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By Sushil Kutty Rare minerals included lots of ores, this was something we were taught in school and we learned about stone age, copper age and iron age, the last of which remains to this day the most basic of minerals, out of which was born steel and the term steely strength, like in ‘Superman […]

The article Pakistan Is The Dearest To Trump In Asia As Islamabad Exports Rare Earth Minerals appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).

Edgecore Networks will reveal its latest open infrastructure solutions at the OCP Global Summit in San Jose and GITEX Global in Dubai, with demonstrations of next-generation AI, networking, and compute platforms designed to ease deployment and boost performance.

The Taiwanese firm plans four flagship showcases: new Tomahawk 6–based data centre switches, a proof-of-concept for co-packaged optics, its Nexvec™ turnkey AI solution, and an upgraded Nous infrastructure controller offering composable compute management. The exhibitions will take place during the week of 13 October: at the OCP Summit from 13–16 October and at GITEX from 13–17 October.

Edgecore emphasises that the Tomahawk 6 switches can deliver more than 100 Tbps of bandwidth, supporting AI cluster demands with low latency and high density. The company adds that its CPO concept demonstrates integration of optical elements directly into switch silicon, reducing power and footprint. Its Nexvec™ offering is a pre-validated stack combining open networking with GPU compute, while Nous enables dynamic allocation of GPU, memory and compute resources.

Mingshou Liu, President of Edgecore, is quoted as saying that as AI workloads accelerate, simplifying deployment is crucial, and that the firm seeks to lead in the open infrastructure community with turnkey and scalable offerings.

Edgecore’s push comes at a time when hyperscale data centre operators are under pressure to manage burgeoning AI compute demands without ballooning costs or power draws. Industry trends point to co-packaged optics, disaggregated architectures, and composable resource frameworks as priorities for the next wave of infrastructure evolution. At the OCP Summit, the AI HW/SW co-design and open systems tracks will explore modular compute, memory architectures and photonic interconnects for AI clusters.

In parallel, GITEX Global has become a high-stakes stage for showcasing AI infrastructure, especially in the UAE’s drive to scale AI capabilities and attract global tech investment. With over 45 editions, the event draws global vendors and governments presenting AI, semiconductors, networking, and startup innovation. Edgecore’s presence signals its intention to engage key markets in the Middle East, where data centre growth, AI deployment, and regional cloud expansion are strong levers.

Edgecore is not alone in spotlighting AI infrastructure at these events. Major networking suppliers, chip vendors, and cloud players are expected to present competing solutions, particularly around optical integration, disaggregation, and hardware-software co-design. Observers will closely track how well Edgecore’s offerings stack up in power efficiency, interoperability, and ease of deployment.

Within its broader strategic frame, Edgecore continues to emphasise open, standards-based infrastructure. Its public messaging highlights disaggregated networking, composable compute, and software-defined manageability. The timing of product demonstrations at both OCP and GITEX gives the company a dual audience of deeply technical integrators and regional enterprise buyers.

At the OCP Summit, Edgecore’s participation also coincides with evolving community priorities—AI, sustainability, modular compute, and photonics interconnect are central tracks. During the event, Edgecore’s representative Tim Zhou will present on simplifying large-scale “agentic AI” deployments in a session scheduled for 16 October.][5])

ASUS has confirmed that it will spotlight a broad suite of AI-enabled products and infrastructure at GITEX Global 2025, framing its participation around the theme “Ubiquitous AI. Incredible Possibilities.” The corporation aims to demonstrate how artificial intelligence can permeate devices, enterprise systems and urban environments.

The company’s exhibit will cover four core domains: AI-first design, cloud integration, sustainability and education technology. On the hardware front, ASUS plans to showcase the B5405 ergonomic laptop, the P5405 with a 47 TOPS NPU, and the B9403 weighing under 1 kg with all-day battery life. Chromebook models such as the CX5403 Plus and Windows devices like the BR1204 will cater to education users.

