Weekly Tech Wrap – on Business Tech Africa

Bill Gates warns that AI advancement means the reduction of human labour.

In an eye opening commentary, Bill Gates voiced that due to AI advancement, humans may only need to work up to two days in the future. This highlights how AI and labour collide.

Bill Gates explained how despite the current state of Artificial Intelligence lacking specialised knowledge with human experts such as physicians and educators still needed, the future of this decade could showcase dramatic shifts.

“It’s very profound and even a little bit scary- because it’s happening very quickly, and there is no upper bound” Bill Gates said in an interview.

Further on that, companies have taken the risk of shortening their work week and have seen surprising results. Exos, a performance learning firm tested the theory by working a 4-day week schedule, since implementing this the company has seen a 24% increase in productivity.

This statement continues to add to how AI will proceed to shape the future on technological expectations, work-force migrations and the topic of whether AI will assist or replace individuals in the workplace.

Samsung officially launches the new Galaxy XR.

During the major push into the extended reality space, Samsung has officially revealed their brand new Galaxy XR headset, priced at a whopping $1,799 in the US. This new machine is built on the newly launched Android XR platform which is in a development collaboration with Google LLC and Qualcomm Technologies Inc.

The main key features include:
• 4K micro-OLED displays, hand/eye and gesture tracking.
• Google Gemini Integration into the system, enabling voice/vision and gesture interaction.

Samsungs goal is to position itself as a company that goes far and beyond by integrating immersive computing under their profile, they are well and truly on their way of continuing to create greatness.

Major investment in African Mobility: Spiro raises up to $100 million

Kenya-based Spiro, a leader in the two-wheel transportation industry has raised $100 million in funding in order to increase their mission of providing affordable, accessible mobility to the masses while transforming Africa’s clean energy and urban sectors.

The company Spiro is Africa’s largest mobility company, operating electric motorcycles across several African countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya.

They aim to scale up to 100,000 vehicles on the road by the end of 2025.

This accomplishment signals stronger investment in the African market, specific to mobility solutions, simultaneously addressing urban congestion, fuel inflation and local transport issues.

The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) and the development impact investment arm of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) have funded almost $75million to the cause.

Spiro plans to use the funding to expand their industry leading battery-swapping infrastructure across new and existing markets while furthering its technology platform.