Business & Tech News
Apple’s Tim Cook Teases over iPhone Launch
Mobile phone innovators Apple have been talking about its new phone for some time with a lot of interest in the market around when the iPhone SE 4 will be launched. Apple CEO Tim Cook finally gave iPhone fans a clue yesterday when he dropped a message on X saying “Get ready to meet the newest member of the family”. He also announced that the launch date had been set for next week Wednesday – 19 February. The launch is going to be streamed live on various channels. The iPhone SE 4 is rumoured to be powered by Apple’s latest A18 series chip, and may feature a high-resolution 48MP camera, while the display is alleged to have received a massive up-grade to a 6,7-inch OLED display from the previous 4,7-inch display in the SE 3 model.
The launch comes while Apple is also working to bring its AI features to China by the middle of this year, accelerating a difficult project that has required software changes and input from local tech partners. Apple currently has various tech teams working in China to adapt its Apple Intelligence platform for the region, that is rumoured for launch as early as May 2025.
Reuters and Other Media Houses under DOGE fire:
The newly formed Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, has revealed that Department of Defense (DoD) had signed multi-million dollar contracts with the Thomson Reuters news agency to develop automated defences against social engineering attacks. Elon Musk, the head of DOGE criticised the news agency on his social media platform X saying: “Reuters was paid millions of dollars by the US government for ‘large scale social deception,’” Musk wrote on X. “They’re a total scam.”
This sparked outrage at the contracts awarded to Reuters that were labelled as Active Social Engineering and Large Scale Social Deception (LSD) in DoD contracts. Donald Trump also expressed frustration on Truth Social where he demanded Reuters return the funding. The US government also spent $40 million on subscriptions to The New York Times, according to the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) Live Tracker, which revealed the figures Monday. There is widespread speculation that these moneys were given to influence specific political narratives supporting the previous administration.
Grok 3 Challenger to ChatGPT ready for Launch:
Yesterday, co-founder of Chat GPT and Tech leader, Elon Musk, announced that his AI chatbot, and ChatGPT challenger, Grok 3, is in the final stages of development and will be released within weeks. The announcement was made during his presentation to the World Governments Summit in Dubai. “Grok 3 has very powerful reasoning capabilities, so in the tests that we’ve done thus far, Grok 3 is outperforming anything that’s been released, that we’re aware of, so that’s a good sign,” Musk commented.
xAI was founded and developed by Musk as a challenger to Microsoft-backed OpenAI, where he and Open AI CEO Sam Altman have had a clash as Musk believes that there had been a betrayal of the original investment and founders of ChatGPT that was originally established as a non-profit entity. This week a consortium of investors led by Musk had offered $97.4 billion to buy the assets of OpenAI, that has said it wants to become a for-profit organization to secure the capital needed for developing the best AI models.
Google Renames Gulf of Mexico
Google Maps has renamed the Gulf of Mexico on its mapping App to include the name Gulf of America. US President Donald Trump recently said that the gulf should be renamed and this has now prompted an official name allocation to the sea region sitting tucked between the USA, Mexico and Cuba. Mexican President, Claudia Sheinbaum said yesterday that she would not rule out filing a civil lawsuit against Google if it maintains its stance of calling the gulf the “Gulf of America.” Sheinbaum said that despite the fact that her government sent a letter to Google saying that the company was “wrong” and that “the entire Gulf of Mexico cannot be called the Gulf of America,” the company has insisted on maintaining the name. The current Google map includes both names.
Markets by Numbers
Currencies:
The US Dollar has weakened further and is currently trading at 1.04832 against the Euro, at 1.25912 against the Pound, and slightly weaker against the Yen at 152. 69 Yen to the dollar currently. The rand has gained against a weaker dollar this morning and is trading at R18.38 against the dollar currently.
Commodities:
- Gold prices have jumped by 2,5% this morning, with the yellow metal trading at $2,933 currently. Copper is trading upwards at 4.8106 currently. Silver has surged by over 2,5% today, and at 33.193 currently.
- Platinum prices are holding currently trading upwards at $1040, while Palladium prices have bounced above the $1000 mark and currently trading at $1025
- Brent Oil prices are trading at $75.35 currently with WTI trading at $71.52 currently.
- Cocoa futures have found upward momentum again this morning, with prices currently at $10346 per ton.
- Coffee prices have hit a new boiling point in price with a record being set every other day this week, and trading at $433.38 currently.
Crypto Currencies:
- Bitcoin has seen a bit of growth this morning, and is currently trading at $96856.
- Ether prices have seen fresh growth in prices today and are at $2700 currently.
- $Trumpcoin has surged by over 10% today and currently trading at $16.85
(All prices quoted at approximately 10H45 – Central African Time)
Other News in Africa Today
Liberian President – Corruption Clean-out Champion:
In a move that will hopefully set the tone for other African states, Joseph Boakai, the Liberian President, who promised to fight corruption in government, has suspended more than 450 senior government officials. The list includes several ministers, including the Minister of Health and the Minister of Education, who failed to declare their assets to the anti-corruption agency, as required by law. President Boakai’s office issued a statement announcing that all those affected will be off work and without pay for a month or “until they submit the required declarations”. Boakai said that the officials had contravened the code of conduct for state officials by not being transparent about what they own.
The president, had pledged to fight corruption when he ran for the presidential office and won in the general election in 2024, and said failure to comply with regulations undermined efforts to combat corruption and ensure accountability. The Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, published the list of all the 457 affected public officials, noting it was doing so as prescribed by law. In July last year, the president announced that he was reducing his salary by 40%, saying he hoped to set a precedent for “responsible xzgovernance” and demonstrate “solidarity” with Liberians. The government of his predecessor, George Weah, had faced accusations of corruption and lavish spending, sparking mass protests amid a rise in the cost of living.
Ghana’s Ex-Finance Minister a Fugitive:
Ghana’s former finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta has been declared a fugitive by prosecutors over his alleged involvement in multiple corruption cases when he was in government. Ofori-Atta had left Ghana to evade investigations, and all necessary steps would be taken to bring him back, Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyabeng said. Ofori-Atta has been accused of causing financial losses to the state, including over a Controversial national Cathedral, which remains a hole in the ground despite the alleged spending of $58m (£46.6m) of government money. He has not commented on the allegations. According to Agyabeng, the ex-minister’s lawyers said he was out of the country for medical reasons.