In its infrastructure tier, ASUS will highlight its AI POD, HGX servers and the Ascent GX10 platform powered by the NVIDIA GB10 Grace Blackwell superchip. Workspace innovation will include compact offerings such as the NUC 15 Pro and NUC 14 Pro AI. On the edge side, embedded systems for smart cities and autonomous systems—such as the PE2200U, PE6000G, and PE2100N—are also in the lineup.

ASUS emphasises the role of partnership in its vision. It plans to accentuate cooperation with NVIDIA via its “Enterprise AI Factory” programme, which supports AI-ready racks and POD designs tuned for large language models and immersive workloads. The company will also underline measures in security, durability and ease of maintenance across its product line.

Tolga Özdil, Regional SYS Commercial Director for META at ASUS, remarked that the Middle East is positioned at a digital inflection point, with AI shaping institutional and economic evolution. He framed GITEX as a platform to bring the company’s latest innovations into conversation with regional stakeholders. ASUS’s Regional Director for Middle East & Africa, Senic Chiu, added that the event offers opportunity to show how intelligent tools can reshape industries and daily life.

ASUS’s timing comes against the backdrop of an intensifying global push for AI infrastructure. GITEX 2025 is expected to draw more than 6,800 tech firms and 2,000 startups from 180 countries. Key event themes include advancements in quantum, biotech, data centres and robotics.

Beyond individual exhibitors, the show underscores the rapid expansion of the global AI economy. According to organisers, investment in data centres alone is forecast to surpass US$500 billion in 2025. Meanwhile, GITEX’s startup track, Expand North Star, will run in parallel and feature over 1,200 investors managing US$1.1 trillion in assets.

ASUS’s introduction of its AI roadmap at this scale signals that device manufacturers are no longer content to remain at the periphery of the AI stack. As more process layers—from silicon to application—are exposed to AI optimisation, hardware firms are positioning themselves to own more of the value chain. However, challenges remain: power efficiency, thermal constraints, ethical AI integration and data security are frontlines ASUS must navigate.

MetaMask is rolling out a new on-chain rewards programme that will allocate more than $30 million worth of LINEA tokens during its first season, offering “special benefits” to long-time users and bridging the move with the launch of its own token.

The wallet’s parent, Consensys, confirmed over the weekend that this initiative is not merely a farming scheme but a dedicated rewards system aimed at recognising consistent user engagement. The rewards package will include referral bonuses, incentives denominated in mUSD, exclusive partner rewards, and early token access. MetaMask emphasised that the campaign is built to reward habitual on-chain activity, not speculative intervention.

LINEA, the native token of Consensys’ Layer 2 network, was launched in September via a token generation event distributing roughly 9.4 billion tokens. By tying the MetaMask rewards system to LINEA, the firm aims to channel wallet activity toward its own roll-up infrastructure. The rewards plan positions MetaMask not just as an interface but as an active participant in building the Layer 2 ecosystem.

Joseph Lubin, CEO of Consensys and co-founder of Ethereum, described the rewards drive as a step toward redefining the MetaMask experience. He stated that the programme is a “genuine method of regularly giving back to our community” and stressed that long-time users—whom the team terms “OGs”—will receive priority consideration. This linkage is also viewed as a precursor to the upcoming MetaMask token, tentatively known as MASK, which Lubin first publicly referenced in September.

The broader strategy links three core components: MetaMask’s wallet, the mUSD stablecoin, and the LINEA network. The mUSD token, issued by Bridge, reportedly has a circulating supply of nearly $88 million. Participation in the rewards scheme is expected to stimulate usage across these components: swapping, bridging, stakes, and portfolio activity within MetaMask.

While the announcement lays out the broad contours of the rewards campaign, it leaves critical details unspecified. MetaMask has not yet revealed eligibility criteria by jurisdiction, and no clear anti-Sybil or bot-prevention measures have been announced. The absence of such safeguards has drawn scrutiny from observers concerned about gaming of reward systems.

