Lulu Hypermarkets launch ‘Let's Connect'
KUWAIT: Lulu Hypermarkets across Kuwait have officially launched their much-anticipated Tech Festival, Let's Connect, running from June 25 to July 8, 2025. The festival promises unbeatable promotions, interactive experiences, and futuristic showcases tailored for tech enthusiasts of all ages.
The grand inauguration took place at Lulu Qurain outlet, where some of Kuwait's most popular tech vloggers joined Lulu's top management to kick off the event. Powered by HONOR, the festival brings cutting-edge innovations and engaging activities that transform the shopping experience for Lulu customers. During the festival period, shoppers can enjoy exceptional deals on smartphones, IT gadgets, and accessories at all Lulu outlets across Kuwait. From the latest AI-enabled devices to must-have gaming gear, Let's Connect delivers the best in modern technology at unbeatable prices.
A standout attraction is the Artificial Intelligence Home, an interactive zone that demonstrates how AI seamlessly integrates into daily life. Visitors can explore real-time smart connectivity through devices such as mobile phones, air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, security cameras, smartwatches, and tablets—all connected in a fully functional AI-powered home setup.
To elevate the excitement, Lulu is hosting a series of interactive contests and challenges. The AI-Generated Image Contest invites customers to snap a photo with Lulu Connect and transform it using AI, then post it on Instagram with the hashtag #Aiwithlulukw to enter a prize draw. The Digital Drawing Contest encourages participants to create original artwork in just 10 minutes using the HONOR Pad 9, with exciting prizes for the most creative entries. Meanwhile, gaming fans can compete in the PUBG Gaming Challenge live at the venue and earn rewards for their performance.
With interactive robots roaming the aisles and multiple tech zones to explore, Let's Connect combines innovation, entertainment, and unbeatable value in a dynamic retail environment. Whether you're in search of the latest tech, eager to explore AI-driven experiences, or simply looking for a fun and futuristic family outing, Lulu's Let's Connect Festival is the place to be this summer in Kuwait. Don't miss out—visit any Lulu Hypermarket in Kuwait from June 25 to July 8 and experience the future of technology today!
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab Times
7 days ago
- Arab Times
Trump to reveal ‘AI Action Plan' shaped by his Silicon Valley supporters
WASHINGTON, July 23, (AP): An artificial intelligence agenda formed on the podcasts of Silicon Valley billionaires is now being set into US policy as President Donald Trump leans on the ideas of the tech figures who backed his election campaign. Trump plans on Wednesday to reveal an "AI Action Plan' he ordered after revoking President Joe Biden's signature AI guardrails. The plan and related executive orders are expected to include some familiar tech lobby pitches: accelerating the sale of AI technology abroad and making it easier to construct the energy-hungry data center buildings that are needed to form and run AI products, according to a person briefed on Wednesday's event who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. It might also include some of the AI culture war preoccupations of the circle of venture capitalists who endorsed Trump last year. The tech industry has pushed for easier permitting to get huge data centers connected to power and water - even if it means consumers losing drinking water and paying higher energy bills. On Tuesday, 95 groups including labor unions, parent groups, environmental justice organizations and privacy advocates signed a resolution opposing Trump's embrace of industry-driven AI policy and calling for a "People's AI Action Plan' that would "deliver first and foremost for the American people.' Amba Kak, co-executive director of the AI Now Institute, which helped lead the effort, said the coalition expects Trump's plan to come "straight from Big Tech's mouth.' "Every time we say, 'What about our jobs, our air, water, our children?' they're going to say, 'But what about China?'' she said Tuesday. She said Americans should reject the White House's argument that artificial intelligence is overregulated, and fight to preserve "baseline protections for the public.' Sacks, a former PayPal executive and now Trump's top AI adviser, has been criticizing "woke AI' for more than a year, fueled by Google's February 2024 rollout of an AI image generator that, when asked to show an American Founding Father, created pictures of Black, Asian and Native American men. Google quickly fixed its tool, but the "Black George Washington' moment remained a parable for the problem of AI's perceived political bias, taken up by X owner Elon Musk, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, Vice President JD Vance and Republican lawmakers. "The AI's incapable of giving you accurate answers because it's been so programmed with diversity and inclusion,' Sacks said at the time. Elon Musk's xAI, pitched as an alternative to "woke AI' companies, had to scramble this month to remove posts made by its Grok chatbot that made antisemitic comments and praised Adolf Hitler. The All-In Podcast is a business and technology show hosted by four tech investors and entrepreneurs including Trump's AI czar, David Sacks. The plan and related executive orders to be announced late Wednesday afternoon are expected to include some familiar tech lobby pitches - including accelerating the sale of AI technology abroad and making it easier to construct the energy-hungry data center buildings needed to run AI products, according to a person briefed on Wednesday's event who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. It might also include some of the AI culture war preoccupations of the circle of venture capitalists who endorsed Trump last year.
