FTI Consulting News Bytes – 8 March 2024

FTI Consulting News Bytes

We kick off this week looking at Amazon’s efforts to both make its operations more sustainable and support the growth of start-ups offering new sustainable solutions. We then turn to a series of stories on futuristic technologies including the use of generative AI for battle planning, progress in flying cars and robotaxis, as well as new investment in a start-up focused on cleaning up space and servicing satellites in orbit. Finally, to mark International Women’s Day, we finish with some analysis of the narrowing gender gap in the tech industry.  

This week’s news

Amazon scales sustainability solutions

Amazon is making strides in its sustainability strategy this week, according to TechCrunch. It has announced an investment in Glacier, whose technology will allow Amazon to understand whether its packaging ends up as recycling or waste once delivered to the customer. Nick Ellis, principal at Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, explained “Once that package ends up at our customer’s doorstep, what happens to it? Glacier finally allows us to see that last piece of the puzzle.” In other news, Amazon is supporting the scaling up of other sustainable products and solutions. This week, applications opened for the latest Amazon Sustainability Accelerator programme which helps entrepreneurs to grow businesses that positively impact the environment from circular economy solutions to green products, reports ITN.

AI assistant combats battle planning

The US Army is exploring how generative AI can improve battle planning, reports New Scientist. US Army researchers are using OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo and GPT-4 Vision models within a military video game to examine how well an AI chatbot could perform in a war simulation. When given a mission to destroy all enemy forces, the AI assistant provided many courses of action from which a user, playing the role of a commander, could refine. This development follows OpenAI removing a ban on using ChatGPT for military purposes back in January, as reported by Bloomberg.

Pre-orders for flying cars take off

In a major development for futuristic transport, a Californian flying car company has announced that it has received thousands of pre-orders for its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle. CNBC highlighted that Alef Aeronautics, backed by venture capitalist Tim Draper, set a fresh record for the number of preorders for their flying vehicle, with 2,850 customers putting deposits of $150 down. When it hits the market, the firm is planning to charge customers $300,000 for the model, giving it a combined order value of more than $850 million. Elsewhere on the topic of the cars of the future, CNBC reported that Waymo’s robotaxi unit has won approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to expand its services in more parts of the US. Both announcements seem to stand in contrast to Apple’s news last week that it has reportedly cancelled plans to build electric vehicles (EV), signalling no stopping of momentum in the sector.

Funding for satellite servicing reaches new heights

Startup Kurs Orbital has secured new funding to accelerate the commercialization of its satellite servicing technology, reports TechCrunch. The company, which was founded by Ukrainian space industry veterans, closed a $4 million seed round led by European VC firm OTB Ventures, with participation from Credo Ventures, Galaxia, In-Q-Tel and Inovo. Aiming to become a leading supplier of rendezvous and docking technology, Kurs hopes to unlock human activities in space by enabling capabilities like satellite relocation and inspection, de-orbiting and space debris removal.

Gender gap in tech narrows

Some good news landed in time for International Women’s Day, with analysis by the Financial Times showing that women’s share of technology jobs has increased since the pandemic across the US, EU and UK. Whilst some economists put this down to the increase in tech jobs overall, others suggest more flexible working arrangements have also helped. Against this, some have suggested there is less cause for celebration. “The chasm is still gigantic,” said Karen Blake, co-CEO at Tech Talent Charter, while Andy Heyes, UK and Ireland Managing Director at recruiter Harvey Nash, argued progress was “glacially slow” with “equality, diversity and inclusion deprioritised in a downturn”. So some good progress, yes, but it seems there is more work to be done.

Top Tweets of the Week

• Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft: It is always inspiring to meet with @narendramodi and there was a lot to discuss. We talked about AI for public good; DPI; women-led development; innovation in agriculture, health, and climate adaptation; and how we can take lessons from India to the world. @PMOIndia https://t.co/Y3REO67gxP
• Alex Wickham, Reporter at Bloomberg: Budget nasties from OBR — net migration forecast revised UP to 315k from 245k — that in part means real public spending per head is flat or falling after this year — GDP per capita downgraded 4 of next 5 years — tax burden almost unchanged, still set to be highest since 1948
• Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor at The Times: Waking up in London to this from OpenAI hitting back at Elon Musk. ChatGPT maker argues it needed to be “for profit” to develop AGI and has published a load of emails from Musk which claim to undermine his lawsuit – link here https://t.co/qz3EyWy3Pt

Number of the Week

$69,000 – The price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, which briefly hit a new all-time high this week, surpassing the previous record set in November 2021.