Author: precious

Cyberattacks have become a massive financial burden on UK businesses, with the government’s latest independent research revealing that the annual cost now reaches a staggering £14.7 billion on the UK economy.  For emphasis, the figure represents roughly half of a percent (0.5%) of the UK economy’s gross domestic product (GDP), meaning that cyber threats are the new order of the day in the country, as they are one of the pressing challenges that British companies encounter today. This research was backed by the country’s Department for Science, Innovation, and technology (DSIT), as they combined in-depth economic modeling, surveys, and other…

The internet stretched and stumbled on Tuesday, as millions of users and businesses from Lagos, Nigeria to New York watched their digital lifelines take an unannounced and shocking pause. ChatGPT wouldn’t respond to prompts, X (fka Twitter) refused to load, and even downdetector.com that is known to usually monitor outages itself went out.  There was no warning as Cloudflare, the cybersecurity giant powering one-fifth (20%) of global web traffic, saw a critical part of its network go dark. What Went Wrong With Cloudflare? Around 11:20 UTC on Tuesday morning, users began reporting widespread access issues across a broad spectrum of…

Anysphere, the company behind the AI-powered code editor Cursor, just secured $2.3 billion in a Series D funding round, elevating and catapulting the company’s post-money valuation to $29.3 billion.  This latest round comes less than a year after the company was formerly valued at $2.5 billion, marking a remarkable jump that positions Cursor as a dominant force in the rapidly evolving AI-powered coding scene. Anysphere’s Cursor: Big Money, Big Vision This Series D funding round was led by heavyweight investors Accel and Coatue, backed by existing investors like Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and DST Global, and joined by new, strategic…

Microsoft recently created a new Superintelligence Team, marking a significant chapter in the company’s AI journey and a bold step into developing advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Under CEO of Microsoft AI, Mustafa Suleyman, the team will be charged with building what the tech giant calls “Humanist Superintelligence” (HSI), which represents a focused approach to building next-generation AI systems that aims to solve specific problems and put humans first. More importantly, the establishment of the new superintelligence unit sheds light on Microsoft’s growing independence from OpenAI, with a recent renewed partnership agreement that allows Microsoft to independently push the boundaries…

Nigeria has initiated the active investment phase under its Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) program, marking a major step forward in the development of Nigeria’s startup ecosystem by providing both funding and non-financial support to help local startups grow and thrive. The iDICE program is backed by a mix of international development partners and the Nigerian government, with its Bank of Industry being the executing body for the initiative, working alongside the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), and the French Government’s Agence Française de Développement (AFD). iDICE is built upon three main pillars: skills…

Lettuce Financial recently closed a $28 million funding round, a big step that brings new financial tools and services tailored specifically for solo entrepreneurs (solopreneurs). For the U.S.-based fintech startup, it’s more about redefining how independent professionals manage money, taxes, healthcare, and planning for the future.  Led by existing investor Zeev Ventures, the $28 million raise combined with the strategic acquisition of healthcare benefits startup Besolo, will allow Lettuce to reshape the banking experience for one-person businesses especially in ways that challenge traditional financial institutions’ ability to serve solopreneurs. Nearly half of the U.S. workforce is expected to freelance by…

In a bid to play catch-up in the AI race, Apple is set to take on one of the most ambitious and expensive upgrades to its digital assistant, Siri, by integrating Google’s advanced Gemini AI model and setting it up to power a major overhaul of the voice assistant, Bloomberg reports.  This surprising collaboration between the two tech giants specifically stands as a major investment for Apple, as the iPhone maker will be reportedly paying Google $1 billion annually for access to its Gemini technology. As such, these Gemini-powered upgrades promise to significantly enhance Siri’s intelligence by leveraging Gemini’s large-scale…

Nigeria may soon be experiencing a digital transformation catalyzed by strategic partnerships with Nordic countries, particularly Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. When Lagos, the economic hub of Nigeria, recently hosted the 2025 edition of the Nordic-Nigeria Connect business forum, Nigeria’s partnership with the aforementioned Nordic countries was highlighted as a vital and growing connection that will be focused on breakthrough advances in digital technology, innovation, and talent development. More importantly, these collaborations will position the nation as a regional innovation hub in Africa’s technology landscape. Connecting Infrastructure and Governance for the Future of Nigeria A major cornerstone of Nigeria’s partnership…

Saudi Arabia is playing one of the most ambitious games in global technology history with the aim of becoming the world’s third-largest artificial intelligence (AI) market after the United States and China. Through Humain, a state-backed AI company and a subsidiary of the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Kingdom is attempting to transform and turn its oil-dependent economy into a digital powerhouse particularly powered by AI and computing infrastructure. Humain is part of Project Transcendence, a $100 billion initiative that’s also a key part of the broader Kingdom’s Vision 2030, a project aimed at transforming the country into a…

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has taken a decisive step to tighten restrictions on Chinese tech firms that the U.S. deems threats to national security, especially on Chinese telecommunications and surveillance equipment. The FCC’s 3-0 unanimous vote on October 28 gave the agency expanded authority to prohibit both new and previously authorized electronic products linked to Chinese firms identified on its “Covered List,” which includes Big Techs like Huawei, ZTE, and state-associated entities such as China Mobile. This move by the FCC is another schtick in the U.S.’ aggressive crackdown on Chinese tech, aimed at closing loopholes that could…