Arab Times
23-07-2025
- Arab Times
Teens say they are turning to AI for advice, friendship and 'to get out of thinking'
NEW YORK, July 23, (AP): No question is too small when Kayla Chege, a high school student in Kansas, is using artificial intelligence. The 15-year-old asks ChatGPT for guidance on back-to-school shopping, makeup colors, low-calorie choices at Smoothie King, plus ideas for her Sweet 16 and her younger sister's birthday party. The sophomore honors student makes a point not to have chatbots do her homework and tries to limit her interactions to mundane questions. But in interviews with The Associated Press and a new study, teenagers say they are increasingly interacting with AI as if it were a companion, capable of providing advice and friendship. "Everyone uses AI for everything now. It's really taking over,' said Chege, who wonders how AI tools will affect her generation. "I think kids use AI to get out of thinking.' For the past couple of years, concerns about cheating at school have dominated the conversation around kids and AI. But artificial intelligence is playing a much larger role in many of their lives. AI, teens say, has become a go-to source for personal advice, emotional support, everyday decision-making and problem-solving. More than 70% of teens have used AI companions and half use them regularly, according to a new study from Common Sense Media, a group that studies and advocates for using screens and digital media sensibly. The study defines AI companions as platforms designed to serve as "digital friends,' like or Replika, which can be customized with specific traits or personalities and can offer emotional support, companionship and conversations that can feel human-like. But popular sites like ChatGPT and Claude, which mainly answer questions, are being used in the same way, the researchers say. As the technology rapidly gets more sophisticated, teenagers and experts worry about AI's potential to redefine human relationships and exacerbate crises of loneliness and youth mental health. "AI is always available. It never gets bored with you. It's never judgmental,' says Ganesh Nair, an 18-year-old in Arkansas. "When you're talking to AI, you are always right. You're always interesting. You are always emotionally justified.' All that used to be appealing, but as Nair heads to college this fall, he wants to step back from using AI. Nair got spooked after a high school friend who relied on an "AI companion' for heart-to-heart conversations with his girlfriend later had the chatbot write the breakup text ending his two-year relationship. "That felt a little bit dystopian, that a computer generated the end to a real relationship,' said Nair. "It's almost like we are allowing computers to replace our relationships with people.' In the Common Sense Media survey, 31% of teens said their conversations with AI companions were "as satisfying or more satisfying' than talking with real friends. Even though half of teens said they distrust AI's advice, 33% had discussed serious or important issues with AI instead of real people. Those findings are worrisome, says Michael Robb, the study's lead author and head researcher at Common Sense, and should send a warning to parents, teachers, and policymakers. The now-booming and largely unregulated AI industry is becoming as integrated with adolescence as smartphones and social media are. "It's eye-opening,' said Robb. "When we set out to do this survey, we had no understanding of how many kids are actually using AI companions.' The study polled more than 1,000 teens nationwide in April and May. Adolescence is a critical time for developing identity, social skills, and independence, Robb said, and AI companions should complement - not replace - real-world interactions. "If teens are developing social skills on AI platforms where they are constantly being validated, not being challenged, not learning to read social cues or understand somebody else's perspective, they are not going to be adequately prepared in the real world,' he said. The nonprofit analyzed several popular AI companions in a " risk assessment,' finding ineffective age restrictions and that the platforms can produce sexual material, give dangerous advice, and offer harmful content. The group recommends that minors not use AI companions. Researchers and educators worry about the cognitive costs for youth who rely heavily on AI, especially in their creativity, critical thinking, and social skills. The potential dangers of children forming relationships with chatbots gained national attention last year when a 14-year-old Florida boy died by suicide after developing an emotional attachment to a chatbot. "Parents really have no idea this is happening,' said Eva Telzer, a psychology and neuroscience professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "All of us are struck by how quickly this blew up.' Telzer is leading multiple studies on youth and AI, a new research area with