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Nearly 13 months after his beloved wife Rosalynn died in November 2023, former President Jimmy Carter passed away at the age of 100, the Carter Center confirmed on Sunday. The former president made a rare public appearance at her memorial service. He sat in a wheelchair with a blanket that had a picture of him and Rosalynn together. He would also make a rare public appearance on October 1 as his hometown celebrated his 100th birthday. “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” President Carter said after his wife passed away. “She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.” The couple was married for 77 years. They met as children, both growing up in Plains, Georgia. Their storied romance started when Jimmy was 17 years old. After their first date, he reportedly told his mom, “She’s the girl I want to marry.” The pair would marry not long after — in 1946. The couple moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where Jimmy was stationed after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy. Like many military families, the Carters moved from city to city. Their three sons were born in three different states: Virginia, Hawaii and Connecticut. Their only daughter was born in their home state of Georgia. Jimmy left the military in 1953 and began a career in politics about 10 years later. RELATED STORY | Former President Jimmy Carter dies at age 100 Rosalynn was reportedly an important member of Jimmy’s campaign team when he ran for governor of Georgia, a race he won in 1970. After serving four years as governor, Jimmy decided to run for president. During the campaign, Rosalynn traveled the country independently, proving to be a strong advocate for her husband’s vision for the country. Jimmy Carter would go on to defeat President Gerald Ford and become the 39th president of the United States. Rosalynn was an active first lady. She attended cabinet meetings and frequently represented her husband at ceremonial events. Rosalynn shared in her husband’s efforts to work to make the U.S. government more “competent and compassionate,” the White House said. After leaving the White House in 1981, the couple returned to Georgia. They would go on to become some of the most notable philanthropists in the world. They founded The Carter Center, which is committed to protecting human rights around the world.
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When Meta teased its prototype Orion smart glasses at Meta Connect , CEO Mark Zuckerberg confidently said they were "the most advanced glasses the world has ever seen." The prototype glasses are an attempt to bridge the gap between the popular Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses -- which are lightweight and practical but limited in features -- and the Meta Quest , a full-fledged VR/AR headset with an augmented reality display that's also bulky and impractical for everyday use. Now, the Wall Street Journal reports that Meta will carry over some of Orion's best features, such as the "small in-lens screen" and a wristband controller, to the upcoming model of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. Also: Your Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses just got a massive AI upgrade This would introduce an AR component to the glasses with a holographic interface while capturing your surroundings with a pass-through display that may be controllable with a wristband sensor. It's a sensible step up from the current smart glasses model, which only allows for audio-based interactions and photo and video-taking. The rumored wristband accessory would allow the user to navigate AR display menus with hand gestures: pinching your thumb and forefinger, for example, lets you "click" on options on a menu while your eyes act as cursors for scrolling through dialogue boxes. It's important to note that so far, Meta has not confirmed any of these features outright since the Orion product is still in the testing phase and not slated to launch until 2027. However, the company acknowledged this technology is among the most requested by users. Bringing useful AR to a wearable that's smaller than a massive headset is all new territory, but one that Meta seems committed to pioneering. Like the Meta Quest 3 (pictured), the upcoming smart glasses would allow users to see digital overlays. Of course, this raises a lot of questions. First and foremost, what kind of battery life are we looking at here with the addition of an AR display? The glasses don't have much room to house a large, robust battery, so it will be interesting to see how many hours of life we can expect from the device. The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses on the market right now aren't winning any awards for battery life; They advertise four hours of use or even less with intensive video or live streaming. Introducing lenses with a pass-through display and integration with a wearable wristband suggests a whole new level of power demands. Also: I took my Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses fly fishing, and they beat GoPro in several surprising ways Along those lines, the whole design challenge with smart glasses is making them lighter, more discreet, and overall "normal" looking. This new technology will inevitably make them even larger unless there are some serious leaps forward in compressing the hardware. Even if Meta can make the finished product the same size as the existing Ray-Bans, that would be a success. The glasses demoed by the Wall Street Journal included a "puck" that paired with the