TOPSHOT - Migrants travel in an inflatable boat across the English Channel (Photo by BEN ... [+] STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty ImagesThe U.K.'s National Crime Agency has said it's made big progress in stamping out accounts linked to people-smuggling on Meta, X, TikTok and YouTube.Its referrals to the firms led to a 40% increase in the number of account takedowns last year, with more than 8,000 accounts, representing more than 90% of all referrals made, removed.The figure was well up on the 5,600 removed in 2023, and means that more than 16,500 have been taken down in total since the NCA started working with four major social media companies just over three years ago.Some of the posts removed falsely claimed that small boat crossings from France to the UK would take place via speedboat; others offered prizes to migrants who referred a friend. Some accounts offered transport from Africa to southern Europe, and others offered fake ID documents for sale."Social media remains a key way the organised crime groups involved in people smuggling promoting their illegal services to migrants. It is a major part of their business model," said Sophie Austin, operations manager at the NCAs Online Communication Centre."Once migrants are engaged, they then move conversations onto encrypted messaging apps where they are hidden from law enforcement."Since agreeing a social media action plan with the four companies in December 2021, the NCA has carried out a number of investigations targeting individuals or groups using social media to promote their people-smuggling services.MORE FOR YOUAmong those convicted was Amanj Hasan Zada from Preston, jailed for 17 years in November 2024 after publishing video testimonials from those hed successfully smuggled. Two other men, Dilshad Shamo and Ali Khdir from Caerphilly in South Wales, were convicted in November of using social media apps to publicize their people-smuggling enterprise. They are now awaiting sentence."Taking down these accounts disrupts the activities of those criminal networks, we are devoting more resources to doing that as it is one of a number of ways we can actively target them and make their life more difficult," said Austin."We continue to work closely with social media platforms to highlight such content and contribute to the development of detection capabilities."Earlier this month, the U.K. government announced plans for travel bans, social media blackouts and restrictions on phone usage under tough new laws to dismantle people-smuggling networks.And people smugglers are exploiting social media in the U.S. too. Last November, for example, two high ranking cartel members were sentenced to prison for their part in a major human smuggling operation."Cartel del Noreste, a Mexican cartel, is known for engaging in ruthless acts of violence and extortion to support its drug trafficking operations, and in recent years it has added human smuggling to its list of illicit money-making operations, with Facebook and social media becoming invaluable tools to facilitate its new venture," said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani."CDN uses these platforms to recruit, coordinate and expand its criminal operations, reaching broader audiences, while putting countless lives at risk. For years, Suarez and Guzman used Facebook to exploit and profit from vulnerable individuals while also evading detection, but thanks to the efforts of my office, those days are now over."

What just happened? Chinese AI company DeepSeek released an open version of its reasoning model, R1, on January 20, 2025. The model has garnered much attention in the tech industry for its performance, which reportedly matches or exceeds OpenAI's o1 on certain AI benchmarks. Since its release, conversations on social media have been fast and furious about its potential impact on AI development and competition between Chinese and American tech companies. Prominent venture capitalist Marc Andreessen was one of those impressed by the feat, writing on X that DeepSeek's model was "one of the most amazing and impressive breakthroughs I've ever seen."DeepSeek's accomplishment is particularly noteworthy given the company's claim to have trained a model with 671 billion parameters using just 2,048 Nvidia H800s and $5.6 million, a fraction of the resources typically required by industry giants like OpenAI and Google. This cost-effectiveness is even more remarkable considering the U.S. sanctions that restrict the sale of advanced chips to Chinese companies.Commentators said that for these reasons, the model also has geopolitical implications. "The impressive performance of DeepSeek's distilled models [...] means that very capable reasoners will continue to proliferate widely and be runnable on local hardware, far from the eyes of any top-down control regime," Dean Ball, an AI researcher at George Mason University, wrote.Some observers believe that DeepSeek's success could potentially benefit the entire AI industry. "If training models get cheaper faster and easier, the demand for inference (actual real world use of AI) will grow and accelerate even faster, which assures the supply of compute will be used," Garry Tan, CEO of Y Combinator, wrote on X. // Related StoriesHowever, not all reactions have been uniformly positive. Neal Khosla, CEO of Curai, expressed skepticism, suggesting that the company might be a "ccp state psyop" aimed at undermining U.S. AI competitiveness. However, this claim has been challenged for lack of evidence.DeepSeek-R1 is a reasoning model that employs a step-by-step approach to problem-solving, making it particularly adept at tasks in physics, science, and mathematics. The model contains 671 billion parameters, which contribute to its problem-solving capabilities.DeepSeek has also released smaller "distilled" versions of R1, ranging from 1.5 billion to 70 billion parameters, with the smallest capable of running on a laptop.R1 is available under an MIT license, allowing for commercial use without restrictions. According to DeepSeek, the model outperforms OpenAI's o1 on benchmarks such as AIME, MATH-500, and SWE-bench Verified. These assess various aspects of AI performance, including mathematical problem-solving and programming tasks.One notable limitation of R1 is its adherence to Chinese regulatory requirements. As a Chinese model, it's subject to benchmarking by China's internet regulator to ensure compliance with "core socialist values." Consequently, R1 refrains from answering questions about sensitive topics such as Tiananmen Square or Taiwan's autonomy.Despite these constraints, DeepSeek's achievement has sparked significant interest. As of Sunday afternoon, DeepSeek's AI assistant has become the top free app in the Apple App Store, surpassing even ChatGPT.The success of DeepSeek has catapulted its creator Liang Wenfeng into the national spotlight. Recently, he was the sole AI industry representative invited to a high-profile meeting with Li Qiang, China's Premier and second-most powerful leader.Liang, a Chinese entrepreneur and hedge fund manager, began his journey to AI prominence in the world of quantitative finance. In 2015, Liang founded High-Flyer, a quantitative hedge fund that quickly rose to one of China's "Big Four" quantitative private funds. Under Liang's leadership, High-Flyer pioneered the integration of AI-driven strategies in quantitative investment, transitioning to a fully AI-based approach by 2017.Liang's foray into AI development began in earnest in 2021 when he started acquiring thousands of Nvidia GPUs for what was initially perceived as an eccentric side project. This prescient move laid the groundwork for DeepSeek, which Liang founded in 2023 with the ambitious goal of developing human-level AI.Liang's unconventional background has proven to be a unique advantage in the AI field. His team's experience in utilizing Nvidia chips for stock trading has translated well into the challenges posed by U.S. export restrictions on advanced AI chips to China. This adaptability has allowed DeepSeek to innovate in the face of limited access to cutting-edge hardware.

Editor's take: A takeover of Intel has become a Gordian knot. The company's factories require massive investments billions of dollars and several years to fix which most prospective buyers, companies or private equity firms aren't willing to handle. The US government has also poured a lot of money into these factories, making it politically difficult to shut them down. The problem is clear: no one wants the factories, but Intel can't be sold without them. No one wants to buy Intel's fabs and their bottomless funding needs, but the company probably cannot be sold without someone taking them on.There's been more stories this past couple of weeks about Intel getting acquired. An industry analyst claimed that he "had been read a letter" which showed some unnamed company was in the process of buying the company. We are not going to link to that report because we are not certain about its accuracy... something in the language feels "off" to us. Nonetheless, it sparked a surge in the company's share price and a host of follow-up coverage.Editor's Note:Guest author Jonathan Goldberg is the founder of D2D Advisory, a multi-functional consulting firm. Jonathan has developed growth strategies and alliances for companies in the mobile, networking, gaming, and software industries.This is not exactly news Reuters reported this back in September, and to be blunt, we trust Reuters' sourcing a lot more. Going back even further, we speculated that Broadcom could buy Intel all the way back in May before things got really bad at Intel. We were only semi-serious about that idea, but this timeline has clearly entered reality-is-stranger-than-fiction territory, and it looks likely that Broadcom at least considered a bid. As we have been saying, Intel is in play, and anything is possible.// Related StoriesWell, not anything. There are only a handful of companies capable of buying Intel, and the two most likely candidates have already taken a look and seem to have stepped away. There are also a dozen or so private equity funds who could afford it, but our sense is that they are passing on it as well.A takeover of Intel has become a Gordian knot. The big problem is funding the company's fabs, which will require tens of billions of dollars and years to get back on track. Few companies, and no private equity funds, really want to deal with that large of a funding need and time horizon. On the other hand, the US government has given Intel a lot of money, and so simply shutting down the fabs is deeply problematic. No one wants the fabs, but the company cannot be sold without them.In theory, the new administration could give a buyer approval to shut the fabs, but if someone has enough political capital for that purpose, why not use that political capital to secure some direct government support?In speaking with investors, our impression is that the Street assumes the only way to save Intel is for the government to intervene. We maintain that this is not a hard requirement, but we recognize that this is now the common perception of the situation. There are, of course, rumors that a certain highly-connected, deeply troubling tech mogul has a plan to buy the company. And from the very narrow perspective of saving the US' semiconductor manufacturing capacity, that may be what it takes.We are increasingly convinced that the only way for Intel to survive is for someone to buy them and remove the board. Unfortunately for the company, and the semiconductor industry, that path looks very challenging.

