It's Gemini vs GPT-4o in the AI Octagon☕ - Issue #13

Good day, valued subscribers

It has been an exciting week in the world of generative AI! Google and OpenAI have made significant upgrades to their flagship models. Google introduced Gemini AI at their I/O conference, integrating it into products like Search, Workspace, and YouTube. OpenAI surprised us with the launch of GPT-4o, a more capable version of the model behind ChatGPT.

In other news, we'll be scaling back our releases to twice a week to ensure we can deliver high-quality content. We appreciate your understanding and look forward to bringing you even better issues.

BUSINESS

Namibia Special Risks Insurance Association (Nasria) and Bank Windhoek partners on a credit guarantee scheme agreement worth N$50 million.

A new N$50 million (around $3 million) credit scheme is aiming to get more cash flowing to Namibian entrepreneurs who've struggled to access financing. The government-backed Namibia Special Risks Insurance Association (Nasria) has teamed up with Bank Windhoek to guarantee a portion of loans for qualifying small businesses, women-owned companies, and youth-led startups.

Here's the deal:

• Nasria will cover 60% of the principal loan amount for businesses that look promising but lack collateral

• That means Bank Windhoek can loosen the strings on lending requirements for underserved entrepreneurs

• The goal? Unleash more innovation, create jobs, and drive economic growth in Namibia

Nasria's managing director John Uusiku says the insurer wants to "create a scope for broad-based growth" beyond just covering niche risks. Bank Windhoek's boss Baronice Hans is all for it, calling the partnership an opportunity to "assist Namibian women-led and youth-led businesses."

The big picture: Access to credit is a massive hurdle for small businesses everywhere, but especially in emerging markets. Public-private initiatives like this one could help bridge funding gaps and open new doors for the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Source: The Namibian

Anglo-American Shakes Things Up With Demerging Plans

One of the mining world's biggest players is doing some major portfolio shuffling. Anglo American announced plans to simplify its business by potentially demerging (splitting off) or selling its 79% stake in iconic diamond company De Beers.

The details:

• Anglo wants to focus more on copper and premium iron ore to ride the electric vehicle and steelmaking boom.

• It's also demerging its platinum business, Anglo-American Platinum.

• The steelmaking coal assets are on the chopping block too, along with nickel operations.

Anglo's CEO Duncan Wanblad says the "radical" changes will deliver better operations and cost cuts, unlocking more value for shareholders. The company recently rebuffed a merger proposal from rival BHP, calling it too lowball.

Why demerge De Beers? Anglo says it wants to give the diamond business more "strategic flexibility" to do its own thing. De Beers is 85% owned by Anglo, with Botswana holding the remaining 15%.

The big picture: As demands for metals used in green tech skyrocket, miners are sharpening their focus. Anglo is clearing the decks of non-core assets to go all-in on future-facing commodities like copper. For an iconic name like De Beers, the split could open up new opportunities for it as a standalone company.

Source: The Namibian

Windhoek Approves 421 Construction Plans worth N$535.8m in Q1 

Namibia's capital city approved a hefty batch of new building plans in the first quarter of 2024, keeping the construction pipeline flowing.

The numbers:

• 421 building plans worth N$535.8 million approved in Q1

• Down slightly from 430 plans in Q1 2023

• But a massive 171.5% increase in total value year-over-year

March was particularly active, with the city greenlighting 184 new plans valued at N$294.1 million - up 56.3% from February.

The details:

• Commercial projects accounted for N$28 million in completed buildings

• 150 property additions approved worth N$89.6 million

• 32 new residential units added to the pipeline at N$200.5 million

While the number of completed buildings dipped 60% year-over-year, analysts at IJG Securities see the surge in approved plans and residential units as a positive signal for Windhoek's construction rebound.

Overall, the construction pipeline appears robust despite some volatility. With a rising number of high-value projects in the mix, Windhoek is setting the stage for increased building activity in 2024.

The big picture: As Namibia's economic engine, a bustling Windhoek real estate market could catalyze broader growth. The latest data suggests the capital's construction sector is regaining steam after a sluggish 2023.

Source: The Brief

Namibia and South Africa set to partner on Africa’s first green hydrogen pipeline 

A groundbreaking partnership is brewing between Namibia and South Africa to develop Africa's first-ever green hydrogen pipeline. The two neighbors are teaming up with Dutch company Gasunie to study the feasibility of an ambitious cross-border pipeline.

The big vision, announced by Namibian President Nangolo Mbumba at the World Hydrogen Forum, is to link Namibia's vast renewable energy resources with South Africa's burgeoning green hydrogen industry.

