What’s New Today: Broadcom is about to launch Thor Ultra networking chip on Tuesday to help companies build artificial intelligence computing systems.
Fast-Track Insights: A London-based startup Allye Energy raised $2.5 million in seed funding, led by Elbow Beach and joined by Alpha Future Funds.
Here’s a quick rundown of the biggest tech headlines making waves today. Let's dive into the top tech stories, from Broadcom chip launch, to the Indian job market getting worse even for highly educated candidates.
Broadcom has just revealed a network chip called Thor Ultra that will connect large amounts of data-processing units and support hyperscale AI infrastructures. The new product points to Nvidia's supremacy in the data-center market as a direct competitor and at the same time, it has given the market a more efficient version of all the previous specifications with double bandwidth. In addition, as part of its AI ambitions, Broadcom has also formed a partnership with OpenAI for multi-gigawatt AI chip production, which signifies the company's desire to leave networking behind and move into AI infrastructure.
Allye Energy, a London-based clean tech startup, has bagged USD 2.5 million in seed funding which will help it speed up the deployment of its modular energy storage systems made of recycled EV batteries. The company has already set its eyes on making its project more than $10.7 million as it boasts a sales order book of $2.7 million. It will combine forces with utilities and work to ease congestion on the grid. The equipment is created in such a way as to deliver power in a broad spectrum from grid-tied to off-grid applications, a combination of hardware, control systems, and AI, targeting both situations.
Even as higher education has major literacy opportunities, Indian graduates face rising issues of high levels of unemployment and underemployment. One important factor is the difference between expectations of higher education output and labor market demand: most graduates simply do not possess the skills needed by the industry. In fact, employers often state that they prefer experience over educational attainment, which ultimately disadvantages these new graduates in the labor market. Given the underlying structural constraints of the economy and slow growth for job creation, competition is even greater, and many graduates apply for low-wage, low-quality jobs, remain unemployed or leave the labor force altogether.
Google has expanded its Nano Banana on-device AI model to its Search, NotebookLM, and Photos products, all of which were originally developed for the Pixel devices. This technology allows for more conversational search responses that are contextually aware, enables the summarizing and analyzing of documents within NotebookLM both online and offline, and even increases the rate of editing photos in Google Photos. These additions represent Google's push to create a unified AI infrastructure across a range of services by integrating device-level intelligence with cloud intelligence.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in Washington issued preliminary conditional approval for Erebor Bank to become a new bank backed by Peter Thiel and other technology investors, one of the first national bank charters under the leadership of Comptroller Jonathan Gould. The action signals a wider shift in policy: regulators are more willing to embrace crypto-as-banking so long as companies maintain rigorous compliance and controls around risk. Erebor will need future approval to provide specific safeguards and oversight as part of any licensing going forward.