Community reaction on X has been mixed. Some users welcomed the move as a long-awaited monetisation of loyalty, while others questioned whether the structure might favour larger holders or those in jurisdictions with favourable access. Some pointed to past programs in the crypto space that allowed special participants to disproportionately benefit.

Dubai Airports has announced an extended 10-year strategy aimed at transforming Dubai International and Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum into the world’s most accessible and inclusive airports by 2035. The plan underscores a shift from enhancing infrastructure alone to driving cultural change, embedding empathy and user-centred design in every element of the passenger journey.

The strategy rests on three pillars: reinforcing existing accessibility frameworks, improving guest experience across every touchpoint, and elevating the airports’ status as global benchmarks in inclusive aviation. The commitment aligns with the UAE’s broader obligations to support the rights of People of Determination and Dubai’s ambition to become a disability-friendly city.

Majed Al Joker, Chief Operating Officer of Dubai Airports, emphasised that accessibility is a “core pillar” rather than a peripheral initiative. He noted that, for the first time, the airport authority is co-creating programmes with the PoD community to redesign the passenger journey from their lived perspective. The launch coincides with the debut of a public awareness campaign called “DXB for All”, which presents six narratives of travellers with sensory sensitivities, mobility challenges, hearing or visual impairments, and highlights their airport experiences.

This new phase builds on the 2022 “We All Meet the World Differently” campaign. While that initiative focused primarily on raising awareness, the current strategy delves deeper by integrating accessibility into operations, staff training, and passenger interactions. Airport operators intend to cultivate empathy across staff, travellers, and the public, encouraging all stakeholders to reframe how they engage with PoD.

To facilitate inclusive travel, Dubai Airports already provides a suite of services: a Travel Planner visual guide, the Sunflower Lanyard to signal discreet assistance, free two-hour parking, dedicated taxis, wheelchair support from curb to gate, over 520 hearing loops across terminals, and a sensory-friendly Assisted Travel Lounge in Terminal 2. These measures will be expanded and refined under the new strategy.

The initiative is being deployed through the “oneDXB” partnership network, which includes Emirates, flydubai, Dubai Police, GDIFA, Dubai Customs, dnata, Dubai Health, Dubai Duty Free, Serco, and other stakeholders. The collaborative structure ensures that airport services, security, passenger handling, health and taxi operations all align with inclusivity goals.

Challenges are considerable. DXB is already operating near capacity: in 2024 it handled 92.3 million passengers, its highest ever annual volume. That puts pressure on space, queueing, and infrastructure to adapt without undermining operational efficiency. Meanwhile, DWC is undergoing significant expansion—with a projected $35 billion investment to scale it toward handling up to 260 million passengers annually. Dubai Airports plans to shift major operations to DWC by 2032, adding urgency to ensuring that new terminals and systems are fully accessible from the start.

Goldman Sachs Bank Europe Se-ODI has sold 8.1 crore shares in Eternal Limited, parent company of Zomato, in a block transaction worth about ₹266.1 crore, marking its fourth offloading in a month.

The shares were priced at ₹328.45 each, roughly 2 per cent below the stock’s prior closing. The buyer was BofA Securities Europe SA, which absorbed the entire block.

Earlier in October, Goldman Sachs sold 8.2 crore shares to Morgan Stanley for ~₹266.9 crore, and executed a ₹355.3-crore deal—offloading 1.08 crore shares at ₹329 apiece—to BofA. Prior to that, it disposed of 9.52 lakh shares in September for ₹31.6 crore. From these four block transactions, the firm has realised over ₹900 crore.

The continuous divestment follows a rally in Eternal’s share price. Over the past three months, the stock surged by approximately 26 per cent, reaching a high of ₹343.95 in late September, and has clocked an 18 per cent gain year to date.

Despite the strong top-line momentum, Eternal’s profitability has come under significant strain. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2025–26, consolidated net profit plunged over 90 per cent to ₹25 crore, while operating revenue rose 70 per cent to ₹7,167 crore.

