Author: Art Ryan

Key Takeaways Web Summit Qatar 2026 runs from February 1 to 4 in Doha, attracting over 30,000 attendees from 120 countries. The event will showcase more than 1,500 startups from various sectors, offering exhibitions and pitch competitions. More than 700 investors will attend to focus on early-stage funding and growth capital opportunities. Over 350 speakers will discuss key topics like artificial intelligence, digital transformation, and cybersecurity. The summit aims to connect startups with capital and talent while enhancing Qatar’s innovation strategy. Web Summit Qatar 2026 returns to Doha from 1 to 4 February 2026, positioning the city as a global…

The AI-powered Smart First Aid Kit announced by Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services will launch as a digital platform and mobile app. The AI-powered Smart First Aid Kit aims to improve public first aid awareness and emergency response across Dubai. The initiative targets residents and visitors. AI-Powered Smart First Aid Kit Digital Platform The AI-powered Smart First Aid Kit will provide fast medical guidance through interactive digital channels. Users describe an emergency or ask a question. The system responds with step by step instructions. The design follows conversational AI principles. The goal focuses on supporting correct action before ambulance crews…

The Zoom AI literacy event Zoom Ahead focuses on preparing students for artificial intelligence skills in education and future careers. Zoom Communications announced the national program titled Zoom Ahead: AI for Tomorrow’s Leaders. The Zoom AI literacy event will stream live to students across the United States. Zoom AI Literacy Event Schedule And Format The Zoom AI literacy event will take place on Friday, January 16, at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time. The program will air through Zoom Webinar. Opening remarks will be delivered live from the White House. First Lady Melania Trump will address students at the start of the…

The mobile phone AI experience already affects daily smartphone use for most users. Samsung reported AI tools operate across hundreds of millions of Galaxy devices worldwide. Many users interact with mobile phone AI experience features without recognizing their presence. Mobile Phone AI Experience In Everyday Features The mobile phone AI experience appears in core smartphone functions. These include autocorrect, voice assistants, call screening, and spam detection. AI manages adaptive brightness, battery optimization, and performance tuning. Weather alerts and safety notifications rely on predictive models. Camera tools such as Night Mode, scene detection, and automatic photo grouping use AI systems. These…

Shopify released its Winter 26 Edition called Renaissance. The update expands the use of agentic AI across enterprise commerce operations. The focus moves beyond chatbots and content tools toward AI systems managing workflows, infrastructure, and sales distribution. A major change involves Agentic Storefronts. Products listed in Shopify admin now appear directly inside AI driven platforms. These include ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot. Customers complete purchases within those conversations. Transaction and attribution data return to Shopify admin. Merchants no longer rely only on driving traffic to owned websites. This shift responds to changing search behavior driven by large language models. Shopify…

AI in agriculture is moving into the core economic decisions that shape modern farming. At CES, agriculture executives explained how artificial intelligence now influences planting choices, crop genetics, chemical use, and yield forecasting. These changes affect farming at global scale, where small efficiency gains can impact food supply chains worth billions of dollars. AI in Agriculture Shifts From Machines to Software AI in agriculture is changing how farms operate beyond hardware upgrades. Executives from John Deere described how farming innovation is shifting toward software-defined systems. AI models combine satellite imagery, historical yield data, and live sensor inputs. These systems guide…

How to start an AI company in Dubai has become a common question as the city expands its role in artificial intelligence development. Dubai supports AI companies through national strategies, digital infrastructure, and simplified company formation. The UAE government has positioned artificial intelligence as a priority sector across public and private services. This environment has made Dubai a practical location for founders launching AI-focused businesses. How to Start an AI Company in Dubai: Government and Market Framework Dubai operates under a national artificial intelligence strategy that supports adoption in healthcare, transport, finance, and urban services. The UAE appointed a Minister…

The global AI film contest in Dubai awarded its top prize to Tunisian filmmaker Zoubeir Jlassi. The global AI film contest offered a $1 million award for short films created using generative artificial intelligence. The ceremony took place during the 1 Billion Followers Summit in Dubai and marked the first edition of the competition. Global AI Film Contest Winner Announced Zoubeir Jlassi won the global AI film contest with his short film Lily. The award was presented on the second day of the summit. Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum attended the ceremony and presented the prize. The contest…

AI-driven online scams are increasing across the UAE, according to a new warning from the Cybersecurity Council. Authorities say artificial intelligence now enables fraudsters to create highly realistic digital scams that are harder for users to detect. The warning was issued through the council’s weekly Cyber Pulse awareness campaign. AI-Driven Online Scams Increase Speed and Scale The Cybersecurity Council reported that AI-driven online scams allow criminals to operate faster than before. Fraudsters use automation to complete tasks in seconds. These tasks include generating fake messages, copying official branding, and producing realistic voice imitations. Scammers also rely on AI to create…

AI robots clean Dubai beaches overnight as part of a citywide initiative to automate environmental maintenance. The deployment uses autonomous machines to remove waste while beaches remain empty. The system focuses on efficiency, low noise, and continuous operation without human presence. The project reflects Dubai’s broader strategy to apply artificial intelligence to public services and environmental management. How AI Robots Clean Dubai Beaches at Night AI robots clean Dubai beaches during nighttime hours to avoid disrupting residents and visitors. The machines move independently along the coastline using sensors and pre-mapped routes. Each unit identifies and collects small debris, including plastic…

