China Telcom’s AI Research Institute claims it trained a 100-billion-parameter model using only domestically produced computing power – a feat that suggests Middle Kingdom entities aren’t colossally perturbed by sanctions that stifle exports of Western tech to the country.

The model is called TeleChat2-115B and, according to a GitHub update posted on September 20, was “trained entirely with domestic computing power and open sourced.”

“The open source TeleChat2-115B model is trained using 10 trillion tokens of high-quality Chinese and English corpus,” the project’s GitHub page states.

The page also contains a hint about how China Telecom may have trained the model, in a mention of compatibility with the “Ascend Atlas 800T A2 training server” – a Huawei product listed as supporting the Kunpeng 920 7265 or Kunpeng 920 5250 processors, respectively running 64 cores at 3.0GHz and 48 cores at 2.6GHz.

Huawei builds those processors using the Arm 8.2 architecture and bills them as produced with a 7nm process.

At 100 billion parameters, TeleChat2 trails the likes of recent Llama models that apparently top 400 billion parameters, or Open AI’s o1 which has been guesstimated to have been trained with 200 billion parameters. While parameter count alone doesn’t determine a model’s power or utility, the low-ish parameter count suggests training TeleChat2 would likley have required less computing power than was needed for other projects.

Which may be why we can’t find a mention of a GPU – although the Ascend training server has a very modest one to drive a display at 1920 × 1080 at 60Hz with 16 million colors.

It therefore looks like the infrastructure used to train this model was not at parity with the kind of rigs available outside China, suggesting that tech export sanctions aren’t preventing the Middle Kingdom from pursuing its AI ambitions.

Or that it can deliver in other ways, such as China Telecom’s enormous scale. The carrier has revenue of over $70 billion, drawn from its provision of over half a billion wired and wireless subscriptions. It’s also one of the biggest users and promoters of OpenStack. Even without access to the latest and greatest AI hardware, China Telecom can muster plenty of power.

theregister.com

The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) on Wednesday said that it was making deliberate efforts to close the digital divide among the youths, underserved and unserved communities.

The Executive Vice-Chairman (EVC), NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, said this at the 2024 Nigeria Innovation Summit (NIS) 9.0 in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the Summit is, “Building a Culture of Innovation”.

The Head, New Media and Innovation Security, NCC, Babagana Digima represented the EVC.

Maida said that the Universal Service Provision Fund of the NCC was responsible for providing digital access to underserved and unserved areas.

He said that the NCC had done a lot of work across the country, done projects in almost all secondary schools across the country, and provided digital tools for people with disabilities.

According to the NCC boss, the commission has also subsidised the deployment of base stations in rural areas to provide them with Internet connectivity.

“The commission also identifies youths with talents, and supports them with mentorship, formal support, and identification as a legal entity, among others.

“Nigeria youths are faced with unemployment and the honourable minister of Innovation and Digital Economy has an initiative called 3Million Technical Talents,’’ he said.

Maida said that the commission was fully in support of the 3Million Technical Talents initiative, adding that the commission had also embarked on many empowerment programmes.

He said that in trying to close the digital divide, the NCC trained youths on use of digital tools, enables them to access the tools and also continuously supported those in need of the tools.

John Ajah, the Convener, Nigeria Innovation Summit (NIS) 9.0, said that this edition was organised to explore why innovative culture was essential for national development, and how it could provide opportunities for economic growth.

Ajah said, in his opening remarks, that the annual event brought together stakeholders from different sectors of the economy to discuss ground-breaking ideas and trends.

He added that the stakeholders also discussed opportunities and numerous verticals to accelerate innovation to attain certain goals.

The convener said: “This year’s event has enabled us bring together stakeholders to discuss how we can move forward as a country.

“We will be using the “four Cs” for discussion, which are conversation, collaboration, community and connection.

“Some leading countries in the world have used the culture of innovation to improve the quality of their lives, Nigeria and Africa should not be left out.”

He noted that in establishing the culture of innovation, stakeholders must build strong institutions that leveraged emerging technologies to solve critical local problems.

“The NIS is designed to be the springboard of some insights and also challenge the minds of stakeholders to begin leveraging innovative culture for global competitiveness and digital acceleration.

“The highlights of the NIS 2024 includes the Nigeria Innovation Experience Talks (NiX Talks), innovation tours, innovation showcasing & exhibitions, startup pitch, and the 2024 Nigeria Innovation Awards, and more.

“We have speakers from government agencies, corporate organisations, investment groups, international bodies, research institutions, and leading start-ups in Nigeria and around the world.

“This edition offers great opportunities through sponsorship, partnership, and exhibitions of innovative products, ideas, and services,” he said.

Ajah said that the NIS would continue to partner with the world’s leading innovation providers from the academic community, government and industry.

This partnerships, he said, were to connect Nigerian businesses and innovators to the global innovation ecosystem.