Goldman Sachs’ repeated stake reductions evoke questions over motive, especially as its own brokerage arm continues to maintain a bullish stance. In September, it reaffirmed a “Buy” rating on Eternal and raised the price target to ₹360 from ₹340, citing the growth potential of its quick-commerce vertical Blinkit.

The buyer, BofA Securities, could be positioning itself on expectations of long-term value, absorbing these large blocks. The handling of these blocks at slight discounts suggests a balance between exit urgency and price discipline.

Analysts are watching closely for further block deals from Goldman Sachs, and whether these are timed to capitalise on current valuations or signal a recalibration of confidence. The broader investor community may interpret the continuous divestment, despite favourable stock momentum, as a nuanced signal regarding risk, liquidity or internal reshuffling.

The Labour Fund, Tamkeen, has confirmed it will organise the Kingdom of Bahrain’s pavilion at GITEX Global 2025 in Dubai, featuring 14 Bahraini technology start-ups and small and medium enterprises alongside the Economic Development Board and ARRAY Innovations.

The event, scheduled from 13 to 17 October 2025, promises to provide the participating firms with access to global investors, partners and industry networks. The pavilion’s aim is explicit: to boost the international visibility of Bahrain’s ICT ecosystem and facilitate business growth.

Tamkeen’s announcement places it firmly in a leadership role for the pavilion’s curation and operations. The decision aligns with its 2025 strategic priorities, which emphasise supporting enterprise growth, promoting digitalisation, strengthening private-sector competitiveness and fostering sustainability.

Officials from Tamkeen and the Economic Development Board have highlighted that the selection of the 14 entities spans multiple subsectors within ICT, including software, data analytics, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies. They say the mix is intended to reflect both Bahrain’s current strengths and its ambitions for diversification.

In past editions of GITEX, Bahrain’s pavilion drew attention from regional and international delegations. During GITEX Global 2024, the pavilion was credited with facilitating multiple memoranda and partnership discussions. Tamkeen’s continued involvement signals its belief that sustained pavilion presence is critical to maintaining momentum in Bahrain’s tech diplomacy.

Some observers note that Bahrain’s tech infrastructure and regulatory environment are increasingly seen as competitive in the Gulf region. Over the past few years, the kingdom has liberalised foreign ownership rules in certain sectors and introduced incentives for startups and innovation funds. This pavilion engagement is viewed by analysts as part of a broader soft-power strategy to position Bahrain as a hub for digital investment.

However, challenges remain. For many Bahraini startups, scaling beyond domestic markets continues to be difficult. Access to international capital, navigating cross-jurisdictional regulation, and building brand recognition are persistent hurdles. Critics caution that pavilion exposure does not always translate into long-term market entry, and that stronger post-exhibition support is needed to ensure sustained growth.

Tamkeen has stated that it plans to accompany pavilion exposure with mentorship, investor matchmaking and export facilitation services for participating firms. The hope is that a combination of showcase visibility and structural support will help convert leads into lasting collaborations.

Already, the pavilion has generated interest among regional stakeholders. Several Gulf regional delegations and venture capital firms have expressed intent to engage with Bahrain’s teams during the event. The EDB is reportedly coordinating bilateral sessions between Bahrain’s entrants and visiting foreign trade missions.

For the 2025 edition, organisers have introduced a more structured schedule for pitch sessions, one-on-one meetings and thematic forums. This signals learning from past editions, where informal networking sometimes overshadowed targeted client engagement. Tamkeen officials have emphasised tighter alignment of startup offerings with investor interest sectors like fintech, AI and cloud services.

Within Bahrain’s domestic ecosystem, private sector associations and incubators have welcomed the announcement. Some have pushed for better curation, arguing that selecting firms with proven traction or clear roadmaps increases the chance that pavilion participation yields concrete contracts or investment.

BitMine Immersion Technologies has disclosed crypto and cash holdings amounting to $13.4 billion, with 2,830,151 ETH tokens forming the bulk of its position, according to its latest statement.

