense confrontation, one that may significantly reshape economic, geopolitical, and energy dynamics not only in the Middle East but globally. What was initially perceived as a retaliatory exchange following months of […]
New research from CloudMosa shows digital inclusion is shifting from CSR to a core business strategy – and telcos stand to gain if they move quickly Majority (97%) of telco leaders say digital inclusion is now central to their business strategy, driven primarily by the need to bridge the digital divide (71%) With 92% of respondents seeing a strong alignment with government affordability initiatives as a key […]
Boston University neuroscientist Steve Ramirez is advancing the frontier of memory science, demonstrating how targeted activation of one memory can suppress another. Employing optogenetics and laser stimulation, Ramirez’s team has successfully rewritten a negative memory in mice by triggering positive engrams—clusters of brain cells that store emotional experiences—offering fresh insight with profound therapeutic potential. At the heart of this emerging field lies the recognition that memory is dynamic, […]
RetroArch has emerged as the pre‑eminent solution for classic gaming on Linux, offering enthusiasts a polished interface and extensive emulator support. This open‑source frontend consolidates numerous “cores” — modular emulators encapsulating consoles such as NES, SNES, PlayStation, GameCube and more — under a single, unified environment. Linux users benefit from seamless installation via Snap, Flatpak or official repositories, enabling easy access to stable versions across x86‑64 and […]
If you’re considering investing in or moving to Takaya at Motor City by Union Properties, one of the smartest first steps is reviewing the official brochure. This comprehensive document gives prospective buyers a detailed overview of the project’s master plan, unit layouts, key features, and lifestyle offerings. Whether you’re interested in Takaya apartments, Takaya villas, or Takaya townhouses, the brochure provides essential information that helps you make informed decisions — from […]
By Nantoo Banerjee With the country’s consumer price inflation rate hovering around 3.20 percent in the last two years, the Reserve Bank of India’s latest decision to cut the bank rate by 50 basis points, the third consecutive reduction since February this year, may be understandable. However, it seems to have come at the wrong […] 
