NewsBytes

YouTube unveils new AI tools, alliances to spur knowledge, creative economy   

YouTube has released a suite of new AI-powered tools, alongside partnerships and safety features, as the video streaming platform underlined its commitment to fostering India's creative economy and enhancing digital well-being. At the annual YouTube Impact Summit earlier this week, it also highlighted a report from Oxford Economics which revealed that YouTube's creative ecosystem contributed over Rs 16,000 crore to India's GDP last year and supported more than 930,000 full-time equivalent jobs. YouTube announced partnerships with the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT) and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), alongside new AI-powered tools designed to unlock creativity and connect Indians to credible information, according to a release. Gunjan Soni, Managing Director - India, YouTube, said the platform's impact isn't just about views, it's about livelihoods and shared economic growth.

India falls behind in AI adoption; nearly 45 pc are still in early stage: Report         

Even as AI is the buzzword across boardrooms in India, but true transformation is still taking shape with 45 per cent of Indian firms still at the early stage of adoption, a report said on Wednesday. While most organisations have embarked on their AI journey, many remain stuck in the early stages compared to global markets, which are in more advanced stages of AI adoption, payroll and HR platform Deel said in a report - AI at Work: The Role of AI in the Global Workforce. About 45 per cent of Indian firms are at the early stage of adoption, 38 per cent at the intermediate stage, and only 17 per cent at an advanced stage where AI is embedded in core business processes and innovation, revealed the report. The AI at Work: The Role of AI in the Global Workforce report by Deel is based on a survey conducted in September among 5,500 business leaders in 22 markets across the globe, including in India across sectors..

Indonesia raises alert for Mount Semeru volcano to highest level after series of eruptions   

 Indonesian authorities raised the alert for Mount Semeru volcano to the highest level on Wednesday after a series of eruptions. The volcano lies on the country's most densely populated island. Mount Semeru in East Java province unleashed avalanches of searing clouds of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that travelled up to 7 kilometrs down its slopes several times since midday to dusk, while a column of hot clouds rose 2 kilometres into the air, Indonesia's Geology Agency said in a statement. The eruption throughout the day blanketed several villages with falling ash and forcing authorities to raise the volcano's alert level twice, from the third-highest level to the highest, the agency said. No casualties have been reported. Semeru, also known as Mahameru, has erupted numerous times in the past 200 years. Still, as is the case with many of the 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, tens of thousands of people continue to live on its fertile slopes. Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 270 million people, sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines, and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.

$1 trillion Saudi investment in US, F-35 sale to Riyadh as Trump, MBS announce major strategic deals

President Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia have finalised a series of "landmark agreements" that deepen the US-Saudi "strategic partnership," expand opportunities for high-paying American jobs, strengthen critical supply chains, and reinforce regional stability, "all while putting American workers, industry, and security first," the White House said.    President Trump also approved a major defence sale package, "including future F-35 deliveries, which strengthens the US defence industrial base and ensures Saudi Arabia continues to buy American. The President secured an agreement for Saudi Arabia to purchase nearly 300 American tanks, enabling Saudi Arabia to build up its own defence capabilities and safeguarding hundreds of American jobs," the White House said in a statement Crown Prince Salman's announcement of USD 1 trillion in the United States marks a sharp rise from the $600 billion pledge made during President Donald Trump's visit to Riyadh earlier this year, as per the White House.