The company’s portfolio also includes 192 Bitcoin, $113 million in “moonshot” equity investments such as Eightco Holdings, and $456 million in unencumbered cash, positioning it as one of the largest public crypto treasuries by ETH exposure.

BitMine’s ETH stash represents roughly 2 percent of total Ethereum supply, underscoring the firm’s aggressive accumulation strategy. In its announcement, the company reaffirmed its ambition to reach a “5 percent alchemy” threshold—i. e., to hold 5 percent of ETH’s total circulation.

Thomas “Tom” Lee of Fundstrat, chairman of BitMine, framed ETH as the “premier choice” for its reliability, 100 percent uptime, and alignment with institutional and AI adoption in blockchain infrastructure. He argued that as Wall Street and AI increasingly anchor on the blockchain, Ethereum offers structural advantage.

The disclosed holdings mark a dramatic acceleration in BitMine’s pivot from bitcoin mining toward becoming a major Ethereum treasury vehicle. The firm claims it now leads all publicly traded companies in ETH holdings, and ranks second globally in treasury scale behind Strategy, Inc.

Investors and markets responded swiftly to BitMine’s disclosures and related developments. In July, shares soared following a regulatory filing revealing that Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund had taken a 9.1 percent stake in the company, making him its largest known institutional shareholder. That news helped drive BitMine’s stock to near-record intraday gains.

Analysts view the firm’s strategy as part of a broader trend: smaller-cap crypto and blockchain firms are increasingly diversifying beyond bitcoin into ETH-focused treasury allocations. BitMine’s velocity of accumulation and the high liquidity of its stock have drawn comparisons to Michael Saylor’s bitcoin strategy at MicroStrategy.

Regulatory and market timing factors may amplify or constrain BitMine’s ambition. The U. S. SEC’s evolving posture toward digital asset teams—including Project Crypto and the so-called “GENIUS Act” proposals—could shape the framing of Ethereum as a mainstream institutional asset, or alternatively intensify scrutiny of crypto treasury holdings.

Sceptics point to concentration risk and valuation vulnerability. Holding such a large share of a single token leaves BitMine exposed to ETH price swings, smart contract risks, network upgrades, and macro-crypto sentiment downturns. As the firm presses toward its 5 percent goal, it will also face growing attention from regulators, market participants, and the Ethereum community around centralisation concerns.

Still, BitMine’s approach stands out for its bold scale and speed. The company argues that the “power law benefits” favour large holders of ETH, and that a discount between ETH price and its future utility—particularly under rising AI and blockchain convergence narratives—makes accumulation compelling.

Grayscale Investments has enabled staking on its Grayscale Ethereum Trust and Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust, making them the first U. S.-listed spot exchange-traded products to support native staking functions. In tandem, its Solana trust has also activated staking, pending regulatory approval for an exchange listing.

The introduction means investors in ETHE and ETH can now earn staking rewards while retaining exposure to Ether’s spot price. Grayscale says staking operations will be managed via institutional custodians and a distributed network of validator providers. The firm emphasises that staking is passive, intending to support protocol security while offering additional yield.

ETHE and ETH are not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, placing them outside the conventional ETF regulatory regime. That structure allows flexibility but also exposes investors to different oversight and risk frameworks. GSOL, currently quoted over the counter, must undergo a formal uplisting process to align with exchange-traded product standards.

The regulatory environment has posed ongoing challenges for staking-enabled products. Earlier in 2025, the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission delayed decisions on staking features in ether ETFs proposed by major issuers. The SEC has articulated concerns that staking may constitute an offer of securities, complicating how such products can be structured under existing law. Grayscale’s new move comes amid evolving guidance around liquid staking receipts and the broader regulatory calibration of crypto ETPs.

Grayscale currently controls approximately half of U. S. ETP-held Ethereum, and as of the end of September 2025, the firm reported around $35 billion in assets under management. The firm has already staked tens of thousands of ETH, deploying mechanisms to balance liquidity demands with staking commitments. It uses what it calls a “liquidity sleeve”—a pool of unstaked tokens and short-term financing—to meet redemption requests without forcing premature withdrawals from staking pools.

