SoftBank Group aims to capitalize on soaring demand for the computing capacity that underpins artificial intelligence applications. SoftBank Group agreed to buy private equity firm DigitalBridge Group for about $3 billion in cash, part of the Japanese conglomerate's push to invest in data centers and other digital infrastructure fueling the artificial intelligence boom. SoftBank will pay $16 per share for New York-listed DigitalBridge, the companies said in statement Monday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. The offer -- valued at $4 billion, including debt -- is a 65% premium to DigitalBridge's closing share price on Dec. 4, the last trading day before talks between the two companies were reported. SoftBank's billionaire founder Masayoshi Son aims to capitalize on soaring demand for digital infrastructure, driven by the AI boom.

The world of gaming is being rocked by an AI controversy that could upend the multi-billion dollar industry. Olympic organizers unveiled their plans Friday to use artificial intelligence in sports, joining the global rush to capitalize on the rapidly advancing technology. The International Olympic Committee outlined its agenda for taking advantage of AI. Officials said it could be used to help identify promising athletes, personalize training methods and make the games fairer by improving judging. "Today we are making another step to ensure the uniqueness of the Olympic Games and the relevance of sport. To do this, we have to be leaders of change," IOC President Thomas Bach said at a press event at the former London Olympic Park, which hosted the summer games in 2012.

Kara Frederick, tech director at the Heritage Foundation, discusses the need for regulations on artificial intelligence as lawmakers and tech titans discuss the potential risks. The current infatuation with artificial intelligence is indicative of the level of competence of those who are in the headlights of a fast-moving, still unidentified, flying object. The headlines range from "Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI" (through the European Commission) to promising a world free of disease (cancer, in particular), and unlimited prosperity. No more need for lawyers (thank God!), no more need for doctors, not to say truck drivers, and Hollywood screenwriters. AI is all over, most of the time in stealth mode – and pretty successful in every form of surveillance (there are so many).

Artificial intelligence is about to have its "iPhone moment" and could revolutionize everything, according to Bank of America. In a Tuesday note to clients, BofA strategists listed four reasons why AI is about to change the landscape: democratization of data, unprecedented mass adoption, "warp-speed" technological development, and abundant commercial uses. "We are at a defining moment - like the internet in the '90s - where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is moving towards mass adoption, with large language models like ChatGPT finally enabling us to fully capitalize on the data revolution," they said. Up until recently, AI could read and write but couldn't understand content, BofA said. Tools like ChatGPT have changed that, however, and its ability to understand natural language has opened the door to huge upside.

Are you ready to take your business to the next level? Look no further than the rapidly expanding field of artificial intelligence. With advancements in technology, AI is revolutionizing industries and creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs. From healthcare to finance, AI is improving efficiency and driving innovation. Entrepreneurs who embrace this technology can create new business models and revenue streams.

Check out the on-demand sessions from the Low-Code/No-Code Summit to learn how to successfully innovate and achieve efficiency by upskilling and scaling citizen developers. The use of technology has helped make live events a better overall experience for attendees in a wide variety of ways. Guests can now book tickets online, look up valuable information on their smartphones, and even attend events virtually. Event organizers have benefitted, too; technology has made it easier to organize, manage, and keep track of everything and everyone before, during, and after events. During the pandemic, it was technology that made it possible to continue events in new forms -- often smaller and more personal than their large, in-person counterparts but not necessarily any less successful.

Google on Tuesday announced a broad swath of updates to its cloud offerings, aiming to capitalize on its strength in artificial intelligence to gain market share from rivals. The new services--announced at Google's Next '22 event--include Vertex AI Vision, which is designed to make it easier to use AI technology such as image recognition. There's also an AI-based service called Translation Hub that translates documents in 135 languages, the Alphabet Inc.-owned company said. Google is beefing up its cloud infrastructure as well, relying on a fourth-generation version of Intel Corp.'s Xeon Scalable processor and Google's custom Intel chip. The company unveiled a new C3 machine series that's powered by the chips, as well as an updated Tensor processing unit that helps accelerate AI functions.

Inflation is causing stress and worry around the globe. Residents of Turkey, Argentina, Venezuela and dozens of other countries have seen prices jump by hundreds of percent in recent years. And this is becoming a larger problem in developed countries as well. According to experts at Goldman Sachs, U.K. inflation could hit as high as 22% in the coming period. The European Union also faces sharp price rises.

Enveil, the pioneering Privacy Enhancing Technology company protecting Data in Use, announced that it has closed $25 million in Series B funding. The oversubscribed round was led by USAA with contributions from existing investors which include Mastercard, Capital One Ventures, C5 Capital, DataTribe, In-Q-Tel, Cyber Mentor Fund, Bloomberg Beta, GC&H, and 1843 Capital. Building on an over 300% increase in revenue achieved since closing its Series A funding, Enveil will leverage the capital to expand sales, product development, and marketing activity to capitalize on the accelerating market need to span global data silos and enable secure and private data usage, sharing, collaboration, and monetization. This brings the total amount raised by the category-defining startup to more than $40 million since its formation in 2016. "Modern digital business requires crossing global data silos and the current barriers of trust are leaving massive unrealized data value" Digital transformation, the rise of the digital economy, and the broad recognition of data as an asset have transformed global data usage requirements.

Accelerating their net zero ambitions has been top of retailer's agendas for a number of years, with the sector considering itself one of the most ambitious when it comes to tackling climate change, but the real picture is alarming. According to research from Microsoft, only 28 per cent of UK retail organizations are currently on course to be net zero by 2050 – in stark contrast to the national average of 41 per cent. Furthermore, as 74 per cent of organizations within all sectors describe a'one foot in, one foot out' approach on sustainability, whereby strong ambitions have yet to be translated into meaningful action, retailers can't afford to be left behind. Harnessing available technology, such as data analytics and AI, to accurately record their progress is one of the fundamental steps to securing their continued success, in an ever more competitive marketplace. Contributing to the protection of the future of the planet is obviously the core reason for improving the sustainability performance of any business, but aside from that, retailers should view boosting their sustainability credentials as a way of remaining competitive and relevant in a fast-changing world.