limited data. Telzer's research has found that children as young as 8 are using generative AI, and also found that teens are using AI to explore their sexuality and for companionship. In focus groups, Telzer found that one of the top apps teens frequent is SpicyChat AI, a free role-playing app intended for adults. Many teens also say they use chatbots to write emails or messages to strike the right tone in sensitive situations. "One of the concerns that comes up is that they no longer have trust in themselves to make a decision,' said Telzer. "They need feedback from AI before feeling like they can check off the box that an idea is OK or not.' Arkansas teen Bruce Perry, 17, says he relates to that and relies on AI tools to craft outlines and proofread essays for his English class. "If you tell me to plan out an essay, I would think of going to ChatGPT before getting out a pencil,' Perry said. He uses AI daily and has asked chatbots for advice in social situations, to help him decide what to wear and to write emails to teachers, saying AI articulates his thoughts faster. Perry says he feels fortunate that AI companions were not around when he was younger. "I'm worried that kids could get lost in this,' Perry said. "I could see a kid that grows up with AI not seeing a reason to go to the park or try to make a friend.' Other teens agree, saying the issues with AI and its effect on children's mental health are different from those of social media. "Social media complemented the need people have to be seen, to be known, to meet new people,' Nair said. "I think AI complements another need that runs a lot deeper - our need for attachment and our need to feel emotions. It feeds off of that.'
Kuwait Times
17-07-2025
- Kuwait Times
Dutch giant ASML sees profits rise but warns on 2026
THE HAGUE: Dutch tech giant ASML said Wednesday it booked higher net profits in the second quarter of 2025 compared with the same period last year but warned that geopolitical headwinds had darkened the 2026 outlook. The firm, which makes cutting-edge machines for the manufacture of semiconductors, said net profits came in at 2.3 billion euros, compared with 1.6 billion euros in the second quarter of last year. However, it warned that the growth outlook for next year was somewhat less rosy than before. 'Looking at 2026, we see that our AI customers' fundamentals remain strong,' said Chief Executive Officer Christophe Fouquet in a statement. 'At the same time, we continue to see increasing uncertainty driven by macro-economic and geopolitical developments,' he cautioned.'Therefore, while we still prepare for growth in 2026, we cannot confirm it at this stage.' Investors appeared to give more weight to the gloomy outlook for 2026 than the positive quarterly data, with ASML stock down six percent at the opening bell. When Fouquet presented first-quarter results in April, he also warned of 'increased uncertainty' due to tariffs with the situation likely to 'remain dynamic for a while.' However, he had reiterated his belief at that stage that 2025 and 2026 would be 'growth years.' The firm said its net sales in the second quarter of 2025 came in at 7.7 billion euros, at the upper end of its forecasts of between 7.2 and 7.7 billion euros. Net bookings, the figures most closely watched in the markets as a predictor of future performance, were 5.6 billion euros, compared to 3.9 billion euros in the first quarter. Fouquet said he expected sales in the third quarter to come in between 7.4 billion and 7.9 billion euros. ASML is a key cog in the global economy, as the semiconductors its machines help to make can power everything from smartphones to missiles. Longer term, ASML believes the rapidly expanding AI market will push its annual sales up to between 44 and 60 billion euros by 2030. It expects a 15-percent increase in sales this year to around 32.5 billion euros. 'I think long term, the semiconductor market remains very strong,' said Fouquet. 'And I think a lot of people say that AI is really a great opportunity. We have seen again the fundamentals around AI to be very, very strong.' The semiconductor industry has been buffeted by geopolitical headwinds in recent years. Washington has sought to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China, concerned that they could be used to advance Beijing's military systems and otherwise undermine American dominance in AI. In May, Trump's administration rescinded some export controls on semiconductors. But Washington also unveiled fresh guidelines warning firms that using Chinese-made high-tech AI semiconductors, specifically tech giant Huawei's Ascend chips, would put them at risk of violating US export controls. Beijing described the warnings as 'typical unilateral bullying and protectionism.' On Tuesday, US tech giant Nvidia announced it would resume sales of its H20 artificial intelligence chips to China, after Washington pledged to remove licensing curbs that had halted exports. — AFP