glasses and acted as a sort of processing hub. This implies that there's simply no room in the glasses' frames to include all the hardware needed to accomplish the tasks they're designed for. It's unclear whether this will be part of the final design or just part of the prototype. Frequent updates have kept the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses relevant a year after release. Pricing is another big question since, as reported by The Verge, each pair of Orion glasses costs around $10,000 to make , a point that isn't exactly promising from a consumer affordability standpoint. However, Meta has clarified that the technology involved in Orion is still firmly in the development phase, leading me not to focus too much on this number for now. We'll be paying close attention to developments made in 2025 and in the meantime exploring everything possible with the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which continue to receive regular feature updates like translation AI and in my humble opinion, one of the most practical features yet: integration with Shazam . ZDNET's product of the year: Why Oura Ring 4 bested Samsung, Apple, and others in 2024 I tested Samsung's 98-inch 4K QLED TV, and watching Hollywood movies on it left me in awe I let my 8-year-old test this Android phone for kids. Here's what you should know before buying This ThinkPad checks all my boxes for a solid work laptop. Here's why it stands outIs Enron back? If it's a joke, some former employees aren't laughing
HOUSTON (AP) — An elaborate parody appears to be behind an effort to resurrect Enron, the Houston-based energy company that exemplified the worst in American corporate fraud and greed after it went bankrupt in 2001. If its return is comedic, some former employees who lost everything in Enron’s collapse aren’t laughing. “It’s a pretty sick joke and it disparages the people that did work there. And why would you want to even bring it back up again?” said former Enron employee Diana Peters, who represented workers in the company’s bankruptcy proceedings. Here’s what to know about the history of Enron and the purported effort to bring it back. Once the nation’s seventh-largest company, Enron filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 2, 2001, after years of accounting tricks could no longer hide billions of dollars in debt or make failing ventures appear profitable. The energy company's collapse put more than 5,000 people out of work and wiped out more than $2 billion in employee pensions. Its aftershocks were felt throughout the energy sector. Twenty-four Enron executives , including former CEO Jeffrey Skilling , were convicted for their roles in the fraud. Enron founder Ken Lay’s convictions were vacated after he died of heart disease following his 2006 trial. On Monday — the 23rd anniversary of the bankruptcy filing — a company representing itself as Enron announced in a news release it was relaunching as a “company dedicated to solving the global energy crisis.” It also posted a video on social media, advertised on at least one Houston billboard and a took out a full-page ad in the Houston Chronicle In the minute-long video full of generic corporate jargon, the company talks about “growth” and “rebirth.” It ends with the words, “We’re back. Can we talk?” In an email, company spokesperson Will Chabot said the new Enron was not doing any interviews yet, but "We’ll have more to share soon.” Signs point to the comeback being a joke. In the “terms of use and conditions of sale” on the company's website, it says “the information on the website about Enron is First Amendment protected parody, represents performance art, and is for entertainment purposes only.” Documents filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office show College Company, an Arkansas-based LLC, owns the Enron trademark. The co-founder of College Company is Connor Gaydos, who helped create a joke conspiracy theory claiming all birds are actually government surveillance drones. Peters said she and some other former employees are upset and think the relaunch was “in poor taste.” “If it’s a joke, it’s rude, extremely rude. And I hope that they realize it and apologize to all of the Enron employees,” Peters said. Peters, 74, said she is still working in information technology because “I lost everything in Enron, and so my Social Security doesn’t always take care of things I need done.” “Enron’s downfall taught us critical lessons about corporate ethics, accountability, and the consequences of unchecked ambition. Enron’s legacy was the employees in the trenches. Leave Enron buried,” she said. But Sherron Watkins, Enron’s former vice president of corporate development and the main whistleblower who helped uncover the scandal, said she didn’t have a problem with the joke because comedy “usually helps us focus on an uncomfortable historical event that we’d rather ignore.” “I think we use prior scandals to try to teach new generations what can go wrong with big companies,” said Watkins, who still speaks at colleges and conferences about the Enron scandal. This story was corrected to fix the spelling of Ken Lay’s first name, which had been misspelled “Key.” Follow Juan A. Lozano on X at https://x.com/juanlozano70