Analysts note that Ethereum staking yields in the market range around 2 per cent annually, while Solana’s higher inflation and protocol incentives can push staking returns to double digits. For yield-seeking investors, a staking-enabled ETP structure promises a more seamless way to tap into rewards without managing validator nodes or staking accounts directly.

Yet the innovation also carries risks: validator slashing penalties, network downtime, and the volatility of token prices remain material. Because Grayscale’s staking is passive, investors’ rewards reflect aggregated validator performance. The firm has committed to transparency through regular reports disclosing validator partnerships, staking activity, and operational metrics.

By Nitya Chakraborty Indian foreign policy makers have at last showing some mature understanding of the geopolitics of the post-Trump.2 months if the external affairs minister Dr. S Jaishankar’s observations at the concluding session of Kautilya Economic Conclave in New Delhi on Sunday, are any indication. The minister was quite candid in explaining the complexity […]

The article EAM Jaishankar Is Right: Trump Has To Respect India’s Red Lines appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).

Dubai has issued Law No. of 2025 to regulate the professional practice of engineering consultancy firms, forbidding unlicensed operations and introducing a tiered classification system.

Under the law, no individual or office may conduct consultancy across fields such as architectural, civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, geological or coastal engineering in the emirate without proper authorisation. Firms must hold a valid trade licence, register with Dubai Municipality, and submit detailed disclosures regarding their licensed scope, classification, and technical staff credentials.

A unified electronic platform, to be integrated with “Invest in Dubai,” will centralise firm registration, classification, issuance of competency certificates, and updates to consultancy qualifications.

A permanent “Committee for the Regulation and Development of Engineering Consultancy Activities” will be established under the law, chaired by a Dubai Municipality representative and comprising stakeholders from relevant authorities, tasked with overseeing implementation and resolving sectoral disputes.

The legislation classifies eligible firms into several categories: local Dubai-based companies; branches of UAE-based consultancies with at least three consecutive years of experience; branches of foreign consultancies with at least ten years of global experience; joint ventures between local and foreign players with at least a decade of consultancy track record; advisory offices led by registered engineers with a decade of experience; and engineering audit offices providing third-party evaluations.

Firms are barred from operating beyond their licence scope, hiring unregistered engineers or subcontracting to unlicensed entities. Violations can attract fines up to AED 100,000, stricter penalties for repeat breaches, suspension, downgrading classification, removal from the registry, licence cancellation, or revocation of professional certificates. Affected parties may file appeals within 30 days and decisions must be issued within 30 days, communicated within five working days.

Existing regulations under Local Order No. 89 of 1994 and its amendments will remain effective until new implementing regulations are issued, provided they do not conflict with the new law.

Consultancy firms and staff will have one year from the law’s effective date to regularise their status; extensions may be granted, and expired registrations can be renewed by committing to full compliance.

Dubai’s move mirrors the emirate’s broader legal recalibration of the infrastructure sector. In July 2025, Law No. 7 of 2025 was enacted to regulate contracting activities, consolidating prior laws and mandating registration, classification, subcontracting oversight and ethics codes across construction and engineering services. The new consultancy law can be seen as a complementary measure to ensure that consultancy services feeding into contracting projects meet defined quality and governance standards.

Industry stakeholders have expressed cautious optimism about the changes. Some consultancy firms believe the law will reduce unfair competition by eliminating unlicensed operators, thus raising standards overall. Others warn of compliance costs, especially for smaller local consultancies that may struggle to meet classification thresholds or hire adequately certified staff.

Regional and international firms see opportunity in the rule clarity and the potential to compete more transparently. Observers expect the new digital registry and classification framework to influence government procurement and tenders by favouring higher-ranked consultancies.

