.png){kind=logo}
In the ever-evolving space of tech, every day marks a new technology created somewhere. While this advancement is rapid it is also paramount to having a technologically advanced life. These advancements range from enhancing healthcare to financial systems as well as education.
The leader in AI hardware and software remained Nvidia and it was still making remarkable financial milestones. In June, the company’s market capitalization rocketed past $3 trillion, briefly making it the most valuable US company. Ideal demand for AI semiconductors to meet necessary requirements are language models, autonomous systems, and high performance computing tasks drove this unprecedented growth.
The year 2024 marked a high point in the tech rivalry between the United States and China. To contain China’s move in AI, military advancement and critical infrastructure, the Biden administration implemented stricter controls over advanced semiconductors.140 Chinese entities were added to the trade blacklist. The Biden administration imposed stricter export controls on advanced semiconductor technologies, targeting China’s progress in AI, military advancements, and critical infrastructure.
OpenAI was exploring the idea of additional sources of revenue in 2024, and this is when they started to consider the possibility of entering the advertising space on their AI platforms. It was looking for experienced people to talk about internally how ads were working and what was the experience of users. However, the development of this has been shown to put pressure on AI firms to create the sustainable monetization of product plans.
OpenAI’s considerations lead to a wider discussion of what the ethical development of AI should look like, but also a heated conversation about whether and to what extent these AI technologies should be commercialized while continuing to trust users.
The Apple Vision Pro headset marked Apple’s entry into the augmented reality (AR) market in February 2024. The device, priced at $3,499, consisted of a seamless combination of the physical world with the digital world, foreshadowing the future taste of immersive computing.
Initial shipments of the Vision Pro were met with positive reviews for their innovative, unusual shape and user experience. Industry experts were optimistic about what this launch could signal for AR – that Apple is serious about being the next personal computing company.
Elon Musk has also categorically stated that human-piloted fighter jets are relics of bygone eras and the future will call for AI drones. Experts also found that despite the current limitation of drone technology, it has offered economic efficiencies and operational flexibility in this aspect. This made military strategists realize that the best way to deal with them was by making them a compound of human understanding and machine force. This debate highlighted the increasing adoption of AI in defence and how it impacts this insecurity around the world.
Multiple tech giants had to make workforce cuts under the weight of economic pressure. Intel, Tesla, Cisco and Microsoft all cut costs, slashing 149,000 employees in 2024. The layoffs, symptomatic of the balance that tech firms find themselves in between growth and economic reality, have underscored how far tech firms' goals for explosive growth diverge from the realities of the global economy.
However, these workforce reductions came with their share of uncertainties, but they also started bringing up conversations about upskilling and reskilling workers to do jobs in jobs that were emerging with AI and other advanced technologies.
In summary, the tech industry transformed significantly in 2024. The year offered both Nvidia’s ascendance in AI and Apple’s foray into AR while US-China tech tensions added to the roller coaster of technological progress. These changes will shape the future of global technology as regulatory frameworks evolve and industries adapt.