Maryland is suing the company that produces the waterproof material Gore-Tex often used for raincoats and other outdoor gear, alleging its leaders kept using “forever chemicals” long after learning about serious health risks associated with them. The complaint, which was filed last week in federal court, focuses on a cluster of 13 facilities in northeastern Maryland operated by Delaware-based W.L. Gore & Associates. It alleges the company polluted the air and water around its facilities with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances , jeopardizing the health of surrounding communities while raking in profits. The lawsuit adds to other claims filed in recent years, including a class action on behalf of Cecil County residents in 2023 demanding Gore foot the bill for water filtration systems, medical bills and other damages associated with decades of harmful pollution in the largely rural community. “PFAS are linked to cancer, weakened immune systems, and can even harm the ability to bear children,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a statement. “It is unacceptable for any company to knowingly contaminate our drinking water with these toxins, putting Marylanders at risk of severe health conditions.” Gore spokesperson Donna Leinwand Leger said the company is “surprised by the Maryland Attorney General’s decision to initiate legal action, particularly in light of our proactive and intensive engagement with state regulators over the past two years.” “We have been working with Maryland, employing the most current, reliable science and technology to assess the potential impact of our operations and guide our ongoing, collaborative efforts to protect the environment,” the company said in a statement, noting a Dec. 18 report that contains nearly two years of groundwater testing results. But attorney Philip Federico, who represents plaintiffs in the class action and other lawsuits against Gore, called the company’s efforts “too little, much too late.” In the meantime, he said, residents are continuing to suffer — one of his clients was recently diagnosed with kidney cancer. “It’s typical corporate environmental contamination,” he said. “They’re in no hurry to fix the problem.” The synthetic chemicals are especially harmful because they’re nearly indestructible and can build up in various environments, including the human body. In addition to cancers and immune system problems, exposure to certain levels of PFAS has been linked to increased cholesterol levels, reproductive health issues and developmental delays in children, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Gore leaders failed to warn people living near its Maryland facilities about the potential impacts, hoping to protect their corporate image and avoid liability, according to the state’s lawsuit. The result has been “a toxic legacy for generations to come,” the lawsuit alleges. Since the chemicals are already in the local environment, protecting residents now often means installing complex and expensive water filtration systems. People with private wells have found highly elevated levels of dangerous chemicals in their water, according to the class action lawsuit. The Maryland facilities are located in a rural area just across the border from Delaware, where Gore has become a longtime fixture in the community. The company, which today employs more than 13,000 people, was founded in 1958 after Wilbert Gore left the chemical giant DuPont to start his own business. Its profile rose with the development of Gore-Tex , a lightweight waterproof material created by stretching polytetrafluoroethylene, which is better known by the brand name Teflon that’s used to coat nonstick pans. The membrane within Gore-Tex fabric has billions of pores that are smaller than water droplets, making it especially effective for outdoor gear. The state’s complaint traces Gore’s longstanding relationship with DuPont , arguing that information about the chemicals' dangers was long known within both companies as they sought to keep things quiet and boost profits. It alleges that as early as 1961, DuPont scientists knew the chemical caused adverse liver reactions in rats and dogs. DuPont has faced widespread litigation in recent years. Along with two spinoff companies, it announced a $1.18 billion deal last year to resolve complaints of polluting many U.S. drinking water systems with forever chemicals. The Maryland lawsuit seeks to hold Gore responsible for costs associated with the state’s ongoing investigations and cleanup efforts, among other damages. State oversight has ramped up following litigation from residents alleging their drinking water was contaminated. Until then, the company operated in Cecil County with little scrutiny. Gore announced in 2014 that it had eliminated perfluorooctanoic acid from the raw materials used to create Gore-Tex. But it’s still causing long-term impacts because it persists for so long in the environment, attorneys say. Over the past two years, Gore has hired an environmental consulting firm to conduct testing in the area and provided bottled water and water filtration systems to residents near certain Maryland facilities, according to a webpage describing its efforts. Recent testing of drinking water at residences near certain Gore sites revealed perfluorooctanoic acid levels well above what the EPA considers safe, according to state officials. Attorneys for the state acknowledged Gore’s ongoing efforts to investigate and address the problem but said the company needs to step up and be a better neighbor. “While we appreciate Gore’s limited investigation to ascertain the extent of PFAS contamination around its facilities, much more needs to be done to protect the community and the health of residents,” Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain said in a statement. “We must remove these forever chemicals from our natural resources urgently, and we expect responsible parties to pay for this remediation.”