Key players include:

• Western Cape Development Agency (Wesgro)

• Northern Cape Economic Development Agency (NCEDA)

• Gasunie (Dutch hydrogen infrastructure experts)

The potential pipeline could stretch over 2,500 km from Namibia's coastal town of Lüderitz to Saldanha Bay in South Africa at an estimated cost of around $20 billion.

The backdrop: Both countries are going all-in on green hydrogen. Namibia already has nine hydrogen projects across two "hydrogen valleys." South Africa recently unveiled a $20 billion investment plan to become a major global producer, with the potential for up to 13 million tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2050.

The big picture: By tapping into Namibia's world-class solar and wind resources, then piping the green hydrogen across the border, the two countries could create a renewable energy powerhouse. If the mega-pipeline becomes reality, it would mark a major milestone in Africa's clean energy transition.

Source: The Brief

TECH

Everything Unveiled at Google I/O 2024

Google's annual I/O developer conference was a generative AI extravaganza. The tech giant pulled back the curtain on a host of new AI-powered features and products aimed at taking its Gemini models mainstream.

Some of the headliners:

🔍 Google Lens gets video search capabilities to find info by recording clips

📸 "Ask Photos" lets you quiz Gemini about people, places, and objects across your Google Photos library

⚡ Gemini 1.5 Flash is a new speedier model for snappier AI responses 💬 Gemini is being baked into Workspace apps like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets to become your AI sidekick

🤖 Project Astra is Google's ambitious vision for an all-seeing, all-doing virtual assistant

🎥 Veo brings text-to-video generation to creators (Google's answer to OpenAI's Sora)

🤖 Gems lets you create custom Gemini chatbots for any use case (need a running coach AI? Done)

Beyond just making Gemini smarter, Google is working to make it more conversational with the "Gemini Live" voice feature that supports interruptions and camera inputs.

AI is also making its way to more Google products:

• Android gets on-device math solver and scam call detection

• Gemini Nano AI assistant built into Chrome desktop

• "AI Overviews" to summarize Google Search results

The big picture: With AI shaking up everything from search to productivity tools, Google clearly wants its Gemini models to be at the forefront. By infusing generative AI across its product lineup, the company aims to make its services smarter and more useful. But it's also laying the foundation for more advanced AI assistants of the future.

Source: The Verge

OpenAI Unleashes Faster ChatGPT Model

OpenAI is turbocharging its ChatGPT product with a shiny new model upgrade - GPT-4o. The AI company claims this iteration is significantly faster while boosting capabilities across text, vision, and audio modes.

The quick deets:

• GPT-4o will roll out for free to all ChatGPT users

• Paid subscribers get up to 5x higher capacity limits

• The model is "natively multimodal" for voice, text, and image inputs

• Developers can access GPT-4o's API at half the cost of GPT-4 Turbo

ChatGPT's voice capabilities are getting a big boost too. The app will essentially become a real-time voice AI assistant à la Her, able to converse while also observing its surroundings through cameras and sensors.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reflected that while the company's original vision was to "create benefits for the world," the path has shifted to empowering developers and third parties to innovate using OpenAI's foundation models through APIs.

The timing seems...intentional, with the launch coming just ahead of Google's annual I/O conference where the Gemini AI team is expected to reveal upgrades of their own.

The big picture: The AI model wars are heating up, with OpenAI and Google racing to roll out new and improved foundation models packed with multimodal superpowers. Buckle up for some rapid iterations in the generative AI space.

Source: The Verge

YouTube Gets Smarter with AI-Powered Learning

Google is bringing interactive AI to educational videos on YouTube. At this year's I/O conference, the company unveiled AI-generated quizzes that allow viewers to "raise their hand" and engage with academic content in new ways.

The gist:

• A new conversational AI assistant can summarize videos, explain concepts, and generate quizzes

• Thanks to the Gemini model's long attention span, it works for lengthy videos like lectures too

• Users can ask for clarification or test their knowledge with multiple-choice questions

• The feature is rolling out first to select Android users in the US

The announcement comes after YouTube began experimenting with AI-powered quizzes on mobile last year. Google says the move helps establish YouTube as an interactive learning destination beyond just housing educational videos.

It's all part of the company's new LearnLM initiative - a suite of Gemini language models specifically fine-tuned for education use cases.

The big picture: With AI assistants like ChatGPT making waves, Google is ensuring its products stay ahead of the curve by infusing generative AI capabilities. Making YouTube more dynamic could help it maintain its lead in the education video space as AI tutors become more mainstream.

Source: TechCrunch

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Painter Vincent Van Gogh on pushing yourself:

"I am always doing what I can't do yet in order to learn how to do it."

Source: Letter to Anthon van Rappard (1885)