A complaint against Apple has been raised in the U.K. by industry giant BT Group, where it has voiced concerns over the companys use of eSIM technology, claiming it could hurt its business and stifle competition. The BT Group, which owns the EE network, the U.K.s largest mobile operator by subscribers, told the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) according to a report by The Telegraph:We encourage the CMA to consider the risk of disintermediation in the telecoms industry with respect to eSIMs, which is an additional area where handset providers could exercise their strong market position.Recommended VideosThe BT Groups concern is it may be forced out of the buying process by brands like Apple using eSIMs to build a stronger, direct relationship with buyers, and potentially introduce their own Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) services. The complaint follows the CMAs launch of an investigation into Apple and Googles mobile ecosystems, including app stores and browsers, to establish if either are abusing their market power.Please enable Javascript to view this contentShould the CMA find Apple or Google are exploiting their positions, potential alterations may be required to open up app stores and app functionality, and make it easier to pay for services in an app. While eSIMs are not mentioned in the CMAs documentation, the BT Group clearly feels it fits with an investigation into mobile ecosystems, and wanted to make sure the technology wasnt overlooked.Since 2022 all Apple iPhone models are sold as eSIM-only in the U.S., but in the U.K. a physical SIM card is still an option on the latest iPhone 16 models. However, Apple may change this in the future,. For example, the rumored Apple iPhone 17 Air is expected to only support an eSIM, which will assist in reducing the devices thickness. If the device is to launch globally, it may introduce the scenario concerning the BT Group.All the major carriers in the U.K. support eSIM, but not all MVNOs do. Interestingly, and perhaps somewhat ironically, when EE exclusively launched the Motorola Razr (2020) it was an eSIM-only device. The BT Group acquired EE in 2016.Editors Recommendations

A new data infrastructure helped Levis crunch the numbers on how everyonenot just the TikTok setmight want to go looser these days.

TSMC, DeepSeek and more in the latest Market Talks covering Technology, Media and Telecom.

The tortoise and the hare With successful New Glenn flight, Blue Origin may finally be turning the corner "This is the very beginning of the Space Age." Eric Berger Jan 27, 2025 7:00 am | 3 New Glenn lifts off on its debut flight. Credit: Blue Origin New Glenn lifts off on its debut flight. Credit: Blue Origin Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreIf one were to observe that I have written critically about Blue Origin over the last half-decade, they would not be wrong.The reality is that the space company founded by Jeff Bezos has underperformed. Its chief executive for most of this time, Bob Smith, was poorly regarded by his employees. He brought the worst of "old space" tendencies to Blue Origin from Honeywell. And under Smith's leadership, Blue was litigious, slow, and unproductive.Frankly, it was a bad look for Bezos. He was pumping something on the order of $2 billion a year into Blue Origin for what, exactly? Lawsuits against NASA? Jokes about BE-4 rocket engine delays?Ars published critical articles about Blue Origin because the company could be so much more, and the Western spaceflight community desperately wants a second new space contender to challenge SpaceX's increasingly dominant position.Finally, about 18 months ago, Bezos moved on from Bob Smith. He installed a long-time lieutenant from Amazon, Dave Limp, to get Blue Origin moving forward. Although there were concerns about Limp's background, which included little aerospace experience, it now seems clear that he has taken a strong hand at Blue since he took over the reins in December 2023.In the time I have spent with him, Limp seems energetic, enthused, and committed to turning the ship around at Blue Origin. He has made it clear that the mandate he received from Bezos is to execute on the company's programsand to do so with urgency."Everybody believes in this mission," Limp said of Blue Origin's plans to enable millions of people to live and work in space. "So that was kind of the foundation which you could build a house on. But I think that getting the organization a little bit more focused was critical. We had a lot of balls in the air. We still do, but it was important to make sure that the organization knows what the priorities were for us this year. We weren't getting anywhere without engines and without New Glenn."When I met with Limp and Bezos earlier this month on a balcony overlooking the main factory in Florida where future New Glenn rockets are built, there did seem to be a clear sense of urgency. Several times during our interview, one of us had to speak up to be heard over the clanging of this or banging of that.Days later, the New Glenn rocket took flight for the first time. The flight was a smashing success, with both the rocket's first and second stages reaching orbit, an impressive achievement for a company's first orbital launch attempt. Although the first stage was not recovered, it was not expected to be on the first try.Many aerospace engineers and technicians will tell you that a rocket company doesn't become a real rocket company until it reaches orbit. Well, by that definition, Blue Origin is now a real rocket company. And with Limp's leadership and Bezos' renewed energy and enthusiasm, the successful launch appears