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman is leading a high-stakes campaign across East Asia and the Middle East to secure investment and bolster chip supply for the company’s AI infrastructure push. He has held talks since late September in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan with leading hardware suppliers to prioritise OpenAI’s orders and expand capacity.

Altman has met with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Foxconn, as well as Samsung and SK Hynix, pressing them to accelerate production and give OpenAI preferential access. In South Korea, Samsung and SK Hynix have signed letters of intent to supply memory chips for OpenAI’s data centres. Meanwhile, OpenAI plans further fundraising discussions in the United Arab Emirates.

The urgency of Altman’s mission reflects the intensifying global competition for advanced computing resources. OpenAI projects it will spend around US$16 billion this year on renting computing servers, with long-term forecasts stretching to US$400 billion by 2029 as AI models grow ever more complex.

Industry analysts note that the semiconductor supply chain remains highly constrained. TSMC dominates GPU chip production, and memory manufacturing is largely concentrated in East Asia, creating significant strategic leverage for the manufacturers approached by Altman.

As part of his tour, Altman is also pressing Japanese firms to contribute to infrastructure support. Hitachi has entered discussions to provide power transmission and distribution systems for OpenAI’s data centres, while sharing technical resources under joint development agreements.

Sources familiar with the process say Altman pushed for direct prioritisation in chip delivery schedules, asking that OpenAI receive top-tier production slots. In some cases, he proposed co-investment or co-development of next-generation AI hardware to bind partner incentives more closely.

In South Korea, early architecture proposals include planned data centres of 20 megawatts in collaboration with Samsung and SK Hynix. Altman is reportedly exploring “floating” data centre designs to manage land constraints and cooling demands.

The UAE leg of his mission is expected to involve negotiations with sovereign investment firms such as MGX and Mubadala, with the aim of funding both OpenAI’s expansion and joint infrastructure ventures in the region. In past rounds, UAE investors have already taken part in funding OpenAI operations.

Challenges remain significant. The sheer scale of chips and memory required for stacked AI model training is pushing the boundaries of global wafer fabrication capacity. Market watchers point to the high capital expenditure and long lead times in the semiconductor industry as obstacles to rapid scaling. Some of Altman’s proposals—for example, co-development of bespoke ASICs—are still in preliminary stages and face technical risk.

OpenAI’s valuation and investor backing give the company leverage. Earlier this year, it closed deals that valued it at about US$500 billion, with new capital injections from investors including SoftBank and UAE entities. Those moves have fortified its position in negotiating upstream deals with manufacturers.

The Bifrost subsea cable system has been certified as Ready for Service, paving the way for commercial data traffic between Singapore and the western United States.

Stretching more than 20,000 km, Bifrost charts a novel route via Indonesia—across the Java Sea and Celebes Sea—enabling the first direct subsea connection between Singapore and the U. S. West Coast. Its design supports over 260 Tbps of capacity, and the round-trip latency between Singapore and the U. S. is projected at under 165 milliseconds, approximately 10 ms faster than many alternative routes.

Keppel Ltd holds five of the total 12 fibre pairs in Bifrost, through a 40-60 joint venture with private fund co-investors. The cable system’s landing stations include Grover Beach, Winema, Guam, Singapore, and branching units to Jakarta, Manado, and Davao in the Philippines.

Manjot Singh Mann, CEO for Connectivity at Keppel, described Bifrost as a “landmark project” that will “bolster digital connectivity between Southeast Asia and the USA” and reinforce Singapore’s status as a regional digital hub. Alcatel Submarine Networks handled the cable’s construction; its CEO, Alain Biston, noted that reaching readiness reflects “the hard work of ASN teams working hand in hand with our client.”

In the Philippines, Converge ICT serves as the landing party at Davao. Dennis Anthony Uy, Converge’s CEO, said that the cable will “not only boost the company’s international bandwidth capacity, but for the Philippines, it will mean redundancy and diversity in network infrastructure.”