The convener noted that previous editions of the NIS attracted over 10,000 delegates, 200 speakers and panellists.

According to him, 100 tertiary institutions and research centres, 40 government ministries, attendees from 36 states were present for past editions.

He added that the past eight editions also witnessed over 100 sponsors and partners, 40 countries in attendance and over 85 award recipients.

Source: 21stcenturychronicle

A player in the crypto payments industry, 100Pay, has announced a significant step forward in promoting cryptocurrency adoption across Nigeria with the launch of a $200,000 startup fund.

In addition to the funding, the platform also unveiled its new 4,000-square-meter headquarters in Port Harcourt, signaling a major step in its expansion plans across Africa.

The initiative, according to the firm, is designed to support businesses and startups focused on integrating crypto payments into their operations, particularly through 100Pay’s innovative PAY Checkout platform.

The company said in a statement that the $200K fund aims to empower startups driving crypto adoption through PAY checkout, enabling them to access resources and support needed to implement crypto transactions in physical stores, e-commerce platforms, and mobile apps.

Some of the startups that already benefited from the fund include Everest Mobility, a ride-sharing platform; Cloudnotte, an edutech firm dedicated to making education more accessible; and Meedleman, an escrow service designed to protect freelancers and ensure timely payments.

According to 100Pay, its PAY token, which offers users discounted crypto payments, is central to this program, providing businesses with a seamless way to accept digital currencies straight to their local bank accounts.

“With over 20,000 businesses already onboard, we’re focused on making crypto more accessible for Nigerian businesses.

“Our $200K startup fund is a key part of that vision, giving businesses the tools and support to attract crypto-savvy customers,” CEO and founder of 100Pay, Brainy Josh, said.

Josh revealed that the company’s infrastructure enables payment acceptance in over 20 cryptocurrencies. He highlighted the platform’s capability for swift conversions from USDT and PAY tokens to Naira, thereby eliminating the need for peer-to-peer transactions.

He also disclosed that 100Pay’s infrastructure is driving HXAfrica, a Security and Exchange Commission-licensed housing exchange. According to him, HXAfrica simplifies real estate investment through tokenization.

The CEO disclosed that it is partnering with Nano Apps, a cross-platform app store, to support app developers within its ecosystem.

“We are also forming strategic partnerships with major tech and retail brands, including LG, Samsung, Hisense, and BRUHM.”

The company is also working with top e-commerce platforms, ride-sharing services, and utility payment apps to integrate its PAY Checkout system.

In terms of expansion, 100Pay is also creating job opportunities, with over 50 new hires and plans to add 1,000 jobs in the next 24 months, the CEO said.

“The company’s Port Harcourt headquarters is home to a growing team of engineers and customer support specialists,” he stated.

TikTok will start making its case on Monday against a law that will see it banned in the US unless its Chinese owner ByteDance sells it within nine months.

The measure – signed into law by President Biden in April – has been prompted by concerns that US users’ data is vulnerable to exploitation by China’s government.

TikTok and ByteDance have always denied links to the Chinese authorities and have described the law an “extraordinary intrusion on free speech rights.”

The social media firm, which claims to have more than 170 million American users, will make its arguments before a three-judge panel at an appeals court in Washington DC.

Company representatives will be joined by eight TikTok creators, including a Texas rancher and a Tennessee baker, who say they rely on the platform to market their products and make a living.

Lawyers from the Department of Justice (DoJ) will then proceed to lay out their case.

In addition to data concerns, DoJ officials and lawmakers have expressed alarm at the prospect of TikTok being used by the Chinese government to spread propaganda to Americans.

However, advocates of America’s powerful free speech rights, enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution, say upholding the divest-or-ban law would be a gift to authoritarian regimes everywhere.

“We shouldn’t be surprised if repressive governments the world over cite this precedent to justify new restrictions on their own citizens’ right to access information, ideas, and media from abroad,” said Xiangnong Wang, a staff attorney at Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute.

It has filed an amicus brief – legal documents submitted by someone not a party to the case but with an interest in it, offering information or expertise, usually with the hope of influencing the outcome.

Mr Wang also criticised lawmakers for being vague about the specific national security threats that they say TikTok poses.

“We can’t think of any previous instance in which such a broad restriction on First Amendment rights was found to be constitutional on the basis of evidence that wasn’t disclosed,” he said.

But according to James Lewis, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, the law was drafted to withstand judicial scrutiny.

“The substance of the case against TikTok is very strong,” Mr Lewis said.

“The key point is whether the court accepts that requiring divestiture does not regulate speech.”

Mr Lewis added that the courts usually defer to the president on national security matters.

Regardless of how the appeals court rules, most experts agree the case could drag on for months, if not longer.

“Nothing gets resolved next week,” said Mike Proulx, vice president and research director at analysis firm Forrester.

“This is a high stakes and very complicated conundrum that will likely go all the way to the Supreme Court.”