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BREAKING: Tinubu opens up on regret over removal of fuel subsidyGENEVA (AP) — World Cup sponsor Bank of America teamed with FIFA for a second time Tuesday, signing for the Club World Cup that still has no broadcast deals just over six months before games start. Bank of America became FIFA’s first global banking partner in August and sealed a separate deal for a second event also being played in the United States, two days before the group-stage draw in Miami for the revamped 32-team club event . It features recent European champions Real Madrid, Manchester City and Chelsea. “FIFA is going to take America by storm and we’re going to be right at their side,” the bank’s head of marketing, David Tyrie, said in a telephone interview Tuesday. Bank of America joins 2026 World Cup sponsors Hisense and Budweiser brewer AB InBev in separately also backing the club event, and more deals are expected after Saudi Arabia is confirmed next week as the 2034 World Cup host. While games at the next World Cup, co-hosted with Canada and Mexico, will be watched by hundreds of millions globally mostly on free-to-air public networks, the Club World Cup broadcast picture is unclear. FIFA has promised hundreds of millions of dollars in prize money for the 32 clubs to share but is yet to announce any broadcast deals for the month-long tournament. It is expected to land on a streaming service. “You have to think about how you are going to connect with these fans,” Tyrie told the Associated Press from Boston. “TV is one, sure, social media is a big avenue. “The smart marketing capabilities are able to say ‘Hey, we need to tilt this one a little bit more away from TV-type marketing into social-type marketing.’ We have got a pretty decent strategy that we’re putting in place to do activation.” Engaging Bank of America’s customers and 250,000 employees are key to that strategy, Tyrie said. “It’s going to be for our clients, and entertainment, it’s going to be for our employees in creating excitement. All of the above.” The Club World Cup will be played in 12 stadiums across 11 cities, including Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C, and Lumen Field where the hometown Seattle Sounders play three group-stage games. European powers Madrid, Man City and Bayern Munich lead a 12-strong European challenge. Teams qualified by winning continental titles or posting consistently good results across four years of those competitions. The exception is Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, who FIFA gave the entry reserved for a host nation team in October based on regular season record without waiting for the MLS Cup final. LA Galaxy hosts New York Red Bulls playing for that national title Saturday. Messi’s team opens the FIFA tournament June 15 in the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium and will play its three group games in Florida. “The more brand players you bring in, the bigger the following you have got,” Tyrie acknowledged, though adding Messi being involved was “not a make or break for the event.” The Club World Cup final is July 13 at Met Life Stadium near New York, which also will host the World Cup final one year later. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
2024 shook the world in more ways than one. It was the rumble of discontent as half the world went to the polls. It was the shudder that went through financial markets following the largest-ever IT outage. It was the Earth shaking, literally, as thousands danced at the biggest concert tour in history. It was the shock waves that bloodshed in Ukraine, Gaza and more than 50 other conflict zones sent across the globe. From politics to pop culture, climate to conflict, the charts below reveal seven ways 2024 sent records tumbling. Global conflict reached new heights 2024 ranks among the most violent years in recent history, according to at least two datasets tracking armed conflict around the world. Political violence hit a high in 2024 Political violence rose for the third year in a row in 2024 to nearly 180,000 events, spurred mainly by conflicts in Ukraine, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Myanmar, according to the US-based . A "political violence event" is defined as a single altercation where force is used by one or more groups toward a political end. The upward trend in conflict is backed by separate figures from the Sweden-based , which rank 2024 as the equal-second most violent year (alongside 2020 and 2022) in nearly three decades of records. The dataset counts state-based armed conflicts with at least 25 deaths in any calendar year. With a month to go, 2024 was already the second-most violent year since WWII According to unpublished data shared with the ABC, UDCP has tallied 56 such