The global AI landscape is witnessing notable developments as key players expand their presence and investments in the field. Companies like Amazon, Cohere Inc., and OpenAI are making strategic moves to capitalize on the growing opportunities within the AI sector.
These developments underscore the increasing importance of AI technologies across industries worldwide, with significant investments in infrastructure, soaring valuations, and international expansions driving the ongoing AI revolution.
South Korea’s Stock Market Surges with Record Foreign Investment Fueled by AI Enthusiasm
AI’s high global appeal has given an extra push to public enthusiasm a South Korea’s stocks and consequently, the quarterly foreign investment became so huge that it is now the largest in the history of equity listing in South Korea.
In the first quarter of 2024, overseas investors bought a total net of $12.2 billion in South Korea stocks which made as the second best in Asia after Japan. The primary target of the agency for the South Korean chipmakers did not only involved in the domestic subset of AI, but also the global AI supply chain, as Samsung Electronics Co. attracted $4.1 billion in investments and SK Hynix Inc. drew $1.3 billion in investments.
As a result of these bets, foreign ownership of the Kospi index reached 34.42% by the end of March, the highest level since the second quarter of 2021. Analysts at Goldman Sachs Group anticipate further inflows, noting that foreign ownership of the Kospi remains relatively low following a significant outflow of $50 billion in investments between 2020 and 2022. Despite the recent strong performance of Korean equities, analysts like Kyoung-Min Lee from Daishin Securities Co. suggest that investors may take profits in the near term. However, they expect global investors to continue buying Korean stocks over the long term, driven by momentum in AI and the turnaround in the memory sector. SK Hynix, South Korea’s second-largest chipmaker, has forecasted positive momentum in AI memory continuing into 2025, indicating sustained interest and potential growth in the sector.
This information is based on the article analyzed and reported by ThePlatform’s analysts team: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-31/ai-craze-drives-record-quarterly-foreign-flows-to-korean-stocks?srnd=technology-ai
Amazon’s $150 Billion Investment in Data Centers: Staying Ahead in the Cloud Services Market and AI Race
Amazon.com Inc. is planning to make investments amounting to almost $150 billion during the next 15 years in data centers to build infrastructure that is expected to be necessary to keep pace with the rising demand for AI solutions and digital services. This large amount of spending is proof that Amazon is bent on staying on top of the cloud services market, where it now holds about twice as much market share as its closest rival Microsoft.
According to Kevin Miller, who occupies the VP position at Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company aims to develop and improve the scalability of its data centers to better respond to the massive number of requests from its customers. Amazon has invested systematically in data center building and operations to the capability of $148 billion since 2022, with plans to expand existing hubs and establish new ones in locations such as Mississippi, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia.
The aim of expansion, however, is not only about responding to the corporate needs for storage and service usage but also the expectation of massive growth of generative artificial intelligence that will require processing power. Even though Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI are leaders in AI, Amazon comes up with its primal tools and creates partnerships with agencies that provide AI services.
While the advent of mega-data centers comes with benefits, one of the biggest hurdles remains the provision of electricity for power-hungry servers. In Virginia and Oregon where Amazon has more than one distribution center, power utilities are having a hard time sustaining this demand from Amazon and therefore Amazon is evolving to other locations and energy sources.
Although Amazon is said to be a devoted renewable energy supporter, its data centers often rely on fossil fuels due to the unconformity between the supply and demand on the grid. However, as a part of its efforts to ensure that the target of 100% renewable, carbon-free energy by 2025 is achieved, it is looking at clean energy techniques such as battery storage and nuclear power.
This information is based on the article analyzed and reported by ThePlatform’s analysts team: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-28/amazon-bets-150-billion-on-data-centers-required-for-ai-boom?srnd=technology-ai
Cohere Inc. Nears $5 Billion Valuation with $500 Million Funding Round
The AI firm Cohere Inc. is currently near the last stages of securing another round of funding which potentially will elevate its valuation to $5 billion. The company is currently involved in talks with investors for their bids to raise the sum of $500 million or more as their next round of funding.
According to official sources, the transaction is likely to comprise all investors who took part in Cohere’s Series C funding last year, which drew in over $2.1Bn. This round was kick-started by Inovia Capital with some strategic investments made by trend lines like Nvidia Corp, Oracle Corp, and Salesforce Ventures.
Established in the year 2019 and headquartered in Toronto, Cohere is a company dedicated to the development of language models that are large and builds them for different areas of applications. There is an artificial technology having the software being taught through a vast amount of internet data. This artificial intelligence is employed for tasks such as summarizing customer emails and website copywriting. In its early stages, CEO Aidan Gomez, formerly of Google, was instrumental in striving for up-to-date research in advanced AI with the widely acclaimed paper “Attention Is All You Need.”
Cohere has a quick growth pace no longer just in the occasion of the additional funding. The company’s annual revenue hit the $22 million mark by last March, swelled up by the newly developed natural language processing technology called Command R.
The new fundraising round that is predicted to be shared by Canadian pension investment manager PSP Investments was reported. The precise time of the closing of this deal is still undetermined, and Cohere declined to provide further comment on the issue
This information is based on the article analyzed and reported by ThePlatform’s analysts team: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-27/ai-startup-cohere-nears-deal-to-raise-funds-at-5-billion-valuation?srnd=technology-ai
OpenAI Expands to Asia with Tokyo Office Amid Global AI Surge
OpenAI will be establishing its first office in Asia with the opening of a branch in Tokyo, April of this year, as per Bloomberg’s information. This development, which occurred right after expanding its international footprint with offices at London and Dublin last year, is simply part of the natural order.
The rationality for choosing around to bring an office in Japan as OpenAI take trends in Artificial Intelligence, which started in November 2022, is that came after the launch of ChatGPT. According to various available sources, a company has been in negotiations with investors having a cap on the valuation of not less than $100 billion.
Japanese companies such as SoftBank Corp. and Nippon Telegraph& Telephone Inc. have been implementing the applications of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, focusing particularly on the area of Japanese language services. After having discussions with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last April, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, declared his intention to launch an office in Japan. The company aims to expand its Japanese language offerings and collaborate with the government to address risks and implement regulations related to AI.
This information is based on the article analyzed and reported by ThePlatform’s analysts team: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-01/openai-to-open-new-office-in-tokyo-as-part-of-global-expansion
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