to mark a critical moment for Blue looking ahead.So where are they going?The near-term step is clear: getting better at building engines and rockets and flying New Glenn regularly. At times during his remarks, Bezos sounded a lot like SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who has spoken about "building the machine that builds the machine" over the last decade with respect to both Tesla vehicles and SpaceX rockets.Asked about Blue's current priorities, Bezos responded, "Rate manufacturing and driving urgency around the machine that makes the machine."He noted that Blue Origin built a factory in Huntsville, Alabama, but it took time to get it up and running, and then running efficiently. "Same thing here with the second stage," he said, referring to the New Glenn factory in Florida. "We need to produce a lot of second stages. And we need to produce a lot of booster stages, too. Were completely vertically integrated, so its making those valves, its making the igniters. There needs to be rate manufacturing of everything you can imagine that goes into a rocket." Seven BE-4 engines burn methane on the way to orbit. Credit: Blue Origin Seven BE-4 engines burn methane on the way to orbit. Credit: Blue Origin One of the key questions about Blue Origin is whether it will push toward full reusability with New Glenn. In 2021, Ars first reported on an effort codenamed "Project Jarvis" to develop a stainless steel upper stage that could be reused. The company even built a test tank, although the effort was eventually shelved.The current upper stage of the rocket uses two BE-3U engines and is 23 meters (77 feet) tall. Multiple sources have said the upper stage is expensive, at least in its initial configuration, and that this significantly inflates the cost of building New Glenn. Bezos said the company would "compete" two solutions to this problem against one another: developing a reusable upper stage or driving down the manufacturing cost of the stage."If you can drive your manufacturing costs low enough in rate manufacturingif you ever get to a really well-oiled machine that makes the machineit's possible that, because of the performance increase that you get with an expendable upper stage, that could be the right solution for a long time," Bezos said. "So we're going to try to make the expendable upper stage so cheap to manufacture that a reusable stage can never compete with it. And we're going to try to make the reusable stage so operable that an expendable stage can never compete with it."This competition will play out over the coming years as Blue Origin seeks to ramp up its launch cadence. "We'll see which one wins," Bezos said. "It's not something that you can do on paper. You just have to try both."Blue Origin has not disclosed its internal costs to produce New Glenn, but with seven main engines on the booster stage, it's likely not cheap. From talking to Bezos and Limp, it's clear they want to drive down those costs."There is still a lot of room with these heavy lift vehicles to reduce cost even further," Limp said. "To get a kilogram to any orbit or to the lunar surface, we've got to take two orders of magnitude out of the cost. If you think about what happened in the automotive industry or television industry, you can really crank down costs. So this is the very beginning of that."Its still day oneBlue Origin's motto is "Gradatim Ferociter," which is Latin for "Step by Step, Ferociously." (We're big fans of Latin at Ars. If you've ever stumbled over the name of the site, it's Latin for 'Technical Arts," which is what we cover.)The long-running joke in the space industry is that we'd all like to see a little less "gradatim" and a little more "ferociter" from Blue Origin. The company's coat of armsyes, it has oneprominently features two turtles. A turtle logo is also stamped onto a New Shepard spacecraft after every mission. This is a reference to one of Aesop's Fables, "The Tortoise and the Hare," in which the slow and steady tortoise wins the race.Bezos clearly believes Blue Origin is the tortoise that will win the space race. Blue Origin's coat of arms. Credit: Blue Origin Blue Origin's coat of arms. Credit: Blue Origin When someone points out that Blue Origin has existed for nearly a quarter of a century, defenders of the company will say that Blue spent the first decade of that time largely operating as a think tank. Although this is, to some extent, true, Blue Origin was developing hardware by around 2005. From my reporting on the early years of SpaceX, I spoke with multiple engineers who were poached by Blue Origin or vice versa. There was a hot competition for the sharpest rocket scientists coming out of the best schools during this time. So yes, Blue Origin started as a think tank, and it remained small, but it absolutely has been developing hardware for two decades now.And what deliverables does it have to show for this? Its suborbital launch system, New Shepard, has flown 28 missions. Four of its BE-4 rocket engines have powered two launches of United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket to orbit. And there was this month's New Glenn launch.That's it.It feels almost cruel to compare Blue Origin to SpaceX, which would be the "hare" in this fable. But it's necessary to do so. Founded in 2002, a couple of years after Blue Origin, SpaceX has launched about 450 orbital rockets to Blue Origin's one. It has put nearly six dozen astronauts into orbit, saving NASA from having to rely on Russia at a time of heightened geopolitical tension. Its Starlink constellation of more than 7,000 satellites delivers broadband Internet around the world. SpaceX is also developing