conflicts from January to November 2024. This is three fewer than 2023, the worst year since 1946. However, the 2024 figure is based on provisional data, so could rise. "The final figure will be at least 56 but could be higher when [data for] December is added and everything is finalised," UCDP project manager Therese Pettersson told the ABC. Sarah Phillips, Professor of Global Conflict and Development at the University of Sydney, said we're seeing more conflicts around the world because weakened states have allowed or even encouraged violent groups like militia and terrorists to flourish. "We talk about states as the primary unit of power in the world, but the reality is that they have been hollowed out for decades," she says. "As state power becomes more tenuous, many leaders hold on ... by turning a blind eye to, or even facilitating, the violent groups that would seem to be their natural rivals." It's a kind of divide-and-conquer strategy aimed at fragmenting the state's opponents. But it often comes with unintended consequences, Professor Phillips explained. "This is a common tactic but the more it's used, the more it cannibalises the legitimacy of the state and feeds opposition to it, amplifying the cycle of violence." Half the world went to the polls More than 60 countries plus the 27 member states of the European Union held elections in 2024. Combined, these countries are home to some 4.2 billion people or half the world's population. 2024 was the biggest-ever election year From Senegal to South Korea, power in 2024 shifted at a sometimes dizzying pace. In the UK, the Conservative Party lost its 14-year grip on power while across the channel in Europe, far-right parties took centre stage. South Africa's African National Congress lost its majority for the first time since taking power in the country's first democratic elections in 1994. Mexico elected its first female president in a landslide. Mass government protests in Bangladesh forced the prime minister to flee following a poll boycotted by the main opposition party. In Iran, conservatives won most of the seats in a contest with the lowest voter turnout since the 1979 revolution. Meanwhile, the US is poised for a convicted felon to assume the presidency for the first time. Perhaps what emerges most clearly from the tumult is a desire for change, in whatever form. The ParlGov global research project found every single governing party facing election in a developed country this year lost vote share — a first in nearly 120 years of records, . This is the disinhibiting power of hopelessness, according to Michael Bruter, director of the Electoral Psychology Observatory at the London School of Economics and Political Science. When things feel so bad that they can't get worse, some people will vote for parties they don't believe have the solutions, . "The situation is so desperate that they want change at any cost." Taylor Swift eclipsed all concert tours in history It shattered numerous attendance records, produced the highest-grossing concert film ever and triggered seismic activity equivalent to a 2.3-magnitude earthquake with its dancing, . By virtually any measure, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, which wrapped up in Vancouver, Canada on December 8, was an astronomical success. So below we've illustrated just one data point: Eras sold an unprecedented $US2.078 billion ($3.33 billion) in tickets, according to Swift's production company. This is more than double the previous record and eclipses every other concert tour in history, even after adjusting for inflation and the number of shows. The 20 highest-grossing concert tours in history Liz Giuffre, a senior lecturer in communication and music, and sound design at UTS, said many of Swift's biggest fans are groups that have always been big concert-goers but are often overlooked. "She has such strong appeal for young women, girls and LGBTQI+ audiences... Think about how powerful the early Beatles were," she says, pointing out that, in demographic terms, Swift and the Beatles share the same group of fans. "There's a real force in this demographic; one that seldom gets as strongly served, especially by a female artist." Ozempic's maker became a $US500 billion behemoth Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, manufacturer of weight-loss wonder drug Ozempic, hit a market capitalisation of half-a-trillion US dollars ($800.77 billion) in 2024. Novo Nordisk is bigger than Denmark's entire economy Despite the company's history stretching back 100 years, Novo Nordisk only recently exploded into the public eye when social media videos spruiking Ozempic for rapid weight loss went viral and celebrities like Elon Musk and Kim Kardashian publicly lauded the drug for its weight-loss effects. The worldwide stampede and resulting global shortage of the injectable medicine has created serious problems for people who need the drug for its original purpose: to treat diabetes. Now, Novo Nordisk's spectacular growth has sparked new concerns in its home country. With a market value larger than Denmark's annual GDP, Novo Nordisk was the key force behind the expansion of Denmark's economy last year, fuelling fears that if Novo Nordisk stumbles or falls, . We're headed for the hottest year on record 2024 is set to be the warmest year since records began in the 1850s and the first year to average 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, . 