Maroc - THECEKODOK.COM - A La Une - 05/Jan 12:56

10 Most Important Technology News of 2024

In 2024, there was a lot happening in the technology arena. Some were good and some were not so lucky. Anyway, most of what was launched or introduced this year all had some impact on us all as users as well as the impact on the country and the world. Here are the 10 most important technology news of 2024.1. FashionValet ScandalThe biggest scandal in the Malaysian technology world this year was definitely the case involving FashionValet. This year, the platform worked on by Vivy Yusof was taken over by NXBT at a value far lower than the value of Khazanah Nasional's investment.It became a public conversation and issue when the Ministry of Finance confirmed that Khazanah and PNB's investment in Fashion Valet amounted to RM47 million, and was sold for RM3.1 million. Khazanah and PNB issued separate statements to explain their investments in FashionValet. Vivy Yusof and Fadzarudin Anuar later apologized and announced that they would be stepping down from their respective positions.The issue of investment losses later became a case of MCMC with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim ordering Khazanah to conduct an internal audit. At this point, the assets of both FashionValet founders have been frozen and the case will be mentioned in court on January 22 with a criminal breach of trust charge involving RM8 million in investment funds.2. Malaysia's Second 5G Network ControversyThe issue of U Mobile's selection as Malaysia's second 5G network operator has also become a hot topic because this youngest telecommunications company has successfully beaten CelcomDigi and Maxis. Many industry players have criticized that U Mobile may be acting as an "Ali Baba" contractor, where a local entity becomes an intermediary for foreign interests.The issue involving the majority stake in U Mobile not belonging to Malaysia but Singapore has become a hot topic because the country's important communications infrastructure is controlled by foreign countries. This company is Straits Mobile under ST Telemedia. Following this controversy, Straits Mobile announced a reduction in its shareholding to 20%. U Mobile had previously shared that it may collaborate with CelcomDigi and Telekom Malaysia in the development of the 5G network, in addition to collaborating with Huawei for technology supply.3. Increased Generative AI CapabilitiesGenerative artificial intelligence (AI) technology is undergoing some major capacity enhancements in 2024. Among the interesting ones is the OpenAI Model o3 with reasoning capabilities, which is thinking on its own to provide answers. Then there is OpenAI Sora which can generate videos that look much more realistic than some previous models. Google also has a model with more or less similar capabilities, namely Gemini 2.0 and also Project Astra as a future computing concept. Not to forget that Google Veo 2 was also introduced to compete with Sora.Although the world of generative artificial intelligence is growing rapidly, behind its development there is also ongoing behind-the-scenes turmoil from last year. Just look at what happened to OpenAI where only 3 of the 11 founders still remain with the company. One of OpenAI's founders and also the chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever (who was involved in the dismissal of Sam Altman last year) also left the company to form a new company SSI which promises to develop safer AI.Speaking of unexpected things, a new AI model, the Large Geospatial Model (LGM), has also been introduced. It is an AI system that understands visuals and locations in a 3D map based on data from millions of Pokemon Go and Ingress players.4. Annus Horribilis For IntelIntel is a big brand that is synonymous with PCs and at one point also with Macs. But last year they were hit by one misfortune after another. The biggest issue was the damage to Intel Core Gen-13 and Gen-14 chips due to high voltage. The permanent damage caused Intel to extend the chip warranty period to buyers.This was followed by the dismissal of more than 15,000 workers, the cancellation of factories in Europe and the downsizing of their factory in Penang to stabilize the company's finances. The peak of Intel's misfortune was their CEO Pat Gelsinger being forced to retire suddenly if he did not want to be fired. Among the candidates for the new CEO is Lip-Bu Tan who was born in Johor. This misfortune that befell Intel further strengthened the belief in the world of technology where no company is too big to fail.5. Bitcoin's Highest Value Delights Crypto InvestorsLast year, the NFT fiasco and the scandal involving FTX, Binance and Terraform Labs caused the value of crypto to plummet. Whether you are a crypto bro or just an ordinary investor, this year has been a happy year as the highest value of Bitcoin reached an all-time high.Just a few weeks ago, its value reached $106,000 while at the beginning of the year it was only around $76,000 buoyed by positive sentiment after the victory of Donald Trump, a pro-crypto president. At the time of writing, the value of one Bitcoin is around $92,000.At the same time, Malaysia became the first country to accept zakat payments using crypto. The 2.5% zakat rate set also saw zakat collections from crypto increase this year.6. The US Trade Cold War Heats UpChina AmericaSince the US imposed technological barriers on Huawei almost five years ago, one Chinese technology company after another has been added to the Entity List. It doesn't end there, new barriers have been issued such as the sale of HBM memory to China and adding 140 more companies to this trade barrier. There are also