Author: Okikiola O. Johnson

The United States government is moving to formally safety-test some of the world’s most advanced artificial intelligence systems, including those developed by Google, Microsoft, and xAI, to address mounting national security and public safety concerns tied to rapidly evolving AI capabilities. The initiative is being coordinated through the U.S. Department of Commerce, specifically its Centre for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI). Under the arrangement, the companies will provide the government with early or pre-release access to their most advanced AI models. These systems, often described as “frontier AI”, will then undergo structured evaluations designed to uncover weaknesses, risks of misuse,…

Artificial intelligence company Anthropic is teaming up with investment giants Blackstone and Goldman Sachs to launch a major new venture to accelerate AI adoption across the corporate world. The reported $1.5 billion initiative will focus on bringing advanced AI tools into companies owned or backed by private equity firms. Rather than simply offering access to its AI models, Anthropic plans to work closely with these businesses to integrate AI into their daily operations. The venture reflects a broader shift in the AI industry. While many organisations are eager to adopt artificial intelligence, they often lack the technical expertise and infrastructure…

X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has unveiled a major overhaul of its advertising system, introducing a rebuilt, AI-powered infrastructure designed to modernise how ads are created, targeted, and delivered across the platform. The company says the new system represents a significant shift away from its legacy advertising architecture, replacing it with a framework built around artificial intelligence and machine learning models to improve efficiency and performance for advertisers. According to the X rollout press release, the upgraded platform introduces AI-driven retrieval and ranking systems that determine which adverts users see, based on relevance signals and predictive…

The Registrar and Chief Executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Dr Adesola Okunola, on Thursday called for the integration of artificial intelligence into Nigeria’s tax administration system as part of efforts to boost revenue generation and improve efficiency. Okunola made the call while delivering a keynote address at the maiden edition of the Isiaq Family Foundation Annual Accounting Lecture held at Summit University. Speaking before an audience of academics, professionals and students, she described Nigeria’s current fiscal situation as a “revenue paradox,” noting that the country continues to face widening development needs despite limited public revenue. According…

The Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Professor Ayo Omotayo, has called on women, particularly those in rural communities, to embrace technology and artificial intelligence as tools to transform access to justice and strengthen gender inclusion in Nigeria. Omotayo made the call while delivering a keynote address at the national launch of the New Dawn for Women and Community Intervention Initiative (NEWOMCII) and a book unveiling held at the Nigerian Army Conference Centre and Suites in Abuja. Speaking on the theme, “Empowering Women and Communities: A Practical Pathway for Transformation and Sustainable Development,” he said…

The Katsina State Government has entered into a major public-private partnership agreement to install 50,000 solar-powered artificial intelligence (AI) streetlights across the state, in what officials describe as one of the largest smart infrastructure rollouts in Africa. The project, to be implemented in collaboration with Conflow Power Group and its Nigerian partner, Mora Energy, is designed to integrate public lighting with digital infrastructure, including AI-enabled computing capacity, communications services, and security monitoring capabilities. According to the agreement, each unit, known as an “iLamp”, will operate entirely on solar energy and serve as a multi-purpose infrastructure node capable of providing street…

Oracle and Cohere have strengthened their collaboration to expand access to generative AI tools for enterprise customers, with a focus on integrating advanced large language models into business systems through Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). The partnership aims to help organisations deploy AI applications more easily while maintaining strict security, privacy, and data governance standards. By combining Cohere’s foundation models with Oracle’s cloud infrastructure, enterprises will be able to customise and run AI models using their own data within a controlled environment. Oracle says the move is designed to simplify enterprise AI adoption. “Our partnership with Cohere will enable our customers…

South Africa has withdrawn its draft national Artificial Intelligence (AI) policy after it was found to contain fabricated academic references, raising serious concerns about oversight in the use of AI during government policy drafting. The Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Solly Malatsi, confirmed the withdrawal, saying the document’s integrity had been fundamentally compromised. “The most plausible explanation is that AI-generated citations were included without proper verification. This should not have happened,” Malatsi said in a statement. He added that the problem went beyond a simple error and struck at the credibility of the entire policy process. “This failure is…

Global artificial intelligence company Anthropic has entered a multi-year partnership with international law firm Freshfields to develop advanced AI tools tailored for legal services, the companies announced on Thursday. The collaboration will focus on building applications to support legal research, contract analysis, document drafting and internal workflows, as law firms increasingly embed generative AI into daily operations. Anthropic described the agreement as its “most material partnership with a law firm to date,” underscoring the growing importance of the legal sector for AI deployment. Under the deal, Freshfields will work directly with Anthropic’s legal and product teams to co-develop AI-driven workflows…

The White House has accused Chinese firms of orchestrating what it describes as a sweeping, coordinated campaign to extract sensitive artificial intelligence (AI) technology from leading U.S. companies, escalating tensions in an already fragile technological rivalry between the world’s two largest economies. In a memo released Thursday, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) alleged that foreign actors “principally based in China” are engaged in “deliberate, industrial-scale campaigns” to replicate advanced American AI systems. Michael Kratsios, the White House science adviser and memo author, said the U.S. government has evidence of systematic efforts to siphon capabilities from frontier AI…