2024 will be the first year to exceed the 1.5oC threshold Average temperatures for 16 of the past 17 months reached past the 1.5 degree threshold set by the Paris Agreement. November 2024 was 1.62 degrees above the pre-industrial level (1840-1900). The global average temperature in 2024 is virtually certain to be more than 1.55oC, compared to 1.48oC in 2023, according to ERA5 data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service. 2023 previously held the title for hottest year on record. "For 2024 to not be warmer than 2023, the average temperature anomaly for the remaining two months of this year would have to decrease by an unprecedented amount, nearly reaching zero," . Artificial intelligence sent emissions soaring Our seemingly insatiable appetite for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency has added a whole new dimension to the problem of reducing emissions. According to one estimate, the computational power needed to sustain the rise of AI alone is . The International Energy Agency (IEA) , fuelled by the rise of AI and cryptocurrency mining. This mammoth demand for energy comes with enormous environmental impacts. Tech titans Meta, Microsoft and Google — Meta's rose by 65 per cent in two years, Google's by 48 per cent in five years and Microsoft by 40 per cent in four years. Paul Haskell-Dowland, professor of computing and security at Edith Cowan University, said investing in green technologies alongside AI might buy us enough time to reach the point where AI itself could recommend ways to solve the problem. Another shorter-term possibility with more dramatic consequences, is companies charging for AI products as a way to reduce demand. Such a move, he warned, "would also introduce significant disadvantage to those unable or unwilling to afford the 'premium' services". A Chat-GPT text query uses nearly 10 times the power of a traditional Google search; an AI-powered Google search uses roughly 26 times the energy as the old-fashioned search. But these are a drop in the ocean compared to a single bitcoin transaction. This sucks up roughly 3.3 million times as much energy as a traditional Google search. AI and cryptocurrency have turbocharged energy consumption An 'embarrassing' blunder caused the worst-ever tech outage The faulty software update by US cybersecurity company Crowdstrike threw airports into chaos, sent banks and other businesses into meltdown and from Fortune 500 companies. Crowdstrike apologised "unreservedly" for the failure after its CEO George Kurtz was called to testify before the US Congress and explain what happened. But the most embarrassing part, according to one expert, was that the dodgy update that trapped millions of users in a blue screen of death (BSOD) loop is the kind of mistake that . Reporting and data: Design and development: Related topics Armed Conflict Artificial Intelligence Australia Business, Economics and Finance Climate Change Computer Science Cryptocurrency Denmark Elections Gaza Information Technology Industry Music Music Industry Myanmar Pharmaceutical Industry Pharmaceuticals Ukraine War World PoliticsTitans S Julius Wood suspended 6 games for PEDsDiscovering the Future's Emerging Forces, Collaborating on New Digital Ecology - Award Ceremony for 2024 Global Internet Competition of "Straight to Wuzhen" Concluded Successfully 12-03-2024 09:40 PM CET | Business, Economy, Finances, Banking & Insurance Press release from: Getnews / PR Agency: SHENZHEN HMEDIUM INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CO.,LTD On the morning of November 22, the Award Ceremony for 2024 Global Internet Competition of "Straight to Wuzhen" took place in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province. Wang Song, Deputy Director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, Ren Xianliang, Secretary General of the World Internet Conference, and Gao Xingfu, Deputy Director and Deputy Secretary of the Party Group of the Standing Committee of Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress attended the ceremony. They presented awards and commemorative certificates to representatives of the victorious projects. The Global Internet