The significance of Bifrost lies not only in its raw capacity and speed but also in route diversification. By crossing via Indonesia, the cable offers an alternate path independent of existing transpacific systems, lowering the risk of congestion or outages on established corridors. Analysts view its timing as aligned with surging demand for bandwidth, driven by growth in AI workloads, real-time applications, cloud services, and digital transformation across Asia.

Bifrost enters a competitive environment of subsea infrastructure expansion. Projects such as Echo, Apricot, Hawaiki Nui, and others vie for roles in connecting Asia with the Americas and the Pacific islands. Echo is expected to link Singapore to Guam and onward to Eureka, California. Apricot, largely intra-Asia in scope, is ramping up deployments across Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

Market commentators point out that Bifrost’s success will hinge on uptake from global cloud providers, telcos, and hyperscalers. Keppel’s stake reflects a confidence in long-term returns. Some financial analyses anticipate internal rates of return exceeding 30 percent, with projected revenue from operational and maintenance fees per fibre pair exceeding S$200 million over 25 years.

Because Keppel and its partners delayed the original launch schedule, the push to achieve RFS signals a resolve to catch up with escalating infrastructure demand.

Brazil has become Latin America’s dominant crypto market after logging $318.8 billion in cryptocurrency transaction volume between July 2024 and June 2025, accounting for about one-third of the region’s total crypto activity. That figure represents a year-on-year surge of 109.9 per cent, according to the 2025 Geography of Cryptocurrency report by Chainalysis.

No other country in Latin America comes close to Brazil’s scale: Argentina recorded $93.9 billion, Mexico $71.2 billion, Venezuela $44.6 billion, and Colombia $44.2 billion. The region as a whole pushed close to $1.5 trillion in crypto flows over the three-year span from mid-2022 to mid-2025, underscoring the growing importance of digital assets in Latin America’s financial ecosystem.

Stablecoins now dominate Brazil’s market, making up over 90 per cent of all transactions. This shift suggests that crypto is being used increasingly as a means of payment, remittance and hedge against currency volatility, rather than purely for speculative trading. Institutional and retail transfers both contributed to the growth, with institutional transfers alone more than doubling within the year.

Brazil’s regulatory framework has evolved in tandem. The 2022–2023 Brazilian Virtual Assets Law established compliance obligations for virtual asset service providers and made the central bank the authority for anti-money-laundering oversight in the crypto sector. Authorities are now finalising consultations that could yield further rules by end-2025.

Mainstream financial institutions are leveraging this clarity. Banks such as Itaú and digital platforms like Nubank and Mercado Pago are bridging traditional finance with crypto offerings. Global stakeholders have taken notice: in May 2024, Circle launched USDC services in Brazil to facilitate lower-cost and instant transfers.

Brazil’s ranking in the global crypto adoption picture has also strengthened. In Chainalysis’s 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, Brazil advanced to fifth globally, climbing from 10th in 2024. The methodology change that year introduced a new institutional activity sub-index and removed the retail DeFi sub-index, giving greater weight to large transfers while maintaining focus on broad adoption.

Brazil’s digital payments infrastructure—anchored by the Pix instant payments system—has eased the on-ramp to crypto. More than half of financial transactions in Brazil are now conducted over Pix, enabling users to move funds into crypto platforms seamlessly. Surveys suggest that between 18 and 19 per cent of Brazilians hold cryptocurrency, a rate second only behind Argentina in the region.

Still, challenges remain. Brazil’s macroeconomic environment is volatile: inflation pressures, depreciation of the real, and tax burdens could suppress retail demand. The central bank’s Drex project—a blockchain-based settlement platform—is under trial and could support on-chain finance, but integration with existing systems is complex. Some analysts warn that regulatory overreach or tax crackdowns may stifle innovation.

By K Raveendran It was a week of contradictions for India’s image on the world stage, marked by a curious interplay of critique, affirmation, and manoeuvring. Rahul Gandhi, in his address at Columbia University, painted a picture of India that was dark and distressing, describing the country’s democratic decline in sweeping terms. At the same […]

The article A Week Marking The Worst And Best For India On Global Stage appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).