Nscale has completed the acquisition of Future-tech, a European data centre engineering consultancy, to strengthen its ability to design and deliver AI-ready infrastructure at scale. The transaction was announced in mid-December 2025 and supports Nscale’s expansion across Europe and North America. Future-tech adds around 60 professionals to Nscale’s workforce. The team includes engineers, designers, consultants, project managers and operational specialists. Their expertise spans data centre design, construction oversight, technical advisory services and long-term operations support. The integration is scheduled to take place over the coming months. Nscale stated the acquisition will improve its end-to-end execution capabilities. The combined teams will…

Allianz SE and Anthropic announced a global partnership in January 2026. The agreement focuses on expanding responsible artificial intelligence across Allianz’s insurance business. The collaboration combines Allianz’s insurance operations with Anthropic’s AI development technology. Anthropic’s AI models will integrate into Allianz’s internal AI platforms. Employees across Allianz’s global organization will gain access to the tools. The rollout supports daily work such as software development, data analysis, and operational tasks. Anthropic’s Claude models will serve as a core component of the deployment. A key goal involves improving efficiency through AI automation. Allianz and Anthropic are developing AI agents tailored to insurance…

The company priced its shares at 165 Hong Kong dollars (about $21) each and saw them close more than double that at 345 Hong Kong dollars (about $44), the Financial Times reported Friday. The IPO brought MiniMax’s market capitalization to $13.5 billion, according to the report. MiniMax announced the listing in a Friday post on LinkedIn, adding: “This isn’t the finish line. It’s fuel for our next leap toward AGI [artificial general intelligence].” “Built on one belief: Intelligence with Everyone,” the company said in the post. “We believe advanced AI should be accessible and beneficial to a wide range of users and industries. This…

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Jan. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — SB Energy, a SoftBank Group company, announced today a strategic partnership with OpenAI as part of Stargate, marking a significant step forward in the build out of next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) and energy infrastructure in the United States. The investment builds on the $500 billion Stargate commitment announced in January at the White House. To support the partnership and as demand for AI compute accelerates, OpenAI and SoftBank Group are each investing $500 million into SB Energy. OpenAI has also selected SB Energy to build and operate its previously-announced 1.2 GW data center site in Milam County. The equity funding…

WhatsApp is trying out a number of new features that are supposed to make it safer for users, give them more control over their messages, and make group chats easier to use. These tools have been added to current beta versions of Android and WhatsApp Web. The changes are mostly about privacy, keeping less data, and making it easier to manage conversations. Linked accounts are one feature that is aimed at younger users. WhatsApp is working on a way for an adolescent account to be a secondary profile linked to a parent’s main account. These linked accounts have greater default…

OpenAI has added three startup founders to its team after hiring the co-founders of Convogo, an AI-based tool used by executive coaches, consultants, talent leaders, and human resources teams. Matt Cooper, Evan Cater, and Mike Gillett, who co-founded Convogo, are among the new additions. TechCrunch reported the decision on January 8, quoting a spokeswoman for OpenAI. OpenAI did not buy Convogo’s products, intellectual property, or underlying technology. Instead, the company hired the founders as workers. As a result of the change, Convogo’s current product will no longer be available. PYMNTS asked OpenAI and Convogo for comments, but they didn’t react…

Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday that it will be releasing agentic AI solutions that would bring smart automation to all areas of the retail sector. These new features help stores work faster, serve customers more relevantly, and stay strong and efficient, giving them a modern base for growth in an industry that is very competitive. These technologies add a layer of connected information to merchandising, marketing, retail operations, and fulfillment. This turns disjointed workflows into coordinated execution. Microsoft is speeding up the industry’s shift toward a single, intelligence-driven operating system that can keep up with the fast pace of modern…

BALTIMORE and SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — OpenAI has selected b.well as the underlying health data connectivity infrastructure enabling users to securely connect their medical records for more personalized health AI interactions in ChatGPT Health. Through this collaboration, users can explicitly authorize access within ChatGPT to securely connect their health data and medical records from U.S. healthcare providers. This enables health-related conversations in ChatGPT Health to be grounded in a user’s own longitudinal health information, delivering more relevant, context-aware insights. The integration is designed to put consumers in charge of where and how they can safely and securely access their…

Samsung’s Digital Appliances leadership highlighted the company’s industry-leading innovation and vision for the smart home of tomorrow Samsung Electronics today outlined its vision for Digital Appliances (DA) Business to enable better living — as well as the key strategies driving this initiative — during its Deep Dive session at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The outline for the company’s vision comes at a time in which the global home appliance market navigates the growing importance of AI in connected living. Led by Cheolgi Kim, Head of the DA Business, the session laid out how Samsung’s Bespoke AI appliances are seamlessly connected…

LAS VEGAS, United States, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) — Tech giants’ CEOs and experts gathering here for the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) focused their discussions on the reliability and safety of artificial intelligence (AI) in a panel session on Monday. While AI is rapidly spreading into daily work and operations, its wider adoption will depend on whether AI systems can be trusted to behave reliably, protect sensitive data and operate within clear guardrails in high-stakes environments, they said at the panel session on AI’s real-world challenges, held on the sidelines of the CES, the world’s largest and most influential technology…