Competition of "Straight to Wuzhen" stands as one of the most prominent events of the World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, with this year marking its sixth iteration. Looking back at the previous five editions, out of 193 award-winning projects, 49.2% of the participating enterprises secured new financing after the competition, with a financing exceeding RMB 89.8 billion. Furthermore, 8 companies emerged as quasi-unicorns, 17 transformed into unicorns, and three successfully listed on the stock market. This year's competition, in addition to its traditional tracks of Intelligent Connected Vehicles, Digital Medicine, Industrial Internet, Smart IoT, and Digital Culture, introduced the AI+ Innovative Application Competition for the first time. A total of 1,048 projects from 27 countries worldwide, including 214 overseas submissions, were received. Following intense preliminary, semifinal, and final rounds, 59 projects were chosen to grace the award ceremony stage, receiving 6 special awards, 6 first prizes, 18 second prizes, and 29 third prizes. On behalf of the Cyberspace Administration of China, Wang Song warmly congratulated the successful organization of the competition and the award winners. He emphasized that digital technology is propelling the accelerated progression of the scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation. Leading-edge internet technologies, such as artificial intelligence, quantum technology, big data, and 6G communication, are continuously emerging, driving iterative upgrades in production methods, lifestyles, and social governance paradigms. Especially the swift advancement of artificial intelligence presents novel historical opportunities. Aligning with the theme "Discovering the Future's Emerging Forces, Collaborating on New Digital Ecology," the competition held this year inaugurated the AI+ Innovative Application Competition. This initiative aims to foster the integration and application of AI across various sectors, thereby bolstering the expedited growth of new productive forces. Wang Song presented three aspirations for the competition's future: establishing and improving its global network to foster deeper international exchanges and cooperation, harnessing the competition's professional and technical leadership to steer scientific and technological intelligence towards beneficial outcomes, and elevating the competition's brand influence while nurturing emerging talents for the future. In his address, Gao Xingfu emphasized that Zhejiang, after two decades of substantial growth, has emerged as a thriving hub for digital economy development. As early as 2003, during General Secretary Xi Jinping's tenure in Zhejiang, he had visionary plans for crafting Digital Zhejiang. Over the past 20 years, successive provincial party committees and governments have consistently adhered to this blueprint, recognizing the digital economy as a pivotal driver for high-quality progress. Recently, Zhejiang has prioritized bolstering its scientific and technological innovation capabilities, fostering industrial competitive edges, advancing the deep integration of digital and physical sectors, and constructing new infrastructure. The province has been proactive in implementing eight critical initiatives, including fortifying infrastructure, unlocking the potential of data elements, vigorously promoting the amalgamation of digital technologies with the real economy, and shaping a contemporary industrial system. Following a decade of development, Wuzhen Summit has fostered unanimity among stakeholders and established itself as a platform for global internet dialogue, exchange, and collaboration. Image: https://www.getnews.info/uploads/68502da3b066cccbf06c6b2d7e6b6523.jpg Event site photographs Over the years of accumulation, the competition has gradually evolved into an ecosystem centered around participating projects, expert judges, investment institutions, partners and local governments. As it embarks on a new five-year journey, the competition aims to align itself with the digital development trajectory, with roots in Zhejiang, a national outlook, and a global ambition. It strives to resonate with the pulse of the digital economy, forge a new digital engine for progress, cultivate a new digital ecosystem under co-governance and sharing, and establish a new digital and intelligent platform to attract exceptional talent, so as to inject more "digital vigor" into Zhejiang's and the nation's economic landscape and to establish "Wings of Digital" Global Ecosystem Community. This community serves as a strong magnet, drawing in participating projects, judges, experts, investment institutions, partners, and governments across the globe, aiming to strengthen policy, market, technology, financing, talent, and