the largest rocket in the world, Starship, with the aim of full reusability.When I wrote Reentry, my book about the Falcon 9 era at SpaceX, I spoke with someone who had worked at both companies. I asked them what the biggest difference between the two environments was. The quote, from the time period long before Limp became chief executive, reveals the magnitude of the challenge."They are the worlds largest single-donor nonprofit," this person told me of Blue Origin. "There is zero incentive to operate like SpaceX. Like, zero. I know Im going to get fed no matter what. The doors will never close. They start off with a huge disadvantage there. When you have a funding model like that, you attract the dreamer who says, Where can I go to work on something crazy and make a good salary at 40 hours a week? Where can you work on a space elevator and get paid? Who are the types of people who want to work on space elevators? So theres a selection bias. You need to take extraordinary measures to account for that, and they dont have them."In Blue Origin's defense, the products they have delivered have been of high quality. New Shepard has set the bar for suborbital space tourism. The BE-4 engine has performed excellently. And, of course, New Glenn performed well on its first flight.But there are many people in the industry who would like to see Blue Origin move much faster, and indeed, to come close to SpaceX, it must do exactly that. I asked Bezos about this."I would say, 'Stay tuned,'" he said. "This is the very beginning of the Space Age. When the history is finally written hundreds of years from now, the 1960s will be a certain kind of beginning, and [there were] certainly incredible accomplishments. But now we're really getting started. That was kind of pulled forward from its natural time, the space race with the Soviets. And now is the time when the real movement, the kind of golden age of space, is going to happen. It's still absolutely day one. There are going to be multiple winners. SpaceX is going to be successful. Blue Origin is going to be successful. And there are other companies who haven't even been founded yet that are going to grow into fantastic, giant space companies. So the vision that I think people should have is that this is the absolute beginning."Next stepsWhen one walks through the New Glenn factory in Florida, the impressive scale is inescapable. Critically, the company appears to be hardware-rich, with multiple first and second stages in various states of work. When Bezos talks about launching several more times this year, it seems plausible.In the lobby of the main building, there's a mock-up of the company's first lunar lander, Mark 1. It towers three stories tall. It's massive."Thats the small one," Bezos commented. "Mark 2 is twice as tall and twice as wide."These are impressive vehicles, built on a large scale. They're important first steps toward delivering cargoMark 1 could launch within the next 12 to 18 monthsand eventually crew. But none of these next steps can happen without New Glenn as the foundational first step. That's why this month's launch was so important. Jeff Bezos (second from right) converses with guests, including Ivanka Trump (L) and Elon Musk (second from left), at a candlelight dinner for US President-elect Donald Trump at the National Building Museum on January 19, 2025, in Washington. Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Jeff Bezos (second from right) converses with guests, including Ivanka Trump (L) and Elon Musk (second from left), at a candlelight dinner for US President-elect Donald Trump at the National Building Museum on January 19, 2025, in Washington. Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Bezos is clearly thinking through all this methodically. First, develop the road to space. And once you have that, what's next? You need to learn to live off the land."In my mind, the next big step is in situ resource development," he said. "So that's really a big unlock. For example, if you can make propellant on the Moon, that's a really big deal. You know, lifting a kilogram of mass off the Moon takes 25 times less energy than lifting a kilogram of mass off Earth. So if you're talking about moving about the Solar System, being able to get propellants and other materials, construction materials and so on from heavenly bodies is a big deal."It's a great vision, and it's nice to finally see Blue taking the first steps. What happens next will come down to Bezos' will, his finances, and whatever path the US government decides to follow.Days after New Glenn's first launch, Bezos attended the inauguration of Donald Trump, standing near Musk. The founder of SpaceX played a major role in getting Trump elected and has been advising him on space policy.Bezos and Musk, the tortoise and the hare, appeared chatty and friendly in a way that has not been the norm for the rivals. More commonly, they have sniped at one another rather than chummed it up. Perhaps now, they'll team up to help America spread among the stars.We'll see. Musk is interested in Mars, and Bezos is more fixated on the Moon. Ultimately, Trump may tell them both to follow their hearts, with the US government coming along for the ride.Eric BergerSenior Space EditorEric BergerSenior Space Editor Eric Berger is the senior space editor at Ars Technica, covering everything from astronomy to private space to NASA policy, and author of two books: Liftoff, about the rise of SpaceX; and Reentry, on the development of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon. A certified meteorologist, Eric lives in Houston. 3 Comments

