Mickey Mouse has reached a deal with OpenAI. Sort of.
Disney announced that as part of a $1 billion investment, it would be allowing some of its characters and intellectual property to be used in OpenAI's Sora video generation tool.
With concerns about misinformation, copyright laws and ethics, Sora is not without controversy. But Disney's announcement shows that the AI technology fuelling OpenAI's Sora isn't going away and that some entertainment companies will choose to work with it, albeit on terms that work for them.
It's too soon to say who got the better end of the deal, but rest assured we'll be keeping an eye on that part of the story.
The big story
Game changer
In brief | When International Monetary Fund officials speak, the world tends to listen. Based on recent developments, that's good news for AI aspirations of various Gulf countries.
In a recent interview with The National's US business correspondent Kyle Fitzgerald, IMF regional director Jihad Azour said that sustained investment in AI will be a “game changer” for the UAE and the broader Gulf economy as the region positions itself as a global technology centre.
Mr Azour's comments come at a particularly interesting time, when many are wondering if AI can deliver on the many promises made by those in the upper echelons of technology.
Why it matters | Some have suggested that based on previous technology waves, AI is in a "trough of disillusionment" phase, where sky-high expectations aren't yet being met.
Yet as Mr Azour points out, the investments in AI are not just relegated to the technology; they're creating construction jobs amid the race to build data centres. They're also creating innovations in the energy sector that are considered to be increasingly important to keeping AI chugging along for hundreds of millions of users around the world.
The investments will also benefit digitisation work already underway, with Gulf countries standing to benefit the most.
Quoted | "It’s [AI] a game changer. It’s very important ... Gradually we see technology playing a larger role in the non-oil economy, be it in the financial services, in government services, but also in the other type of non-oil activities.”
– Jihad Azour, IMF director for the Middle East and North Africa, Central Asia and Caucasus region.
Future in focus
• On a mission | Bill Gates renews call to eradicate polio and malaria with UAE as key partner
• Thin ice | Developer of immigration official-tracking app ICEBlock sues US Justice Department
• Smart drones and smuggled chips | How Iran wants to join the AI revolution
• Backlash brewing | Why some Democrats and Republicans are sharing concerns about Nvidia
Predicting the future: Signal or noise?
Experts are warning about the potential for powerful quantum computers to fall into the wrong hands and be used for wrongful purposes, such as cracking security passwords that billions of people use every day, resulting in a wave of financial crimes.
This is a signal: Cybersecurity experts have warned in recent months that hackers are already trying to harvest encrypted data with hopes of eventually being able to decrypt it on a large scale through the assistance of quantum computers. While many of those quantum computers are not yet readily available, most analysts say that will probably change.
The good news is that some countries and companies are already hard at work at bolstering encryption technology to thwart illicit decryption, but make no mistake, cyber criminals will keep trying.
In case you missed it
• Idris Elba says technology can help wake the sleeping giant of the African creative industry
• YouTube expands its health push by putting doctors in front of the camera
• Opinion: Three zones of AI global success and the different tale each tells
• Major diabetes breakthrough as scientists find way to ‘block inflammation’
• Behind the Bitcoin drop: Are we entering a new era for crypto?
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