efforts to ban the import of DJI drones and ban TikTok, which at this point may be delayed by the Supreme Court.In response, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce blocked the export of gallium, antimony and germanium on the grounds that it wanted to prevent the United States from using all these materials for military purposes. Huawei then produced another chip of its own with 5G using old equipment and collaboration with SMIC. They also offered triple salaries to TSMC, ASML and Zeiss employees to move so that they could return to producing chips with the latest technology.This was then retaliated with new restrictions on companies that supply chips to Huawei. ASML then stopped providing spare parts to customers of chip-producing machines in China to prevent them from being used to circumvent American sanctions.This US vs China Trade War also has its good points, where it brings economic contributions to our country. This year alone, many semiconductor companies want to open and have opened factories in Malaysia. Neways is one of them, then Malaysia itself started opening the Semiconductor IC Design Park and Infineon invested RM34 billion to expand their facility in Kulim. This indirectly also opens up various job opportunities in Malaysia.7. Malaysia Becomes a Hub for Data CentersData Center Data CenterStarting late last year and continuing this year, many technology companies have invested heavily in Malaysia for the development of data centers. In Johor, YTL will have the most powerful AI supercomputer system with the NVIDIA GB200 NVL72.Then in May, Microsoft announced an investment of $2.2 billion in Malaysia for the development of AI technology and cloud computing. By July, TM and Nxera built a sustainable data center in Iskandar Puteri Johor. A month later, AWS Region was launched in Malaysia. Just as the US trade war with China has provided many good opportunities for the Malaysian economy, the existence of various data centers and AI investments is also the same.8. Licensing of Social Media Platforms in MalaysiaThe licensing of social media platforms has been a hot topic since mid-year. Immediately after the announcement was made, the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) stated that this license would hinder innovation. Later, Meta was not convinced by this license because it was unclear. According to the Ministry of Communications, licensing is necessary to prevent crimes such as drug sales, distribution of pirated content or even the distribution of pornographic content.So far, there are 8 social media platforms that have been required to pay for operating licenses in Malaysia, namely WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, Telegram, WeChat, and TikTok. So far, only Telegram, TikTok, and WeChat have received licenses. X m9. Major Technology Companies Fined and Investigated for Anti-Competitive PracticesThe US government's anti-monopoly case against Microsoft in 2001 almost caused this technology giant to be broken in two because they were found to have monopolized the Internet Explorer operating system and software. Microsoft was forced to open up their software production interface to third parties.This year, Google was found guilty of practicing monopolistic and anti-competitive business practices and was ordered by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to sell Chrome and separate the Play Store from Android. The Japanese Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) also accused Google of the same offense.Google is not the only one found guilty in this matter. Last November, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) began an investigation into Microsoft for allegedly engaging in monopoly practices in the software licensing business, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud, and security.Apple also complied with the European Union (EU) order to open iOS to payment systems and third-party app stores. This alternative store can only be accessed in EU member states, with Apple still charging a Core Technology Fee of €0.50 for each app installation to cover the cost of screening to ensure that it is safe to offer to users in third-party stores.10. The Beginning of the Lame AI Device EraIn January last year, the Samsung Galaxy S24 series was launched as the first AI device to the global market. The Galaxy AI's ability to assist with writing, turn sketches into drawings, edit photos, and summarize long documents was very helpful. This was followed by the Humane AI Pin and Rabbit R1, which tried to sell the idea of ​​a standalone AI device that could replace smartphones. Both failed due to a combination of weak software, slow feedback, and short battery life.Then the AI ​​PC was launched on Windows computers with Intel chips. But before the AI ​​PC could even begin to thrive, it was buried by the Copilot+ PC with its more powerful NPU requirements. The first generation AI computers only lasted three months before they were deemed insufficiently powerful.In September, Sir Jony Ive confirmed that he was developing an AI device in collaboration with OpenAI. The failure of AI Pin and R1 did not prevent the former Apple chief designer from making the same attempt.Next, Apple Intelligence was announced on Apple devices with less than amazing capabilities. Siri with ChatGPT was very slow and did not provide answers as good as Google Assistant, let alone Google Gemini, which is one of the best technologies of 2024 in our opinion .In conclusion, the era of AI devices has begun, but no company has yet been able to demonstrate that it is a necessity for all users. It is still a niche and we are waiting to see if 2025 can bring big changes.