Przemysaw Krokosz, Edge and Embedded Technology Solutions Expert,MobicaJanuary 27, 20255 Min ReadDragos Condrea via Alamy StockArtificial Intelligence continues to gain traction as one of the hottest areas in the technology sector. To meet AIs requirements for processing power we are seeing a race by US vendors to establish data centers worldwide. Google recently announced a $1 billion investment in cloud infrastructure in Thailand, which was followed almost immediately by Oracles promise of $6.5bn in Malaysia. Added to this are many similar ventures in Europe, all under the flag of AI development. Its hardly surprising then that people thinking about AI investment, typically think of a cloud-based project. Yet, we are also seeing significant growth in AI deployments at the edge, and theres good reason for this. The Case for the EdgeTwo of the most compelling reasons are the superiority of speed and security that edge computing can offer. Edges freedom from dependence on connectivity provides low latency and makes it possible to create air gaps through which cyber criminals cannot penetrate. These are both vitally important issues. Speed is of the essence in many applications -- in hospitals, industrial sites or transportation, for example. A delay in machine calculations in a critical care unit is literally a matter of life and death. The same applies to an autonomous vehicle detecting an imminent collision. Theres no time for the technology to wait for a cellular connection. Related:Meanwhile, cybercrime increasingly poses a major threat throughout the world. The 2024 Cloud Security Report from Check Point software and Cybersecurity Insiders, based on conversations with 800 cloud and cybersecurity professionals, found that 96% of respondents were concerned about their capacity to manage cloud security risks, with 39% describing themselves as very concerned. For sectors such as energy, utilities, and pharmaceuticals, security is a top priority for obvious reasons.Another reason for considering the edge deployment for an AI implementation is cost. If you have a user base that is likely to grow substantially, operational expenditure may increase significantly in a cloud model. It may do so even more if the AI solution also requires the regular transfer of large amounts of data, such as video imagery. In these cases, a cloud-based approach may not be financially sustainable in the long term. Developments at the EdgeWhile edge will never be able to compete with the cloud in terms of sheer processing power, a new class of system-on-chip (SoC) processors has emerged, which is designed for AI inference. Many of the vendors in this space have also designed chipsets that are dedicated to specific use cases that allow further cost optimization. Related:Some specific examples of these new products are Intels platforms to support computer vision edge deployments, Qualcomms improved chips for mobile and wearable devices, and Ambarella advancing whats possible with video and image processing. Meanwhile, Nvidia is producing versatile solutions for applications in autonomous vehicles, healthcare, industry and more.These are just some of the contributory factors in the growth of the global edge AI market. One market research company recently estimated that it would grow to $61.63 billion in 2028, from $24.48 billion in 2024. Taking AI to the EdgeSo how do you bring your AI project to the edge? The answer is carefully. Perhaps counter-intuitively, an edge AI project often should begin in the cloud. The initial development of edge AI inference usually requires a level of processing power that can only be found in a cloud environment. But once the development and training of the AI model is complete, the fully mature version can be deployed at the edge. The next step will be to consider how the data processing requirements can be kept to a minimum. The insatiable demand for computing power from the most capable AI models is widely known, but this applies to all scales of AI -- even smaller models at the edge. Therefore, at this point, a range of optimization techniques will be required to minimize the size of both processing power and required data inputs. Related:This will involve reviewing the specific use case and the capabilities of the selected SoC, along with all edge device components, such as cameras and sensors, that may be supplying the data. The process is likely to involve a sizeable degree of experimentation and adjustment to find the lowest acceptable level of decision-making accuracy that can be achieved without undue compromises in the quality of the solution. The AI model itself also needs to be iteratively optimized to enable inference at the edge. Achieving this almost certainly will involve several transformations, as the model goes through the processes of quantization and simplification. Businesses also need to address openness and extensibility factors to ensure that the system will be interoperable with third party products. This will likely involve the development of a dedicated API to support the integration of internal and external plugins, and the creation of a software development kit to ensure smooth deployments. Finally, AI solutions are progressing at an unprecedented rate, with better models being released all the time. So, there needs to be a reliable method for quickly updating the ML models at the core of an edge solution. This is where MLOps kicks in, alongside DevOps methodology, to provide the complete development pipeline. Tools and techniques developed for and used in traditional DevOps, such as containerization, can be applied to maintain competitive advantage.Given the speed of AI development, most organizations will soon be considering its adoption in one form or another. With edge technology advancing rapidly as well, businesses need to seriously consider the benefits this can provide before they invest. About the AuthorPrzemysaw KrokoszEdge and Embedded Technology Solutions Expert,MobicaPrzemysaw Krokosz is an edgeand embedded technology solutions expertatMobica. He works closely with some of the worldslargest and most prestigious organizations on innovative areas of tech development.See more from Przemysaw KrokoszNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports

A video of Bridgette Vong, a former marketing specialist, breaking up with her partner went viral on TikTok.She leveraged the engagement to create a side hustle and then a full-time career as an influencer.The breakup was the "best thing that's ever happened" to her, she said.This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Bridgette Vong, a 26-year-old content creator based in Toronto. It has been edited for length and clarity.In July 2022, I posted a TikTok video of the final hug my ex-partner of five years and I shared before we broke up. Two years later, the breakup and posting about it are possibly the best thing that ever happened to me.It never crossed my mind that recording our final goodbye wasn't a "normal" thing to do. I was into recording little moments of my life as sentimental keepsakes. I have a background in marketing and content creation so it was a creative outlet of mine.I posted it to my few hundred followers and used hashtags like #healingjourney and #postbreakup but didn't expect it to blow up.When I woke up the next day, I had 22,000 followers and the video had a million views. I thought it was a one-off, but the next few videos I posted, about how I was feeling and our last moments, also got millions of views. Vong said that posting about her breakup was the best thing that ever happened to her. Bridgette Vong People started sharing their breakup stories with me and asking for tips on how to stay strong. My content was inspiring, comforting, or relatable.I had never seen anyone post about their breakup journey on TikTok before, but I thought I'd keep documenting my healing process to help all the girls who were sending me comments and asking for advice. It gave me so much purpose.I knew I couldn't waste the opportunityI thought to myself: "Okay Bridgette, you have some choices here. You have 30,000 followers all of a sudden, your comments and DMs are going crazy, you have always wanted to be Kylie Jenner why don't you just keep posting?"With a background in marketing, I knew I would be an idiot not to do something with the opportunity.So, I started posting regularly. I didn't hope for financial gain or a career out of it, I just wanted to show people my journey and help those who resonated with it.Even if the video hadn't gone viral, I would have kept posting regardless I was just so passionate about encapsulating emotions into little videos. I wanted to document myself every day and see the progress I was going to make in my heartbreak journey, so that one day I could look back and see how far I had come. Vong posted TikToks about her post-breakup feelings, which resonated with viewers. Bridgette Vong I was 100% authentic and just shared how I was feeling that day, something my therapist said, or what was working for me at that moment. It was fun to do, and never felt like a task.I owe my life to posting those silly videos. It gave me a project to dive into, and the community I found was single-handedly the most amazing resource for healing from the breakup.I started to take it more seriously and earn money from influencingBecause marketing was my job, I already had a tripod, and knew to tag brands in posts and do simple things like have my contact email in my bio.I was going to the gym a lot trying to "glow up" after the breakup, so I tagged lots of activewear brands in my posts in the hope they would repost my content. That's when brands started reaching out to me to invite me to events. Vong posted about starting to date again after her breakup. Bridgette Vong I got my first brand deal with Notion $100 to use a product that I used anyway. Two months after it all kicked off, an agent reached out to me. I put my marketing hat on and started to think about how I could make a few hundred bucks a month as a little side hustle.For the first year, I'd maybe get two brand deals a month. I was posting consistently, sometimes twice a day without really thinking about it, which built my personal brand and kept the followers coming.By April 2023, I had healed from the breakup, and I didn't want to keep talking about it.So I started posting more content about living alone in Toronto. I would still answer DMs about breakup advice, and the original video was still gaining traction, but I didn't want to be known as the "breakup girl." Vong transitioned her content away from breakups and started posting about debt and living alone in Toronto. Bridgette Vong I posted a video about my $15,000 of credit card debt, which blew up and got brand interest, so I was super strategic and used that to finally move away from posting about the breakup.I started spending more time on my social media feeds than on my full-time job at the time, and it went incredibly well.By January 2024, I realized I either needed to quit my full-time job or scale back on my content because I was spreading myself too thin. I took the chance and quit.I've paid off my debt, do five-figure brand deals, and am making more than my corporate salary while working way fewer hours on my own schedule. It took a while to get used to, but it's been incredible, beyond my wildest dreams.