industry chain synergies, opening up a plethora of collaborative opportunities for all ecosystem participants, fully unleashing their value, and contributing new strength to building a community with a shared future in cyberspace towards a new stage. Over 500 delegates from governments, projects, expert panels, enterprises, and the media converged at this event. Image: https://www.getnews.info/uploads/2999c23cc5862b6261058d1579699a0c.jpg Image: https://www.getnews.info/uploads/5d09b8c28fffe01f1614ea40030d4a8b.jpg Image: https://www.getnews.info/uploads/0607d9a4fb6b9ef0fa220bb0a121af90.jpg Image: https://www.getnews.info/uploads/ea460994cdad838933998e38442e92ea.jpg Image: https://www.getnews.info/uploads/eac3932011f37b849b996c1f771bcfd6.jpg Media Contact Company Name: ZheJiang TuRing Interent Research Institute Contact Person: Fangyuan Chen Email: Send Email [ http://www.universalpressrelease.com/?pr=discovering-the-futures-emerging-forces-collaborating-on-new-digital-ecology-award-ceremony-for-2024-global-internet-competition-of-straight-to-wuzhen-concluded-successfully ] Phone: 0571-85228813 City: Hangzhou Country: China Website: http://gic.wicwuzhen.cn/ This release was published on openPR.None
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UPDATED, 12:40 PM: Walmart ‘s $2.3 billion acquisition of smart TV manufacturer Vizio and its SmartCast operating system closed Tuesday. The deal allows Walmart to collect Vizio’s automatic content recognition data to bolster advertising and positions the retail giant to be a bigger force in the connected TV world. “Vizio offers great products at great prices that customers love. They’ve always put customers at the center of their business – and that’s core to Walmart’s values and the omnichannel experiences we’re excited to roll out,” Seth Dallaire, Walmart U.S.’ EVP and Chief Growth officer, said in a statement. “Vizio has also expertly changed their business over time, like building and quickly scaling a profitable advertising business. Pairing it with Walmart Connect will be impactful and allow us to invest in our business even further on behalf of our customers.” Read details of the acquisition below. PREVIOUSLY, February 20: Retail giant Walmart is acquiring smart TV maker Vizio for $2.3 billion in a deal that will alter the streaming advertising landscape. While Vizio is a leading manufacturer of televisions, rivaling Samsung for supremacy in North America, Walmart is not mainly interested in its hardware business, however. Instead, it has coveted Vizio’s SmartCast Operating System, which has 18 million active accounts to be targeted by advertisers. With Amazon knitting together e-commerce and streaming ads with increasing potency, Walmart identified an opportunity in Vizio to counter-attack. Walmart has had phases of interest in the U.S. media business, selling its Vudu streaming subsidiary to NBCUniversal’s Fandango in 2020 after a 10-year run. Given that Walmart is a top retailer of smart TVs, integrating Vizio should be a more streamlined process than building out Vudu. It also sends a shot across the bow of Roku, whose interface is in one-third of all smart TVs in North America. The company will now face another scaled competitor for streaming ad dollars. Shares in Roku, which plunged 24% last Friday in the wake of a mixed quarterly earnings report, slid another 5% in premarket trading today on the Walmart-Vizio news. “There is a lot to be excited about with this acquisition,” said Seth Dallaire, EVP and chief revenue officer, Walmart U.S. “We believe Vizio’s customer-centric operating system provides great viewing experiences at attractive price points. We also believe it enables a profitable advertising business that is rapidly scaling. Our media business, Walmart Connect, is helping brands create meaningful connections with the millions of customers who shop with us each week. We believe the combination of these two businesses would be impactful as we redefine the intersection of retail and entertainment.” Vizio was founded in 2002. Its smart TV operating system, SmartCast, has surpassed 18 million active accounts, growing about 400% since 2018. Advertising now accounts for a majority of the company’s gross profit. “We believe this is the ideal next chapter in Vizio’s history. By bringing our capabilities and resources together, we’ll drive innovation and create even more value for our customers,” Vizio CEO William Wang said. “Walmart’s approach is aligned with Vizio’s mission and vision, and our technology will help bring a scaled, connected TV advertising platform to Walmart Connect. This transaction delivers immediate and compelling value to Vizio stockholders and is a true testament to the hard work of the entire Vizio team.”
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