People can't get enough of Timothe Chalamet's unusual marketing campaign for "A Complete Unknown."He performed deep-cut Bob Dylan songs on "Saturday Night Live!" and arrived at the London premiere on a rental bike.He's nominated for an Oscar and these stunts could help get the attention of the Academy Awards voting panel.From rocking up to a premiere on a rental bike to performing a medley of Bob Dylan songs on "Saturday Night Live!" Timothe Chalamet has taken an unusual approach to his press tour for his latest movie, "A Complete Unknown."These unconventional stunts are a smart tactic to break through the noise during a competitive awards season, marketing experts told Business Insider.If they pay off, they could help clinch Chalamet his first Oscar, making him the youngest best actor winner in Academy Awards history.Chalamet keeps going viralIn the last few months, Chalamet has gone viral for a number of unexpected side quests while promoting the James Mangold-directed biopic. Before the publicity campaign began in earnest, he showed up to a lookalike contest of himself last October, making him appear "down-to-earth," Katharina Stolley, a marketing lecturer specializing in the creative industries at the University of Birmingham, UK, said.He kept up the stunts as the film hit theaters in December by surprising people with his "elite ball knowledge" on an ESPN panel, copying an unexpectedly casual and memed outfit of Dylan's at the New York premiere, and arriving to the London red carpet on a bright green e-bike that has become synonymous with young Londoners.Then there was his circuit of interviews with niche internet celebrities with cult followings: Theo Von, Brittany Broski, and the eccentric journalist Nardwuar, who typically interviews musicians not actors.Chalamet then used a more traditional promotional tactic this weekend: hosting the sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live!"Even then he pushed the envelope, becoming the first actor to host and perform as an episode's musical guest, singing a selection of deep-cut Dylan tracks.The appearance gave those who have not yet seen "A Complete Unknown" a glimpse of Chalamet's take on Dylan, while "endearing him to a new, wider audience," said Markus Wohlfiel, a senior lecturer in marketing at De Montfort University, UK.Stolley said that these stunts cultivate a "relatable public image" and "reveal his commitment to staying connected with his audience."Chalamet is at the center of a clever "guerrilla marketing campaign"They also amount to, more or less, free publicity. Searchlight Pictures, the Disney-owned production and distribution company behind the film, rolled out a traditional marketing campaign for "A Complete Unknown," including press junkets, as well as advertising in print and in cinemas and on billboards.But Wohlfiel said Chalamet's stunts have collectively delivered a "clever out-of-the-box"As everyone is talking about it in the traditional and social media, creating interest in the actor and the movie, they are clearly achieving their objectives with hardly any financial investment," he said of Chalamet and his publicity team.Carl Jones, a senior lecturer in digital media at the University of Westminster, UK, agreed that Chalamet's stunts are a cost-effective way of getting his name and, by extension, the movie out there."This type of activity is a free way to get a film talked about in the media. Usually advertising a film costs Hollywood studios millions of dollars, but doing a stunt only costs the price of the stunt," he said.Better yet, the gambits match the theme of "A Complete Unknown," which covers a controversial period in Dylan's career in the 1960s when he switched from acoustic to electric guitar and took a gamble on a new sound; Chalamet is similarly walking an unorthadorx path as a young star.Chalamet's promotion of 'A Complete Unknown' has a second target awards voters. Timothe Chalamet at the New York premiere of "A Complete Unknown" in December 2024, copying Bob Dylan's outfit at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. Nina Westervelt / Variety via Getty Images / James Devaney / WireImage Although the actor lost out on a Golden Globe earlier this month, he is still in the running for a BAFTA, SAG Award, Critics' Choice Award, and the most coveted of all, an Oscar. These awards are chosen by panels of industry insiders and critics whom nominees must impress.Ashanti Omkar, a film, TV, and culture critic and broadcaster who is a member of the voting body for the BAFTAs, said Chalamet's virality could help keep him on voters' radars."Promotions which are memorable can stick in the minds of busy voters who are juggling their full time jobs while also assessing what to vote for," Omkar said. "The stunts here are great for visibility, but it is Timothe's sheer hard work and talent that has gotten him this level of awards buzz for 'A Complete Unknown.'"